Wire race bearing and method of assembling the same

Abstract

The present disclosure provides wire race bearing comprising: a housing; a wire, arranged in a recess of the housing for accommodating the wire; elastic adhesive, applied between the wireand the recess to bond the wire to the recess. The present disclosure also provides a method of assembling a wire race bearing as previously described, comprising: step 1: applying elastic adhesive to the recesses in a circumferential direction; step 2: coating the wire in the recess coated with the elastic adhesive; step 3: curing the elastic adhesive to bond the wire to the recess. In contrast to the prior art using damping pads, the elastic adhesive fixedly bonds the wire to the housing, not only to effectively prevent undesired displacement of the wire, but also to allow movement of the wire within an allowable range, to absorb vibrations of the wire, and to act as a damping pad.

Description

WIRE RACE BEARING AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLING THE SAMETECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wire race bearing and a method of assembling the same.BACKGROUND

[0002] Wire race bearings are a uniquely structured bearing and can be applied to a various scenarios. A wire race bearing generally comprises rolling elements, wires in contact with the rolling elements and having raceway surfaces, a housing receiving the rolling elements and the wires, and the like. The wires are generally arranged at diagonal positions of the rolling elements and may for example comprise one pair of wires arranged along one set of diagonal positions or two pairs of wires arranged along two sets of diagonal positions. Typically, the wires are placed at respective recesses of the housing, which recesses are constituted by walls perpendicular to each other. Generally, in a wire race bearing, a damping pad provided between the recess and the wire is made of elastomer.

[0003] Wire race bearings, and in particular wire race ball bearings, are widely used in medical imaging devices such as CT machines. However, vibration of the wire race bearing is a pain point for CT machines. An elastomeric damping pad is commonly used in the prior art to reduce vibration, but aging of the elastomer is closely relevant to bearing performance. In particular, when the damping pad is pressed for a long time, it is likely to lose elasticity and fail to recover, and secondly, since the damping pad is usually surrounded by grease for lubricating the rolling elements and the wires or the like, the volume and hardness of the damping pad will be changed. Changes in the physical and chemical property of the damping pad may result in changes in bearing play.

[0004] Elastomeric damping pads need to be manufactured by extrusion or molding. Thus, the provision of damping pads in wire race bearings increases complexity and cost.SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the above-mentioned problems and needs, the present disclosure proposes a novel technical solution, which solves the above-mentioned problems due to adopting the following technical features, and brings about other technical effects.

[0006] The present disclosure provides a wire race bearing comprising: a housing; a wire, arranged in a recess of the housing for accommodating the wire; elastic adhesive, applied between the wireand the recess to bond the wire to the recess..

[0007] The present disclosure also provides a method of assembling a wire race bearing as previously described, comprising: step 1: applying elastic adhesive to the recesses in a circumferential direction; step 2: coating the wire in the recess coated with the elastic adhesive; step 3: curing the elastic adhesive to bond the wire to the recess.

[0008] In contrast to the prior art using damping pads, the elastic adhesive fixedly bonds the wire to the housing, not only to effectively prevent undesired displacement of the wire, but also to allow movement of the wire within an allowable range, to absorb vibrations of the wire, and to act as a damping pad. Furthermore, the elastic adhesive is low cost, convenient to apply, and tructurally and dimensionally stable after curing. The elastic adhesive does not face the problems such as deterioration of the bearing performance caused by deformation due to aging of the damping pad such as in the prior art. The elastic adhesive contributes to improvement of the bearing operation stability, and can reduce the assembly cost of the bearing and simplify the assembly operation.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire race bearing;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a wire fixed by adhesive according to the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the technical solutions of the present disclosure more clear, a clear and complete description will be made hereinafter of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure inconjunction with the accompanying drawings of specific embodiments of the present disclosure. Like numbers refer to like parts in the drawings. It is to be noted that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the described embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative labor belong to the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

[0012] Possible embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure may have fewer components, have other components not shown in the figures, different components, differently arranged components, or differently connected components, etc., than the embodiments shown in the figures. Furthermore, two or more components in the figures may be implemented in a single component, or a single component shown in the figures may be implemented as multiple separate components.

