Patents Examined by Phillip A. Johnson
  • Axle assembly for drive wheels of vehicles
    Patent number: 11541689
    Abstract: An axle assembly for drive wheels of vehicles includes a steering knuckle, an axle housing coupled to an inside of the steering knuckle, a wheel disc that is fixed to the axle housing to be rotatable integrally with the axle housing, and a drive shaft that is coupled to the axle housing to be rotatable integrally with the axle housing. A hub bearing is disposed between the steering knuckle and the axle housing. A forming part is formed at an end of the axle housing in a state in which a bearing inner race of the hub bearing is coupled to an outer circumferential surface of the axle housing, and the bearing inner race is engaged with a side part of the axle housing by the forming part in a state in which the forming part is pressed against a side end of the bearing inner race.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Hyundai Wia Corporation
    Inventors: Sung Su Yoo, Won Jun Choi, Hee Il Kim, Bum Jae Lee, Chang Hee Jeong, Ki Dong Park
  • Bearing inner ring with integral mounting means
    Patent number: 11536318
    Abstract: An inner ring assembly for a bearing includes a bearing annular body disposable about the shaft and having a bearing inner race and a plurality of slotted openings defining a plurality of arcuate mounting tabs, the slotted openings each having a curved inner end and each tab including a substantial recess to reduce stress concentration. An annular locking collar is disposed about and clamps the mounting tabs against the outer surface of the shaft to retain the inner ring. The collar is retained on the ring body by a retainer projection(s) extending outwardly from the mounting tabs and engaging with the collar or a retainer member projecting inwardly from the collar and engaging with one of the mounting tabs. The collar has a gap and a flat outer surface section spaced from the gap to increase the dynamic balance and the flexibility of the collar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignees: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF, PEER BEARING COMPANY
    Inventors: Andrew Michael Bauer, Jordan Eric Gutowski, Trenton Alan Midyett, Joseph Anthony D'Andrea
  • Slew bearing, method for using a slew bearing, hoisting crane and vessel
    Patent number: 11536314
    Abstract: A slew bearing includes a stationary bearing ring to be fixed to a base, and a moveable bearing ring to be fixed to a moveable object, wherein the stationary bearing ring and the moveable bearing ring are configured to enable rotation of the moveable bearing ring relative to the stationary bearing ring about a rotation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: ITREC B.V.
    Inventors: Wouter Johannes Slob, Joop Roodenburg, Hendrikus Jacobus Weterings
  • Bearing and medical device
    Patent number: 11525476
    Abstract: Provided are a bearing and a medical device in which a gap is secured between an inner ring and an outer ring, and the gap can be used as a flow path for a fluid or an object. A bearing having a plurality of rolling elements between an inner ring and an outer ring is provided with a raceway surface on which the rolling elements roll on the outer ring and receiving portions for rotatably accommodating the rolling elements at a position of the inner ring facing the raceway surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: TERUMO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kosuke Nishio
  • Rolling bearing arrangement, device and method for determining a used and/or remaining period of a grease life-time
    Patent number: 11525481
    Abstract: A rolling bearing arrangement having a first and a second raceway element, and rolling bodies being arranged between the two raceway elements so that the two raceway elements are rotatable against each other in the manner of a rolling bearing, a space between the raceway elements in which the rolling bodies are rolling off comprising a lubricating grease, at least one sensor element for sensing temperature, at a specific point of the rolling bearing, particularly in the space, and for sensing speed of the rolling bearing and a unit receiving the sensed temperature and speed, calculating from the profiles of the sensed temperature over time and from the speed over time via a calculated energy imposed on the grease a used and/or remaining period of the grease life-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: Aktiebolaget SKF
    Inventors: Pieter Martin Lugt, Rob Bosman, Yuxin Zhou
  • Fractal structure for power-generation of bearing rotating vibration
    Patent number: 11525477
    Abstract: Provided is a fractal structure for power-generation of bearing rotating vibration that is installed on an outer ring of a bearing to generate power using vibration generated from a micro whirling motion of the bearing, the fractal structure including a housing which is in contact with the outer ring of the bearing to receive the vibration generated from the micro whirling motion of the bearing, and has a receiving space therein, a flexible element which is disposed in the receiving space while being in contact with an inner circumference of the housing to convert the vibration into a radial direction, and a piezoelectric element which is installed between the housing and the flexible element and disposed near the receiving space, and deforms upon receiving the vibration converted in the radial direction from the flexible element, thereby producing electricity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: KOREA INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Yong Bok Lee, Wonil Kwak, Bok Seong Choe, Jungwan Kim
  • Anti-electrolytic corrosion rolling bearing
    Patent number: 11525479
