CN115507121B

CN115507121B - Elastic foil, air bearing and air compressor

Info

Publication number: CN115507121B
Application number: CN202211260060.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 丹尼斯·霍华德·海瑟特; 陶林; 丹尼尔·罗杰·卢贝尔; 白江涛; 纳夫约特·乔汉; 张学锋
Original assignee: Oil Free Machinery Co ltd; Shijia Toubo Chengdu Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Oil Free Machinery Co ltd; Shijia Toubo Chengdu Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-14
Filing date: 2022-10-14
Publication date: 2024-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2042-10-14
Also published as: CN115507121A

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention provides an elastic foil, an air bearing and an air compressor, wherein the elastic foil comprises a substrate, a plurality of first supporting pieces and a plurality of second supporting pieces, in a projection plane in the thickness direction of the substrate, the projections of the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces are polygonal, a connecting line of two vertexes of the first supporting pieces is a first connecting line, a connecting line of two vertexes of the second supporting pieces is a second connecting line, the first connecting line and the second connecting line extend along the first direction, the size of the second connecting line is smaller than that of the first connecting line, the first direction is orthogonal to the thickness direction of the substrate, the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces are arranged on the substrate, and two ends of the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces in the first direction are movable in the thickness direction of the substrate. The elastic foil provided by the embodiment of the invention has the advantages that the rigidity can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, and the starting and stopping service life is longer.

Description

Elastic foil, air bearing and air compressor

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of bearings, in particular to an elastic foil, an air bearing and an air compressor.

Background

An air bearing refers to a sliding bearing using gas as a lubricant, which includes an elastic foil and a top foil between a rotating shaft and a bearing housing. When the air bearing works, the rotating shaft can suck air with certain viscosity into a wedge-shaped space between the rotating shaft and the top foil to squeeze by means of relative movement of the rotating shaft and the bearing surface, so that a lubricating air film with certain pressure is formed, and the rotating shaft is suspended.

In the related art, the elastic foil is a grid-shaped foil and needs to be provided with at least two layers, the rigidity of the elastic foil is unchanged, and in order to enable the air bearing to have higher vibration resistance and impact performance and higher bearing damping performance, the elastic foil needs to have higher rigidity, but the starting and stopping service life of the air bearing is reduced due to the improvement of the rigidity of the elastic foil.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made based on the findings and knowledge of the inventors regarding the following facts and problems:

the rigidity of the elastic foil influences the rigidity of the air bearing, when the air bearing is in a light-load state, the air bearing can meet the working requirement only by having smaller rigidity, and when the air bearing is in a heavy-load state, the air bearing can meet the working requirement by having larger rigidity.

However, when the air bearing is in a static state, the elastic force generated by the elastic foil can squeeze the top foil, so that a certain pretightening force is generated between the top foil and the rotating shaft, the larger the rigidity of the elastic foil is, the larger the pretightening force is, and the larger the friction between the rotating shaft and the top foil is in the starting process, so that the starting and stopping life of the air bearing is reduced.

Therefore, in the related art, in order to enable the air bearing to meet the working requirement of the heavy load state, an elastic foil with high rigidity is needed, but the start-stop life of the air bearing is reduced, so that the requirement of long-time use cannot be met.

The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems in the related art to some extent. Therefore, the embodiment of the invention provides the elastic foil which has the advantages that the self rigidity of the elastic foil can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, so that the starting and stopping service life of the air bearing applying the elastic foil meets the use requirement.

The embodiment of the invention also provides an air bearing, which has the advantages that the self rigidity of the air bearing can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state, and the starting and stopping service life meets the use requirement.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide an air compressor having the advantage of a longer service life.

