Bearing for supporting a rotating compressor shaft
AssigneeTrane International Inc.
InventorsSung Hwa Jeung, Charles Roesler, Donald Lee Hill, Jay H. Johnson, Joseph M. Heger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compressor includes a housing, a shaft that is rotated relative to the housing to compress a working fluid, and a foil bearing that supports the shaft. The foil bearing includes a top foil. The foil bearing is a foil gas bearing that is backed up by a ball bearing, or a mesh foil bearing with an actuator to compress a wire mesh dampener. A heat transfer circuit includes a compressor and a working fluid. The compressor includes a shaft that is rotated to compress the working fluid, and a foil bearing for supporting the shaft as it rotates.
Claims14
A compressor, comprising:
- a housing;
- a shaft configured to be rotated relative to the housing to compress a fluid;
- a mesh foil bearing for supporting the shaft while rotating, the mesh foil bearing including a pad, an actuator, and an outer sleeve, the pad including:
- a top foil having ends that are affixed to the outer sleeve,
- a rear plate, and
- a wire mesh dampener disposed between the top foil and the rear plate,
- wherein the actuator is configured to be actuated with compressed gas to move the rear plate closer to the top foil which compresses the wire mesh dampener between the rear plate and the top foil that is affixed to the outer sleeve.
A compressor, comprising:
- a housing;
- a shaft configured to be rotated relative to the housing to compress a fluid;
- and
- a mesh foil bearing for supporting the shaft while rotating, the mesh foil bearing including a pad and an actuator, the pad including a top foil and a wire mesh dampener, the actuator configured to be actuated with compressed gas to compress the wire mesh dampener,
- wherein the housing includes a circumferential groove that extends along the mesh foil bearing, the compressor configured to supply the compressed gas to the actuator through the circumferential groove.
A heat transfer circuit, comprising:
- a compressor including:
- a housing,
- a shaft rotatable relative to the housing to compress a working fluid,
- a mesh foil bearing for supporting the shaft while rotating,
- the mesh foil bearing including a pad, an actuator, and an outer sleeve, the pad including:
- a top foil having ends that are affixed to the outer sleeve,
- a rear plate, and
- a wire mesh dampener disposed between the top foil and the rear plate, wherein the actuator is configured to be actuated with compressed gas to move the rear plate closer to the top foil which compresses the wire mesh dampener between the rear plate and the top foil that is affixed to the outer sleeve;
- a condenser for cooling the working fluid compressed by the compressor;
- an expander for expanding the working fluid cooled by the condenser;
- and
- an evaporator for heating the working fluid expanded by the expansion device with a process fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.