Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A bearing assembly mounted on a shaft provided with one or more ball conforming grooves, the bearing assembly including a bearing retainer sleeve supporting one or more ball retainers that provide recirculating ball bearing raceways, each raceway having a load-free portion and a load-bearing portion adjacent a grooved load-carrying plate, with each load-carrying plate corresponding to a shaft groove being mounted in the retainer so as to be capable of reorienting itself about the line of balls under loading between such load-carrying plate and its corresponding shaft groove. Each such load-carrying plate is mounted to the retainer sleeve so as to be capable of both tilting about the line of balls under loading and simultaneously rolling relative to the interior wall of the housing which surrounds the bearing retainer sleeve so that the load-carrying plate can both tilt about the balls when they shift laterally due to misalignment between the shaft groove and the plate groove, and, simultaneously roll along the interior housing wall to maintain essentially the same distance between the pair of cooperating grooves between which the balls travel.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim