A cage and roller assembly in a hardened thrust bearing race is restrained within the race by heating a plurality of circumferentially widely separated parts of the race lip to soften the lip parts and bending the softened parts over the cage of the cage and roller assembly. An apparatus for assembling the thrust bearing includes a pair of electrodes located to apply a current through the lip to soften the lip and a form punch which is constructed to bend the softened part of the lip over a cage and roller assembly to an acute angle with repect to the rest of the lip.
An axial rolling bearing comprising a cage containing rolling elements and arranged between two plane-parallel, thin-walled bearing discs made of sheet metal, wherein the three components together form a structural unit by engaging together in a form-locking manner and at least one of the bearing discs merges at one of its peripheral edges into an axially directed collar which engages around the cage with clearance and extends into the region of the second bearing disc characterized in that there is a narrow guiding clearance at at least some peripheral points between the mutually facing peripheral surface of the collar and of the second bearing disc respectively.
Rollers are aligned radially within a bearing cage, for rolling contact with a first thrust washer concentric with the bearing cage. The first thrust washer has a flat raceway portion and a curled portion that wraps around a portion of the bearing cage to retain the bearing cage and the first thrust washer together as an assembly. The curled portion includes a rim that extends radially 360 degrees with respect to the axis of the thrust washer and has a folded configuration such that a doubled portion is offset with respect to an axial midpoint of the thrust bearing to prevent the thrust bearing from being installed with a reversed orientation.
A raceway portion and non-raceway portion are joined together to form a two-piece thrust washer. The raceway portion has a radially directed raceway for rollers, and the non-raceway portion extends radially outward from the raceway portion for engagement with a piloting surface. Mechanical devices, formed integrally on the raceway and non-raceway portions, join the raceway portion and the non-raceway portion together. A method of forcing the raceway and non-raceway portions together to provide a snap-together assembly is also disclosed.
