Wheel bearing assembly

DETAILED DESCRIPTION According to the invention, there is provided an improved grease expelling wheel bearing assembly, comprising a grease expelling wheel bearing seal, and a grease distributor, comprising a collar for mounting about the shaft of the rotor nut and projecting from the collar at least one grease spreading blade extending radially outwards from the collar towards to the assembly housing, part of the area between the collar and the housing not being covered by a blade, the arrangement such that the rotation of the collar and blade causes the grease expelled from the bearing seal to be spread evenly around the circumference of the seal, without preventing its contact with the rotor nut.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a grease distributor for a wheel bearing assembly comprising a collar for fitting around the shaft of a rotor nut, and, extending radially outwards of the collar, at least one blade, the dimensions of each blade being such that in use each blade extends to the assembly housing wall, but that part of the area between the shaft and the housing wall is not covered by a blade.
The blade acts to spread grease about the face of the seal but also tends to push the grease onto the cylindrical face of the housing, which is the most efficient position for the tertiary sealing action of the seal.
Preferably the collar is cylindrical with a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft of the rotor nut so that the collar rotates with the rotor nut.
However in order to ensure that the collar does not crack due to expansion of the shaft, it is preferred that the diameter of the collar is greater than the greatest possible diameter of the shaft and the collar includes resilient means to grip the shaft to ensure that it rotates with the rotor nut.
Preferably the resilient means includes at least one resilient finger urged towards the shaft.
Preferably the collar includes three resilient fingers.
Preferably the resilient fingers are integral with the collar forming projections which bend inwards towards the shaft