The Results of Calculating the Size of the Poppet Spring of the Device for Maintaining the Axial Clearance of Tapered Bearings

In agricultural machinery, bearing assemblies with a pair of conical bearings are widely used in the hubs of the support wheels and shaft supports of rotating working bodies. Such bearings have a high bearing capacity, but they are very demanding to set the standard axial runout. The existing methods of fixing the tightening nut do not provide the necessary adjustment accuracy, which leads to a significant reduction in the service life of the bearings. A design of an adjustment device, protected by a patent for a utility model, containing a poppet spring as an axial force compensator is proposed. The spring draft under the action of an external axial load must not exceed the axial runout tolerances of the tapered bearings. To determine the optimal size of a poppet spring, a mathematical model based on the characteristics of a poppet spring has been developed and investigated. The outer and inner diameters of the poppet spring are determined by the diameter of the bearing shaft and the dimensions of the bearing assembly cover and bearing rings. The optimal spring thickness and height are determined by modeling based on the external axial force and axial runout tolerances. A graphical representation of the dissection of the force surface by horizontal planes made it possible to obtain a family of curves on the planes in the coordinates "draft - spring thickness" and "draft - spring height". These curves can be used as nomograms to determine the optimal size of the disc springs based on the design parameters of the bearing assembly and the expected range of external axial load on the tapered bearings. The zero clearance between the end face of the poppet spring and the compressed ring of the tapered bearing can be provided by a semi-automatic device. The use of this device in combination with a poppet spring of optimal dimensions will significantly increase the operating time of the bevel bearings of the assembly.