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
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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.
Claims20
1-14. (canceled)
A compressor, comprising:
- a housing;
- a shaft configured to be rotated relative to the housing to compress a fluid;
- a foil gas bearing for supporting the shaft while rotating;
- and
- a backup bearing at a different location along the shaft than the foil gas bearing, the backup bearing configured to support the shaft while rotating when the shaft compresses the bump foil by a predetermined amount.
A heat transfer circuit, comprising:
- a compressor including:
- a shaft rotatable to compress a working fluid,
- a foil gas bearing for supporting the shaft while rotating, the foil bearing including a top foil and a bump foil, and
- a backup bearing located at a different location along the shaft than the foil gas bearing, the backup bearing configured to support the shaft while rotating when the shaft compresses the bump foil by a predetermined amount;
- 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.