ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,247,624, issued on March 11, was assigned to NIPPON THOMPSON Co. LTD. (Tokyo).
"Follower bearing" was invented by Jinya Suzuki (Mino, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A follower bearing 1 includes: an inner member 10 including a first body 50 and a flange 52; an outer ring 20; a plurality of rolling elements 40; and a first sealing member 30A including an annular first portion disposed between an outer peripheral surface 52A of the flange 52 and a first surface 22A and at least partially forming a sealing structure between the first portion and the outer ring 20. The first portion has an outer diameter that gradually increases towar...