Patent Grant
8956055
This is a National Phase Application in the United States of International Patent Application PCT/JP 2012/054445 filed Feb. 23, 2012, which claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-040051, filed Feb. 25, 2011, Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-119487, filed May 27, 2011, Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-119488, filed May 27, 2011, Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-036462, filed Feb. 22, 2012, and PCT/JP2012/054445, filed Feb. 23, 2012. The entire disclosures of the above patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a split bearing ring and its manufacturing method.
Conventionally, a bearing ring for use in a rolling bearing and divided into two with respect to the circumferential direction to facilitate assembling and attachment in manufacturing is know as a split bearing ring. In general, such split bearing rings are manufactured by heat-treating an annular bearing ring, dividing it into two by cracking, recombining them together, and grind-finishing the raceway surfaces.
Various methods for dividing a bearing ring by cracking have conventionally been proposed. For example, as a method for causing a split between slits formed at both axial ends of a bearing ring, it has been proposed to form stress concentration points such as V-grooves or inducing holes in the bearing ring in advance so that the shape of the split line is controlled to be in a desired shape such as an S shape (see, e.g., Patent Documents 1-3). Also, it has been proposed to split a bearing ring so as to form a split line that is inclined with respect to the axial direction, thereby improving the adhesion between split faces (see, e.g., Patent Documents 4-7).
Further, to prevent a situation where split lines do not meet each other when cracking from both sides in the axial direction, it has been proposed to open from a slit formed on one end side in the axial direction (see, e.g., Patent document 8).
Further, in forcibly breaking and separating (cracking) a low-ductility microalloyed hot forging steel, it has been proposed to make the surface roughness Rz of fracture faces to be 30 μm to 1,000 μm to enable an easy positioning after the splitting (see, e.g., Patent document 9).
While bearing rings are required to be highly durable, in split bearing rings, flaking or crack damage may develop from a split location. It is therefore necessary to improve the strength at the split location and the adhesion between the split faces. However, when stress concentration points are provided as in Patent documents 1-3, they may become a factor in lowering the durability. Further, a bearing ring may be deformed in an elliptical shape as a result of deformation at the time of heat treatment or plastic deformation at the time of splitting, which raises a problem that the machining allowance is increased.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the invention to provide a highly durable split bearing ring and its manufacturing method.
The above object of the invention can be achieved by the following configuration.
(1) A split bearing ring having two or more split portions into which the split bearing ring is divided with respect to a circumferential direction,
wherein surfaces of the split portions other than end faces of the spit portions with respect to the circumferential direction have hardness of HRC 59 or higher, the surfaces of the split portions other than the end faces with respect to the circumferential direction are quenched and tempered, and the surfaces of the split portions other than the end faces with respect to the circumferential direction have a prior austenite grain size of No. 6 or above, and
wherein the split portions are formed by applying a load to a bearing ring such that stress generated on one end side of the bearing ring with respect to a axial direction is larger than stress generated on the other end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction.
(2) The split bearing ring according to (1), wherein the end faces of the split portions with respect to the circumferential direction have arithmetic average roughness Ra of 30 μm or higher, and the end faces of the split portions with respect to the circumferential direction are dimpled.
(3) The split bearing ring according to (1) or (2), wherein the split portions are formed by causing a crack to develop from the one end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction.
(4) A method for manufacturing the split bearing ring as set forth in any one of (1) to (3), comprising:
splitting the bearing ring by applying the load from above in a vertical direction such that the stress generated on the one end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction is larger than the stress generated on the other end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction.
(5) The method of manufacturing the split bearing ring according to (4), further comprising providing a slit on the one end side,
wherein the stress generated at the slit on the one end side is larger than the stress generated on the other end side.
(6) The method of manufacturing the split bearing ring according to (5), further comprising forming a slit on the other end side,
wherein the stress generated at the slit on the one end side is larger than the stress generated at the slit on the other end side.
(7) The method of manufacturing the split bearing ring according to any one of (4) to (6), further comprising:
inserting a columnar support jig into a radially inner side of the bearing ring; and
supporting an inner circumferential surface of the bearing ring with the support jig,
wherein an angle of a line connecting a contact point and a radial center of the bearing ring with respect to a plane perpendicular to the direction in which the load is applied to the bearing ring and including the radial center of the bearing ring is 15° to 35°, the contact point being closest to a portion of the bearing ring to which the load is applied in a region where the bearing ring and the support jig contact each other.
In this specification, the one end side and the other end side with respect to the axial direction are one side and its opposite side in the axial direction with the axial center being the boundary.
