Turbocharger assembly with compressed air cooled bearings

A vehicle comprising:

• an engine including an intake manifold and an exhaust manifold;
• and
• a turbocharger assembly including:
• a compressor assembly disposed in fluid communication with the intake manifold and including a compressor impeller, the compressor impeller defining a first impeller end and a second impeller end;
• a turbine assembly disposed in fluid communication with the exhaust manifold and including a turbine wheel, the turbine wheel being closer to the second impeller end than to the first impeller end;
• a shaft interconnecting the compressor impeller and the turbine wheel;
• an air foil bearing assembly surrounding at least a portion of the shaft;
• a compressor backplate covering the second impeller end, the compressor backplate defining a plurality of cooling gas openings, each cooling gas opening extending through the compressor backplate and disposed in fluid communication with the compressor assembly and the air foil bearing assembly, wherein each cooling gas opening is configured to receive a portion of intake gases flowing along the compressor impeller and direct the portion of the intake gases toward the air foil bearing assembly to cool the air foil bearing assembly;
• and
• wherein the compressor impeller includes an outermost impeller edge and has a maximum cross-sectional dimension at the outermost impeller edge, at least part of each cooling gas opening is disposed adjacent the outermost impeller edge, the compressor backplate includes a plurality of inner backplate surfaces, each inner backplate surface defines at least one of the cooling gas openings, each inner backplate surface includes a curved section disposed adjacent the outermost impeller edge, and each curved section is configured to allow the portion of the intake gases to enter each cooling gas opening.