In the past, many procedures were devised to allow one to install the maximum complement of balls into a ball bearing assembly. One method was to relieve or cut away one side wall of one or both race rings. This was permissible because the other side of the race ring takes substantially all the load, which has both radial and axial components. A local cut-out in the race allows the bearing to remain substantially intact during shipment, but the rotational balance of the bearing is affected. A circumferential relief in one race to allow the race to maintain its rotational balance cannot keep the bearing balls or races intact during shipment and installation.
In other kinds of ball bearing assemblies, the relieved side of the raceway is not relieved all the way so as to be tangent to the torus surface forming the roll race surface. In these bearings, special heating and cooling techniques must be employed to permit insertion of the desired ball complements if the assembly is to be unit handled.
Another method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,812 wherein a liner of resilient material is installed in the circumferential relieved side wall of the race ring. The resilient material deflects upon assembly of the races and balls. This forms a unit handling relationship for the ball bearing assembly. This method is obviously not suited in high temperature operations because the high temperature could cause the resilient material to flow.