Hub Bearing Assembly Using Roller Support Tools and General-Purpose Cages
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Solution Overview
Problem
The third-generation hub bearing's assembly process is labor-intensive and costly due to the need for a dedicated cage to prevent tapered rollers from falling off during assembly, which reduces the cost-effectiveness of the structure.
Innovation Solution
An assembling method and device that uses a general-purpose cage and support tools to maintain the rollers in place during assembly, preventing them from falling off until the second assembly stage, eliminating the need for a retaining ring and reducing labor and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a dedicated cage is used to prevent tapered rollers from falling off during assembly, then the ease of assembly is improved, but the cost increases and cost reduction effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The hub wheel is separated from the outer ring before assembly, and the roller cassette is preliminarily assembled between them. This preliminary arrangement prevents tapered rollers from falling off during the assembly process, eliminating the need for a dedicated cage with special retaining structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The assembly process is divided into two stages: first assembling the roller cassette between the hub wheel and outer ring, then combining them into the final hub bearing. This segmentation allows the use of a general-purpose cage instead of a dedicated complex cage.
2Device complexity
If the wheel mounting flange and first inner raceway surface are arranged adjacent to each other in the axial direction, then the number of components is reduced and cost is reduced, but the ease of assembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The roller cassette is preliminarily assembled between the hub wheel and outer ring before final combination. This preliminary action allows the seal member to be attached to the outer ring without risking roller displacement, solving the assembly difficulty caused by the compact axial arrangement of the flange and raceway surface.
Data Source
AI summary
To obtain a second assembly, first, an outer ring and first roller cassette of a first assembly are supported by a first support tool and a hub wheel of the first assembly is supported by a second support tool, and then the second support tool is moved upward, so that a roller support surface of the second support tool is introduced to the inside of the first roller cassette in the radial direction. Then, after a first seal member is attached to the outer ring, the second support tool is moved downward in accordance with the re-insertion of a cylindrical portion of the hub wheel into the inner periphery of the outer ring, so that a first inner raceway surface is inside of the first roller cassette in the radial direction while the roller support surface is ejected to the lower side of the first roller cassette.