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US 5,961,217 AGranted
High load capacity compliant foil hydrodynamic thrust bearing
AssigneeMohawk Innovative Technology, Inc.
InventorHooshang Heshmat
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMohawk Innovative Technology, Inc.
InventorHooshang Heshmat
Estimating the term…
A compliant hydrodynamic fluid film thrust bearing. A circumferential row of sectors of flexible sheets are positioned to face a shaft runner for relative rotation therebetween. The flexible sheets are supported by a flexible membrane which is in turn supported by a pair of rows of corrugated foil elements. Flexible strips are sandwiched between the trailing portions of the flexible sheets and the flexible membrane to provide a tapered/land effect. The corrugated foil elements are supported by a flexible diaphragm which is in turn supported by a row of corrugated support elements which are attached thereto along circumferentially intermediate portions thereof and are aligned with the flexible strips to provide a crowning effect. The ridges of at least one of the pair of rows of corrugated foil elements have truncated apex portions. In one embodiment, ridges in corrugated foil elements of one row thereof underlie only some ridges in the other row, and furrows underlie the other ridges.
A compliant hydrodynamic fluid film thrust bearing comprising a backing member, a circumferential row of sectors of flexible sheets positioned to face a shaft runner for relative rotation therebetween and each having a leading portion and a trailing portion relative to relative shaft rotation, means for resiliently supporting said flexible sheets, and means including flexible strip means sandwiched between each of said trailing portions and said supporting means for providing an effect of circumferentially spaced raised lands, said resiliently supporting means comprising an inner corrugated element means and an outer corrugated element means each having a plurality of ridges and a plurality of furrows in alternating relation therewith wherein inner element ridges supportively underlie some of said outer element ridges and whereby inner element furrows underlie others of said outer element ridges.
A compliant hydrodynamic fluid film thrust bearing comprising a backing member, flexible sheet means positioned to face a shaft runner for relative rotation therebetween, means comprising an inner and an outer corrugated element means disposed between said backing member and said sheet means for resiliently supporting said sheet means, said outer corrugated element means having a corrugated shape defining a plurality of ridges and a plurality of furrows in alternating relation therewith for bearing said sheet means, and said inner corrugated element means having a corrugated shape defining a plurality of ridges and a plurality of furrows in alternating relation such that ridges of one of said inner and outer corrugated element means are in alignment with some of said ridges of an other of said inner and outer corrugated element means for bearing said sheet means and such that furrows of said one corrugated element means are in alignment with others of said ridges of said other of said corrugated element means.
A compliant hydrodynamic fluid film bearing comprising a backing member, flexible sheet means positioned to face a shaft for relative rotation therebetween, means comprising an inner and an outer corrugated element means disposed between said backing member and said sheet means for resiliently supporting said sheet means, said outer corrugated element means having a corrugated shape defining a plurality of ridges and a plurality of furrows in alternating relation therewith for bearing said sheet means, and said inner corrugated element means having a corrugated shape defining a plurality of ridges and a plurality of furrows in alternating relation such that ridges of one of said inner and outer corrugated element means are in alignment with some of said ridges of an other of said inner and outer corrugated element means for bearing said sheet means and such that furrows of said one corrugated element means are in alignment with others of said ridges of said other of said corrugated element means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.