[0013] Unless defined otherwise, technical or scientific terms used herein are to be given their ordinary meaning as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The terms "first," "second," and the like as used in the description and claims of the disclosed patent application do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used merely to distinguish one component from another. Where the number of components is not stated, the number of components may be one or more; Likewise, the articles "a," "an," "the," "said," and the like do not necessarily denote a limitation of quantity. "Comprising" or "comprising" and the like means that the elements or items preceding the word encompass the elements or items listed after the word and their equivalents, but not excluding other elements or items. "Mounted," "disposed," "connected," or "connected," and the like, are not limited to physical or mechanical mountings, arrangements, connections, but can include electrical mountings, arrangements, connections, whether direct or indirect. "Upper", "lower", "left", "right" and the like are used only to indicate the relative positional relationship when the device is used or the positional relationship shown in the drawings, and when the absolute position of the object to be described is changed, the relative positional relationship may be changed accordingly.

[0014] For ease of explanation, the direction of the axis of rotation of the bearing is referred to herein as the axial direction, and the direction perpendicular to the axial direction is referred to as the radial direction. The term "in / inward" refers to the direction toward theinterior of the bearing, and conversely, the term "out / outward" refers to the direction toward the exterior of the bearing. In addition, the same reference numerals are used in different embodiments to refer to components having the same or similar structure and functionality.

[0015] As previously mentioned, a wire race bearing generally comprises: a housing, a wires and rolling elements. In different wire race bearings, the respective configuration and form of the housing, the wires, and the rolling elements are different.

[0016] One specific wire race bearing shown in FIG. 1 comprises a housing 1, wires 2, and rolling elements 4 etc. Specifically, the housing 1 may further comprise a first outer ring housing 11, a second outer ring housing 12, and an inner ring housing 13. The rolling elements 4 are arranged in two rows and the rolling elements are in the form of balls. Each row of rolling elements 4 is further supported by the raceway surfaces of the wires 2 arranged diagonally. The wires 2 are received in recesseses of the respective housings. Two recesses 130 of the inner ring housing 13 are marked in FIG. 1, and the wires 2 in the recesses 130 are in direct contact with the walls of recesses. The first and second outer ring housings 11, 12 also comprise recesses (not labeled) in which damping pads 5 are disposed to partially enclose the respective rolling elements 2.

[0017] It will be appreciated that damping pads may also be disposed in the recesses of the inner ring housing, while it is possible that no damping pad is disposed in the recesses of the outer ring housings, depending on the requirements of different applications.

[0018] The present disclosure mainly proposes to mount the wire by means of elastic adhesive instead of damping pads. The present disclosure will now be described by taking the example of the inner ring housing 13 and the wire 2 in the upper recess 130 thereof. It will be appreciated that other wires and recesses may also be bonded by this method.

[0019] Specifically, referring to FIG. 2, elastic adhesive 3 is applied between the wire 2 and the recess 130 to bond the wire 2 to the recess 130. According to the present disclosure, the elastic adhesive may be used directly in place of the damping pad during the assembly of the bearing. In contrast to the prior art using damping pads, elastic adhesive fixedly bonds the wire to the housing, not only to effectively prevent undesired displacement of the wire, but also allow the wire to move within an allowable range, to absorb vibrations of the wire and to play a damping function. Furthermore, the elastic adhesive is low cost convenient to apply, and structurally and dimensionally stable after curing. The elasticadhesive does not face the problems such as deterioration of the bearing performance caused by deformation due to aging of the damping pad such as in the prior art. The elastic adhesive contributes to improvement of the bearing operation stability, and can reduce the assembly cost of the bearing and simplify the assembly operation.

[0020] Preferably, the recess 130 comprises a first wall 101 and a second wall 102. The elastic adhesive 3 may bond the wire 2 to one or both of the first wall 101 and the second wall 102 according to different needs.

[0021] Preferably, after bonding, the wire 2 is in contact with one or both of the first wall 101 and the second wall 102, see the dotted box portion shown in FIG. 2. This arrangement ensures the matching size between the wire, the rolling elements and the housing, such that the operation of the bearing will not be affected by the application of the adhesive.

[0022] Typically, the wire 2 has a cross-sectional profile. In the case as illustrated in FIG. 2, the wire 2 has a substantially circular cross-sectional profile, and the cross-sectional profile comprises a raceway portion 20 and a non-raceway portion 21. The raceway portion 20, which is substantially arc-shaped, serves to support the rolling elements 4. The portion other than the raceway portion 20 is the non-raceway portion 21. Preferably, the elastic adhesive 3 covers one third to three quarters of the circumference of the non-raceway portion 21, so that the wire can be more firmly bonded to the recess of the housing. Preferably, the elastic adhesive is generally applied along the entire circumference of the wire, and the ratio of the volume of elastic adhesive to the circumference of the wire is 0.02-0.025 ml / cm.