The elastic foil according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a substrate;

a plurality of first supports, in a projection plane of the substrate in a thickness direction, the projections of the first supports being polygonal, the connection line of two vertexes of the first supports being a first connection line and the first connection line extending in a first direction, the first direction being orthogonal to the thickness direction of the substrate, the first supports being provided on the substrate, and both ends of the first supports in the first direction being movable in the thickness direction of the substrate with respect to the substrate, the plurality of first supports being arranged at intervals in the first direction;

the second supporting pieces are projected in a polygonal shape in a projection plane in the thickness direction of the substrate, connecting lines of two vertexes of the second supporting pieces are second connecting lines, the second connecting lines extend in the first direction, the size of the second connecting lines is smaller than that of the first connecting lines, the second supporting pieces are arranged on the substrate, two ends of the second supporting pieces in the first direction are movable relative to the substrate in the thickness direction of the substrate, the second supporting pieces are arranged at intervals in the first direction, and the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces are arranged at intervals in the second direction, and the second direction is orthogonal to the first direction and the thickness direction of the substrate.

The elastic foil of the present embodiment has a first support and a second support, and the size of the first connection line of the first support is larger than the size of the second connection line of the second support. When the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a light load state, the eccentric distance of the air bearing is smaller than that of the rotating shaft penetrating through the air bearing, so that the two ends of the first supporting piece in the first direction mainly extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted to the bearing sleeve, in other words, the first supporting piece mainly plays a supporting role in the light load state. When the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a heavy-load state, the eccentric distance of the air bearing is larger than that of the rotating shaft penetrating through the air bearing, so that the two ends of the first supporting piece in the first direction and the two ends of the second supporting piece in the first direction extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted to the bearing sleeve, in other words, the first supporting piece and the second supporting piece play a supporting role simultaneously in the heavy-load state. Therefore, the rigidity of the elastic foil can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, so that the rigidity of the air bearing applying the elastic foil can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state, the rigidity of the elastic foil and the air bearing in the heavy load state is higher than the rigidity of the elastic foil and the air bearing in the light load state, and meanwhile, the rigidity of the elastic foil and the air bearing in the light load state is smaller, so that the air bearing has a longer start-stop life.

In some embodiments, the ratio of the size of the second connection line to the size of the first connection line is 0.9-1; and/or

The ratio of the size of the first connecting line to the thickness of the substrate is 10-60, and the ratio of the size of the second connecting line to the thickness of the substrate is 10-60.

In some embodiments, either end of the first support in the first direction and either end of the second support in the first direction include a first segment and a second segment, the first segment and the second segment being spaced apart in the second direction, the first segment and the second segment being connected at the other end in the first direction and the second segment at the other end in the first direction.

In some embodiments, the angle between the first segment and the second segment is between 0 ° and 55 °.

In some embodiments, the first support is fixedly connected to the substrate at both ends in the second direction, and the second support is fixedly connected to the substrate at both ends in the second direction.

In some embodiments, the substrate is provided with a plurality of rows of the first supporting members arranged at intervals along the first direction and a plurality of rows of the second supporting members arranged at intervals along the first direction, N rows of the first supporting members arranged side by side and N rows of the second supporting members arranged side by side are arranged at intervals, N is a constant greater than 1, and two adjacent rows of the first supporting members, two adjacent rows of the second supporting members, and two adjacent rows of the first supporting members and the second supporting members are respectively staggered.

In some embodiments, the plurality of first supports and the plurality of second supports are each arranged from one end of the substrate in the first direction to the other end of the substrate in the first direction; or alternatively

The substrate comprises a connecting part and a supporting part, wherein the connecting part and the supporting part are arranged at intervals in the first direction, and the supporting part is provided with a plurality of first supporting pieces and a plurality of second supporting pieces.

In some embodiments, the connecting portion includes a plurality of connecting bars, the connecting bars extend along the first direction, the plurality of connecting bars are arranged at intervals along the second direction, and a gap is formed between two adjacent connecting bars;

the supporting part is provided with a plurality of meshes, and the first supporting piece or the second supporting piece is arranged in the meshes.

The air bearing of the embodiment of the invention comprises: a bearing sleeve;

the top foil is arranged in the bearing sleeve and extends along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve;

an elastic foil, the elastic foil is the elastic foil of any one of the above embodiments, the elastic foil is located between the top foil and the bearing sleeve, the first direction is consistent with the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve, two ends of the first support piece in the first direction are movable relative to the bearing sleeve in the radial direction of the bearing sleeve, and two ends of the second support piece in the first direction are movable relative to the bearing sleeve in the radial direction of the bearing sleeve.

