Bearing cage segment including a joint edge in the region of a to-be-formed bridge

Abstract

A sheet metal bearing cage segment includes first and second ring sections, bridges connecting the ring sections to form pockets for rolling elements and a circumferentially facing joint edge configured to be connected to another circumferentially facing joint edge. The joint edge is disposed such that it will be located in one of the bridges after the joint edge is connected to the another circumferentially facing joint edge.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bearing cage segment comprising:
 a first sheet metal ring section,   at least one second sheet metal ring section,   a plurality of sheet metal bridges connecting the first ring section to the at least one second ring section, circumferentially adjacent pairs of the bridges forming pockets for receiving at least one rolling element, and   a circumferentially facing joint edge configured to be connected to another circumferentially facing joint edge,   wherein the joint edge is disposed such that it will be located in one of the bridges after the joint edge is connected to the another circumferentially facing joint edge.   
     
     
         2 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 , wherein the joint edge is formed by laser cutting. 
     
     
         3 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the joint edge includes a chamfer on a radially outer side and/or on a radially inner side.   
     
     
         4 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 3 , wherein the chamfer is formed by rolling or milling. 
     
     
         5 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein 0.5 d≤b≤d, where b is a width of a partial bridge for forming the to-be-formed bridge and d is the width of the bridges measured in the circumferential direction.   
     
     
         6 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 , wherein the pockets are punched. 
     
     
         7 . A sheet metal cage including at least one bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the at least one bearing cage segment are connected at their joint edges via a material-bonded connection   
     
     
         8 . The sheet metal bearing cage according to  claim 7 ,
 wherein the material-bonded connection is a weld.   
     
     
         9 . The sheet metal bearing cage according to  claim 8 ,
 wherein the weld is an electric resistance weld or a laser weld.   
     
     
         10 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the plurality of sheet metal bridges include a first partial bridge at a first end of the bearing cage segment and a second partial bridge at a second end of the bearing cage segment and wherein the joint edge is located on the first partial bridge.   
     
     
         11 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the bearing cage segment is configured as a needle-roller bearing cage segment.   
     
     
         12 . A bearing cage segment comprising:
 a first sheet metal ring section,   at least one second sheet metal ring section,   at least one sheet metal central bridge connecting the first ring section to the at least one second ring section,   a sheet metal first partial bridge at a first end of the bearing cage segment, and   a sheet metal second partial bridge at a second end of the bearing cage segment,   wherein the first partial bridge includes a circumferentially facing first joint edge and the second partial bridge includes a circumferentially facing second joint edge, and   wherein the first joint edge is configured to be connected to the second joint edge or to a joint edge of a partial bridge of another bearing cage segment.   
     
     
         13 . A sheet metal bearing cage comprising the bearing cage segment of  claim 12  with the first joint edge materially bonded to the second joint edge. 
     
     
         14 . A sheet metal bearing cage comprising the bearing cage segment and the another bearing cage segment according to  claim 12  with the first joint edge of the bearing cage segment materially bonded to the joint edge of the another bearing cage segment. 
     
     
         15 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the first partial bridge has a radial outer surface and a radial inner surface and including a radially inwardly sloped wall connecting the radial outer surface to the joint edge.   
     
     
         16 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the first partial bridge has a radial outer surface and a radial inner surface and including a radially outwardly sloped wall connecting the radial inner surface to the joint edge.   
     
     
         17 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the first partial bridge has a radial outer surface and a radial inner surface and including a radially inwardly sloped wall connecting the radial outer surface to the joint edge and a radially outwardly sloped wall connecting the radially inner surface to the joint edge.   
     
     
         18 . The bearing cage segment according to  claim 12 ,
 wherein the bearing cage segment is configured as a needle-roller bearing cage segment.