The present disclosure relates to the field of bearings.
DEFINITIONS
As used in the present disclosure, the following terms are generally intended to have the meaning as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which they are used indicate otherwise.
Shoulder height - The term "shoulder height" hereinafter in the specification refers to distance between a shoulder of an inner ring or an outer ring and the bottom of inner raceway or an outer raceway respectively.
Contact ellipse truncation - The term "contact ellipse truncation" hereinafter in the specification refers to the phenomenon in which contact ellipse of ball contact of a ball bearing rides over the shoulder of an inner race or an outer race and major axis of contact ellipse gets truncated due to the axial load on the ball bearing increases.
These definitions are in addition to those expressed in the art.
BACKGROUND
A deep groove ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the moving parts of the bearings, i.e., an inner part and an outer part of the bearing. The ball bearing is typically used to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. The ball bearing has an inner ring, an outer ring, and a plurality of metallic balls disposed between the inner ring and the outer ring. Each of the inner ring and the outer ring has two shoulders defining a raceway or a groove therebetween. The plurality of balls is disposed in the raceway or the groove.

In conventional deep groove ball bearings, an inner ring and an outer ring have equal shoulder heights. The magnitude of shoulder height primarily depends upon the ball diameter. Typically, in the conventional ball bearing, the shoulder height can be up to 20% of the ball diameter. Lower shoulder height limits the axial load capacity of the deep groove ball bearing in either direction. Further, a contact ellipse truncation is observed in a conventional bearing in the direction of axial load. The truncation in the ball bearing leads to development of higher localized stresses in the ball-raceway contact which may further lead to reduction in the desired life of the ball bearing.
Therefore, there is felt a need of a ball bearing that alleviates the aforementioned drawbacks of the conventional ball bearings.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a ball bearing which has increased axial load capacity in one direction.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a ball bearing that does not exhibit contact ellipse truncation under axial load.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a ball bearing in which localized stress generated is lower due to reduced truncation.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY
The present disclosure envisages a ball bearing. The ball bearing comprises an outer ring, an inner ring, and a ball bearing cage. The outer ring has an operative inner surface defining an outer raceway, and shoulders flanking the operative inner surface. The inner ring has an operative outer surface defining an inner raceway, and shoulders flanking the operative outer surface. The ball bearing cage has a plurality of pockets provided in between the outer raceway and the inner raceway to rotatably retain a plurality of balls therein. The heights of the shoulders of at least one of the rings are asymmetric to accommodate relatively higher axial loads and prevent truncation of an elliptical contact area on the raceways, and thereby avert stress concentration on the elliptical contact area of the raceways.
In an embodiment, the heights of the shoulders of the inner ring are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of the outer ring are symmetric.
In another embodiment, the heights of the shoulders of the outer ring are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of the inner ring are symmetric.
In yet another embodiment, a gap is provided in between the ball bearing cage and the shoulders to prevent fouling of the ball bearing cage with the shoulders.
In still another embodiment, the ball bearing cage is of polyamide material.
In one embodiment, the ball bearing is a ball bearing assembled with Conrad method.
In another embodiment, the ball bearing is a deep groove ball bearing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
A ball bearing of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic side view of a conventional ball bearing depicting an inner ring and a ball;
Figure 2 illustrates a schematic view of an inner ring of a ball bearing, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
Figure 3 illustrates a cross sectional view of the ball bearing of the present disclosure;
Figure 4 illustrates an enlarged view of the ball bearing of figure 3; and
Figure 5 illustrates a front view of the ball bearing of the present disclosure depicting an inner ring, an outer ring, and a plurality of balls.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
D, Dl, D2 - Shoulder heights
100 - Conventional deep groove ball bearing
105 - Inner ring
110, 115-Shoulders
120-Raceway
125-Ball
200 - Ball bearing
202 - Outer ring
206 - Outer raceway
210 - Inner ring

212 - Inner raceway
214 - Ball bearing cage 216-Ball 218 -First gap 220 - First shoulder 222 - Second shoulder 224 - Second gap DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details, are set forth, relating to specific components, and methods, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a", "an", and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", and "including" are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features,

elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
When an element is referred to as being "mounted on", "connected to", or "coupled to" another element, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element.
The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another component, region, layer or section. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.
Figure 1 illustrates a schematic side view of a conventional ball bearing 100 (hereinafter also referred to as bearing 100), typically a deep groove ball bearing, depicting an inner ring 105 and a ball 125. The inner ring 105 has an inner raceway 120 formed on its operative inner surface. A plurality of balls 125 is securely disposed on the raceway 120. The ball bearing 100 is further configured with a raised surface on each side of the raceway 120 which is termed as a shoulder 110, 115. The radial difference between the deepest part of the pathway to the outer diameter of the inner ring and to the inner diameter of the outer ring is called as the shoulder height. For a conventional bearing 100, the shoulder height is usually calculated as 20% of the ball diameter. Further, the heights (depicted as 'D') of both shoulders of either raceway are designed symmetrically (as illustrated in Figure 1).
The configuration of the conventional deep groove ball bearing 100 as described above, limits the axial load bearing capacity of the ball bearing due to ellipse truncation. As a result, an elliptical contact area on the outer ring or inner ring (not specially shown in figures) is truncated due to higher axial load across the ball bearing 100. The truncation in the ball bearing 100 leads to development of localized stresses in the ball bearing 100 which may further lead to reduction of life of the ball

