Damper with spring thrust bearing and flush end cap
AssigneeAir Distribution Technologies IP, LLC
InventorsJeffrey S. Beneke, Edward N. Koop, Raguraman Gnanavadivel
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A damper of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system includes a damper blade having a blade body with a hollow portion extending to an end of the blade body. The damper also includes an axle defining an axis about which the damper blade is configured to rotate, where the axle extends from the end of the blade body. The damper also includes a spring thrust bearing having a spring thrust bearing opening through which the axle extends. The spring thrust bearing is configured to support an axial load of the damper blade. The damper also includes an end cap disposed within the hollow portion of the blade body such that the end cap is flush with the end of the blade body.
Claims16
A damper of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, the damper comprising:
- a damper blade;
- an axle defining an axis about which the damper blade is configured to rotate;
- and
- a spring thrust bearing having a central portion defining a spring thrust bearing opening configured to receive the axle, wherein the spring thrust bearing is configured to support an axial load of the damper blade via a spring force applied to the damper blade, and wherein the spring thrust bearing comprises:
- a circumferential skirt extending from the central portion of the spring thrust bearing;
- a first arm disposed at a first circumferential location of the circumferential skirt;
- and
- a second arm disposed at a second circumferential location of the circumferential skirt, wherein the first arm and the second arm are configured to exert the spring force between the damper blade and a damper frame of the damper to bias the damper blade away from the damper frame.
A damper of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, the damper comprising:
- a damper blade;
- an axle defining an axis about which the damper blade is configured to rotate;
- a spring thrust bearing having a central portion defining a spring thrust bearing opening configured to receive the axle, having a skirt extending from the central portion, and having an arm extending from the skirt, wherein the spring thrust bearing is configured to support an axial load of the damper blade via the arm exerting at least a portion of a spring force of the spring thrust bearing between the damper blade and a damper frame of the damper to bias the damper blade away from the damper frame;
- and
- a radial bearing defining a radial bearing opening configured to receive the axle such that the radial bearing is configured to support a radial load of the damper blade, wherein the skirt is configured to receive the radial bearing in a cavity defined by the skirt.
A damper of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system, the damper comprising:
- a damper blade comprising a blade body including a hollow portion extending to an end of the blade body;
- an axle defining an axis about which the damper blade is configured to rotate, wherein the axle extends from the end of the blade body;
- a spring thrust bearing having a spring thrust bearing opening through which the axle extends, wherein the spring thrust bearing comprises a central portion defining the spring thrust bearing opening through which the axle extends, a circumferential skirt extending from the central portion of the spring thrust bearing, a first arm disposed at a first circumferential location of the circumferential skirt, and a second arm disposed at a second circumferential location of the circumferential skirt, and wherein the first arm and the second arm are configured to exert a spring force between a damper frame of the damper and the damper blade to bias the damper blade away from the damper frame such that the spring thrust bearing supports an axial load of the damper blade;
- and
- an end cap disposed within the hollow portion of the blade body such that the end cap is flush with the end of the blade body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.