According to a split bearing ring and its manufacturing method of the invention a highly durable split bearing ring and its manufacturing method can be provided.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a method of manufacturing a split bearing ring according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In the method of manufacturing the split bearing ring according to the embodiment, as shown in
To improve durability in an actual use environment, the inner ring 11 before splitting is quenched and tempered, or carburized or carbonitrided and quenched and tempered. The material of the inner ring 11 contains carbon (C) of 0.15 mass % to 1.20 mass %. C being smaller than 0.15 mass % improves the durability of the inner ring 11 but is not preferable because it makes it difficult to cause cracking. On the other hand, the C being larger than 1.20 mass % is not preferable because sufficient durability cannot be obtained.
The contents of components of the inner ring 11 other than C are preferably in the following ranges. Si is a carburization-resistant element and, therefore, its content is preferably equal to or smaller than 2 mass % and more preferably equal to or smaller than 0.35 mass %. To increase workability, the content of Cr is preferably equal to or smaller than 20 mass % and more preferably equal to or smaller than 1.2 mass %. To suppress increase of crystal grain size, the content of Mn is preferably equal to or smaller than 2 mass % and more preferably equal to or smaller than 0.85 mass %. The content of Mo is preferably equal to or smaller than 1 mass % and more preferably equal to or smaller than 0.3 mass %, because a large Mo content results in cost increase. To increase workability, the content of Ni is preferably equal to or smaller than 4 mass % and more preferably equal to or smaller than 0.25 mass %. Other components are preferably Fe and unavoidable impurities.
The surface hardness of the inner ring 11 is HRC 59 or higher. The prior austenite grain size (JIS G0551) of the surface of the inner ring 11 is No. 6 or above. With the surface hardness of the inner ring 11 being HRC 59 or higher, the durability can be increased and, in addition, the plastic deformation at the time of splitting is kept small and the adhesion between split faces is improved. With the prior austenite grain size being No. 6 or above, while the splitting load is increased, crystal fracture faces with minute cracks are preventing from being formed on split faces and the durability is improved. The durability is improved as crystal grains become smaller. Here, the “split faces” are end faces, with respect to the circumferential direction, of each of the split portions into which the inner ring 11 has been divided.
As shown in
The support jig 30 has top edges 34, 34 between the top surface 32 and the side surfaces 33, 33. The inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 are hung and held by these top edges 34, 34. The top edges 34 contacting the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 are preferably chamfered by 1 mm to 30 mm. Chamfering of 1 mm or more prevents indentations from being formed when contacting the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11. Chamfering of 30 mm or less suppresses the supporting location from shifting too much after the cracking, whereby the stability is maintained. It is preferable that the chamfering profile be rounded.
To split the inner ring 11, the inner ring 11 is hung and held by the support jig 30 inserted into the radially inner side as described above such that the slits 17a, 17b are located at the top in the vertical direction. The inner ring 11 is disposed in such that the slit 17b is located on a side of the one axial end portion 36 of the support jig 30 and the slit 17a located on a side of the other axial end portion 35 of the support jig 30, and is supported by the top surface 32 (in particular, by its edges) of the support jig 30.
In this state, a bottom surface 39 of a loading jig 38 is placed on the flanges 13, 13 of the support jig 30 and adjacent to the slits 17a, 17b and a load is applied to the inner ring 11 from above in the vertical direction. In this manner, the load is applied to both axial sides of the inner ring 11 via the bottom surface 39 of the loading jig 38 from above in the vertical direction. However, as described above, the top surface 32 of the support jig 30 is higher on the one axial end portion 36 side than on of the other axial end portion 35 side. Therefore, the top surface 32 of the support jig 30 is inclined with respect to the bottom surface 39 of the loading jig 38, whereby a larger stress is generated on the slit 17b side than on the slit 17a side. This allows a crack to develop only from the slit 17b, and therefore, prevents a situation where cracks develop from both slits 17a, 17b and do not meet each other.
The inclination angle α (see
Further, it is preferable that the angle (hereinafter referred to as a contact angle) β (see
The carburized or carbonitrided inner ring 11 has high toughness inside and hence the splitting load is increased. When the splitting load is high, the plastic deformation amount is large, which raises problems that the grinding allowance is increased to cause cost increase and that deformation may occur when stress is released by grinding. It is therefore preferable to perform cracking in an environment that makes it as brittle as possible. For example, a sub-zero treatment may be performed by utilizing low-temperature brittleness. In this respect, from the viewpoint of durability, the surface retained austenite is preferably 20 volume % to 45 volume %. Placing at least the origin potion of a split face in water is preferable because the splitting load can be reduced greatly.
