TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a slide bearing, and more particularly, to such a slide bearing with an integrated wear indicator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, a slide-style bearing, a linear-motion bearing, or a linear slide is a bearing designed to provide free motion in one direction. There are many different types of linear motion bearings. Motorized linear slides such as machine slides, XY tables, roller tables and some dovetail slides are bearings moved by drive mechanisms. Basically, all linear slides provide linear motion based on whichever bearings is selected from ball bearings, dovetail bearings, linear roller bearings, magnetic or fluid bearings.

By way of an example of slide bearings, dovetail slides, or dovetail way slides are typically constructed from cast iron, but can also be constructed from hard-coat aluminum or stainless steel. Like any bearing, a dovetail slide is composed of a stationary linear base and a moving carriage. A dovetail carriage has a v-shaped, or dovetail- shaped protruding channel which locks into the linear base's correspondingly shaped groove. Once the dovetail carriage is fitted into its base's channel, the carriage is locked into the channel's linear axis and allows free linear movement. When a platform is attached to the carriage of a dovetail slide, a dovetail table is created, offering extended load carrying capabilities.

Meanwhile, a motor grader has a moldboard which is suspended beneath the grader frame. The moldboard is slidable relative to a drawbar used to secure the moldboard to the grader frame. The moldboard, when in use, moves stone, dirt or other particulate material and this material can pass over the face of the moldboard and contaminate the slide arrangement which is located behind the moldboard. Such contamination can increase the wear of the slide bearings used to support the moldboard. Given the environment in which the grader is used and the nature of grading the slide support arrangement behind the moldboard will be subject to this type of contamination.

Especially, the improved bearing structure will be commercialized for the moldboard slide rails used on the heavy duty drawbar assembly for a motor grader. In this instance, it has been reported that the bearing can become worn to point of contact and wear between the slide rail and the bearing retainer plate, which can cause damage to both components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a technical solution means to which an improved bearing structure is applied to aid in identifying to the operations and service personnel when the bearing is near the end of the service life. In one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a slide bearing, including a casted body including a wear surface formed on at least one side thereof, a cored pocket formed in the casted body in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the wear surface by a predetermined depth, and an wear indication material configured to be filled in the cored pocket.

According to the present disclosure, preferably, the casted body may further include at least one through-hole formed therein so as to allow the cored pocket to fluidically communicate with the outside of the cased body therethrough. Also, in another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a slide bearing including a base part having a first wear surface formed on one surface thereof, a side part extending bent vertically from one side of the base part, the side part having a second wear surface formed on one surface thereof, a first cored pocket formed in the base part in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the first wear surface by a predetermined depth, and a second cored pocket formed in the side part in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the second wear surface by a predetermined depth, wherein the base part formed with the first cored pocket and the side part formed with the second cored pocket are casted to be integrally formed with each other, and wherein the first and second cored pockets are filled with an wear indication material. According to the present disclosure, preferably, the first cored pocket and the second cored pocket may be connected with each other.

According to the present disclosure, preferably, the slide bearing may further include a through-hole formed therein, the through-hole being connected at one end to the first cored pocket or the second cored pocket and connected at the other end to an opposite surface to the first wear surface of the base part or an opposite surface to the second wear surface of the side part so that the first cored pocket or the second cored pocket fluidically communicate with the outside of the base part or the side part. According to the present disclosure, preferably, the wear indication material may consist of calcium sulphate.

According to the present disclosure, preferably, the wear indication material may include a biodegradable material.

According to the present disclosure, preferably, the wear indication material may be dyed.

According to the present disclosure, the slide bearing with an integrated wear indicator will prevent unexpected downtime of failure of other relative components, should the bearing be in service past the required maximum wear/replacement phase. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a slide bearing according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the slide bearing; and

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of an application of the slide bearing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the following embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these embodiments alone. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details.

The present invention is directed to a slide bearing with an integrated wear indicator, and more particularly, to an improved bearing structure of a moldboard assembly (or a drawbar assembly) for a motor grader to which an integrated wear indicator is provided.

