[0033] figure 1 Shown is a perspective view of a bearing cage 10 with a plurality of separate cage pieces 11 (which can be mounted on two axially spaced apart lamellar support rings 12 ), an uncompleted bearing cage 10 , and a diagram for example only.
[0034] A plurality of bearing cage segments 11 are used to support rolling bodies (not shown) in rolling body pockets 13 formed by the bearing cage segments 11 . For this purpose, the bearing cage section 11 comprises at least two circumferential connection sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 arranged in the circumferential direction and axially spaced at a certain distance. Furthermore, at least one connecting web 15 connecting the circumferential connecting sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 is arranged in a bearing cage section 11 , so that two The bearing cage section 11 forms at least one pocket 13 or window for bearing rolling elements. Although it is sufficient for this to arrange exactly one connecting web 15 per bearing cage section 11 (which extends axially, ie in the direction of the axis of rotation of the bearing when mounted on the lamination support ring 12 ), it is sufficient, figure 1 Still shown is an embodiment comprising two connecting webs 15 spaced apart in the circumferential direction, running axially and connecting opposite circumferential connecting sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 .
[0035] The connecting bridge 15 connecting the two axially opposite circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 extends in the axial direction, so as to keep the two circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 at a preset position. on the axial spacing (the spacing depends on, for example, the length of the rollers). exist figure 1 In the exemplary embodiment shown, the rolling element pockets 13 are formed by two circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 of the bearing cage section 11 and two connecting webs 15 facing in the circumferential direction and are formed by It is the boundary. If each bearing cage section 11 corresponds to only one connecting bridge, the rolling element pocket 13 will be formed by two adjacent bearing cage sections 11 arranged on the sheet support ring 12, wherein the pocket 13 or the window The circumferential connecting sections and connecting webs which adjoin the bearing cage segments 11 in the circumferential direction will be bounded. In the embodiment, the circumferential connecting sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 constitute guide flanges arranged facing the rolling elements when the bearing cage 10 is installed.
[0036] According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing cage section 11 is machined entirely from plastic in one piece (for example by an injection molding process). As previously mentioned, the plastic may be, for example, polyamide 66, polyamide 46, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), phenolic resin or other polymeric materials.
[0037] Each of the bearing cage sections 11 contains a connection structure 14 which makes it possible to arrange the bearing cage section 11 on at least one support ring 12 designed as a lamination ring (lamellar support ring). In the exemplary embodiment described, the bearing cage 10 contains two support rings 12 designed as lamellar rings, which can be connected to the respective bearing cage segments 11 at the end faces. exist figure 1 shows an elastic, helical lamellar ring 12, which is composed of two adjacent half-rings 12a and 12b, respectively. In order to ensure that the doubly wound foil ring 12 has a flat structure, it has folds 18 in cross-section. The two ends of the half-rings 12a and 12b terminate before the bend 18, ie the junction is offset. The ring ends of the double-folded, helical laminar ring 12 can now be inserted into the connecting structure 14 of the bearing cage section 11 and arranged helically by means of a simple axial or radial divergence, as will be described below figure 2 Describe in detail.
[0038] The supporting ring 12 designed as a lamellar ring can advantageously consist of metal or carbon, so that after the bearing cage 10 has been installed (see image 3 ) form a composite metal-plastic-bearing cage or carbon-plastic-bearing cage.
[0039] According to an embodiment, the connecting structure 14 of the bearing cage section 11 contains a (elastic) bearing formed on at least one of the circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 for the form-fitting bearing of at least one laminar bearing Ring 12. Owing to a certain supporting elasticity, such as is generally the case with injection-molded plastics, it is possible to thread the lamination support ring 12 in a form-fitting manner and to connect the lamination support ring 12 to the bearing cage section 11 . For this, according to figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, the circumferential connection sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 may contain at least one perforation 17 at the outer end of the shaft and pointing in the circumferential direction for supporting or passing through the lamination support ring 12 . Herein, "pointing in the circumferential direction" means that the perforation 17 has a plane normal pointing in the circumferential direction.
[0040] According to one embodiment, the resilient support comprises a somewhat resilient opening or perforation 17 formed or molded in the plastic of the bearing cage section 11, which perforation comprises an opening section corresponding to the foil support ring 12 , so that a load-bearing clamping connection can be formed between the ring 12 and the bearing cage section 11 . For this, according to an embodiment, the opening area of the elastic perforation 17 may be between 97% and 99% of the cross-sectional area of the two axially adjacent half-rings 12a, 12b of the lamellar ring 12 . According to other embodiments (for example with lower elasticity), the opening area of the elastic perforation 17 can also be 100% or more of the cross-sectional area of the two axially or radially adjacent half-rings 12a, 12b of the laminar ring 12 This allows the ring to be inserted particularly easily into the perforation 17 even if the perforation 17 has a lower elasticity.
[0041] according to figure 1 Such perforations 17 located axially on the outside and pointing in the circumferential direction can be arranged on the circumferential connecting sections 16 - 1 , 16 - 2 respectively, and this design of the perforations can support or surround the lamellar support ring 12 . A particularly stable, load-resistant and drop-proof connection between the plastic bearing cage section 11 and the lamination support ring 12 can be achieved by surrounding the lamination support ring 12 completely and positively all around by means of corresponding perforations 17 .
[0042] like figure 1 As shown, a perforation 17 for at least one sheet support ring 12 can be formed on the side of the circumferential connecting section 16-1 facing away from the axially facing circumferential connecting section 16-2, so that the facing The shaped perforations 17 on the circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 are located axially opposite sides of the circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 axially facing away from each other. Therefore, a thin-plate support ring 12 made of carbon and metal will be held on the end face of the bearing cage 10 of this construction.
