System and method for preparing wear-resistant bearing surfaces
AssigneeCamco International Inc.
InventorSteven Campbell
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A wear-resistant bearing system utilizes a grid pattern of wear-resistant material. In instances where two bearing surfaces slide with respect to one another, such as with a thrust bearing, wear-resistant material strips are inlaid in the surrounding support material. The strips of wear-resistant material are arranged on each component such that the strips intersect one another when one component is moved with respect to the other. This transverse relationship or grid pattern promotes extremely long component life.
Claims22
A thrust bearing system, comprising:
- a thrust bearing including a thrust surface having at least two different materials in which a first material has greater wear-resistant properties than a second material, the first material being arranged in at least one bearing strip along the second material;
- and;
- a runner having a contact surface oriented to contact the thrust surface during relative motion between the thrust bearing and the runner, the contact surface having at least two different materials in which a first runner material has greater wear-resistant properties than a second runner material, the first runner material being disposed in at least one runner strip oriented generally transversely with respect to the at least one bearing strip during the relative rotational motion.
A bearing system for use in an electric submergible pumping system, comprising:
- a thrust bearing;
- and
- a thrust bearing runner that slidingly engages the thrust bearing, the thrust bearing and the thrust bearing runner each having inlaid strips of at least one wear-resistant material, the inlaid strips being arranged in a grid pattern.
A method for increasing the life of load bearing systems in which a first surface slides with respect to a second surface, comprising:
- deploying a first plurality of strips of wear-resistant material along the first surface;
- deploying a second plurality of strips of wear-resistant material along the second surface;
- orienting the first plurality of strips generally transversely with respect to the second plurality of strips;
- and
- placing the first plurality of strips in sliding contact with the second plurality of strips.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.