The Timken Company

Praveen M Pauskar

Wayne V Denny

Richard J Abbruzzi

Thomas J Rybkoski

John D Dougherty

Richard H Miller

Justin P Bill

Keith W Reese

A retainer () for maintaining a relative angular spacing of a plurality of rolling elements includes a body () having an annular portion () and a plurality of engaging portions (). Each of the engaging portions is configured to engage at least one of the plurality of rolling elements. The body is made of a sintered powdered metal infiltrated with bronze.

Retainer

A method of forming a component includes heating the component to a burnishing temperature above 500 degrees Fahrenheit, and burnishing a surface of the component while the component is at the burnishing temperature to densify the surface. The burnishing process at an elevated temperature may be integrated into other processes, such as the sintering or heat treating processes.

Method of forming a bearing component

A compact wheel end (A) serves to couple a road wheel (B) to a suspension system component (C) on an automotive vehicle and to transmit torque from a CV joint (D) to the road wheel. The wheel end includes a housing () that is attached to the suspension system component and a hub () provided with a drive flange () on which the road wheel is mounted and a spindle () that extends through the housing. The hub rotates relative to the housing on a double row tapered roller bearing (), the raceways () of which are surfaces on the housing and hub spindle. The wheel end also has a coupler () that is engaged with the hub spindle and the CV joint through mating splines () and further provides a rib face () that backs the rollers () of the inboard row. The CV joint has a small diameter stub shaft () that extends through the hub to secure the CV joint to the hub, but does not transmit torque. The tapered roller bearing and coupler enable the wheel end to assume a radial size smaller than conventional wheel ends.

Compact wheel end and corner module

A hub assembly includes a hub having a flange and a spindle projected from the flange, a housing located around the hub spindle, and an antifriction bearing between the housing and the spindle. The bearing includes an inner race which the spindle initially accommodates in that the spindle has a deformable end over which the inner race is passed. Thereafter, the deformable end is upset into a formed end in a rotary forming procedure that involves forcing the deformable end and a forming tool together while the spindle and tool rotate. The formed end should bear snugly against a back face on the inner race and capture the inner race on the spindle. In the forming procedure the spindle and forming tool are forced together initially in a coarse feed which provides the formed end that bears against the back face of the inner race, then at a fine feed, and finally at a dwell. The force is monitored throughout; A force or rate of change of force which fails to meet certain established criteria will result in the rejection of the hub assembly that experiences that force or rate. For example, the force approaching the end of the fine feed must increase at a rate that exceeds a prescribed minimum rate; the force at the end of the fine feed must not exceed a prescribed maximum and perhaps exceed a prescribed minimum, the force approaching the end of the dwell must exceed a prescribed minimum and must decrease at a rate above a prescribed minimum rate.

Growing community of inventors

Canton, OH, United States of America

Praveen M Pauskar