Segmented Bearing Rings with Support Element for Preload Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Large size rolling bearings in demanding applications such as wind turbines face reduced service life due to varying loads, requiring precise preload or clearance settings that are difficult to maintain and often require high manufacturing precision and complex tooling.
Innovation Solution
A large size bearing unit design featuring a rolling bearing with separate ring elements and a ring-formed support element that sets a specific preload or clearance during manufacturing, allowing for consistent bearing performance and reduced deformation, and enabling adjustable preload post-mounting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional large size rolling bearings are used in demanding applications, then the bearing can support high loads, but the service life is reduced due to varying loads and difficulty in maintaining precise preload or clearance settings
Solution Approach 1:
The first ring element is divided into at least two separate ring elements that are located adjacently in a row along the rotational axle. This segmentation allows independent positioning and adjustment of each ring element, enabling precise preload or clearance settings without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances on the entire bearing assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
A ring-formed support element is introduced as an intermediary component that at least partly embeds the separate ring elements and provides a seat surface for their location. This support element acts as a mediator that maintains the precise spatial relationship between ring elements, ensuring consistent preload or clearance settings while accommodating variations in manufacturing tolerances.
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional bearing designs are used, then the structure is simple, but complex tooling and high manufacturing precision are required to set and maintain correct bearing clearance or preload
Solution Approach 1:
The ring-formed support element is designed to at least partly embed the separate ring elements and provide location features during the manufacturing process. This preliminary structuring of the support element allows correct bearing clearance or preload to be set during assembly without requiring complex external tooling, as the support element itself provides the necessary geometric constraints.
3Reliability
If high manufacturing precision is used to set correct bearing clearance or preload, then the bearing performance is optimized, but the manufacturing cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the first ring element into separate ring elements, the patent allows each element to be manufactured with more relaxed tolerances while still achieving the required overall bearing performance. The modular nature of separate ring elements enables easier assembly and adjustment without requiring extremely precise manufacturing of the entire bearing unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The ring-formed support element serves as an intermediary that maintains precise geometric relationships between the separate ring elements. This support element can be manufactured with standard tolerances but provides the necessary precision through its structural design, thereby achieving consistent bearing performance without requiring high-precision manufacturing of all components.
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
This design enhances bearing service life, simplifies manufacturing, reduces tooling needs, and provides flexibility in scaling, while maintaining optimal weight and stiffness, with lower deformation and friction, thus supporting larger external loads.
Implementation Method 1
the side surfaces are in pressurized contact with corresponding axially outer side surfaces of the at least two separate ring elements in order to press them together to thereby set a specific preload or clearance to the rolling bearing
Data Source
AI summary
A large size bearing unit provides a rolling bearing having a first ring element and a second ring element and a plurality of rolling elements interposed radially in-between the first and the second ring elements. The first and the second ring elements rotate relative each other in relation to a rotational axle. The first ring element provides at least two separate ring elements located adjacently in a row along the rotational axle. At least one ring-formed support element is at least partly embedding the at least two separate ring elements and includes a seat surface onto which the at least two separate ring elements are located. The at least one ring-formed support element has two axially opposite surfaces extending radially from the seat surface to partly enclose the at least two separate ring elements. At least one of the axially opposite side surfaces is located on a separate ring-formed element.