Four-Point Contact Bearing Assembly for Low-Sliding Load Support

The patent replaces cylindrical rollers with spherical rolling elements (balls). The spherical shape allows the balls to roll on both raceway surfaces simultaneously, converting sliding friction into rolling friction. This curvature-based solution eliminates the sliding that occurs with cylindrical rollers, reducing energy loss and wear while maintaining load support capability.

The patent removes the spacers that were previously needed to prevent sliding between cylindrical rollers. By extracting this auxiliary component and replacing the roller geometry with spherical balls, the design achieves wear resistance without the added complexity of spacers, simplifying both structure and assembly.

The patent uses identical spherical balls in all positions throughout the bearing, replacing the alternating roller configuration. This homogeneous design allows balls to be freely interchangeable and eliminates the need for special assembly mechanisms required to position alternating rollers, significantly simplifying manufacturing and assembly while maintaining uniform load distribution.

The patent creates a universal bearing design where spherical balls can simultaneously support both axial and radial loads through their four contact points with the raceways. This multi-functional capability eliminates the need to choose between axial ball bearings (for axial loads) and radial ball bearings (for radial loads), providing both load types with high rigidity in a single bearing configuration.

The patent employs a dynamic four-point contact configuration where the active contact points adapt to the load direction. Unlike static four-point contact bearings that have fixed contact points, this design allows all four contact points to remain active under varying load conditions, dynamically distributing contact pressure evenly and preventing the high localized stress that causes wear.