Constant torque ball bearing
US4741632A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 1, 1986 |
| Grant date | May 3, 1988 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 1, 2006 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF16C2370/00
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A ball structure for stabilizing bearing torque in high speed, preloaded, angular contact load supporting ball bearings operating on elastohydrodynamic lubricant films. Angular momentum developed about a ball spin axis that is not parallel to the bearing rotation axis results in a continuous creep of the ball about the momentum axis, thereby allowing a long term preload and torque variation. The improved ball set is shaped so that each ball has a mass inertia about its desired spin axis that is greater than about all other axes, so as to develop a restoring moment tending to maintain rotation about a fixed axis in each ball. The ball cage is configured to maintain ball alignment during run-up and run-down of the bearing.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.