Patents Examined by Thomas R. Hannon
  • Patent number: 9951813
    Abstract: A rolling bearing includes an inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls, and an annular cage. The cage has an annular portion provided on a first side in an axial direction with respect to the balls and a plurality of cage bars. Pockets that house the balls are each formed between the cage bars adjacent to each other in a circumferential direction. An axially-first-side side surface of the annular portion has a first surface that is inclined toward the first side in the axial direction as the first surface extends outward in a radial direction and a second surface provided outward of the first surface in the radial direction and positioned on the second side in the axial direction with respect to an extended virtual plane of the first surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Youzou Taniguchi, Takashi Iwata
  • Patent number: 9951807
    Abstract: A half bearing includes a bearing body having a semi-circular tube shape with mating surfaces and that come into contact with a half bearing, and an oil groove that is provided on the sliding surface and extends in a rotational direction of a shaft. The oil groove has a curved shape in a cross section parallel to the shaft direction, the width of the oil groove is uniform in a range of at least ±30° in a cross section orthogonal to the shaft direction, and the width of the oil groove is smaller than the width in the range, in at least a region on the downstream side in the rotational direction among regions outside of the range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Taiho Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Daisuke Seki
  • Patent number: 9951819
    Abstract: The invention relates to a slewing bearing that includes an inner ring, an outer ring, at least one row of rolling elements arranged between the rings in order to form an axial thrust that transmits axial forces, and at least one row of rolling elements arranged between the rings in order to form a radial thrust which can transmit radial forces. The slewing bearing further includes a sensing probe for detecting a relative displacement between the inner ring and outer ring and/or cracks, the inner ring having a through hole in which the sensing probe arranged. The through hole has a probe positioning element provided with a positioning portion and a support portion on which the sensing probe is supported so as to face the outer ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventor: Bruno Capoldi
  • Patent number: 9945422
    Abstract: A rolling bearing apparatus includes: a bearing including an inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls, and a cage; and an oil supply unit provided axially adjacent to the bearing. The oil supply unit includes a tank in which to accumulate lubricant, and a pump that receives the lubricant in the tank and supplies the lubricant to the bearing. The tank is provided with a holding material for the lubricant, the holding material having minute pores. The holding material includes a first holding portion provided in a region on an outlet-side of the tank, and a second holding portion provided in a part other than the region and having a porosity higher than that of the first holding portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Tanimoto, Boyko Stoimenov
  • Patent number: 9939016
    Abstract: A two-part bearing cage for a rolling-element bearing includes first and second identical cage halves each including an annular base body, a plurality of pins extending axially from the annular base body, and a plurality of pin receptacles, each of the plurality of pin receptacles having a shape complementary to a shape of a pin. Each of the pins on one cage half engages into one of the receptacles of the other cage half to form bearing cage bridges and pockets between the bridges, and each of the receptacles includes a radially outwardly disposed, axially extending ring wall section that radially outwardly supports the pin received in that receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventors: Alexander Mocnik, Thomas Forster, Matthias Zauner
  • Patent number: 9939023
    Abstract: A bearing assembly includes a roller bearing connected with a plate-shaped bearing support. The bearing support has a receiving bore for an outer ring of the roller bearing, and the outer ring of the roller bearing is affixed to the bearing support with two affixing plates that are fixed to first and second end sides of the bearing support. The two affixing plates clamp the outer ring at two clamping surfaces. An axial spacing of the first and second end sides of the bearing support is smaller than an axial spacing of the clamping surfaces of the outer ring, and a spring element configured to act in the axial direction is disposed between one of the two affixing plates and the bearing support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventors: Jürgen Barthelme, Alexander Dilje, Helmut Hauck, Daniel Ludwig, Stefanie Seufert
  • Patent number: 9937506
    Abstract: A motion guide apparatus cooling nozzle is provided which can gas-cool a motion guide apparatus. Cooling nozzles 1a and 1b of the present invention are mounted on a block 4 of the motion guide apparatus to cool at least one of a guide rail 2 and a block 4 that is assembled to the guide rail 2 via a rolling element 6 in such a manner as to be movable relatively. The cooling nozzles 1a and 1b include an inner passage 18 into which gas is introduced, an opening 12a configured to emit a gas flow introduced into the inner passage 18, a deflection surface 22a that is provided adjacently to the opening 12a to bend the gas flow emitted from the opening 12a, and a guiding surface 32a configured to attract gas outside the cooling nozzles 1a and 1b.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 10, 2018
