Not applicable.
The present invention relates generally to a lubricating device for bearings, and more particularly to an innovative structural design of a lubricating can.
During usage, the roller unit in the structure of a bearing is subject to frequent rolling friction and pressure. Therefore, lubrication is an important procedure. At present, industrial lubricating grease is commonly used as the lubricant for bearing roller units. Under normal temperatures, the industrial lubricating grease looks like paste. If the lubricating grease is gradually filled into the bearing roller unit by hand, it takes a lot of time and labor and the lubricating quality can not be perfectly controlled. In view of the above problem, some manufacturers have developed some kinds of bearing lubricating grease filling device, shaped like a can. However, such existing devices still have some problems and drawbacks. Examples are as follows.
“Means for packing bearings” is disclosed in U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 1991542. In this prior art, the grease cup comprises a cup body and a cup cover combined together. The cover body has a cone-shaped funnel for selective placement of bearings of different outer diameters. Inside the cup body, a piston is configured to slide up and down. The space formed between the piston and the cone-shaped funnel above is to hold lubricating grease. The center of the piston is connected with a bolt. The top end of the bolt extends upward above the aforesaid cone-shaped funnel and the bearing. The top end of the bolt is combined with a pressing base. Above the pressing base, there is a nut. The nut is screwed on the bolt. Based on such a structure, when the nut rotates clockwise, the bolt will go upward under the guidance of the tilted threads and subsequently drives the piston to rise. At this time, the lubricating grease will be squeezed upward, and be filled into the bearing structure. However, in real applications, such kind of prior-art structure still has some problems. For example: the grease cup must be configured in the form of two components with a cup body and a cap body. The structure is quite complicated. According to the patent, the cone shape of the funnel is a necessary design for pressing the external ring frame of the bearing, so as to block the lubricating grease and force it to go to the rollers and into the gaps between the internal and external ring frames of the bearing. The funnel must be made into a cone shape and must have sufficient thickness to bear the pressure from the bearing. Therefore, the production cost is high. In addition, when the user rotates the nut to lubricate, the distance between the nut and the piston to be driven is almost equal to the whole length of the bolt (actually more than 20 centimeters). Thus, when rotating the nut, the counter forces to be overcome include the weight of the bolt, the weight of the piston, and the weight of the whole lubricating grease. Hence, such a structure is difficult and inconvenient to operate.
U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 2,515,208 discloses a “Wheel bearing packer”. The main structure of this prior art is similar to the above one. Therefore, it still has the drawback of high production cost and inconvenient operation.
In addition, U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,292 discloses a “bearing lubricating grease filling device”. In this prior art, a bearing clamp fixing device is configured inside the grease cup and is capable of moving up and down. Between the bearing clamp fixing device and the cup bottom of the grease cup, a lubricating grease filling space is defined and formed. The top surface of the bearing clamp fixing device is formed with a bearing placement surface. The center of the bearing clamp fixing device is formed with a grease filling passage that goes through vertically. When a bearing is placed on the bearing placement surface, the downward pressing mechanism configured above can be operated by the user to press down the bearing together with the bearing clamp fixing device, forcing the lubricating grease inside the grease filling space to go upward through the aforesaid passage and into the bearing. However, in real applications, problems are still found in this prior art. The lubricating function can only be accomplished by manually pressing the downward pressing mechanism with a hand. However, as the lubricating grease is usually paste-like industrial lubricant having very poor liquidity, the user has to apply a massive force to cause slight flow of the lubricating grease. Therefore, the operation takes a lot of labor and time, and is very inconvenient. If pressing tools like vises are used for pressing, the lubricating procedure becomes more complicated and takes higher cost. These problems must be overcome.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a lubricating can, aiming to solve the technical problems by making a breath through in the development of a practically ideal new-style lubricating can. The lubricating can is specially designed to help users fill paste-like lubricating grease into the roller unit structure of a bearing. The bearing has an axle hole and an external frame and the lubricating can comprises a grease cup, a bolt, a piston, a pressing base, a bearing placement portion, and a rotation driving component.
Based on the above object, the problem-solving technical features of the present invention are as follows: The grease cup has a closed cup bottom, an open cup mouth, and a cylindrical inner wall between the cup bottom and the cup mouth. The inside of the grease cup defines and forms a lubricating trough. The lubricating trough is used to hold the lubricating grease. The bolt is fixed inside the lubricating trough. The bolt comprises a fixed end and an extension end, wherein, the fixed end is connected and fixed in the center of the cup bottom, and the extension end extends toward the cup mouth for a preset length. The bolt is formed with guiding threads. The piston is housed inside the lubricating trough, capable of moving up and down under a force. The piston has a pressing surface and a bearing surface opposite each other, and a lateral ring surface connecting the peripheries of the pressing surface and the bearing surface, wherein, the bearing surface faces upward toward the cup mouth, and the pressing surface faces downward toward the cup bottom. The pressing surface is to press the lubricating grease held inside the lubricating trough. The lateral ring surface is configured with at least one ring seal. The at least one ring seal and the cylindrical inner wall are tightly pressed against each other in a slidable fashion. The center of the piston is formed with a through hole that goes through the pressing surface and the bearing surface. The through hole is sheathed on the bolt from the extension end of the bolt, and the through hole fits the bolt loosely, so that, relatively, the piston is not driven by the bolt. Furthermore, the piston is formed with a plurality of lubricating guide holes on the periphery of the through hole, lined up in a circle with intervals. A plurality of lubricating guide holes go through the pressing surface and the bearing surface. The pressing base comprises an upper end bearing portion and a lower end pressing portion, wherein, in the center of the lower end pressing portion, a screw hole is formed upward. The screw hole fits the guiding threads formed on the bolt. The lower end pressing portion faces the bearing surface of the piston. The upper end bearing portion is located above the cup mouth of the grease cup mouth. The bearing placement portion is defined and formed by the space between the lower end pressing portion of the pressing base and the bearing surface of the piston. The bearing placement portion is for placement of the bearing. The lower end pressing portion of the pressing base presses downward and seals the axle hole of the bearing. The external frame of the bearing presses downward on the bearing surface of the piston, and defines and forms a closed lubricating margin. The rotation driving component is configured on the upper end bearing portion of the pressing base. The rotation driving component can rotate when the user applies a force, and can drive the pressing base to rotate and move up and down.
