Aktiebolaget Skf

Thomas Kettner

Harald Metz

Hans-Juergen Friedrich

Alfred Radina

Jonas Schierling

Maximilian Soellner

Norbert Huhn

Markus Volkmuth

Manfred Mattes

Achim Mueller

Sebastian Dinkel

Shihao Du

A method includes separating a strip of sheet metal from a sheet metal body by a combination of punching and laser cutting, the strip having a first joint edge having at least one first alignment element and a second joint edge having at least one second alignment element complementary to the at least one first alignment element, folding a longitudinal edge portion of the strip to form a flange, bending the strip into a ring and materially bonding the first joint edge to the second joint edge, installing the ring on a radially inner circumferential surface or a radially outer circumferential surface and mounting a plurality of rolling-elements on the ring. The first joint edge and the second joint edge are formed by the punching, and side edges connecting the first joint edge and the second joint edge are formed by the laser cutting.

Method of forming raceway element including a contoured joint edge

A raceway element for a rolling-element bearing, the rolling-element bearing having an inner ring, an outer ring, and a plurality of rolling elements that are disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring. The raceway element is configured as an inner ring or as an outer ring, or is configured to be attachable to an inner ring or outer ring of the bearing, wherein at least one surface of the raceway element is configured as a raceway for the rolling elements. The raceway element is formed from a sheet metal panel having at least one recess formed in the surface configured as the raceway.

Sheet metal panel raceway including recesses

A method of forming a bearing cage segment includes determining a path of a periphery of the bearing cage segment along a metal sheet, punching a plurality of openings in the metal sheet inside the path to form a plurality of pockets separated by a plurality of bridges and separating the bearing cage segment from the metal sheet at the path. The separating includes laser cutting first and second joint edges at a first end of the row and third and fourth joint edges at a second end of the row, where the first joint edge is spaced from the second joint edge in a length direction of the bridges and the third joint edge is spaced from the fourth joint edge in the length direction of the bridges.

Method of forming a bearing cage segment including a joint edge for welding

Disclosed is a needle roller bearing, in particular for use in supporting a bottom roller in a spinning machine. The needle roller bearing includes an inner ring and an outer ring which are arranged such that the inner ring and the outer ring are rotatable relatively to each other around a bearing rotation axis. A rolling chamber is defined between the inner ring and the outer ring, in which a plurality of needle rollers are arranged. A solid lubricant is disposed in the rolling chamber of the needle roller bearing.

Needle roller bearing

A method of forming a bearing cage segment includes punching a plurality of openings in a sheet metal band to form a plurality of pockets separated by a plurality of bridges, the bridges having a length direction transverse to a length direction of the band and having a width in the length direction of the band and having a thickness in a direction perpendicular the length direction and to the width, and laser cutting the sheet metal band along one of the plurality of bridges transversely to the length direction of the band to form a joint edge.

Method of forming a bearing cage segment including a joint edge in the region of a to-be-formed bridge

A bearing raceway element configured as an inner ring or as an outer ring, or configured to be attachable to an element serving as an inner ring or as an outer ring for the bearing or to an inner ring or an outer ring of the bearing. The raceway element is manufactured from a sheet metal panel and includes at least one first joint edge and at least one second joint edge directed in the circumferential direction that are configured to be connected to each other in order to form an annular raceway element. The at least one first joint edge is at least partially configured as a first alignment element and/or includes the first alignment element. Also a bearing including the raceway element and an associated method.

Method of forming raceway element including contoured joint edge

A sheet metal strip configured for use as an inner or outer raceway of a rolling-element bearing, and a method of forming the raceway by punching and/or laser cutting a strip of material from a metal sheet, bending the sheet into a ring and welding the ends of the strip together, and mounting the strip on a circular inner or outer surface to form an outer or inner raceway.

Raceway element and method for its manufacture

A sheet-metal bearing cage segment has a first ring section, at least one second ring section and a plurality of bridges connecting the first ring section and the at least one second ring section to each other such that a pocket for receiving at least one rolling element is formed between each circumferentially adjacent pair of the bridges. The first and/or second ring section includes at least one recess on the radially inner side and/or the radially outer side.

Bearing cage segment including at least one recess for facilitated bending

A bearing cage segment of a sheet metal cage includes first and second sheet metal ring sections and bridges therebetween defining a plurality of pockets for receiving rolling elements. A first circumferential joint edge of the segment is configured to connect to a second circumferential joint edge of the segment or to a second joint edge of another segment, and the first joint edge includes at least one alignment element, such as a projection or contour, that is configured to align the first joint edge radially, axially and/or circumferentially against the second joint edge which may include a complementary alignment element such as a recess or complementary contour.

Bearing cage segment including alignment element

A sheet metal bearing cage segment includes a first sheet metal ring section, at least one second sheet metal ring section, and a plurality of bridges connecting the first ring section and the at least one second ring section to each other, adjacent pairs of the bridges forming pockets configured to receive at least one rolling element. At least one edge of the first ring section and/or at least one edge of the at least one second ring section and/or of one of the bridges is at least partially formed by laser cutting. Also a method of forming a sheet metal bearing cage at least partially by laser cutting.

Bearing cage segment of a sheet metal cage

A sheet metal bearing cage segment includes a first ring section, at least one second ring section, and a plurality of bridges connecting the first and second ring sections to each other and defining a plurality of pockets between the bridges. The bearing cage segment includes first and second circumferentially directed joint edges, the first joint edge is configured to connect to the second joint edge of the bearing cage segment or to a second joint edge of another sheet metal bearing cage segment, and the first joint edge includes at least one body of welding material projecting from the joint edge. The body of welding material may be pressed against the second joint edge while leaving a gap between the joint edges, and the welding material can be liquified by a resistance welding process to connect the joint edges.

Growing community of inventors

Bamberg, Germany

Thomas Kettner