Scroll pump with bearing diaphragm
AssigneeEdwards Limited
InventorsAlan Ernest Kinnaird Holbrook, Nigel Paul Schofield, David Bedwell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A non-contacting scroll pump (100) comprising an orbiting scroll (130), a fixed scroll (120), a drive shaft (140) coupled to the orbiting scroll, wherein the drive shaft is movable relative to the fixed scroll in an axial direction. The non-contacting scroll pump further comprises an annular bearing (160b) extending around the drive shaft for supporting and facilitating rotation of the drive shaft, and a diaphragm (180) attached to the annular bearing to support the annular bearing, wherein the diaphragm is flexible in the axial direction to allow the annular bearing to move in the axial direction, thereby facilitating the movability of the drive shaft relative to the fixed scroll in the axial direction.
Claims11
A non-contacting scroll pump, comprising:
- an orbiting scroll;
- a fixed scroll;
- a drive shaft coupled to the orbiting scroll, wherein the drive shaft is movable relative to the fixed scroll in an axial direction;
- a first annular bearing and a second annular bearing extending around the drive shaft for supporting and facilitating rotation of the drive shaft;
- a first diaphragm attached to the first annular bearing to support the first annular bearing, wherein the first diaphragm is flexible in the axial direction to allow the first annular bearing to move in the axial direction, thereby facilitating the movability of the drive shaft relative to the fixed scroll in the axial direction;
- and
- a second diaphragm attached to the second annular bearing to support the second annular bearing, wherein the second diaphragm is flexible in the axial direction to allow the second annular bearing to move in the axial direction, thereby facilitating the movability of the drive shaft relative to the fixed scroll in the axial direction.
A non-contacting scroll pump, comprising:
- a fixed scroll;
- an orbiting scroll intermeshed with the fixed scroll;
- an annular bearing coupled to the orbiting scroll;
- a crank sleeve coupled to the annular bearing;
- and
- a drive shaft coupled to the crank sleeve, wherein the drive shaft is arranged to drive orbiting of the orbiting scroll via the crank sleeve and the annular bearing, and
- wherein the crank sleeve is axially movable relative to the drive shaft, thereby allowing axial movement of the orbiting scroll relative to the fixed scroll.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.