RU2518789C2 - Support ring of railway bearing - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: machine building.

SUBSTANCE: in general, invention relates to antifriction bearings, namely, as per one design version to tapered roller bearings. A bearing assembly includes an outer bearing race (31), an inner bearing race (40), many rollers (44), an inner seal housing (56), an outer seal housing (54), a support ring (22) and an adhesive gasket (90). The outer race (31) is fitted by a raceway turned radially inside. The inner race (40) is mounted on a centre shaft (12). All the many rollers (44) are set between the raceway of the outer race (31) and the inner race (40). The inner seal housing (56) is attached to the inner race (40). The outer seal housing (54) is attached to the outer race (31) and is fitted by a leakproof casing running to the inner seal housing (56). The supporting ring (22) is attached to a fillet (18) of the centre shaft (12) and rests against the inner race (40). The supporting ring (22) comprises an annular boss (23) protruding outside in the axial direction and resting against the inner race (40). The supporting ring (22) and the inner race (40) form a gap radially outside the boss (23) with the adhesive gasket (90) set in the gap. The adhesive gasket (90) is set between the supporting ring (22) and the inner race (40). The adhesive gasket (90) serves for the attachment of the supporting ring (22) to the inner race (40). Method for forced fitting of the bearing assembly and the supporting ring on a shaft is proposed as well.

EFFECT: due to the installation of an adhesive gasket it is provided for easier forced fitting of a bearing assembly and a supporting ring as a solid unit onto a centre shaft by one operation, compression preloading of the bearing unit is kept at the bearing assembly regardless of any deterioration of gasket properties.

18 cl, 4 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to antifriction bearings, and more particularly in accordance with one embodiment to tapered roller bearings.

State of the art

Anti-friction roller bearings (also commonly referred to as roller bearings), such as roller bearings and tapered roller bearings, are widely used in various industrial applications. Like any other moving mechanical component, bearings eventually experience deterioration associated with wear. Since the bearing is a high-value product, it is common practice to restore (repair) worn bearing assemblies. Bearing assemblies that have been decommissioned for repair are cleaned, checked for defects and repaired accordingly. Reassembled bearing assemblies undergo quality control checks prior to shipment. Validated bearing assemblies are ready to be pressed onto the shaft (for example, on the axis of a railroad car).

However, some types of bearing assemblies do not have a means to hold the support ring together with the bearing assembly. Since a press fit on the trunnion of the bearing assembly and the support ring as a single unit is desirable, the absence of a holding means for connecting the two components can create problems for their effective installation.

Disclosure of invention

A bearing assembly is proposed that includes a compressible adhesive pad for attaching a support ring to an inner ring of a bearing of a bearing assembly. Adhesive gasket facilitates the press fit of the bearing assembly and the support ring in the form of a single block on the shaft journal (for example, on the axle axis of a railway carriage) in one operation.

Compressible adhesive pad has a housing formed in one structural embodiment of compressible polymer foamed material with closed pores. In this embodiment, the gasket body is coated with a pressure sensitive adhesive (contact adhesive).

Adhesive gasket in one embodiment has an annular shape for installation around a part of the support ring and the introduction of the gap between the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing. The compressible nature of the adhesive gasket helps ensure uniform gasket contact on potentially uneven, non-parallel and rough surfaces between the bearing ring and the bearing inner ring. The installation of an adhesive gasket in the gap allows the bearing assembly to have groups of solid metal components adjacent to each other from the support ring to the lock cap, which allows preloading of the bearing assembly with the lock cap so that these components remain insulated and undamaged under any wear adhesive pads.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Various structural variants of the bearing assembly with a new compressible adhesive pad will be described later with reference to the accompanying drawings. These drawings are given as an example only to illustrate the invention and do not limit its scope of patent claims.

Thus, the shown bearing assembly and gasket are given as an example and are not restrictive.

Figure 1 shows a section of one structural variant of the bearing assembly.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged sectional view of the bearing assembly shown in FIG. 1.

Figure 3 shows in detail a section of one structural embodiment of the adhesive strip used in the structural embodiment of the bearing assembly shown in figure 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view for explaining the installation of a bearing assembly on a journal using a bearing press.

The implementation of the invention

We now turn to the consideration of figure 1, which shows an exemplary node 10 of the bearing. In this embodiment, the bearing assembly 10 is a tapered roller bearing assembly of the type commonly used to support the wheels of a railway carriage. However, the bearing assembly 10 in the other structural embodiments described below may be adapted for use in various other general industrial applications. Thus, the bearing assembly 10 is shown and described below as a tapered roller bearing assembly for a wagon wheel for convenience only.

The bearing assembly 10 is typically pre-assembled (coarsened) before being mounted on the shaft 11 (for example, on the wagon axis). At the free end of the shaft 11, the pin 12 ends with a slightly tapered guide 13 to facilitate the installation of the bearing assembly 10 on the pin 12. The bearing assembly 10 in one embodiment is press fit on the pin 12, which has been machined with very tight tolerances in order to accurately produce press fit.

