Auxiliary fan cooling of bearing housings
AssigneeReliance Electric Technologies, LLC
InventorsGregory J. Kostrzewsky, Qimin J. Dong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A temperature controlled bearing includes a bearing element disposed within a temperature conductive housing for receiving and facilitating the rotation of a shaft. An oil sump may be formed within the housing or bearing which contains a supply of lubricant for the bearing. At least one fan is mounted to the exterior of the bearing housing, such as adjacent an oil sump. The fan is adapted to transfer heat from the bearing housing to the atmosphere by forced convection. A temperature sensor may be disposed within the bearing housing and coupled to a logic controller. The logic controller operates the fan according the temperature of the bearing as detected by the sensor.
Claims22
A bearing comprising:
- a temperature conducting housing;
- a bearing element disposed within the housing;
- an oil sump to house lubricant for the bearing element;
- a plurality of motor driven electric fans mounted to the bearing housing, wherein the plurality of motor driven electric fans are adapted to transfer heat from the bearing housing by forced convection;
- a temperature sensor disposed within the bearing housing adjacent to the bearing element and adapted for determining a temperature within the bearing housing;
- and
- a logic controller coupled to the temperature sensor and operable to selectively operate each of the plurality of motor driven electric fans based on the temperature within the bearing housing.
A method for controlling the temperature of a bearing having a housing and a bearing element disposed within the housing, the method comprising:
- mounting a plurality of fans on the bearing housing to remove heat from bearing element lubricant disposed within the bearing housing;
- disposing a temperature sensor within the bearing housing adjacent to the bearing element;
- electrically coupling a logic controller between the plurality of fans and the temperature sensor;
- and
- adapting the logic controller to receive a signal from the temperature sensor and to operate at least one of the plurality of fans at various speeds in response to the signal received.
A system comprising:
- a plurality of bearings, each bearing including a thermally conductive housing and a bearing element disposed within the housing;
- a plurality of fans affixed to the housing of each bearing;
- a temperature sensor disposed within the housing of each bearing adjacent to the bearing element and corresponding to the fans affixed on the same bearing;
- and
- a logic controller adapted to receive a signal from each temperature sensor and to operate at least one of the corresponding fans at various speeds according to the received signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.