The quenched and tempered inner ring 11 tends to have rough split faces. With the arithmetic average roughness Ra of split faces being 30 μm or higher, the adhesion between the split faces is increased by the roughness and the durability of split inner rings is further improved. To suppress occurrence of cracks, the arithmetic average roughness Ra of split faces is preferably 1,000 μm or lower, and more preferably 500 μm or lower. The split faces are preferably dimpled. This further increases the adhesion between the split faces, and further improves durability.
In this embodiment, the support jig 30 is formed in a columnar shape, the support jig 30 itself is supported by the two posts 37, and the inner ring 11 is merely hung and held by the top edges 34. As such, it can be applied to inner rings 11 of various sizes.
The support jig 30 is preferably formed without heat treatment or the like to have the same hardness as its material such as carbon steel for mechanical structures. In contrast, as described above, the inner ring 11 is quenched and tempered, so that the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 has higher hardness than the support jig 30. This prevents the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 from being scratched and from being lowered in circularity due to deformation of the inner ring 11.
The support jig 30 may be made of a material having a smaller Young's modulus than the material of the inner ring 11, such as cast iron, a copper-based metal and aluminum. By forming the support jig 30 using such a material, even when the contact pressure between the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 and the top edges 34 becomes high, the support jig 30 is deformed earlier than the inner ring 11, which prevents the inner circumferential surface of the inner ring 11 from being scratched and from being lowered in circularity due to deformation of the inner ring 11.
As described above, according to the split bearing ring and its manufacturing method of this embodiment, the inner ring 11 is divided with respect to the circumferential direction by causing a crack to develop only from the one slit 17b. Therefore, disorder of cut faces is suppressed and favorable cut faces can be obtained without increasing manufacturing cost. Further, deformation of the bearing ring due to splitting is suppressed so that the circularity of the raceway surface can be made high. Still further, the adhesion between split face is increased, whereby the durability of split inner rings can be further improved.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications and improvements may be made therein. While the above embodiment has been described in connection with the case of splitting the inner ring 11 as a example, the invention can also be applied to a case of splitting an outer ring. While the above embodiment has been described in connection with the case of splitting the bearing ring into two parts as an example, the bearing ring may be split into three or more parts. In the above embodiment, the inclination angle α is provided by forming the top surface 32 of the support jig 30 as a slant surface, however, it is not limited to this, and the bottom surface of the support jig 30 may be formed as a slant surface, or the inclination angle α may be provided by using a spacer such as a shim. In the above embodiment, the inner ring 11 is formed with the slits on both end sides with respect to the axial direction. However, a slit may be formed only on the one end side or only on the other end side with respect to the axial direction. Further, a slit may not be formed at either axial end portions of the inner ring 11.
Inner rings of cylindrical roller bearings were produced using materials shown in Table 1, slits were formed on both end sides of each inner ring with respect to the axial direction, and the inner rings were split under conditions shown in Table 1 and
It is seen from Table 1 that Examples 1-25 in which conditions such as the heat treatment, surface hardness (HRC), crystal grain size, and split face form are within the range of the invention passed durability tests because the adhesion between the split faces is improved.
In contrast, in Comparative Example 1, the inclination angle α is equal to 0°, that is, the stress generated on one axial end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction is equal to the stress generated on the other end side of the bearing ring with respect to the axial direction. In this Comparative Example 1, the splitting load was too high and caused large deformation, and also split lines did not meet each other. Thus, a durability test could not be carried out. Also in Comparative Example 2 in which the surface hardness is outside the range of the invention, the splitting load was so high and caused large deformation. Thus, a durability test could not be carried out. In Comparative Example 3, the crystal grain size is outside the range of the invention and the split faces are not dimpled. This Comparative Example 3 did not pass the durability test because a crack developed in the split faces during the durability test, from which it is understood that its life is short.
Among Examples 1-25, in Example 15, the contact angle β is smaller than the preferable range of the invention. Although this Example 15 passed the durability test, the locations where the inner ring 11 was hung and held by the top edges 34 were easily shifted upward during splitting and the stability was thus somewhat low. Example 19 in which the contact angle β is larger than the preferable range of the invention passed a durability test, but the splitting load was large. In Example 23, the inclination angle α is outside the preferable range of the invention. Example 23 passed a durability test, but the area in which the bottom surface 39 of the loading jig 38 contacts the inner ring 11 at a start of splitting is small so that the inner ring 11 easily shifts in the axial direction. Thus, the stability is somewhat low.
The effectiveness of the ranges and the preferable ranges of the invention has been verified by the above results.
While the embodiment and Examples of the invention have been described above, the invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications may be made therein within the scope as defined by the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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| 2011-040051 | Feb 2011 | JP | national |
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| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2012/054445 | 2/23/2012 | WO | 00 | 3/29/2013 |
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