The trunnion 12 ends at its inner end with a shaped fillet 18, which passes into the shoulder 19 on the shaft 11. The dust protection 14 having a cylindrical surface extends axially inward from the shoulder 19. The support ring 22 having a shaped inner surface is fixed to the complementary surface fillets 18. The fillet 18 and the adjacent shoulder 19 prevent axial displacement into the bearing assembly 10.

The support ring 22, in some structural embodiments, also has a collar 26 extending axially inward and concentrically over the outer cylindrical surface 15 of the dust protection 14. The bead 26 in some structural embodiments has a tight fit on the outer cylindrical surface of the dust protection 14.

The bearing retaining cap 20, having a plurality of threaded holes, is fixed at the free end of the shaft 11 on the pin 12 with screws or bolts 21. The bearing retaining cap 20 and the support ring 22 jointly clamp the bearing assembly 10 in a predetermined position on the stud 12. The bearing retaining cap 20 directly abuts against the inner ring 38 of the bearing of the bearing assembly 10 and creates a compression preload in the bearing assembly.

The bearing assembly 10 is assembled from several individual components. The bearing assembly 10 comprises an outer ring 31 of the bearing having raceways 32, 34 formed on the inner surface of the outer ring of the bearing. The raceways 32, 34 interact with the inner bearing rings 38, 40 to grip and support two rows of tapered rollers 42, 44, respectively. In some designs, the cages 46, 48 maintain the spatial position of the rollers 42, 44 on the raceways 32, 34. A central spacer 47 is mounted between the inner rings 38, 40 of the bearing to maintain them in a precise spatial position from each other and to ensure proper lateral clearance of the bearing.

The seal housings 50, 52 close the ends of the bearing assembly 10 and protect the bearing from external contaminants, and also seal the lubricant inside the bearing assembly. Shown in FIG. 1, seal housings 50, 52 create a running bearing seal mounted on bearing inner ring 38, 40 and bearing outer ring 31.

We now turn to the consideration of figure 2, which shows the inner end of the bearing assembly 10 shown in figure 1, and in particular, the casing 52 of the bearing seal in a detailed section. The seal housings 50, 52 are the same, therefore all references in the following discussion to the bearing seal housing 52 on the inside of the bearing assembly 10 are applicable to the seal housing 50 on the outside of the bearing assembly 10.

The bearing seal 52 comprises two components: an outer seal housing 54 and an inner seal housing 56. The outer seal housing 54 is attached to the outer ring 31 of the bearing. In one embodiment, the outer seal housing 54 may be attached to the outer ring 31 of the bearing due to interference fit between the open end section 51 of large diameter and the bore 33 in the outer ring 31 of the bearing.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, the outer seal housing 54 may have a retaining protrusion 53 that can snap into the inner retaining groove 37 in the outer race 31 of the bearing. This design makes it possible to hold the outer seal housing 54 on the bearing assembly 10 with the possibility of release.

The inner seal casing 56 is basically a cylindrical casing attached to the inner ring 40 of the bearing on the protrusion 43 of the inner ring of the bearing. The inner seal housing 56 has a wear surface 57, the functions of which are similar to those of the wear rings that are used in other types of bearing assemblies.

The seal housing 60 (typically of elastomer) is attached to the outer seal housing 54 and pressed against the wear surface 57 of the inner seal housing 56 to form a seal of the movable joint between the stationary and movable components of the bearing assembly.

Taper roller bearing assemblies and support rings for car axles are usually pressed onto the axle of the car axle. As already mentioned above, the support ring 22 is a separate component from the bearing assembly 10, especially in various short designs, such as class K bearings. These bearing assemblies are now often restored, and the lack of mounting means between these components creates problems when they installation on car axles after restoration.

The method and device in accordance with the present invention make it easier to install the bearing assembly on the pin in a single press-fit operation. To prevent separation of the support ring 22 from the bearing assembly 10, a special adhesive pad 90 is mounted between the support ring 22 and the inner bearing ring 40 to prevent loss of compression preload in the bearing assembly.

The adhesive pad 90 may be of any shape, however, the ring-shaped pad covers the largest available surface area between the inner bearing ring 40 and the support ring 22, which maximizes the adhesion force connecting the bearing assembly to the support ring. The annular shape also facilitates the installation of the adhesive pad 90 between the bearing ring 22 and the inner ring 40 of the bearing and avoids tearing of the solid metal bearing set between the bearing lock cap 20 and the bearing ring 22. This isolates the gasket 90 from the bearing set, which eliminates the impact of any deterioration of the gasket on the compression preload of the bearing kit.

