Bearing assemblies and apparatuses including superhard bearing elements
AssigneeUS Synthetic Corporation
InventorS. Barrett Peterson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing assembly includes a support ring, a plurality of bearing-element carrier members coupled to the support ring, and a plurality of superhard bearing elements having a lateral periphery extending between a base and a superhard bearing surface. At least one superhard bearing element of the plurality of superhard bearing elements is attached to each of the plurality of bearing-element carrier members. A bearing apparatus includes a rotor, a stator, and a bearing assembly. A method for assembling a bearing assembly includes attaching at least one superhard bearing element to each of a plurality of bearing-element carrier members and coupling the plurality of bearing-element carrier members to a support ring.
Claims19
A bearing assembly, comprising:
- a support ring;
- a plurality of bearing-element carrier members mechanically fastened to the support ring;
- a plurality of superhard bearing elements each having a lateral periphery extending generally between a base surface and a superhard bearing surface,
- wherein each of the plurality of superhard bearing elements is attached to at least one of the plurality of bearing-element carrier members.
A bearing apparatus, comprising:
- a rotor;
- a stator;
- wherein at least one of the rotor and the stator includes:
- a support ring;
- a plurality of bearing-element carrier members mechanically fastened to the support ring;
- a plurality of superhard bearing elements each having a lateral periphery extending generally between a base surface and a superhard bearing surface,
- wherein each of the plurality of superhard bearing elements is attached to at least one of the plurality of bearing-element carrier members.
A method for assembling a bearing assembly, comprising:
- attaching each of a plurality of superhard bearing elements to at least one of a plurality of bearing-element carrier members, each of the bearing elements having a lateral periphery extending generally between a base surface and a superhard bearing surface;
- mechanically fastening each of the plurality of bearing-element carrier members to a support ring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.