[0023] The elastic adhesive 3 preferably comprises silicone glue, polyurethane glue, silane-modified elastic glue, or the like. Such elastic adhesives not only have the advantages described above, but also have excellent X-ray radiation resistance, grease compatibility and suitable loss factor tan 5 for damping. It is particularly suitable for the equipment such as CT machines whose working environment is harsh.

[0024] The silicone glue is composed of polydimethylsiloxane as the main material, mixed with cross-linking agent, filler, plasticizer, coupling agent, and catalyst in a vacuum state to form a paste, and cured by reacting with moisture in the air at room temperature to form elastic silicone rubber.

[0025] Polyurethane adhesive is adhesive that contains urethane groups (-NHCOO-) and / or isocyanate groups (-NCO) in the molecular chain.

[0026] Silane-modified elastomeric glue primarily consist of silane-modified polyether and silane-modified polyurethane. Silane-terminated polyurethane (SPU) is a polymer prepared from polyurethane as a main chain, followed by capping polyurethane prepolymer through small-molecule silane coupling agent. It has excellent adhesion property, aging resistance, good elasticity and surface paintability. There is usually no curing bubbles during curing, and the curing speed can be manually adjusted in a wide range, and introduction of segments of silane chains imparts good resistance to moisture and heat.

[0027] The terminal groups of silane-terminated polyurethane (SPU) are siloxy groups, which, under certain moisture level, will hydrolyze into silicon hydroxyl groups, which in turn can undergo condensation reactions with hydroxyl groups on the surfaces of various substrates to form Si-O-Si bonds. The Si-O-Si bonds are very stable and provide bond bridges between the silane-terminated polymer and the surface architecture of the substrates, allowing the SPU to adhere very well to a variety of substrates (e.g., glass, metal, stone, concrete, etc.), to reach a high bond strength. In recent years, SPU adhesive or SPU glue have even found application to bond various plastic materials such as nylon, acrylic, fiberglass, PVC and the like.

[0028] According to further researches, the elastic adhesive 3 is more preferably TEROSON ® MS 939, TEROSON ® MS 930, SIMSON ISR 70-03, TEROSON ® PU 8590, or KJ2900 for the application of wire race bearings in medical imaging mechanisms such as CT machines.

[0029] TEROSON ® MS 939 is a modified silane adhesive with single-component, black, white or grey color, low modulus, flexible, and odorless, which is used for elastic sealing. It can be cured into a UV resistant thermoset elastomer which is resistant to sagging, and has strong initial tack. This product is non-corrosive and free of solvent, isocyanate, silicone and polyvinyl chloride. Using LOCTITE MS 9371B can increase the curing speed.

[0030] TEROSON ® MS 930 is a modified silane-based and one-component sealant that cures into a soft elastomer by reaction with moisture in the air. Tack-free time and curing time depend on humidity and temperature. The curing time also depend on the seam depth between interfaces. The tack-free time and curing time can be reduced by increasing thetemperature and humidity; conversely, low temperature and low humidity delay the process. TEROSON ® MS 930 is free of solvent, isocyanate, silicone, and PVC. It has good adhesion to many substrates and is compatible with coating systems. This sealant also has good UV resistance and therefore useful in both indoor and outdoor applications. TEROSON ® MS 930 can be used as a two-component adhesive, whose curing speed can be increase by using accelerant. The SIMSON Industrial Special Series are high technical quality sealant products specifically developed for industrial application. ISR 70-03 is a high quality elastic adhesive sealant based on silane-modified polymer (SMP) technology. It has advantage of both adhesive and sealant and is suitable for high strength bonding and sealing in industrial applications. Using ISR 70-03 in combination with the Dual SMP ® technology ensures an increased and controllable cure speed as well as reliability in the manufacture process, extending the range of product applications.

[0031] KJ-2900 neutral silicone weatherproof sealant is a single -component, high modulus (25HM), neutral fast-curing silicone weatherproof sealant.

[0032] The following table gives a comparison of the properties of the various adhesives. These adhesives are moisture-curing adhesives.

[0033] The present disclosure also proposes a method of assembling a wire race bearing, comprising:

[0034] step 1: coating elastic adhesive 3 to the recesses 130 in the circumferential direction;

[0035] step 2: mounting the wire 2 in the recess 130 coated with the elastic adhesive 3;

[0036] step 3: curing the elastic adhesive 3 to bond the wire 2 to the recess 130.