    Assignee: THK CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Akimasa Yoshida, Ryuji Furusawa, Takuya Horie, Keisuke Nagaike, Shinji Aoki, Ayako Miyajima
  • Patent number: 9933012
    Abstract: A bearing centering spring includes a cylindrical body with outer rings at each end, wherein each outer ring has outer raceways on the inner surface of the body. There is also a retaining feature on an end of the body and ports through the body that are positioned between the outer rings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph Grillo, Kevin Duffy, Ronnie K. Kovacik
  • Patent number: 9933016
    Abstract: A rolling bearing device includes a rolling bearing; and a spacer provided adjacent to one side of the rolling bearing in an axial direction and having a grease reservoir and a flow path, the grease reservoir being in a form of a groove, extending along a circumferential direction, and having grease reserved in the grease reservoir, and the flow path providing communication between the grease reservoir and an inner part of the rolling bearing. The spacer includes an annular wall surface that defines an inner periphery of the grease reservoir. An end of the annular wall surface on a side of the rolling bearing in the axial direction of the grease reservoir is continuous with an opposed end face of the spacer that is opposed to the rolling bearing. An entire area of the annular wall surface is constituted by a flat surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2018
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yuki Shishihara
  • Patent number: 9926973
    Abstract: A thrust disc for an aircraft and methods of making and using the thrust disc are provided. The thrust disc includes a planar body, and a region unitarily formed from a portion of the body, wherein the region has a plurality of sides defining the region on the planar body, wherein the region has a textured feature, and wherein a subset of the plurality of sides are cut and at least one of the plurality of sides is integrally connected to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: HAMILTON SUNDSTRAND CORPORATION
    Inventors: Anthony Santiago, Jeffery L. Stark
  • Patent number: 9926981
    Abstract: A labyrinth seal bearing includes: an inner ring; an outer ring; a labyrinth seal structure, located in a radial gap between the inner ring and the outer ring; wherein the labyrinth seal structure includes a plurality of seal rings, a labyrinth gap channel is formed among the plurality of seal rings, and the labyrinth gap channel includes two ports respectively connected with an external of the bearing and an internal of the bearing; and a seal loop made from lubricating grease, wherein the seal loop is located in the labyrinth gap channel, and blocks the labyrinth gap channel, so as to isolate the two ports from each other. The present disclosure solves the problem of poor sealing effect in a conventional labyrinth seal bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Lai Wei, Caifen Liu, Xin Liu
  • Patent number: 9920791
    Abstract: A rolling bearing with a rotation sensor includes an inner race and an outer race, one of which is a rotating race and the other of which is a stationary race. An annular magnetic encoder alternately magnetized in opposite polarities in its circumferential direction is mounted on the rotating race. A magnetic sensor configured to detect the changes in magnetic flux when the magnetic encoder is rotated is mounted in a resin sensor housing mounted on the stationary race. The sensor housing is made of a resin material including a resin composition containing polyphenylene sulfide, an inorganic filler, and glass fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hiroyoshi Ito
  • Patent number: 9916855
    Abstract: A bearing portion includes an upper dynamic pressure portion, a lower dynamic pressure portion, and an intra-bearing space defined between a lower surface of a fluid in the upper dynamic pressure portion and an upper surface of a fluid in the lower dynamic pressure portion, and not including the fluid. An airway defined in a shaft includes an inner opening arranged to be in communication with the intra-bearing space, and an outer opening arranged to be in communication with an extra-bearing space. Each of the inner and outer openings is defined in a side surface of the shaft. The extra-bearing space and the intra-bearing space are arranged to be in communication with each other through the airway. The airway is arranged to extend substantially in a straight line or lines, is angled with respect to a central axis, and has no other openings than the inner and outer openings. This contributes to preventing a gas inside of a housing from leaking out of the housing through the airway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeyuki Shuto, Toshinari Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 9915174
    Abstract: A bearing assembly is provided. The bearing assembly may include an inner race configured to couple to a shaft, an outer race disposed around the inner race, a bearing support structure coupled to the outer race, and a housing disposed around the bearing support structure. The housing and the bearing support structure may define a squeeze-film damper annulus configured to receive an aerated damping fluid. The aerated damping fluid may be provided from a fluid pump and an air supply port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Robert J. Morris, Gregory M. Savela, Daniel L. Gysling, Richard A. Lomenzo
  • Patent number: 9909621