In this constructive embodiment, the bearing kit is a group of metal components adjacent to each other, which contains: a bearing cover, bearing inner rings, a central strut and a support ring. Any compressible material introduced into this solid metal bearing kit can degrade, resulting in a loss or reduction in clamping force (i.e., compression preload) applied by a lock cap to the bearing assembly and support ring. Loss of the compression preload of the bearing kit causes the bearing assembly to separate from the support ring. This, in turn, accelerates the degradation-related wear and can ultimately lead to damage to the bearing, shaft or support ring.

To prevent this possible loss of compression stress, the annular adhesive 90 is installed on top and radially outside of the annular boss 23 of the support ring 22. The annular boss 23 protrudes from the axially outwardly facing surface of the support ring 22 and directly abuts against the bearing inner ring 40, supporting the groups metal-to-metal contacts between the bearing lock cap and the support ring. The annular boss 23, which protrudes from the support ring 22, has an outer cylindrical surface, the outer diameter of which is less than the outer diameter of the rear side 41 of the inner ring of the bearing. As a result, an annular gap 25 is created between the rear side 41 of the inner ring and the support ring 22.

Adhesive pad 90 is located in the gap 25. In one embodiment, the outer diameter of the adhesive pad 90 is radially inside from the outer diameter of the rear side 41 of the inner race of the bearing, thereby eliminating overlap of the bearing seal 52 and sticking to it. Adhesive pad 90 in one structural embodiment may abut against the outer cylindrical surface of the annular boss 23.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the adhesive pad 90 is shown in detail. In one embodiment, the adhesive pad 90 comprises a compressible polymer body 92 with adhesive 94 (for example, with acrylic resin or with epoxy resin) applied to surfaces facing in and out housing 92.

The housing 92 of the annular gasket in one structural embodiment can be made of a number of polymer foamed materials with open or closed pores. In one embodiment, the compressible ring gasket body 92 is made of closed cell polyethylene (e.g., Ethafoam ®). Other types of polymeric foam materials may also be used, including polyurethane foam and foam materials containing cross-linked polyethylene, depending on the tensile strength requirements of the components of the bearing assembly.

Since the housing 92 of the gasket is made of a compressible polymeric material, in one embodiment, the thickness of the adhesive strip 90 can be selected oversized to ensure full contact with both the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing. Any voids created due to rough or uneven surfaces between the bearing ring and the inner ring of the bearing will be filled by adhesive gaskets when the bearing lock cap compresses the bearing set, which allows the gasket to provide full contact with both the bearing ring and the inner ring of the bearing .

Many different adhesives 94 can be used on adhesive pad 90. In one embodiment, the inward and outwardly facing surfaces of the body 92 are coated with adhesive 94, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive (eg, acrylic resin). Other types of adhesives 94 may be used, such as epoxies.

Some adhesives 94 may require protection against activation (e.g., pressure activation) and protection against contamination. Acrylic resin deposited on the surface of the gasket, until the gasket is used, can be protected with a removable liner (film) 96 (for example, from paper). Removable liner 96 may include both a release coating (e.g., silicone) (not shown) and the liner itself (e.g., paper). The removable insert 96 is removed immediately before the gasket is installed in the bearing assembly.

In one embodiment, the annular shape of the adhesive strip 90 creates a continuous annular boundary between the support ring 22 and the inner ring 40 of the bearing. In one constructive embodiment, the polymeric materials used in the construction of the adhesive strip 90 (both in the body 92 and in the adhesive 94) are moisture resistant, which allows a moisture resistant border to be created around the outer ring joint created by fitting the ring boss to the back side of the inner ring bearing.

A number of different procedures can be used with adhesive gaskets to facilitate the press fit of the bearing assembly onto the shaft using a bearing press. Turning now to FIG. 4, a typical bearing press 100 for press fit of a bearing assembly 10 is shown.

In one embodiment of the method, the first step in the press-fit procedure is to fasten the adhesive strip 90 around the annular boss 23 of the support ring 22. The adhesive strip 90 should not extend beyond the axially outward facing surface of the ring boss 23 to ensure that the compression preload is maintained after it is installed on node 10 of the bearing.

In one embodiment of the method, the bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22 are pressed against each other to activate the pressure sensitive adhesive on the gasket 90 and to fasten the components of the bearing block together. The bearing unit (i.e., the bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22) can now be mounted on the guide sleeve 130, which is a part of the bearing press 100. The guide sleeve 130 holds the bearing assembly 10 due to contact with the inner diameter of the inner rings 38, 40 of the bearing and the support ring 22, when the bearing block is pressed onto the pin 12.

In another embodiment of the press fit method, the bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22 (with the adhesive pad attached) are separately mounted on the guide sleeve 130. Then, sufficient pressure is applied between the support ring 22 and the bearing assembly 10 located on the guide sleeve 130 to activate the sensitive adhesive pressure and fasten components together.

