Crossed Roller Bearing Retainer with Grease Accumulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing crossed roller bearings with complex spacer retainers face challenges in production complexity and high costs, as well as difficulties in ensuring adequate grease distribution due to intricate shapes.
Innovation Solution
A crossed roller bearing retainer with a simple rectangular profile and inclined slanted flat surfaces maintains a fixed spacing between rollers, featuring recessed areas for grease accumulation, allowing linear contact and efficient grease supply.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a spacer retainer with a concave surface is used to maintain surface contact with circular roller surfaces, then the rollers are held at fixed spacing, but the production complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the conventional approach by making the retainer surface curved (circular arc) to match the cylindrical roller surface, rather than making the retainer concave to match the roller. This allows the retainer to have a simpler overall shape while still achieving linear contact and fixed spacing between rollers.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of designing the retainer with a complex concave surface to fit the cylindrical roller, the invention inverts the approach by using a retainer with a circular arc surface that naturally conforms to the roller's curvature, simplifying the retainer geometry while maintaining the same functional outcome of linear contact.
2Reliability
If a complex concave surface retainer is used, then surface contact with rollers is achieved, but grease supply to each section of the race becomes difficult to design
Solution Approach 1:
The circular arc surface of the retainer creates natural grease flow paths along the curved geometry, allowing grease to be supplied to each section of the race more easily. The curvature guides grease distribution without requiring complex design considerations.
3Device complexity
If a retainer with simple rectangular profile is used, then production is simplified, but maintaining fixed spacing between rollers becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
By incorporating a circular arc surface on the retainer that matches the roller curvature, the invention achieves linear contact between the retainer and rollers using a relatively simple retainer geometry. The curved surface contact line naturally maintains fixed spacing without requiring complex retainer shaping.
Data Source
AI summary
A retainer of a crossed roller bearing has a retainer body plate of rectangular profile corresponding to a rectangular cross-section of a race. Rectangular side surfaces on either side of the retainer body plate are inclined planes that slant in a direction of approaching one another from one corner to another corner along a diagonal line of the surfaces, and extend towards a bearing center in a state of having been installed in the race. Recesses for accumulating grease are formed in center portions of the rectangular side surfaces, the recesses communicating via a through-hole. The rectangular side surfaces are in linear contact with the circular external circumferential surfaces of adjacent rollers and hold the rollers at a fixed spacing. There is obtained a retainer for an uncomplicatedly configured crossed roller bearing that allows adjacent rollers to be held at a fixed spacing and is provided with a grease accumulator.