    Abstract: An anti-electrolytic corrosion rolling bearing includes an inner ring and an outer ring, rolling elements, and a thermal-sprayed ceramic film having electrical insulating properties, and disposed on one or each of the inner peripheral surface of the inner ring and the outer peripheral surface of the outer ring. The thermal-spray material forming the thermal-sprayed ceramic film contains, as the main component thereof, alumina particles having particle sizes of 5 ?m to 60 ?m and an average particle size of 30 ?m to 60 ?m. The thermal-sprayed ceramic film is densified by filling the pores between the alumina particles, with a predetermined amount of glassy melts of a metal oxide having a melting point lower than that of the alumina, such as silica, yttria, titania or zirconia, and having an average particle size of 5 ?m to 40 ?m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yutaka Tanaka
  • Constant velocity universal joint and cage thereof
    Patent number: 11519462
    Abstract: A constant velocity universal joint includes an inner ring and an outer ring. A cage is disposed between an outer spherical surface of the inner ring and an inner spherical surface of the outer ring, and has windows in which respective balls are received. The cage has ball contact surface areas with which the balls come into contact, and includes soft portions that are lower in hardness than the ball contact surface areas. The soft portions are formed by local heat treatment at portions of the windows that are kept out of contact with the balls or surface portions around the windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tsubasa Nishikawa, Masashi Funahashi, Tomoshige Kobayashi, Teruaki Fujio
  • Hub structure
    Patent number: 11518189
    Abstract: A hub structure includes an axle housing, a hub having an insertion hole in a vehicle width direction through which the axle housing is inserted, and an inner bearing disposed between the hub and the axle housing in the insertion hole and rotatably supporting the hub with respect to the axle housing, and an oil seal disposed between the hub and the axle housing in the insertion hole on an inner side relative to the inner bearing in the vehicle width direction. A spacer is provided between the inner bearing and the oil seal in the insertion hole. The spacer has an outer end surface that is contactable with an inner end surface of an inner race of the inner bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventor: Yuki Maruta
  • Sensor bearing unit and associated manufacturing method
    Patent number: 11519461
    Abstract: A sensor bearing unit includes a bearing having a first ring and a second ring, and an impulse ring provided with a target holder, with a target mounted on the target holder, and with a sleeve secured to the first ring, the target holder being axially mounted between a lateral face of the first ring and the sleeve. The first ring having at least one anti-rotation feature cooperating with at least one complementary anti-rotation feature formed on the impulse ring so as to prevent angular movement of the impulse ring relative to the first ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Aktiebolaget SKF
    Inventors: Nicolas Berruet, Charles Chambonneau, Eric Robert, Vincent Sausset
  • Shaft-tube joint structure of carbon fiber reinforced plastic drive shaft
    Patent number: 11512734
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a shaft-tube joint structure of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) drive shaft. The shaft-tube joint structure includes a hollow shaft tube, a plurality of first rectangular teeth being uniformly and circumferentially arranged at both ends of the hollow shaft tube; two shaft-tube joints which are respectively fixed at two ends of the hollow shaft tube, the thickness of the shaft-tube joint being smaller than that of the hollow shaft tube, and an inner wall of the shaft-tube joint being smoothly connected to an inner wall of the hollow shaft tube; and a universal joint, an end thereof being tubular, a plurality of second rectangular teeth being uniformly and circumferentially arranged, the universal joint being matched with and sleeving the outer wall of the shaft-tube joint, and the second rectangular teeth being meshed with the first rectangular teeth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Jilin University
    Inventors: Dengfeng Wang, Shenhua Li, Ke Xu
  • Bearing cage retainer
    Patent number: 11506212
    Abstract: The present invention provides bearing cage retainer for a rolling element rotor bearing in a vacuum pump. The bearing cage retainer being configured to have an operational arrangement in which, at the maximum longitudinal axial displacement limit of the outer race in the direction of the retainer, the bearing cage retainer is disengaged from the bearing cage, and a failure configuration characterised by the dislocation of the bearing cage by a longitudinal axial displacement of the bearing cage relative to the outer race in the direction of the retainer and in which the bearing cage retainer engages said bearing cage and the bearing cage maintains the separation of the rolling elements within the bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignee: Edwards Limited
    Inventors: Peter Meares, Andrew William Snell, Richard Glyn Horler
  • Slide rail assembly
    Patent number: 11497310
    Abstract: A slide rail assembly includes a first rail, a second rail and first function member. The first rail has a passage. The second rail is movably mounted in the passage of the first rail. The least one function member is arranged on the first rail and adjacent to an end portion of the first rail. The least one function member includes a first function portion located in the passage and a second function portion exceeding the end portion of the first rail. When the second rail is moved along a direction from a predetermined position and a rail section of the second rail exceeds the end portion and is located at outside of the channel of the first rail, the second function portion of the least one function member is configured to support at least one part of the rail section of the second rail.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignees: KING SLIDE WORKS CO., LTD., KING SLIDE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Ken-Ching Chen, Shun-Ho Yang, Tzu-Cheng Weng, Chun-Chiang Wang
  • Strut bearing and vehicle strut suspension
    Patent number: 11493087
