Process and tool for adjusting bearings
US5386630A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 27, 1993 |
| Grant date | Feb 7, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 27, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T29/49776
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A bearing assembly which enables a hub to rotate on a spindle and has two single row tapered roller bearings, is adjusted by forcing the inner races or cones together with a spacer between them, all while the hub is off the spindle. This force, which is applied by an adjusting tool that fits through the cones much like the spindle, compresses the spacer and causes it to yield both elastically and plastically. The force is applied incrementally, and with each incremental advance the drag torque in the bearing assembly is checked by simply turning the adjusting tool. When the drag torque reaches a prescribed magnitude, the compressive force is removed and the adjusting tool withdrawn. Now the two races, the collapsed spacer and the hub, are installed on the spindle, followed by a spindle nut over the end of the spindle. The spindle nut clamps the two races and the spacer together, with the spacer establishing the distance that the races are separated--and hence the setting for the bearing assembly.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.