bearing 100 at a load lower than the expected load capacity of the ball bearing 100. Additionally, stress concentration leads to increased fatigue failure (flaking) of inner or outer ring shoulder in the ball bearing 100, followed by increase in vibration, and thereby adversely affects the performance of the ball bearing 100 and causing early failure of the ball bearing 100.
Further, the conventional ball bearing 100 employs steel ball bearing cage (not specifically shown in figure), which does not give the freedom to an operator/designer to modify the design in order to distribute the localized stresses on the raceway.
A preferred embodiment of a ball bearing 200, of the present disclosure, will now be described in detail with reference to Figure 2 through Figure 5. The ball bearing 200, of the present disclosure, is designed for improved axial load bearing capacity, and is configured to overcome the drawbacks of the conventional ball bearing 100.
In an embodiment, the ball bearing 200 is a deep groove ball bearing, which comprises an outer ring 202, an inner ring 210, and a ball bearing cage 214. The outer ring 202 has an operative inner surface defining an outer raceway 206 thereon. The outer ring 202 includes shoulders flanking the operative inner surface. The inner ring 210 has an operative outer surface defining an inner raceway 212 thereon. The inner ring 210 includes shoulders flanking the operative outer surface. The ball bearing cage 214 is configured with a plurality of pockets provided in between the outer raceway 206 and the inner raceway 212 to rotatably retain a plurality of balls 216 therein. The heights of the shoulders of at least one of the rings 202, 210 are asymmetric to accommodate relatively higher axial loads in one direction and prevent truncation of an elliptical contact area on the raceways 206, 212, and thereby avert stress concentration on the elliptical contact area of the raceways 206, 212.
The heights of the shoulders (represented as 'Dl' and 'D2') are illustrated in Figure 2. In an embodiment, as shown in figure 2, the height 'Dl' of a first shoulder 220 is

lesser than the height 'D2' of a second shoulder 222. In another embodiment, the height of the first shoulder 220 is more than the height of the second shoulder 222.
The difference in the shoulder heights of the first shoulder 220 and the second shoulder 222 increases the axial load bearing capacity of the ball bearing 200, more specifically, on one side of the raceways 206, 212. As a result, the truncation of contact ellipse size is restricted to uniformly distribute stresses across the raceway of ball bearing 200. The life and performance of the ball bearing 200 is thus enhanced.
In an embodiment, the heights of the shoulders of the inner ring 210 are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of the outer ring 202 are symmetric.
In another embodiment, the heights of the shoulders of the outer ring 202 are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of the inner ring 210 are symmetric.
In another embodiment, the heights of the shoulders of inner ring 210 and the outer ring 202 are asymmetric.
The ball bearing 200 includes a first gap 218 provided in between the ball bearing cage 214 and the shoulders to prevent fouling of the ball bearing cage 214 with the shoulders.
The ball bearing cage 214 is a polyamide cage which is configured to be pressed from the other side of the increased shoulder to allow the designer/operator to make suitable alterations to the inner ring or outer ring shoulder height whenever required
In an embodiment, the configuration of the ball bearing 200 is for Conrad ball bearings. As illustrated in Figure 5, the Conrad bearings are assembled by placing the inner ring 210 into an eccentric position relative to the outer ring 202, with the two rings 210, 202 in contact at one point, resulting in a second gap 228 opposite the point of contact. The balls 216 are inserted through the gap 228 and then evenly distributed around the bearing assembly, causing the rings 202, 210 to become

concentric. The assembly is completed by fitting a cage (not specifically shown in figures) to the balls 216 to maintain their positions relative to each other. The second gap 228 of the ball bearing 200 is designed such that the gap 228 is greater than the size of the balls 216, so that the balls 216 can enter the second gap 228. Without the cage, the balls 216 would eventually drift out of position during operation, causing the bearing to fail. The cage carries no load and serves only to maintain ball position.
Use of the ball bearing 200 with asymmetric shoulders of the inner ring 210, the outer ring 202 or both the inner and outer rings 210, 202 ensures that axial load is evenly distributed on the higher side of raceways 206, 212 during working of the ball bearings 200, thereby eliminating truncation of the contact ellipse, and also enhancing the performance and life of the deep groove ball bearings.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a ball bearing:
• which has increased axial load capacity;
• that does not exhibit contact ellipse truncation under axial load; and
• in which magnitude of stress generated is lower.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully reveals the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.
Throughout this specification the word "comprise", or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, step, or group of elements, steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, step, or group of elements, or steps.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the components and component parts of the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment as well as other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.

WE CLAIM:

1.A ball bearing (200) comprising:
• an outer ring (202) having an operative inner surface defining an outer raceway (206), and shoulders flanking said operative inner surface;
• an inner ring (210) having an operative outer surface defining an inner raceway (212), and shoulders flanking said operative outer surface; and
• a ball bearing cage (214) having a plurality of pockets provided in between said outer raceway (206) and said inner raceway (212) to rotatably retain a plurality of balls (216) therein;
wherein, the heights of said shoulders of at least one of said rings (202, 210) are asymmetric to accommodate relatively higher axial loads in one direction and prevent truncation of an elliptical contact area on the raceways (206, 212), and thereby avert stress concentration on the elliptical contact area of said raceways (206, 212).
2. The ball bearing (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heights of said shoulders of said inner ring (210) are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of said outer ring (202) are symmetric.
3. The ball bearing (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heights of said shoulders of said outer ring (202) are asymmetric and the heights of the shoulders of said inner ring (210) are symmetric.
4. The ball bearing (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first gap (218) is provided in between said ball bearing cage (214) and said shoulders to prevent fouling of said ball bearing cage (214) with said shoulders.

5. The ball bearing (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ball bearing cage (214) is of polyamide material.
6. The ball bearing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ball bearing (200) is a ball bearing assembled with Conrad method.
7. The ball bearing (200) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said ball bearing (200) is a deep groove ball bearing.