    Abstract: An upper raceway ring has an inward flange portion. A lower raceway ring has an outward flange portion. An upper case has an outwardly projecting piece projecting in the radially outward direction toward an end surface of the inward flange portion from a surface facing the end surface. A lower case has an inwardly projecting piece projecting in the radially inward direction toward an end surface of the outward flange portion from a surface facing the end surface. The end surface of the upper raceway ring comes into contact with the outwardly projecting piece of the upper case, to allow the upper raceway ring to be held by the upper case. The end surface of the lower raceway ring comes into contact with the inwardly projecting piece of the lower case, to allow the lower raceway ring to be held by the lower case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: NAKANISHI METALWORKS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshio Horikawa, Yasuhiro Narazaki, Kohei Shibata
  • Assembly with one shaft and one radial ball bearing
    Patent number: 11486438
    Abstract: An assembly has a radial ball bearing including a bearing inner ring, and a rotatable shaft with a shaft end region with a bearing seat. The bearing seat has a shoulder on one side, on which the bearing inner ring of the radial ball bearing is seated for supporting the shaft. The bearing seat is shortened in the longitudinal direction relative to the radial ball bearing, and extends toward a height of the radial ball bearing. The bearing seat terminates at a distance (L) from an orthogonal projection from the proximalmost points of a distalmost row of balls onto the bearing seat surface such that L=k*D, wherein k is in a range between 0.7 and 0.5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: NIDEC Motors & Actuators (Germany) GmbH
    Inventor: Jürgen Schmid
  • Bearing monitoring method and system
    Patent number: 11480213
    Abstract: This invention relates to a bearing monitoring method and system suitable for the monitoring of faults in rolling element bearings. The method and system utilize an acceleration sensor that is sensitive to both acceleration and housing strain and which has the effect of amplifying acceleration events that coincide with areas of the housing strain signal that correspond to bearing ball-pass events. The housing strain signal due to ball-pass events can be used to synchronise or otherwise modify the sampling of acceleration signals, or to determine bearing performance characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Inventor: Iain Kenton Epps
  • Bearing unit with optimized radially inner ring
    Patent number: 11480217
    Abstract: A bearing unit having a stationary radially outer ring; a radially inner ring rotatable around a central rotation axis (X) of the bearing unit and provided with at least one raceway and, in a terminal portion thereof, with at least one through hole; at least one row of rolling elements interposed between the radially outer ring and the radially inner ring; and at least one clamping element, which is accommodated in the through hole, to lock the radially inner ring on to a rotating shaft. A first radially outer cylindrical surface of the terminal portion of the radially inner ring has a diameter smaller than the diameter of a second radially outer cylindrical surface of a second terminal portion of the radially inner ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Inventors: Fausto Baracca, Andrea A. Bertolini, Antonino Calderone, Giacomo Conti
  • Double-row rolling-element bearing unit having preloading element
    Patent number: 11473619
    Abstract: A double-row rolling-element bearing unit of a medical pump, preferably syringe pump, has a bearing core forming a first inner running surface for first rolling elements, which first inner running surface faces in an axial direction, and forms a second inner running surface for second rolling elements, which second inner running surface is arranged oppositely to the first inner running surface in the axial direction. The pump has a bearing bush, which can be mounted on a housing portion and forms a first outer running surface, which lies opposite the first inner running surface, and the pump has a bearing pan, which forms a second outer running surface, which lies opposite the second inner running surface. At least one preloading element couples the bearing pan to the bearing bush with a defined preload to join the double-row rolling-element bearing unit as a unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: B. Braun Melsungen AG
    Inventor: Marcel Stich
  • Bearing with an integrated electrical shunt
    Patent number: 11473628
    Abstract: A bearing includes an integrated electrical shunt. The shunt includes electrically conductive fibers sandwiched between two washers, at least one of which is electrically conductive. The fibers are fastened to the electrically conductive washer by electrically conductive epoxy. An outer shield protects the fibers. The outer shield is held to the washers by a drawn cup. The washers, the drawn cup, and the outer shield all have oil drain holes to allow lubricant to flow to the rollers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Marion Jack Ince, Venkata Kottapalli, Guihui Zhong
  • Bearing housing
    Patent number: 11470780
    Abstract: A bearing coupler assembly that has a bearing housing sized to at least partially receive a bearing assembly, the bearing housing defining a bearing axis therethrough, a shaft positioned at least partially through the bearing housing along the bearing axis, the shaft defining a shaft lip and a fastener end, the bearing assembly coupling the shaft to the bearing housing so the shaft can rotate about the bearing axis relative to the bearing housing, a fastener configured to be coupled to the fastener end of the shaft, a tone wheel positioned axially along the bearing axis between the fastener and the bearing assembly, the tone wheel having at least one indicator, a sensor coupled to the bearing housing and configured to identify when the indicator passes thereby.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Alexander C. Reiners, John A. Dighton, Guy Burch, Blake C. Gettig, Surfraj Fattepur, Todd J. Rodrigue