The main efficacies and advantages of the present invention are as follows:
First, the structural design is simplified: comparing to the complicated structure of the prior art described above, which comprises two components (the cup body and the cap body) and a cone-shaped funnel, the grease cup of the lubricating can disclosed in the present invention features the combination of cylindrical inner wall and an open cup mouth, thereby considerably simplifies the structural design. As a result, the production and processing cost can be substantially reduced to offer better industrial and economic efficiency.
Second, the operation is less labor-consuming and more efficient: comparing to the problem of labor-consuming and inconvenient operation of the prior art, the lubricating can disclosed in the present invention provides an ideal grease filling driving mechanism, wherein, the bolt is fixed inside the grease cup and can not move, the user turns the rotation driving component to drive the pressing base to rotate and press down the bearing and piston to squeeze the lubricating grease into the bearing. During the process, the bearing, piston and pressing base all generate simultaneous downward forces because of their individual weight. Therefore, such operating components all generate contributing forces instead of reacting forces. As a result, when the user applies a force to operate the rotation driving component, the resistance is minimized, and the operation becomes easier and more efficient. This is the advantage and practical advancement of the present invention.
Referring to
The lubricating can is specially designed to help an user to inject paste-like lubricating grease 05 (normally an industrial lubricant) into the roller unit 11 of a bearing 10. The bearing 10 has an axle hole 12 and an external frame 13. The lubricating can comprises a grease cup 20, a bolt 30, a piston 40, a pressing base 50, a bearing placement portion 60 and a rotation driving component 70.
In particular, the grease cup 20 has a closed cup bottom 21, an open cup mouth 22 and a cylindrical inner wall 23 between the cup bottom 21 and the cup mouth 22. The inside space of the grease cup 20 forms a lubricating trough 24. The lubricating trough 24 is used to hold the lubricating grease 05.
The bolt 30 is fixed inside the lubricating trough 24. The bolt 30 comprises a fixed end 31 and an extension end 32, wherein, the fixed end 31 is fixed on the center of the cup bottom 21, and the extension end 32 is extended toward the cup mouth 22 for a preset length. The bolt 30 is formed with guiding threads 33.
The piston 40 is housed inside the lubricating trough 24 and can move up and down under a force. The piston 40 has a pressing surface 41 and a bearing surface 42 opposite each other, and a lateral ring surface 43 connecting the peripheries of the pressing surface 41 and the bearing surface 42. In particular, the bearing surface 42 faces upward toward the cup mouth 22, and the pressing surface 41 faces downward toward the cup bottom 21. The pressing surface 41 is to press the lubricating grease 05 held in the lubricating trough 24. The lateral ring surface 43 is configured with at least one ring seal 44. The at least one ring seal 44 and the cylindrical inner wall 23 are pressed against each other in a slidable fashion. The center of the piston 40 is formed with a through hole 45 that goes through the pressing surface 41 and the bearing surface 42. The through hole 45 is sheathed on the bolt 30 from the extension end 32 of the bolt 30, and the through hole 45 fits the bolt 30 loosely, so that, relatively, the piston 40 is not driven by the bolt 30. The piston 40 is formed with a plurality of lubricating guide holes 46 on the periphery of the through hole 45, lined up in a circle with intervals. The plurality of lubricating guide holes 46 go through the pressing surface 41 and the bearing surface 42.
The pressing base 50 comprises an upper end bearing portion 51 and a lower end pressing portion 52, wherein, in the center of the lower end pressing portion 52 (Note: in a tapered shape), a screw hole 53 is formed upward. The screw hole 53 fits the guiding threads 33 formed on the bolt 30. The lower end pressing portion 52 faces the bearing surface 42 of the piston 40. The upper end bearing portion 51 is located above the cup mouth 22 of the grease cup 20.
The bearing placement portion 60 is defined and formed by the space between the lower end pressing portion 52 of the pressing base 50 and the bearing surface 42 of the piston 40. The bearing placement portion 60 is for placement of the bearing 10. As shown in
The rotation driving component 70 is configured on the upper end bearing portion 51 of the pressing base 50. The rotation driving component 70 can rotate when the user applies a force, and can drive the pressing base 50 to rotate and move up and down.
Referring to
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Based on the above structural constitution and technical characteristics, the real application of the lubricating can disclosed in the present invention is as follows: firstly, as shown in