In some embodiments, two ends of the top foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve are connected with the bearing sleeve in an inserting manner and can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve relative to the bearing sleeve;

the two ends of the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve are connected with the bearing sleeve in an inserting mode and can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve relative to the bearing sleeve.

In some embodiments, the inner wall surface of the bearing housing has a dovetail with two protrusions extending in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing and disposed opposite each other, a receiving groove is provided between the protrusions and the inner wall surface of the bearing housing, and either end of the top foil and either end of the elastic foil are movably disposed in the receiving groove in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing.

In some embodiments, the bearing housing has one of the dovetails with one end of the top foil and one end of the resilient foil being located in the receiving slot on one side of the dovetails and the other end of the top foil and the other end of the resilient foil being located in the receiving slot on the other side of the dovetails; or alternatively

The bearing sleeve is provided with a plurality of dovetails, and the top foil and the elastic foil are arranged between two adjacent dovetails.

The air compressor provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the air bearing in any one of the embodiments.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the structure of an elastic foil according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic view of a portion of the structure of the elastic foil of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an air bearing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic view of a part of the air bearing in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of an air bearing;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a bearing housing of the air bearing of fig. 5.

Reference numerals:

1. a substrate; 11. a connection part; 111. a connecting strip; 12. a support part; 13. a plug-in part; 2. a first support; 21. a first section; 22. a second section; 3. a second support; 4. a bearing sleeve; 41. a dovetail; 42. a receiving groove; 5. a top foil; 6. a rotating shaft.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are illustrative and intended to explain the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention.

An elastic foil, an air bearing and an air compressor according to an embodiment of the present invention are described below with reference to fig. 1 to 6.

As shown in fig. 3 to 6, the air bearing of the embodiment of the present invention includes a bearing housing 4, a top foil 5, and an elastic foil, the top foil 5 is disposed in the bearing housing 4, and the top foil 5 extends along the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4, the elastic foil is the elastic foil of the embodiment of the present invention, the elastic foil is located between the top foil 5 and the bearing housing 4, and the first direction is consistent with the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4, two ends of the first support member 2 in the first direction are movable relative to the bearing housing 4 in the radial direction of the bearing housing 4, and two ends of the second support member 3 in the first direction are movable relative to the bearing housing 4 in the radial direction of the bearing housing 4. The air bearing is sleeved on the periphery of the rotating shaft 6 in use, in other words, one or more elastic foils encircle to form a cylinder, and the rotating shaft 6 is arranged in the cylinder in a penetrating way.

The elastic foil according to an embodiment of the invention is described in detail below with reference to fig. 1-5.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the flexible foil of the embodiment of the invention comprises a substrate 1, a plurality of first supports 2 and a plurality of second supports 3.

In a projection plane in a thickness direction of the substrate 1 (a direction perpendicular to a page as shown in fig. 1), a projection of the first support 2 is polygonal, a line connecting two vertexes of the first support 2 is a first line and the first line extends in a first direction (a left-right direction as shown in fig. 1) orthogonal to the thickness direction of the substrate 1, the first support 2 is provided on the substrate 1, and both ends of the first support 2 in the first direction are movable in the thickness direction of the substrate 1 with respect to the substrate 1, and the plurality of first supports 2 are arranged at intervals in the first direction.

In the projection plane of the substrate 1 in the thickness direction, the projection of the second support 3 is polygonal, and the line connecting two vertexes of the second support 3 is a second line and the second line extends in the first direction, the second line is smaller in size than the first line, the second support 3 is provided on the substrate 1, and both ends of the second support 3 in the first direction are movable with respect to the substrate 1 in the thickness direction of the substrate 1, the plurality of second supports 3 are arranged at intervals in the first direction, and the first support 2 and the second support 3 are arranged at intervals in the second direction (up-down direction as shown in fig. 1) orthogonal to the first direction and the thickness direction of the substrate 1.

