US 12,345,291 B2
Single slot loader slot bearing
Jonathan Spiegel, Oxford, CT (US); Stephen Sorgenti, Oxford, CT (US); and Jackson Sarneski-Hayes, Oxford, CT (US)
Assigned to Roller Bearing Company of America, Inc., Oxford, CT (US)
Filed by Roller Bearing Company of America, Inc., Oxford, CT (US)
Filed on Mar. 18, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/608,590.
Application 18/608,590 is a continuation of application No. 17/676,984, filed on Feb. 22, 2022, granted, now 11,933,354.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/152,619, filed on Feb. 23, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0218903 A1, Jul. 4, 2024
Int. Cl. F16C 11/06 (2006.01); F16C 23/04 (2006.01)
CPC F16C 11/0614 (2013.01) [F16C 11/0685 (2013.01); F16C 23/045 (2013.01); F16C 2202/04 (2013.01); F16C 2220/04 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A loader slot bearing comprising:
an annular housing having a first axial housing-surface, a second axial housing-surface, and an interior area, the interior area having an inner bearing surface that extends between the first and second axial housing-surfaces, the inner bearing surface having a concave contour and a circumference at the first axial housing-surface;
a single slot extending axially partway into the inner bearing surface from the first axial housing-surface, the single slot having a length that is less than the circumference; and
a truncated ball having a convex exterior surface, the truncated ball being positioned in the interior area with the concave inner surface proximate the convex exterior surface so that the truncated ball and the annular housing are angularly misalignable relative to one another,
wherein the truncated ball is positioned in the single slot and rotated so that the truncated ball is rotatably retained by the inner bearing surface,
wherein the inner bearing surface has a first center of curvature located at an intersection of an axially extending central axis of the interior area and a radially extending longitudinal axis, and
wherein the single slot has a radius of curvature measured from a second center of curvature located on a line parallel to and offset from the axially extending central axis to a radially outermost surface of the single slot.