[0043] According to other embodiments (not shown here), it is also possible to form a perforation 17 for at least one lamellar support ring 12 on the side of the circumferential connecting section 16-1 facing the axially opposite circumferential connecting section 16-2 , so that the perforations 17 formed on the circumferential connecting section 16 can be located on the axially opposite sides of the circumferential connecting section 16 facing each other axially. Subsequently, the sheet support ring 12 made of carbon and metal will not be held exactly on the end face of the bearing cage 10 of this structure, but will be held at the distance between the axially opposite circumferential connecting segment segments The determined axial extension of the bearing cage configured in this way. Therefore, the bearing ring can be closer to the rolling body for rolling and bearing, the structure will be more stable, and less tilting moment will be generated. Space can be saved in the axial direction because the axially inner through hole 17 does not protrude outward, which will make the entire bearing thinner. This is particularly advantageous in axially restricted installation spaces.
[0044] from figure 1 It can further be seen that the connecting web 15, which is also used as a separating web between two adjacent rolling element pockets or window openings 13, also contains a molded or formed guide section 19, which section is used to guide the rolling elements, Such as cylindrical rollers, cylindrical rollers or tapered rollers. according to figure 1 In the exemplary embodiment shown, the rolling element guide section 19 is a guide flange or projection formed on the connecting web 15 , the shape of which is adapted to the arching of the rolling element sides. In general, the shape of the side surfaces of the connecting web 15 pointing in the circumferential direction is adapted to the geometry of the rolling elements, ie for example contains arches adapted to the surface of the rolling elements. This results in better and more stable guidance of the rolling elements in the assembled state. The formed guide flanges or cams make it possible, for example in cylindrical roller bearings, to place the roller set in the cage without falling out, so that the individual bearing components can be mounted individually without additional mounting tools.
[0045] After the embodiment of the invention also includes a combined bearing cage for toroidal rolling bearings, which cage contains several bearing cage segments 11 arranged on at least one lamellar support ring 12, the production or installation of this will be described below A method or process for bearing cage 10 will be described.
[0046] like figure 2 As shown, mounting a bearing cage according to the invention firstly requires the provision of at least one support ring 12 designed as a lamellar ring, wherein, as shown here, two or more can also be arranged for the two axial ends of the bearing cage The sheet support ring 12. In addition, it is necessary to provide a plurality of connections with every two circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2 extending in the circumferential direction and at least one connecting circumferential connecting section 16-1, 16-2 at a certain distance in the axial direction. The bearing cage sections 11 of the web 15, wherein each bearing cage section 11 contains a connection structure 14, which allows the bearing cage section 11 to be arranged on at least one support ring 12, which can be achieved by two Two bearing cage segments 11 arranged adjacently in the circumferential direction on the support ring 12 form at least one pocket 13 for bearing rolling bodies.
[0047] In order to push the bearing cage section 11 onto at least one lamellar support ring 12, the connecting structure 14 of the bearing cage section 11 has perforations 17 pointing in the circumferential direction in each case at the circumferential connecting sections 16-1, 16-2. , the respective rings 12a, 12b of the foil support ring 12 can be passed through the perforation during installation. Therefore, if figure 2 As shown, the half-rings 12a, 12b of the lamellar support ring 12 are pulled apart from each other in the axial direction, so that the ends of the half-rings 12a, 12b can be threaded or "stringed" through the through-holes 17 of the bearing cage section-as Keys on a key ring. In other exemplary embodiments of the lamellar support ring, its halves can also be pulled apart radially from each other.
[0048] During assembly, the lamellar ring 12 can be “screwed” through the bearing cage section 11 which has been radially premounted and secured. Alternatively, it is also possible to separately thread the bearing cage section 11 onto the lamination ring 12, so that a correspondingly produced or mounted metal or carbon-plastic bearing ring can be produced anyway at the end of the mounting process, as image 3 shown in the stereogram.
[0049] According to some exemplary embodiments, the laminar ring 12 can be closed after the bearing cage section 11 has been installed, so that the stringed bearing cage section 11 is particularly difficult to fall off. This closure can be achieved, for example, by welding, welding adjacent half-rings 12a, 12b or the like. Thus, the half-rings 12a, 12b can be spot-welded or welded (for example at the junction), so that the half-rings 12a, 12b can no longer be stretched apart from one another subsequently.
[0050] The bearing cage concept according to the invention can be used in particular for bearings or bearing cages with a diameter of more than 300 mm, since plastic integral cages (as mentioned at the outset) are difficult to realize in this size arrangement. Embodiments therefore comprise combined metal-plastic or carbon-plastic bearing cages having a diameter of 300mm and above, especially 350mm and above.
[0051] In an embodiment of the invention, at least one support ring (lamellar support ring) designed as a lamella ring (but preferably both lamella support rings) is positively held in (pre-assembled) by passing the lamella support ring through a corresponding perforation. ) on the plastic section, and vice versa. As a result, the individual plastic bearing cage sections are dimensionally stable relative to one another. Meanwhile, the support ring may be a metal foil ring, such as a steel foil ring or a carbon foil ring. The combined metal or carbon-plastic bearing cage according to the invention also does not disintegrate in the event of "softening" of the metal or carbon-plastic connection. Combined metal or carbon-plastic bearing cages guided by rails or bosses can be provided with the proposed solution.
[0052] List of reference numbers
[0053] 10 bearing cage
[0054] 11 Bearing cage section
[0055] 12 Support rings designed as lamellar rings (lamella support rings)
[0056] 12a first sheet support half ring
[0057] 12b second sheet support half ring
[0058] 13 rolling element pocket
[0059] 14 connection structure
[0060] 15 connecting lintel
[0061] 16 circumferential connecting segments
[0062] 17 perforations
[0063] 18 bending, bending
[0064] 19 Guide lintel for rolling elements