[0037] As previously mentioned, elastomeric adhesive is moisture cured, and its curing rate, tack free time, and curing time depend on humidity, temperature, seam depth, and the like. By increasing the temperature and humidity, the curing time can be shortened. Both low temperature and low humidity increase the curing time. These elastic adhesives are highly resistant to sagging, so that a relatively high initial viscosity can be achieved after applying the adhesive.

[0038] Preferably, in order to make the bonding process smoother and the bonding portion firmer after bonding, the wire 2 and the recess 130 may be cleaned before the step 1 to remove contaminants and grease from the surfaces of the wire 2 and the recess 130, including removing dust and rust prevention oil and the like. The cleaning may use cleaning agent such as TEROSON VR 10 or TEROSON SB450.

[0039] Preferably, step 1 may further comprise standing for a first period of time after the application of the elastic adhesive 3, for example standing for 4-8 mins. Prior to bonding the wires, the adhesive surface shall not be tack free.

[0040] As previously mentioned, the ratio of the volume of the elastic adhesive to the circumference of the wire may be 0.02-0.025 ml / cm. For example, for a wire having a diameter of about 83.5 cm, it is expected to require about 5.8-6.6 ml (about 8.7-9.9 g) of adhesive per wire for bonding. For example, an automatic glue dispenser may be used to evenly coating the areas to be bonded in the circumferential direction along the recess of the housing. A 330ml aluminum cylinder glue dispenser can be used. During adhesive application, the dispenser is fixed while the housing is in rotation at a uniform speed to provide uniform application of the adhesive. Or a pneumatic glue gun can be used, coating can be completed in 2 minutes.

[0041] Preferably, step 2 may further comprise pressing the wire 2 towards the recess 130 for a second period of time, for example 3-5 minutes. When the wire is mounted in therecess of the housing, it will fit well with the housing due to the inward contraction force of the wire.

[0042] Preferably, in step 3, curing may be performed at room temperature, may be performed in an environment having a temperature (e.g., 40 degrees) higher than the room temperature and / or may be performed in an environment with normal or higher humidity. High humidity and high temperature can accelerate curing. The curing time is at least 4 hours.

[0043] In addition, since the adhesive needs to be in contact with moisture to cure, the grease required for the bearing may be applied to the bearing after the adhesive is fully cured.

[0044] While the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations and modifications may be made to the specific embodiments described above without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, and that many combinations of the various technical features, structures proposed by the present disclosure may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, which is determined by the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A wire race bearing comprising: a housing (1); a wire (2), arranged in a recess (130) of the housing (1) for accommodating the wire (2); elastic adhesive (3), applied between the wire (2) and the recess (130) to bond the wire (2) to the recess (130).

2. The wire race bearing of claim 1, wherein the recess (130) comprises a first wall (101) and a second wall (102), wherein the elastic adhesive (3) bonds the wire (2) to one or both of the first wall (101) and the second wall (102).

3. The wire race bearing of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the volume of the elastic adhesive to the circumference of the wire is 0.02-0.025 ml / cm.

4. The wire race bearing of claim 1, wherein the elastic adhesive (3) comprises silicone glue, polyurethane glue, or silane-modified elastic glue, more preferably TEROSON ® MS 939, TEROSON ® MS 930, SIMSON ISR 70-03, TEROSON ® PU 8590, or KJ2900.

5. The wire race bearing of claim 2, wherein, after bonding, the wire (2) is in contact with one or both of the first wall (101) and the second wall (102).

6. The wire race bearing of claim 1, wherein the wire (2) has a cross-sectional profile comprising a raceway portion (20) and a non-raceway portion (21), and the elastic adhesive (3) covers one third to three quarters of the circumference of the non-raceway portion (21).

7. A method of assembling a wire race bearing of any one of claims 1-6, comprising: step 1: applying elastic adhesive (3) to the recesses (130) in a circumferential direction; step 2: coating the wire (2) in the recess (130) coated with the elastic adhesive (3); step 3: curing the elastic adhesive (3) to bond the wire (2) to the recess (130).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein,cleaning the wire (2) and the recess (130) before step 1, to remove contamination and grease on the surfaces of the wire (2) and the recess (130); the ratio of the volume of the elastic adhesive to the circumference of the wire is 0.02-0.025 ml / cm; and / or step 1 further comprises standing for a first period of time after coating the elastic adhesive (3).

9. The method of claim 7, wherein step 2 further comprises pressing the wire (2) towards the recess (130) for a second period of time.

10. The assembly method of claim 9, wherein, step 3 further comprises curing in an environment at or above the room temperature; and / or step 3 further comprises curing in an environment with normal or higher humidity.

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