Bearings having beam mounted bearing pads and methods of making same

A unitary thrust bearing for supporting a shaft, the bearing comprising:

• a plurality of spaced bearing pads, each pad having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a radially inner edge, a radially outer edge and a pad face extending between the loading edge and the trailing edge and between the inner and outer edges;
• a support structure comprisng a plurality of support beams and at least one beam support member for supporting the support beams;
• each of the bearing pads being supported by at least one support beam at a pad support surface which is located closer to the outer edge of the pad than to the inner edge of the pad such that, under load, the inner edge of the bearing deflects downward;
• and wherein the bearing pads are supported by the support structure for movement with six degrees so as to optimize hydrodynamic wedge formation.

A unitary thrust bearing comprising a cylindrical bearing pad portion;

• the bearing pad portion being divided into a plurality of bearing pads each having a radially inner edge and a radially outer edge and a unitary support structure comprising a primary bearing pad support position, a secondary bearing pad support portion and a tertiary support portion;
• the primary support portion being divided into a plurality of beam-like bearing pad supports, each of said plurality of bearing pads being supported by at least one of the plurality of beam-like pad support members in the primary support portion;
• the secondary support portion supporting each of said plurality of beam-like members and the tertiary support portion supporting the secondary support portion;
• the unitary support structure supporting the bearing pads such under load the bearing pads laterally incline so that the radially inner edge of the bearing pads moves away from the shaft and move with six degrees of freedom so as to optimize hydrodynamic wedge formation.

A unitary hydrodynamic thrust bearing for supporting a shaft;

• the thrust bearing comprising a plurality of shaft support pads spaced about an axis;
• each shaft support pad having a radially outer edge, a radially inner edge and a substantially planar shaft support pad surface which lies in a plane substantially transverse to the axis about which the pads are spaced;
• at least one pad supporting beam supporting each of the shaft supporting pads at a pad support surface which is located closer to the outer edge of the bearing pad than the inner edge, each of the pad supporting beams extending transversely away from the shaft support pad surface and parallel to said axis;
• at least one beam supporting member, said beam supporting member comprising one of a plurality of beams and a membrane, said beam supporting member designed so as to support each of the pad supporting beams for movement with six degrees of freedom so as to form an optimum hydrodynamic wedge under normal loading;
• and supplemental support member designed to support the beam supporting member for movement with six degrees of freedom so as to form an optimum hydrodynamic wedge under normal loading.

A one-piece hydrodynamic bearing for supporting a shaft;

• the bearing comprising a plurality of bearing pads and a support structure for supporting the bearing pads with a predetermined stiffness;
• each said bearing pad comprising a leading edge and a trailing edge, the bearing being designed such that the trailing edges of said bearing pads contact the shaft when the shaft is at rest;
• a fluid film located between a portion of each bearing pad and the shaft, the fluid film having a characteristic stiffness;
• wherein as the shaft begins to rotate the pressure of the fluid film increases to a point at which the stiffness of the fluid film is greater than the predetermined stiffness of the support structure thereby causing the trailing edge to deflect away from the shaft to allow formation of a fluid film between the trailing edge and the shaft.

A hydrodynamic thrust bearing for supporting a shaft;

• said bearing comprising a plurality of circumferentially spaced substantially planar bearing pads and a one-piece bearing pad support structure;
• each bearing pad having a radially outer edge and a radially inner edge;
• the bearing pad support structure comprising:
• a plurality of first beam members, each first beam member supporting one of said plurality of bearing pads at a pad support surface which is located closer to the outer edge of the bearing pads that the inner edge;
• a plurality of second beam members, each second beam member supporting a first beam member and at least one support members supporting the plurality of second beam members;
• wherein the support structure is symmetrically disposed in the direction of rotation of the shift so that the bearing pads support the shaft in the same way regardless of the direction of shaft rotation.

A hydrodynamically thrust bearing for supporting a rotating shaft, the bearing comprising:

• a plurality of circumferentially spaced bearing pads, each bearing pad having a radially inner edge a radially outer edge and a planar face extending between the inner and outer edges of the bearing pad;
• a first support portion comprising at least one beam supporting each bearing pad, the beam extending transversely from a pad support surface located closer to the outer edge of the bearing pad than to the inner edge of the bearing pad such that the inner edge of the bearing tends to deflect downward under load;
• a second support portion for supporting the first support portion, the second support portion extending in a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of the bearing pads and comprising at least one of a beam and a continuous membrane for supporting the beam of the first support portion;
• and a third support portion integral with each of the second portion for supporting the second support portion, the third support portion comprising at least two circumferential members protruding transversely from the second support portion;
• the first, second, and third support portions being disposed symmetrically with respect to the direction of shaft rotation and cooperating to support the bearing pads for movement with six degrees of freedom regardless of the direction of rotation of the shaft.

A one-piece thrust bearing for supporting a shaft, the bearing comprising:

• a plurality of spaced bearing pads, each pad having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a radially inner edge, a radially outer edge and a pad face extending between the loading edge and the trailing edge and between the inner and outer edges;
• a support structure comprising a plurality of support beams and at least one beam support member for supporting the support beams;
• each of the bearing pads being supported by at least one support beam at a pad support surface, the support beam being substantially wider in the circumferential direction than in the radial direction and having a shape and location such that, under load, the inner edge of the bearing deflects downward;
• and wherein the bearing pads are supported by the support structure for movement with six degrees of freedom so as to optimize hydrodynamic wedge formation.