In fig. 1 and 2, the first support 2 and the second support 3 are distinguished by filling the lines of different oblique directions, the first support 2 being filled with oblique lines extending downward to the right, and the second support 3 being filled with oblique lines extending downward to the left. The inclined lines are used to distinguish the support members in the drawings, and the actual surface of the support member may or may not have a pattern formed by the inclined lines to enhance friction.

The elastic foil in this embodiment has two states, the first state is shown in fig. 3-5, at this time, the elastic foil is installed in the bearing sleeve 4, and the elastic foil is cylindrical or arc-shaped around the axis of the air bearing, in other words, one or more elastic foils are cylindrical around the axis of the air bearing, at this time, the first direction is consistent with the circumferences of the bearing sleeve 4 and the air bearing, the second direction is consistent with the axes of the bearing sleeve 4 and the air bearing, and the thickness direction of the substrate is consistent with the radial directions of the bearing sleeve 4 and the air bearing; the second state is as shown in fig. 1 and 2, where the elastic foil is not mounted in the bearing housing 4 and the elastic foil extends in a plane where the first direction coincides with the left-right direction as shown in fig. 1 and the second direction coincides with the up-down direction as shown in fig. 1, and the thickness direction of the substrate 1 coincides with the direction perpendicular to the page as shown in fig. 1.

When the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a light load state, compared with the eccentric distance of the rotating shaft penetrating through the air bearing, the air bearing is smaller, so that the deformation of the elastic foil is smaller, in the state, the two ends of the first supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve mainly extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted against the bearing sleeve, in other words, in the light load state, the first supporting piece mainly plays a supporting role.

When the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a heavy-load state, the eccentric distance of the air bearing is larger than that of the rotating shaft penetrating through the air bearing, so that the elastic foil is deformed greatly, in the state, the two ends of the first supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve and the two ends of the second supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted against the bearing sleeve, in other words, the first supporting piece and the second supporting piece play a supporting role simultaneously in the heavy-load state.

The number of the supporting pieces playing a supporting role in the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces influences the rigidity of the elastic foil, and the larger the number is, the larger the rigidity of the elastic foil is, so that the rigidity of the elastic foil can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, the rigidity of the air bearing can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, and the rigidity of the elastic foil and the air bearing in the heavy load state is larger than the rigidity of the elastic foil and the air bearing in the light load state.

Compared with the mode that the elastic foil in the related art needs to be provided with multiple layers, the elastic foil is simpler to install, and the air bearing adopting the elastic foil is lower in cost.

Meanwhile, the rigidity of the elastic foil is smaller in the light-load state, so that the pretightening force of the air bearing is lower in the light-load state, and the air bearing has longer start-stop life. Under the light load state, the lower pretightening force of the air bearing can also lead to lower acting force of the air film under the operation of the air bearing, so that the heating value of the air bearing during the operation is lower.

In addition, the friction area of the supporting piece and the bearing sleeve can influence the damping performance of the air bearing, in a light load state, the two ends of the first supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve are mainly abutted against the bearing sleeve and rubbed with the bearing sleeve, at the moment, the friction area of the first supporting piece and the bearing sleeve can ensure the damping performance requirement of the air bearing in the light load state, and the stability of the air bearing in the light load state is ensured; under the heavy load state, the two ends of the first supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve and the two ends of the second supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve are simultaneously abutted against the bearing sleeve and rubbed with the bearing sleeve, and at the moment, compared with the light load state, the friction area of the supporting piece and the bearing sleeve is increased under the heavy load state, so that the damping of the air bearing is increased, and the stability of the air bearing under the heavy load state is ensured. Therefore, the elastic foil also has the advantage of being capable of adaptively adjusting the damping of the air bearing.

It should be noted that, the meaning of the above-mentioned "the first support member extends outward and abuts the bearing housing along the radial direction of the air bearing at the two ends of the bearing housing in the circumferential direction" and "the first support member plays a supporting role in the light load state" means that: in the light load state, two conditions exist, wherein only the two ends of the first supporting piece in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted against the bearing sleeve, in other words, only the first supporting piece plays a supporting role; in the second case, there is a small portion of the second support members abutting the bearing housing at the same time as the first support members abutting the bearing housing, in other words, a small portion of the second support members play a supporting role at the same time as a large number of the first support members play a supporting role.

