A cage for a ball bearing, including: a first annular flange; a second annular flange; a plurality of ball retention segments; and a plurality of spaces. Each ball retention segment includes: a first portion fixedly connected to the first annular flange; a second portion fixedly connected to the second annular flange; and, a middle portion connecting the first portion and the second portion. Each space is circumferentially bounded by a respective pair of circumferentially adjacent ball retention segments, and arranged to receive a ball of the ball bearing. A cross-section, including the first annular flange, the second annular flange, and a ball retention segment of the plurality of ball retention segments, is in a shape of an M.

A bearing member (B1) having a coating layer (1) on an internal circumferential surface of a shaft hole (H) configured to mount a shaft body (P1), the coating layer (1) having a metal layer (2) whose surface is formed unevenly, and a resin layer (3) formed on the metal layer (2), the metal layer (2) having a part thereof exposed (2A) on a surface of the resin layer (3), to inhibit the increase in temperature caused by sliding contact with the shaft body (P1), and accomplishing improvement in seizure resistance.

A suspension thrust bearing device for use with a suspension spring in an automotive suspension strut of a vehicle includes a bearing having an upper annular bearing member and a lower annular bearing member configured for relative rotation. The lower annular bearing member includes a radial body and a damper having a radial portion made of resilient material overmolded to a lower side of the radial body. The damper radial portion has a lower support surface configured to axially support an end coil of the suspension spring, and the damper radial portion has a material hardness of 50 to 85 Shore A and an axial thickness of 2 to 10 mm.

The invention provides a design method for a connecting rod. The connecting rod includes a first end, a shank and a second end; and the shank is connected between the first end and the second end. The design method includes: determining a weight m.sub.1 of a standard steel connecting rod; determining a weight m.sub.2 of a nodular cast iron connecting rod having the same size with the standard steel connecting rod; and simulating to reinforce the shank with a reinforcement material having a preset weight m, and calculating a size of the reinforced shank; where m.sub.1>m.sub.2, and m<m.sub.1m.sub.2. The present invention overcomes the technical problem that existing steel connecting rods have larger weights.

The invention relates to an imide polymer-based solid film lubricant, a method for producing same, a sliding element comprising same and the use thereof. According to the method, difunctional or cyclized difunctional compounds and optionally functional fillers are added to a non-imidized or partly imidized polyamide acid prepolymer or an imidized short-chain blocked prepolymer in a solvent or solvent mixture and then, depending on the prepolymer, a polymerization reaction or an imidization reaction and in both cases a crosslinking reaction is carried out. The solid film lubricant comprises an imide polymer as the resin matrix and optionally functional fillers, the molecules of the imide polymer comprising groups (R.sub.1) of the difunctional compounds that additionally contribute to the crosslinking.

A contact layer is formed by a deposition method on an inner surface of a first metal element by a centrifuging process, and preferably includes an inner layer of copper alloy and an outer layer of tin alloy. Such a contact layer is used in an articulation joint including a first metal element having a surface provided with the contact layer, and a second metal element with a second surface. The first and second elements are relatively movable such that first and second surfaces slide against each other.

A cage for a ball bearing, including: a first annular flange; a second annular flange; a plurality of ball retention segments; and a plurality of spaces. Each ball retention segment includes: a first portion fixedly connected to the first annular flange; a second portion fixedly connected to the second annular flange; and, a middle portion connecting the first portion and the second portion. Each space is circumferentially bounded by a respective pair of circumferentially adjacent ball retention segments, and arranged to receive a ball of the ball bearing. A cross-section, including the first annular flange, the second annular flange, and a ball retention segment of the plurality of ball retention segments is in a shape of an M.

Disclosed herein is a sliding member having an alloy overlay layer that comes into sliding contact with a counterpart member thereof and has improved fatigue resistance. The sliding member comprises a base material layer and an alloy overlay layer formed on the base material layer, in which the alloy overlay layer has a soft metal phase made of tin and precipitated in a metallic matrix phase made of aluminum, and when an average aspect ratio of the soft metal phase is defined as A, and its standard deviation is defined as A, A+A is 3.0 or less. In this case, the soft metal phase has a shape close to a sphere without elongating in a certain direction.

A sliding member includes a metallic substrate, a porous layer formed on a surface of the metallic substrate, and a sliding layer that covers the porous layer. The porous layer is made of a metal itself or an alloy composition. The sliding layer is made of a lead-free resin composition. The resin composition contains an essential additive, optionally an optional additive, and a fluororesin. The essential additive is any one of a combination of a zinc compound and a carbon fiber, a combination of a zinc compound and an iron oxide, and a combination of a zinc compound, a carbon fiber and an iron oxide. A total content of the essential additive and the optional additive is 10 vol % or more and 35 vol % or less in the resin composition.

The present invention discloses a shaft-tube joint structure of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) drive shaft. The shaft-tube joint structure includes a hollow shaft tube, a plurality of first rectangular teeth being uniformly and circumferentially arranged at both ends of the hollow shaft tube; two shaft-tube joints which are respectively fixed at two ends of the hollow shaft tube, the thickness of the shaft-tube joint being smaller than that of the hollow shaft tube, and an inner wall of the shaft-tube joint being smoothly connected to an inner wall of the hollow shaft tube; and a universal joint, an end thereof being tubular, a plurality of second rectangular teeth being uniformly and circumferentially arranged, the universal joint being matched with and sleeving the outer wall of the shaft-tube joint, and the second rectangular teeth being meshed with the first rectangular teeth.