MACHINE WITH THERMALLY COMPENSATED BEARINGS

摘要

An aluminium transmission or transaxle case (2) contains a steel shaft (6) which is supported in the case on two directly mounted tapered roller bearings (20, 30), so that the two bearings confine the shaft both radially and axially. To compensate for the differences in expansion and contraction between the aluminium case and the steel shaft as the transmission or transaxle experiences variations in temperature, a race (60) of at least one of the bearings is fitted with a compensating ring (90) having a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than that of the case or shaft. As a consequence, the bearings operate at a generally uniform setting over a wide range of temperature variations.