    Abstract: A bearing, including: an axis of rotation; an inner ring including a first radially inner circumferential side; an outer ring arranged radially outward of the inner ring and including a first radially outer circumferential side; a cage radially arranged between the inner and outer rings; and at least one rolling element positioned within the cage. The inner ring includes at least one circumferentially extending groove in the radially inner circumferential side and at least one through-bore connecting the at least one circumferentially extending groove to a space formed between the inner and outer rings; or the outer ring includes at least one circumferentially extending groove in the radially outer circumferential side and at least one through-bore connecting the at least one circumferentially extending groove to a space formed between the inner and outer rings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventor: William Moratz
  • Patent number: 9909620
    Abstract: A cage for a radial bearing assembly with rolling elements is provided. The cage includes a first and second rims, and webs extend between the rims to define pockets that receive rolling elements. Each of the webs includes first and second rolling element guide surfaces that face a first adjacent one of the pockets and third and fourth guide surfaces that face a second adjacent one of the pockets. These guide surfaces are located at a pitch circle adapted to coincide with a centerline of the rolling elements located in the pockets. The webs have first and second radially inner retention tabs that respectively face the first and second adjacent ones of the pockets. The first retention tab is located axially between the first and second guide surfaces and the second retention tab is located axially between the third and fourth guide surfaces. The retention tabs are located radially inside the pitch circle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Marion Jack Ince, Guihui Zhong
  • Patent number: 9903416
    Abstract: An outer ring (31) has a small-diameter step portion (37) comprising a step portion outer peripheral surface (37a) and a step surface (37b), and a engagement groove (37c) is formed in the step portion outer peripheral surface (37a). The inner peripheral surface of a retainer plate (40) is provided with a small-diameter hole portion (41) facing the step portion outer peripheral surface (37a), and a large-diameter hole portion (42) facing the outer peripheral surface (31a) of the outer ring (31) and guiding a rolling bearing (30). The retainer plate (40) is provided with a plurality of engagement claws (49) for locking into the engagement groove (37c), the engagement claws protruding diametrically inward from the inner periphery of the small-diameter hole portion (41), and the retainer plate (40) and the rolling bearing (30) are inseparably assembled by locking the engagement claws (49) into the engagement groove (37c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: NSK LTD.
    Inventor: Yutaka Ishibashi
  • Patent number: 9903417
    Abstract: A procedure for mounting of a hub bearing assembly having a rotatable hub, and a bearing unit having a stationary radially outer ring, and two bodies rolling crowns disposed between the radially outer ring and the hub. The assembly process involves the following steps: a) pressing-fit a first seal on the hub, b) mounting an axially external cage and the axially outside rolling bodies, in correspondence with a track of the axially outer hub, c) the radially outer ring assembly and inclination of the same outer ring of a predetermined angle with respect to the hub, d) mounting of the axially interior rolling bodies in correspondence with a track of the axially inner hub, and the radially outer ring alignment to the hub, f) snap insertion of the axially internal cage on rolling bodies and g) the pressing-fit a second seal on its seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventors: Andrea Serafini, Flavio Franza, Laura Sguotti
  • Patent number: 9897138
    Abstract: A method for axially preloading a bearing hub assembly having a rotatable hub, provided with rolling tracks and a bearing unit having a stationary radially outer ring, provided with rolling tracks, and a double row of rolling bodies disposed between the radially outer ring and the hub. The method requires the use of a bias unit and provides the following steps: a) feeding to an assembly station a hub bearing assembly, already assembled; b) verifying the value of the interference (C) between the radially outer ring and the bias unit; c) exerting an axial force (F) radially on the outer ring for the bias unit to deform under compression the radially outer ring that in turn will transmit a force to the rolling bodies via the raceways.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: AKTIEBOLAGET SKF
    Inventors: Andrea Serafini, Flavio Franza, Laura Sguotti, Domenico Bosco, Cornelius Petrus Antonius Vissers
  • Patent number: 9897137
    Abstract: A rotary machine is provided with: a flange section protruding in the radial direction of a rotating shaft which rotates about an axis and rotating together with the rotating shaft; a stationary bush disposed at a distance in the direction of the axis from the flange section, surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft, and provided in a housing supporting the rotating shaft so as to be immovable in the direction of the axis relative to the rotating shaft; and a rotation bush which is disposed between the flange section and the stationary bush so as to be sandwiched there between in the direction of the axis, covers the outer peripheral surface of the rotating shaft, and is rotatable relative to the rotating shaft and the housing while floating in fluid. The rotation bush has, on the surface thereof which faces the direction of the axis, a land surface and a tapered surface which is continuous with the land surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuya Kojima, Tadasuke Nishioka, Takaya Futae, Motoki Ebisu, Takashi Nambu