Patent 7097362 was granted and assigned to NTN Corporation on August, 2006 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
To provide an electrocorrosion preventive rolling bearing assembly wherein a final machining of an electrically insulating layer and a thickness control of the insulating layer can easily and accurately be accomplished, the electrocorrosion preventive rolling bearing assembly is of a type in which an inner race (2) or an outer race (3) is formed with an insulating layer (6) so as to cover a peripheral surface thereof, which engages a housing or a shaft, and opposite annular end faces thereof. The insulating layer (6) is a thermally sprayed layer of a metallic oxide. Of the inner and outer races (2) and (3), a raceway member having the insulating layer (6) is provided at its end face with a tool reference plane (7) for a process of finishing the electrically insulating layer (6) or for the thickness control of the insulating layer. This tool reference plane (7) may be either an indented radial surface of a step (8) formed in the end face or a bare portion of the end face that is left uncovered by the insulating layer (6).