Ball Bearing Ball Spacing Using Flow Stops and Short Work Arrows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ball bearing manufacturing methods face issues with ball damage due to friction and deformation, especially when dealing with a large number of balls, and require elongated, less rigid work arrows that are prone to bending, leading to increased tact time.
Innovation Solution
A ball arrangement method and device that utilizes a tilting operation to control the tilt angle of the manufacturing device, incorporating a flow stop and block dividing mechanism to prevent ball scattering, allowing for continuous ball insertion and division at equal intervals without horizontal movement of the inner and outer rings, thereby reducing friction and deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If work arrows are elongated to arrange a large number of balls at equal intervals, then the number of balls that can be arranged increases, but the rigidity of work arrows decreases and they become prone to bending and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single elongated work arrow into multiple shorter work arrows, each responsible for separating a specific region. This segmentation maintains the rigidity of individual work arrows while still achieving the arrangement of a large number of balls at equal intervals through coordinated action of multiple segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a flow stop as an intermediary component that prevents ball scattering during the ball insertion process. This allows the work arrows to focus solely on the ball dividing function without the additional complexity of preventing scattering, improving their effectiveness and reducing deformation.
2Productivity
If a ball collecting step is performed to collect balls in one region, then ball arrangement efficiency improves, but ball damage occurs due to rubbing motion during collection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the ball collecting step from the manufacturing process. Instead of collecting balls in one region and then redistributing them, the system directly inserts balls at multiple positions simultaneously and uses multiple short work arrows to divide them into equal intervals, avoiding the harmful rubbing motion entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary ball insertion at multiple positions simultaneously before the ball dividing step. By pre-positioning balls at multiple locations in advance and then using flow stops and work arrows to organize them, the system achieves efficient arrangement without requiring a separate ball collecting step that causes damage.
3Productivity
If tilt angle of the manufacturing device is changed to process ball insertion and ball dividing at one position, then processing efficiency improves, but friction and deformation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the tilt angle dynamic by allowing it to be adjusted between different processing steps. The device tilts at a first angle during ball insertion to facilitate smooth ball placement, then adjusts to a second angle during ball dividing to optimize the separating action of work arrows. This dynamic adjustment maintains high processing efficiency while minimizing friction and deformation at each specific step.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the tilt angle parameter between different processing stages. By optimizing the tilt angle for each specific operation (ball insertion versus ball dividing), the system achieves high processing efficiency while reducing unnecessary friction and deformation that would occur with a fixed tilt angle.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method reduces ball damage and deformation, shortens tact time, and improves workability by eliminating the need for a separate ball collecting step, enabling efficient assembly of ball bearings with a large number of balls.
Implementation Method 1
by holding balls after a ball insertion step in the ball bearing in one region between an inner ring and an outer ring instead of being scattered, and it is possible to shift from the ball insertion step to the ball dividing step at the same position by changing the tilt of the entire facility
Data Source
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AI summary
A ball arrangement method for a ball bearing includes following steps executed in order: a ball insertion step of inserting a plurality of balls in one region along a circumferential direction of an annular space formed between an inner ring and an outer ring; a flow stop step of disposing a flow stop jig outside the one region of the annular space in the circumferential direction to keep the plurality of inserted balls in the one region; a block dividing step of disposing a block dividing jig to divide the plurality of balls into groups in the annular space; and a ball dividing step of, from a state in which the flow stop jig and the block dividing jig are disposed in the annular space, while removing the flow stop jig and the block dividing jig from the annular space, sequentially inserting tip ends of a plurality of work arrows protruded in accordance with the number of balls between the plurality of balls in an axial direction to arrange the plurality of balls at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.