Patent Application
20160178008
This disclosure claims the benefit of UK Patent Application No. GB1422944.7, filed on 22 Dec. 2014, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a bearing cage for an anti-friction bearing, and particularly, but not exclusively, to a bearing cage for an anti-friction bearing for use in a turbofan engine.
In the following disclosure, the terms rolling element bearing and anti-friction bearing are used interchangeably.
It is well known for a rolling element bearing assembly to be provided with a bearing cage, sometimes referred to as a bearing retainer or ball separator. The main functions of the bearing cage are to separate the bearing elements from one another, and to maintain the rolling elements' symmetrical radial spacing. In many applications, the bearing cage is also used to secure the bearing components together.
A typical bearing cage is a cylindrical component having radial pockets formed therein, with a single bearing element being located within each of the pockets.
Typically, mechanical design constraints require a minimum material thickness in the circumferential direction between adjacent pockets. This constraint, in conjunction with the diameter and quantity of the bearing elements, dictates the minimum diameter of a conventional bearing assembly.
For a given load carrying capability, it is desirable to minimise the size and therefore the weight of the bearing assembly, because this allows for a corresponding reduction in the size and weight of surrounding components.
Furthermore, as shaft speed increases, so the stresses induced in the balls and the outer bearing race due to centrifugal forces become significant, which in turn limits the capability of the bearing assembly to accommodate mechanical loading. These stresses may be reduced by reducing the diameter of the bearing assembly.
One solution to reducing the diameter of a bearing assembly, while maintaining its load carrying capability, is to reduce the circumferential separation between adjacent bearing elements.
A consequence of reducing the separation between adjacent bearing elements in the bearing assembly is that the cage bars must become thinner, which will reduce the mechanical strength of the cage assembly. Cage strength may be recovered by extending the cage bars radially inwardly. However, as the cage bars extend radially inwards, so they approach one another. This represents a problem for a conventional bearing arrangement, because the process of assembling the bearing cage and rolling elements into the outer race requires that the rolling elements can all be translated radially inboard to pass under the outer race lip. Deep cage bars will intrude into the space required for this assembly.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a bearing cage for an anti-friction bearing, the bearing cage comprising a plurality of cage pockets, each cage pocket being adapted to accommodate a rolling element,
The present disclosure replaces the radially oriented pockets of a conventional bearing cage with pockets that are angled such that they are on an axis which intersects with the bearing centreline at a distance from the radial plane of the bearing.
By angling the cage pockets alternately fore and aft (i.e. on opposite sides of the radial plane of the bearing assembly) the bearing cage may be provided with deeper cage bars without restricting the ability of the bearing elements to move radially inboard for assembly of the cage and bearing elements into the bearing outer race.
Optionally, the cylindrical axis of each cage pocket subtends an angle of between approximately 20° and 40° with the rotational axis of the bearing cage.
Optionally, the cylindrical axis of each cage pocket subtends an angle of approximately 30° with the rotational axis of the bearing cage.
Increasing the angle of the cylindrical axis of each cage pocket provides a corresponding increase in the depth of the cage bars and so allows for a reduction in the spacing between adjacent bearing elements.
However, the maximum angle of the cylindrical axis of each cage pocket is limited by the requirement for each of the bearing elements to be able to clear the outer race during the assembly of the bearing elements into corresponding cage pockets.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an anti-friction bearing comprising:
The anti-friction bearing of the present disclosure enables an improvement in the load carrying capability of a bearing assembly of a given size by reducing the circumferential thickness of the bearing cage bars.
This is achieved by angling the cage pockets alternately fore and aft (i.e. on opposite sides of the radial plane of the bearing assembly). This in turn enables deeper cage bars to be used without restricting the ability of the bearing elements to move radially inboard for assembly of the cage and bearing elements into the bearing outer race.
Optionally, each of the plurality of rolling elements is a ball element.
In one arrangement of the disclosure, each of the rolling elements is a conventional spherical element.
In an alternative arrangement, each of the rolling elements may be a toroidal element.
Optionally, the first raceway is an outer raceway, and the second raceway is a split inner raceway.
In this arrangement, each of the bearing elements is inserted into a corresponding one of the cage pockets in a radially outward direction. With all of the bearing elements inserted into the cage, the two portions of the inner raceway may be aligned to form the assembled anti-friction bearing.
In one arrangement, the first raceway is integrally formed as a component surface such as, for example, a housing surface. Alternatively, the first raceway may be formed as a discrete component with the assembled anti-friction bearing being accommodated within a component such as a housing.
Optionally, the outer raceway is an angular contact outer raceway.
By forming the outer raceway as an angular contact raceway, the anti-friction bearing is better suited to accommodating bearing loads having an axial component.
Optionally, the first raceway is an inner raceway, and the second raceway is a split outer raceway.