In a heavy load state corresponding to the first condition of the light load state, compared with the condition that only the first supporting piece plays a supporting role, the supporting role is changed into that the first supporting piece and the second supporting piece play a supporting role at the same time, and the number of supporting beams playing a supporting role is increased, so that the rigidity of the elastic foil in the heavy load state is adaptively adjusted to be larger than the rigidity of the elastic foil in the light load state; in the heavy load state corresponding to the second condition of the light load state, the supporting effect is changed into a large number of second supporting pieces compared with the condition that a small number of second supporting pieces exist, the number of supporting beams playing a supporting role is increased, and therefore the rigidity of the elastic foil in the heavy load state is adaptively adjusted to be larger than the rigidity in the light load state.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, the projections of the first support 2 and the second support 3 in the thickness direction of the substrate 1 are diamond-shaped, the diamond-shaped first support 2 has a first diagonal line extending in the left-right direction and a second diagonal line extending in the up-down direction, the first diagonal line has a larger size than the second diagonal line, and the first diagonal line is a first connection line, the diamond-shaped second support 3 has a third diagonal line extending in the left-right direction and a fourth diagonal line extending in the up-down direction, the third diagonal line has a larger size than the fourth diagonal line, and the third diagonal line is a second connection line. The diamond-shaped first support 2 and second support 3 have two vertexes in the up-down direction and two vertexes in the left-right direction, wherein the two vertexes in the up-down direction are in a straight line transition extending in the left-right direction, and the two vertexes in the left-right direction are in a straight line transition extending in the up-down direction.

In other embodiments, the four vertices of the diamond-shaped first support and the four vertices of the diamond-shaped second support may be rounded transitions; or no transition is provided, in other words, the four vertexes are sharp angles; or two vertexes are in rounded transition, and the other two vertexes are in straight transition.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the projections of the first support and the second support in the thickness direction of the substrate are not limited to diamond shapes, and in other embodiments, the projections of the first support and the second support in the thickness direction of the substrate may be trapezoidal, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, or the like. For example, the projections of the first support and the second support in the thickness direction of the substrate are trapezoidal, the trapezoid includes a first bottom side and a second bottom side extending in the left-right direction, the first bottom side and the second bottom side are arranged at intervals in the up-down direction, and the size of the first bottom side is larger than the size of the second bottom side, in other words, the first bottom side of the first support is a first connection line, and the first bottom side of the second support is a second connection line. It is understood that the four vertices of the first support of the trapezoid and the four vertices of the second support of the trapezoid may be in a straight transition, or may be in a rounded transition, or two vertices are in a rounded transition, and the other two vertices are in a straight transition, or no transition is provided.

In some embodiments, either end of the first support 2 in the first direction and either end of the second support 3 in the first direction include a first section 21 and a second section 22, one end of the first section 21 in the first direction and one end of the second section 22 in the first direction are spaced apart in the second direction, and the other end of the first section 21 in the first direction and the other end of the second section 22 in the first direction are connected.

In the embodiment where the projections of the first support member and the second support member are diamond-shaped, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the left end or the right end of the projections of the first support member 2 and the second support member 3 each have two diamond-shaped edges, at the right end of the projections, one edge located above corresponds to the first section 21, the other edge located below corresponds to the second section 22, the left end of the first section 21 and the left end of the second section 22 are spaced in the up-down direction, the right end of the first section 21 and the right end of the second section 22 are connected by adopting a straight line transition, and an acute angle is formed between the first section 21 and the second section 22. It will be appreciated that when the vertices at the left and right ends of the diamond are not provided with transitions, the other end of the first segment is directly connected to the other end of the second segment with an acute angle therebetween.

In the embodiment that the projection of the first support piece and the second support piece is trapezoid, the left end or the right end of the projection is provided with a part of first bottom edge, a part of second bottom edge and a waist, wherein the first bottom edge corresponds to the first section, the waist corresponds to the second section, when the four vertexes of the first support piece and the second support piece are not provided with transition, the first section and the second section are directly connected and form an acute angle therebetween, when the four vertexes of the first support piece and the second support piece adopt the transition of a circular angle, the first section and the second section are connected through the connection of the circular angle sections, and the first section and the second section form the acute angle therebetween.

