Plugged slotted entry bearing
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to bearings and, more particularly, to slotted entry ball and socket swivel bearing joints. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Slotted entry ball and socket swivel bearing joints having a pair of opposite entry slots are known in the art. See, for example, French publication No. 2,676,260, which is incorporated herein by reference. Link arm assemblies of the type including a link arm having a longitudinal axis, and having slotted entry ball and socket joints arranged along the longitudinal axis, at opposite ends of the link arm, are also known. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,991, issued to Heumann et al. on Apr. 9, 1991, which is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,991 illustrates a slotted entry ball and socket swivel joint wherein only one slot is provided for entry of the ball into the socket. 
     Typically, the balls or inner race members employed in such slotted entry bearing joints have a different hardness than the sockets or outer race members in which they are supported. When under high load, the outer race member deforms or stretches, and pinches the ball, thus causing a high coefficient of friction, lockup, and premature failure. The amount of load in a slotted entry bearing assembly is based on material strength and on the load direction. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a slotted entry ball and socket swivel bearing joint including a plug which fills the slot to increase the load carrying capability of the bearing joint by adding area, and prevents the ball (inner race member) from dropping out of the socket (outer race member) prior to installation of a shaft or during handling of the bearing joint. 
     Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description, claims, and drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a bearing joint, including an inner race member and outer race member, and embodying various features of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the inner race member of the bearing joint rotated 90° to accept a shaft. 
     FIGS. 4-6 illustrate the steps involved in inserting the inner race member into the outer race member. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     Shown in the various figures is a bearing joint 10 embodying various features of the invention. 
     The bearing joint 10 includes an outer race member 12 which can have various configurations. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer race member 12 is a generally planar, elongated link arm 14 having a longitudinal axis 16, opposite ends 18 and 20, and respective openings 22 and 24 at each end 18 and 20, and along the longitudinal axis 16. The openings 22 and 24 define bearing race surfaces which will be described in more detail below. Such link arms have many applications including in aircraft, automobiles, gas turbine engines, and in various mechanical assemblies, for example. A swivel bearing joint 10 is defined at each of the openings 22 and 24. As the bearing joints 10 are identical in concept, only the one joint 10 at the end 18 will be described in detail herein. The outer race member 12 has a race axis 26 though the opening 22, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 16, and the opening 22 defines an annulus presenting inwardly a race surface 28 which is spherically concave and extends about the race axis 26. The opening 22 in the outer race member 12 further includes an axially extending entry slot 30 which breaks the continuity of the race surface 28, which extends from the race surface 28 along the longitudinal axis 16 toward the opening 24, and which has opposite parallel planar sides 29 and 31. The outer race member 12 is made of any suitable material. For example, the outer race member 12 can made from a metal such as 17-4PH, 15-5PH, 13-8MO, A286, or Inconel/718. Alternatively, the outer race member 12 can be made of a ceramic material or a composite material. The outer race member 12 could be a plain race member, or a three, four, or more ball housing. 
     The joint further includes a ball or inner race member 32 which is selectively inserted into the outer race member 12 via the slot 30. The inner race member 32 is made of any suitable material. For example, the inner race member 32 can made from a metal such as stellite 6, beryllium copper, aluminum nickel bronze, 718, 440C, or 52100. Alternatively, the inner race member 32 can be made of a ceramic material or a composite material. 
     The shape of the illustrated inner race member 32 can be described as follows, it being kept in mind that the inner race member 32 of the illustrated embodiment can be manufactured by machining or any other process that produces the illustrated shape. Consider a sphere having therethrough a bore which bore has an axis passing through the sphere. Now consider cutting away end portions of the sphere, along planes that are parallel to one another and that are perpendicular to the axis of the bore, so as to define an oblate spheroid having parallel spaced apart planar circular surfaces respectively surrounding the bore. The inner race member 32 of the illustrated embodiment has the shape just described, and includes a bore 34 having an axis 36, opposite planar circular end portions 38 and 40 lying along respective planes perpendicular to the axis 36, and an outer generally spherical convex surface 42, complementary to the concave spherical surface of the race surface 28 of the outer race member 12 and closely fitting the race surface 28 of the outer race member 12 for free rotation in the race surface 28 of the outer race member 12, the outer convex surface 42 extending between the circular end portions 38 and 40. The inner race member 32 has a thickness between end portions 38 and 40. The axis 36 of the bore 34 is also the axis of the inner race member. 
     The slot 30 has a width, between sides 29 and 31, which is at least slightly greater than the thickness dimension of the inner race member between surfaces 38 and 40 and such that the slot 30 in the outer race member 12 permits insertion of the inner race member 32 into the outer race member 12 when said inner race member 32 is oriented with its bore axis 36 perpendicular to the race axis 26 of the outer race member 12 and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 16 (see FIG. 4). 
     The joint 10 further includes a plug 44 which has an outer surface 46 with a shape complementary to the shape of the slot 30, which is selectively inserted into the slot 30, and which has an inner concave surface 48 that, when the plug 44 is inserted in the slot 30, lines up with the race surface 28 of the outer race member 12 to complete the race surface in the outer race member 12 through 360° about the race axis 26. The plug 44 is preferably made of the same material as the outer race member 12. 
     The inner race member 32, after its insertion into the slot 30, is rotated 90° about the race axis 26 of the outer race member 12 to permit insertion of the plug 44 into the slot 30 (see FIG. 5). After the plug 44 has been inserted into the slot 30, the inner race member 32 is rotated (about an axis which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 16 and which is perpendicular to the race axis 26 of the outer race member 12) to an operational position to accept a shaft (see FIGS. 3 and 6). This results in the plug 44 being locked into the slot 30 and further results in the inner race member 32 being locked into the outer race member 12. When the inner race member 32 is in the operational position, it is freely rotatable in the outer race member 12. After a shaft is inserted into the inner race member 32, the inner race member 32 cannot be turned to bring the axis 36 of its bore 34 transverse to the race axis 26 of the outer race member 12 because the shaft will not permit the inner race member 32 to be turned in this manner. 
     The use of the plug 44 increases the load bearing area, and thus the load carrying capability, of the bearing joint 10 and prevents the inner race member 32 from dropping out of the outer race member 12 prior to installation of a shaft or during handling of the bearing joint 10. 
     Thus, the invention provides a bearing joint including a plug which increases the load carrying capability of the bearing joint, and prevents the inner race member from dropping out of the outer race member prior to installation of the shaft or during handling of the bearing joint. 
     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, various modifications are possible. For example, the outer bearing race of the bearing joint need not be in an arm that defines two outer bearing races. Thus, the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the scope and spirit of the following claims.