Liquid bearing assembly and method of constructing same
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsIan Strider Hunt, Ben David Poquette, Andrew Thomas Triscari
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bearing assembly is disclosed that includes a sleeve having an opening formed therein and a shaft positioned within the opening of the sleeve such that a gap is formed between an inner surface of the sleeve and an outer surface of the shaft. A lubricant is disposed in the gap and a plurality of grooves are formed on at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve. An anti-wetting coating is disposed on the at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve between adjacent grooves of the plurality of grooves.
Claims28
A bearing comprising:
- a sleeve having an opening formed therein;
- a shaft positioned within the opening of the sleeve such that a gap is formed between an inner surface of the sleeve and an outer surface of the shaft;
- a lubricant disposed in the gap;
- a plurality of grooves formed on at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve;
- and
- an anti-wetting coating disposed on the at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve between adjacent grooves of the plurality of grooves.
A method of manufacturing a bearing comprising the steps of:
- providing a bearing assembly, the bearing assembly comprising:
- a shaft;
- and
- a sleeve having an inner diameter greater than an outer diameter of the shaft, wherein a gap is formed between an inner surface of the bearing sleeve and an outer surface of the shaft;
- forming an anti-wetting coating on at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve;
- forming a plurality of grooves on at least one of the outer surface of the shaft and the inner surface of the sleeve, wherein the plurality of grooves are absent the anti-wetting coating, and wherein the plurality of grooves and the anti-wetting coating are formed on a common surface of the bearing assembly;
- and
- disposing a lubricant in the gap.
An x-ray tube comprising:
- a cathode;
- and
- a target assembly positioned to receive electrons emitted from the cathode, the target assembly comprising:
- a target;
- and
- a self-lubricating bearing configured to support the target, the self-lubricating bearing comprising:
- a rotatable component having a first surface;
- a stationary component positioned with respect to the rotatable component such that a gap is formed between a first surface of the rotatable component and a first surface of the stationary component;
- and
- a liquid lubricant disposed within the gap;
- and
- wherein a bearing surface of the self-lubricating bearing comprises an anti-wetting surface;
- and
- wherein a non-bearing surface of the self-lubricating bearing comprises a wetting surface;
- and
- wherein the anti-wetting surface and the wetting surface are alternately located on a common surface of the self-lubricating bearing, the common surface comprising at least one of a thrust bearing surface and a radial bearing surface of the self-lubricating bearing.
A bearing comprising:
- at least one friction-reducing surface comprising a plurality of alternating anti-wetting and wetting portions, wherein the wetting portions of the at least one friction-reducing surface have one of a helical spiral and a herringbone geometry.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.