The bearing press 100 with the guide sleeve 130 (on which the bearing assembly and the support ring are mounted) are then aligned concentrically with the end of the pin 12. The pin is now ready to receive the bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22. The bearing press 100 has a punch 110 for applying force to the assembly sleeve 120 (which is another component of the bearing press 100), which extends over the guide sleeve 130 and pushes the bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22 from the guide sleeve onto the pin 12. The bearing assembly 10 and the support ring 22 will are pressed in the axial direction on a pin 12 inwardly until the contoured surface 27 of the support ring 22 engages a complementary contact with the fillet 18. Then, the installation process is completed and the bearing 100 is removed from the press stud.

Typically, the punch 110 of the bearing press 100 is hydraulically controlled. The press fit created between the bearing assembly 10 and the journal 12 depends on the dimensional tolerances of the axis and the bearing components pressed onto the axis. To ensure the integrity of the press fit, the specified technical requirements related to the peak pressure and maximum force applied during the press fit operation must be implemented. Satisfaction of these technical requirements is usually checked by measuring with pressure gauges mounted on a bearing press.

Although various specific embodiments of the invention have been described, these options are explanatory rather than restrictive. It is perfectly clear that specialists and experts in this field may make changes and additions that do not, however, go beyond the scope of the following claims.

Claims (18)

1. The bearing assembly mounted on the shaft, the shaft having a shoulder offset from the free end, a trunnion of a smaller diameter than the shaft, between the shoulder and the free end and a fillet extending from the trunnion to the shoulder, the bearing assembly being adapted to fit on the trunnion, This bearing assembly contains:
an outer bearing ring having a raceway facing radially inward;
bearing inner ring mounted on a trunnion; a plurality of rollers trapped between the raceway of the outer race of the bearing and the inner race of the bearing;
an inner seal housing attached to the inner ring of the bearing;
an outer seal housing attached to the outer ring of the bearing, the outer seal housing having a sealed housing extending to the inner seal housing;
a support ring attached to the fillet of the journal and abutting against the inner ring of the bearing; and
an adhesive gasket located between the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing, the adhesive gasket attaching the support ring to the inner ring of the bearing,
and in which the support ring contains an annular boss protruding axially outward, and the boss abuts against the inner ring of the bearing, while the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing form a gap radially outside of the boss with an adhesive gasket inserted into the gap. 2. The bearing assembly according to claim 1, which further comprises a bearing lock cap attached to the free end of the journal. 3. The bearing assembly according to claim 2, which further comprises a separator for separating multiple rollers. 4. The bearing assembly according to claim 1, in which the adhesive strip is located in the gap. 5. The bearing assembly according to claim 4, in which the adhesive pad is compressible. 6. The bearing assembly according to claim 4, in which the adhesive strip is annular. 7. The bearing assembly according to claim 4, in which the adhesive pad contains:
a gasket body having an axially facing surface inward and an axially facing surface outward, wherein the gasket body is made of polymer; and
adhesive applied to the surface facing axially inward and to the surface facing axially outward. 8. The bearing assembly according to claim 7, in which the polymer is a closed cell porous plastic. 9. The bearing assembly according to claim 7, in which the polymer is polyethylene. 10. The bearing assembly according to claim 7, in which the adhesive is an acrylic resin. 11. A method of pressing a bearing assembly and a support ring onto a shaft using a bearing press, the shaft having a shoulder offset from the free end, a trunnion of a smaller diameter than the shaft between the shoulder and the free end, and a fillet extending from the trunnion to the shoulder The method includes the following operations:
installing an adhesive gasket between the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing of the bearing assembly to attach the support ring to the inner ring of the bearing;
the capture of the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing on the guide sleeve of the bearing press;
attaching the bearing press to the free end of the journal;
clamping the press punch to the retractable assembly sleeve, wherein the assembly sleeve abuts against the inner ring of the bearing so as to cause the bearing assembly and the support ring to slide axially in the axle,
and in which the support ring contains an annular boss protruding axially outward, and the boss abuts against the inner ring of the bearing, while the support ring and the inner ring of the bearing form a gap radially outside of the boss with an adhesive gasket inserted into the gap. 12. The method according to claim 11, in which the adhesive strip is located in the gap. 13. The method according to item 12, in which the adhesive strip is annular. 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the adhesive pad is compressible. 15. The method according to item 12, which additionally provides for the attachment of the locking cap of the bearing to the free end of the journal. 16. The method according to item 12, in which the adhesive pad contains:
a gasket body having an axially facing surface inward and an axially facing surface outward, wherein the gasket body is made of polymer; and
adhesive applied to the surface facing axially inward and to the surface facing axially outward. 17. The method according to clause 16, in which the adhesive is an acrylic resin. 18. The method according to clause 16, in which the polymer is foamed polyethylene.

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