Federal-Mogul Corporation

Federal-Mogul World Wide, Inc.

Ronald Joseph Thompson

Sean Michael Welch

Ned L Misner

Michael D Winegard

Warren J Whitney, Jr

Jack J Somma

John R Smith

Alain Patoureau

Philippe Damour

A thrust bearing assembly includes an upper thrust bearing and a lower thrust bearing for an engine assembly of a vehicle and which, are preferably, identically configured. The thrust bearings each include an arcuate bearing shell with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface, and each includes a pair of axially spaced flanges extending radially outwardly of the bearing shells. The flanges may be formed as one piece with the bearing shell, and one flange is thicker than the other flange. The thicker flanges are load bearing and preferably contoured, whereas the thinner flanges are not. The bearings are installed with the thick flange of each bearing matched radially opposite the thin flange of the companion bearing to minimize fatigue and failure normally attributed to repeated seating and unseating of bearing assemblies having flanges of equal thickness caused by changing bending loads imparted by a shaft.

Method of aligning a thrust bearing

A thrust bearing assembly includes an upper thrust bearing and a lower thrust bearing for use in an engine assembly of a vehicle and which, are preferably, identically configured. The upper and lower thrust bearings each include an arcuate bearing shell with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface and each may be formed with a pair of axially spaced flanges extending radially outwardly of the bearing shells. The flanges may be formed as one piece with the bearing shell and the thickness of one of the flanges is greater than that of the other of the flanges. The thicker flanges are load bearing and preferably contoured, whereas the thinner flanges are not. The bearings are installed with the thick flange of each bearing matched radially opposite the thin flange of the companion bearing to minimize fatigue and failure normally attributed to repeated seating and unseating of the bearing assemblies having flanges of equal thickness caused by changing bending loads imparted by a shaft.

Thrust bearing

The subject invention provides a thrust bearing assembly having only three thrust flanges in total. One portion of the thrust bearing assembly comprises a main bearing having an arcuate bearing shell with a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface. A thrust washer having hydrodynamic features abuts one of the edges of the main bearing and extends radially outwardly from the outer surface thereof forming a thrust surface. The other of the edges of the main bearing is free of a flange. The free edge of the main bearing is preferably spaced inward from other thrust surfaces and the edge has a substantially narrower width than the other thrust surfaces. The other portion of the assembly may include a traditional thrust bearing having one thrust flange with hydrodynamic features and another thrust flange free of hydrodynamic features, both extending radially outwardly therefrom or may include another main bearing abutting a pair of thrust washers, one having hydrodynamic features and one free of hydrodynamic features, extending radially outwardly from the other main bearing. In either configuration, the thrust flange or thrust washer that is free of hydrodynamic features is opposite the thrust washer having hydrodynamic features of the main bearing.

Thrust bearing assembly

An engine bearing for an internal combustion engine has a pair of separately constructed bearing halves comprising a pair of arcuate shells having a pair of laterally spaced flanges extending generally radially outwardly from each shell. Each pair of laterally spaced flanges comprises a pair of thrust faces facing generally away from one another with one of the thrust faces comprising an undulating contoured surface and the other thrust face having a generally planar non-contoured surface. The engine bearing is assembled having the contoured surface of one engine bearing half abutting the non-contoured surface of the other engine bearing half so that the engine bearing has generally opposite sides comprising both contoured and non-contoured surfaces.

Flange bearing

An aluminum thrust washer that has a wrought aluminum matrix that includes from 2 to 20 weight percent silicon, 0.1 to 4 weight percent of copper, with the remainder pure aluminum. The aluminum thrust washer is formed of a mono-metal structure without a backing layer. The wrought aluminum matrix has mechanical properties such that the aluminum matrix wears away, leaving silicon particles exposed at a thrust face of the washer, such that the density of silicon particles is continually increasing as the thrust washer is utilized.

Aluminum thrust washer

A dispersion of hard, wear-resistant particles such as aluminum oxide is embedded within a shaft-engaging surface of a bearing such that the service life of a shaft and bearing assembly is extended. The relatively hard aluminum oxide particles exert a polishing action on the shaft surface to improve the wear resistance and seizure resistance of the bearing and shaft system. A tumbling barrel, vibratory bowl, air jet, brush or similar apparatus can be used to apply and embed tumbling media particles within the shaft-engaging surface. During the application period, aluminum oxide particles are transferred to the bearing member surfaces by the sliding, rubbing contact between the abrasive bodies and the individual bearing members.

Engine bearing surface treatment

A split crankshaft bearing assembly includes two flanged half bearings adapted to collectively encircle a crankshaft. The flanges are formed with oil supply grooves that subdivide the flange surface into thrust bearing pads. Each pad includes a positively sloped ramp surface leading to a raised land surface. The rotating crankshaft drags a film of oil onto the land surface where it provides hydrodynamic thrust support for the shaft. To facilitate close tolerance control on the thrust bearing pad contour, the manufacturing process is carried out so that the oil supply grooves are formed and the thrust face presized prior to formation of the pad final contour. The pad contour is formed by a coining operation.

Method for forming a crankshaft bearing having hydrodynamic thrust

Crankshaft bearing having hydrodynamic thrust flanges

A composite thrust collar for a rotary shaft formed from a radial bearing in which the rotating shaft may rotate and at least one axial thrust collar preventing axial movement of the shaft, characterized in that the radial bearing or the axial thrust collar or collars has at least one boss and in that the radial bearing is fixed to the axial thrust collar or collars by welding along said at least one boss and in that said at least one boss interconnects with the radial bearing or axial thrust collar in such a manner that should the weld break the bearing and collar can not rotate nor be radially disposed relative to one another.

Composite thrust bearing formed by a radial bearing with at least one

Split journal bearings having crush relief are made by a method using a special plating rack having urethane masks for covering the ends of the split bearings during electroplating. Split thrust bearings having flanges may also be made according to the present invention by providing masking elements between adjacent bearings to prevent overplating at the flange relief areas or at the flange groove. The method eliminates broaching and/or boring operations to form crush relief areas on bearings but instead provides the required relief areas through the exclusion of overplate from said areas by masking. The plating rack features adjustable masks which are adapted to receive bearings within a range of sizes.

Method for making improved split bearings having masked relief areas

An engine bearing or bushing having a cylindrical inner bearing surface which is slightly offset relative to the outer surface of the bearing. The amount of offset is very small and the offset is in a direction generally away from the portion of the bearing exposed to the maximum load. The inner bearing surface is offset so that the oil clearance between a journal member and the maximum load portion of the bearing is minimized to reduce oil film pressure and increase oil film thickness in that region. The offset increases the clearance between the journal member and bearing at a low load area of the bearing to increase oil flow and reduce oil temperature. The transition from the high clearance area to minimum clearance area is uniform so that the oil film thickness will also increase uniformly to its maximum potential.

Offset wall bearing

A split multipiece flanged journal bearing for use as an engine crankshaft thrust-journal bearing or the like wherein the thrust flanges and journal bearing shells are semi-cylindrical and have interlocking means to prevent rotational motion of the thrust flange relative to the respective bearing shell and with potential replacement interchangeability so that any worn or damaged parts may be replaced without changing the whole bearing and so that any one or all thrust flanges may be replaced without removing the crankshaft from the engine and wherein the notch and interlocking lug at one end of a particular combination of thrust flange and bearing shell is of greater arc length than those at the other end to provide a fail-safe feature to assure correct assembly.

Growing community of inventors

Howell, MI, United States of America

Ronald Joseph Thompson