Cover for turbines and pumps

In a machine of the type of a propeller-type rturbine, Kaplan-type turbine, or similarly-shaped pump, or the like, the machine comprising

• a rotatable shaft;
• a rotatable runner on the shaft, such that rotation of the shaft and the runner applies an axial force on the shaft;
• bearings on the shaft for supporting the shaft for rotation;
• and an outer covering around the shaft and the runner;
• the improvment comprising a cover for said machine, the cover comprising
• (a) a flat ring which is supported at an exterior edge thereof on the outer covering;
• (b) a first axially extending shell which is conically shaped, and is connected to an interior edge of the flat ring at an exterior region of the first shell intermediate the axial length of the first shell, the first shell concentrically surrounding the shaft and tapering narrower toward the runner;
• and
• (c) a second shell also conically shaped for directing radially inward water flow axially toward said runner and defining a lesser conical angle than the first conical shell, and extending from an exterior region of the first conical shell and toward the runner;
• one said bearing being mounted between the first shell and the shaft, said bearing between the first shell and the shaft being a radial bearing located generally toward the runner side of the first shell.