FIG. 1 shows a slide bearing 100 with an integrated wear indicator according to an embodiment of the present disclosure and FIG. 2 shows a side cross-sectional view of the slide bearing. Referring to FIG. 1 and 2, the present disclosure describes a slide bearing, particularly a slide bearing with an integrated wear indicator. The present disclosure could be related to an improved bearing structure of a moldboard assembly for motor grader to which an integrated wear indicator is provided. The slide bearing 100 with an integrated wear indicator comprises a casted body including a wear surface formed on at least one side thereof, and a cored pocket formed in the casted body. The casted body includes a base part 110 having a first wear surface 112 formed on one surface thereof, and a side part 120 extending bent vertically from one side of the base part 110, the side part having a second wear surface 122 formed on one surface thereof. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the casted body may further include a guide part 130 extending bent vertically from the other side of the base part 110 in such a manner as to be arranged in parallel with the side part 120. The cased body includes a cored pocket 140 formed therein in such a manner as to be spaced apart from the wear surface by a predetermined depth. In other words, a first cored pocket 142 is formed in the based part 110, and is positioned at a depth spaced apart from the first wear surface 112 by a predetermined distance. In addition, a second cored pocket 144 is formed in the side part 120, and is positioned at a depth spaced apart from the second wear surface 122 by a predetermined distance. The cored pocket is preferably positioned in close proximity to a wear limit point of the wear surface. The surface of the cored pocket, which is positioned in close proximity to the wear surface, may be formed in a saw-toothed concavo-convex shape or a bubble shape. In addition, the cored pocket 140 further include a through-hole 150 formed therein so as to fluidically communicate with the outside of the cased body. As shown in Figs. 2, the first cored pocket 142 and the second cored pocket 144 fluidically communicate at one ends with each other. Further, the second cored pocket 144 fluidically communicates with the outer surface of the side part 120 through the through- hole 150. That is, the through-hole 150 is connected at one end to the second cored pocket 144, and is connected at the other end to an opposite surface to the second wear surface 122. But the connection of the through-hole 150 is not limited thereto. That is, the through-hole can be formed by a person of ordinary skill in the art in various manners, such as being connected at one end to the first cored pocket 142 and connected at the other end to an opposite surface to the first wear surface 112. The casted body including the cored pocket can be casted with an aluminum alloy so as to be formed into a unitary body In this case, the through-hole connected to the cored pocket serves to support the cored pocket so that the cored pocket is positioned in the casted body at the time of formation of the casted body As such, the cored pocket for the wear indication material is formed in the bearing during the casting process of a main body of the slide bearing, and thus the necessity for a separate hole forming process of providing a space for injecting the wear indication material is eliminated, unlike the conventional slide bearing in which a hole for injecting the wear indication material is separately formed in a main body of the slide bearing after the manufacture of the main body of the slide bearing.

Meanwhile, the cored pocket 140 contains a wear indication material 200 therein. The wear indication material 200 is filled in the casted body with which the cored pocket is formed integrally through the through-hole. In other words, the through-hole functions to position the cored pocket at the time of formation of the casted body and is used to fill the wear indication material in the cored pocket after the casted body has been casted. That is, the first cored pocket 142 and the second cored pocket 144 are formed so as to be connected to each other, and the through-hole 150 is connected to the second cored pocket 144. Then, the wear indication material 200 is injected into the cored pocket 140 through the through-hole 150 such that a wear indication material 210 is filled in the first cored pocket 142, a wear indication material 220 is filled in the second cored pocket 144, and a wear indication material 230 is filled in the through-hole 150, respectively. Herein, in the case where the surface of the cored pocket, which is positioned in close proximity to the wear surface, is formed in a saw-toothed concavo-convex shape or a bubble shape, an externally exposed area of the cored pocket is gradually increased. In addition, as the wear of the slide bearing reaches a limit level, the amount of the wear indication material exposed to the outside of the casted body can be increased. A material having a powerful color such as red can be used as the wear indication material 200 so that the wear indication material 200 is easily identified visually while being exposed to the outside of the casted body when the wear surface reaches a wear limit point.

The wear indication material has a make-up similar to standard plaster chalk (calcium sulphate), as being environmentally acceptable and biodegradable, and allowing for removal from any surface by water or mild cleaners. This easy clean-up feature enables the indication surface to be efficiently reset upon replacing the worn bearing with new one, without the need for harmful chemicals. As an alternative to the calcium sulphate, a biodegradable material may be used as a wear indication material.

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of an example of application of the slide bearing with integrated wear indicator, particularly an example of application of the slide bearing to a heavy duty drawbar moldboard slide in a motor grader. As shown in Fig. 3, the slide bearing 100 with an integrated wear indicator is interposed between a moldboard slide rail 300 and a fixed bearing retainer plate 400. The slide bearing 100 is securely fixed to the bearing retainer plate 400, and the slide rail 300 is accommodatingly seated on the slide bearing 100 so that it is moved linearly while abutting against the first wear surface 112 and the second wear surface 122. In addition, the slide bearing 100 consisting of the casted body acting as a wear element, includes one or more cored pockets 142 and 144 located below and behind the wear surfaces 112 and 122. The cored pockets 142 and 144 will contain a max wear indication material 200 so that when exposed to the mating slide rail 300, the wear indication material 200 will give visual indication of the maximum wear levels.

In other words, as the slide rail 300 is moved linearly, the first and second wear surfaces 112 and 122 are worn. When the wear of the slide bearing 100 reaches a limit level, which requires replacement of the worn slide bearing with new one, the wear indication material 200 filled in the first cored pocket 142 included in the base part 110 or the second cored pocket 144 included in the side part 120 is exposed to the outside of the cased body so that the wear indication material 200 having a powerful color is adhered to the outer surface of the slide rail 300. In this case, the wear indication material 200 preferably exhibits a color different from that of the slide rail 300. A user identifies the exposure of the wear indication material 200 to the outside of the cased body so that he or she can detect the replacement time of the slide bearing 100 and replace the worn slide bearing 100 with new one. When the worn slide bearing 100 is replaced with new one, the wear indication material 200 adhered to the outer surface of the slide rail 300 can be easily removed by water or mild cleaners.

According to the present disclosure, an improved slide bearing is applied to aid in identifying to the operations and service personnel when the bearing is near the end of the service life. This will prevent unexpected downtime of failure of other relative components, should the bearing be in service past the required maximum wear/replacement phase.

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.