Bearing design for a roller finger follower

摘要

A bearing design for a roller finger follower assembly includes an outer arm (40) having a pair of openings (42), a shaft (36) extending across the outer arm through the openings, a pair of lateral follower rollers (32) mounted at opposite ends of the shaft; and a pair of bearings (38) rotatably supporting the lateral follower rollers. The shaft is not a member of the bearing. Therefore, a force acting on the rollers travels through the rollers directly into the bearing and into the outer arm which reduces the potential for the rollers to become detached from the shaft. An inboard bearing design involves an inner bearing race integrated into the rollers. An outboard bearing design involves an inner bearing race integrated in the outer arm and an outer bearing race integrated into the rollers.