Titanium carbide coating of bearing components

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In the present invention, one of the bearings supporting the rotating anode shaft of an X-ray tube is held in a retainer which slides within a hollow anode stem.
The outer sliding surface of a bearing retainer is coated with a thin ceramic lubricating layer.
This ceramic layer provides a surface that reduces wear between the sliding bearing retainer and the inside of the anode stem.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a lubrication means suitable to the environment of an X-ray tube to reduce wear between the sliding bearing retainer and the supporting anode stem.
The ceramic coating is applied by means of plasma assisted physical vapor deposition.
This technique allows application of a smooth and uniform coating at relatively low temperature, preventing distortion of the retainer that would accompany higher temperature processing.
Accordingly another object of the invention is to produce a lubricated retainer with high dimensional accuracy.
The bearing sleeve includes a bearing retainer flange which is deformable to be swaged over the bearing to hold the outer bearing race positively with respect to the retainer.
This flange is masked during the coating of the retainer with ceramic so as to prevent exfoliation of ceramic particles during the swaging process.
Another object of the invention is to reduce the introduction of particles to the bearing assembly.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description.
In the description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which there is shown by way of illustration, a preferred embodiment of the invention.
Such embodiment does not necessarily represent the full scope of the invention, however, and reference is made therefore to the claims herein for interpreting the scope of the invention.