In this arrangement, each of the bearing elements is inserted into a corresponding one of the cage pockets in a radially inward direction. With all of the bearing elements inserted into the cage, the two portions of the outer raceway may be aligned to form the assembled anti-friction bearing.
In applications where the inner raceway is integrally formed as a circumferentially outer surface of a shaft, the second raceway is formed as a split outer raceway. This arrangement simplifies the assembly of the anti-friction bearing.
Optionally, the inner raceway is an angular contact inner raceway.
By forming the inner raceway as an angular contact raceway, the anti-friction bearing is provided with improved handling of bearing loads with an axial component.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a turbofan engine comprising an anti-friction bearing according to the second aspect of the disclosure.
The illustrative aspects of the disclosure are designed to solve one or more of the problems herein described and/or one or more other problems not discussed.
There now follows a description of an embodiment of the disclosure, by way of non-limiting example, with reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:
It is noted that the drawings may not be to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the disclosure, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings.
A typical turbofan gas turbine engine 10, as shown in
A typical turbofan engine 10 will incorporate many rolling element, or anti-friction, bearings, any one or all off which may be replaced by an anti-friction bearing according to the present disclosure.
Referring to
The bearing cage 100 has a rotational axis 102, and a first side 104 and an opposite second side 106. The rotational axis 102 corresponds to a rotational axis about which the bearing cage 100 may rotate, for example when it is assembled into an anti-friction bearing.
The bearing cage 100 comprises a plurality of cage pockets 110, each of which are disposed around a circumference 108 of the bearing cage 100. Each of the cage pockets 110 is adapted to accommodate a rolling element.
The cage pockets 110 are arranged around the circumference 108 of the bearing cage 100 in an alternating circumferential array of first cage pockets 112 and second cage pockets 114.
Each of the cage pockets 110 has a cylindrical cross-sectional profile. Each of the first cage pockets 112 has a first cylindrical axis 116, and each of the second cage pockets 114 has a second cylindrical axis 118.
Each first cage pocket 112 is angled such that the corresponding first cylindrical axis 116 intersects with the rotational axis 102 of the bearing cage 100 on the first side 104 of the bearing cage 100.
Each second cage pocket 114 is angled such that the corresponding second cylindrical axis 118 intersects with the rotational axis 102 of the bearing cage 100 on the second side 106 of the bearing cage 100.
As shown in
In one arrangement the bearing cage 100 is formed from a metal alloy, such as steel, with each of the first and second cage pockets 112,114 being machined into the bearing cage 100.
In an alternative arrangement, the bearing cage 100 may be formed as a casting such as, for example, an investment casting, with the features of the first and second cage pockets 112,114 being integrally formed as part of the casting process. In a further alternative, the bearing cage 100 may be moulded from a polymeric or composite material.
The first raceway 132, the second raceway 134 and the rolling elements 136 are formed from conventional bearing materials such as, for example, steel or steel alloys.
The first raceway 132 is an outer raceway, and the second raceway 134 is an inner raceway. In this arrangement, the inner raceway 134 is a split raceway formed from two matching raceway halves.
To assemble the anti-friction bearing 130, the bearing cage 100 is first positioned within the outer raceway 132. Each of the plurality of rolling elements 136 is then inserted into a corresponding one of the cage pockets 110.
When all of the cage pockets 110 have been filled, the two halves of the inner raceway 134 are positioned together against the radially inner facing surfaces of the rolling elements 136.
As described above, each first cage pocket 112 is angled in the opposite sense to its neighbouring second cage pocket 114. As the first and second cage pockets 112,114 are not oriented purely radially, the degree to which they approach each other as the radius reduces is lessened in comparison with a conventional bearing cage. This allows the thickness of the cage bar 124 to be reduced, allowing the overall diameter of the assembled bearing to be reduced relative to a conventional rolling element bearing with the same number of balls of the same size.
From
Referring to
The anti-friction bearing 230 has a first raceway 232, a second raceway 134, a bearing cage 100 (described above) and a plurality of rolling elements 136.
The first raceway 232 is an outer raceway and is formed as an annular contact raceway. The second raceway 134, bearing cage 100 and rolling elements 136 are identical to those described above in relation to the anti-friction bearing 130.
Assembly of the anti-friction bearing 230 follows the procedure outlined above for the anti-friction bearing 130.
Referring to
The anti-friction bearing 330 corresponds to the anti-friction bearing 130 with the outer raceway 332 being a split raceway, and the inner raceway 334 being a unitary raceway.
Assembly of the anti-friction bearing 330 follows the procedure outlined above for the anti-friction bearing 130.
Referring to
The anti-friction bearing 430 corresponds to the anti-friction bearing 230 with the inner and outer raceways being reversed.
Assembly of the anti-friction bearing 430 follows the procedure outlined above for the anti-friction bearing 130.
The foregoing description of various aspects of the disclosure has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to a person of skill in the art are included within the scope of the disclosure as defined by the accompanying claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1422944.7 | Dec 2014 | GB | national |
