Wheel bearing application of driven wheels for motor vehicles

Claim 1

A wheel bearing assembly, including same for a wholly unloaded, rigid rear shaft, comprising: a. a sleeve portion; b. drive means disposed in said sleeve portion, said drive means being adapted to transfer torsional moment from a drive shaft through a plurality of splines on said shaft which floatably engage the inner portion of said sleeve; and c. a bearing disposed about said sleeve portion and comprising a moment-carrying, play-adjusted, inner-ring-rotated rolling bearing, said bearing comprising an inner ring member comprising two separate rings disposed directly adjacent to each other, and fitted on said sleeve portion, said two separate rings secured together on said sleeve portion between first and second axially spaced apart means located on said sleeve portion at opposite sides of said separate inner rings, said inner bearing rings being axially fixed in position relative to said sleeve independent of axial movement of said shaft, and a one-piece outer ring and rolling bodies disposed between said inner and outer rings.