In some embodiments, the angle between the first segment 21 and the second segment 22 is 0 ° to 55 °.

The contained angle between the first section and the second section can influence the rigidity of the support piece when playing a supporting role, and then influence the rigidity of the elastic foil, and when the contained angle is 0-55 degrees, the rigidity and the rigidity self-adaptability of the elastic foil can achieve the best effect.

In some embodiments, the ratio of the size of the second wire to the size of the first wire is 0.9-1.

In an embodiment where the projections of the first support and the second support are diamond shaped, the ratio of the dimension of the third diagonal of the second support to the dimension of the first diagonal of the first support is 0.9 to 1. The elastic foil has a good rigidity self-adaptive effect, so that the air bearing mainly has a supporting effect on the first supporting piece in a light load state, and has supporting effects on the first supporting piece and the second supporting piece simultaneously in a heavy load state.

In the embodiment of the invention, the ratio of the size of the second diagonal line of the first support member to the size of the fourth diagonal line of the second support member is not limited, and the size of the second diagonal line may be the same as the size of the fourth diagonal line, and the size of the second diagonal line may be different from the size of the fourth diagonal line.

In some embodiments, the ratio of the size of the first wire to the thickness of the substrate 1 is 10 to 60, and the ratio of the size of the second wire to the thickness of the substrate 1 is 10 to 60.

The ratio of the size of the first connecting line to the thickness of the substrate influences the rigidity of the first supporting piece, the ratio of the size of the second connecting line to the thickness of the substrate influences the rigidity of the second supporting piece, the rigidity of the first supporting piece and the rigidity of the second supporting piece influence the rigidity of the elastic foil, and when the ratio is 10-60, the rigidity and the rigidity self-adaption of the elastic foil can achieve the best effect.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, the substrate 1 includes a connection portion 11 and a support portion 12, the connection portion 11 and the support portion 12 being arranged at intervals in a first direction, the support portion 12 being provided with a plurality of first supports 2 and a plurality of second supports 3.

Here, the terms "connection portion" and "support portion" should be understood in a broad sense, and the connection portion and the support portion may have two different structures, or may be two regions of the same structure.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the connection part and the support part have different structures, the substrate 1 further includes insertion parts 13 at both left and right ends thereof, the insertion parts 13 are strip-shaped sections having a certain distance in the left and right direction and extending from the lower end of the substrate 1 to the upper end of the substrate 1 in the up and down direction, and the connection parts 11 and the support parts 12 are arranged at intervals between the insertion parts 13 at both ends.

In the example shown in fig. 1, the connection part 11 includes a plurality of connection bars 111, the connection bars 111 extend in a first direction, the plurality of connection bars 111 are arranged at intervals in a second direction, and a gap is formed between two adjacent connection bars 111.

The two ends of the connection bar 111 may be connected to the supporting portions 12 on both sides thereof, or one end of the connection bar 111 may be connected to the supporting portion 12 and the other end may be connected to the insertion portion 13. The connecting strip plays a role of connecting two adjacent supporting parts or connecting the supporting parts and the inserting parts. Because the air bearing is provided with a distance section with smaller pressure generated by a section of air film at a certain angle in the circumferential direction, the position of the elastic foil corresponding to the distance section is set to be a connecting part, and a first supporting piece and a second supporting piece are not required to be arranged, so that the manufacturing difficulty and the manufacturing cost of the elastic foil are reduced. Preferably, as shown in fig. 1 and 3, each 120 ° interval has a distance section in the circumferential direction of the air bearing, wherein a dovetail of a connection structure of the elastic foil and the bearing sleeve is arranged at a position corresponding to one distance section, and the other two distance sections respectively correspond to one connection part.

Wherein the structure of the connection portion is not limited to a plurality of connection bars, and in other embodiments, the connection portion may be a section of the substrate, in other words, the connection portion is sheet-shaped; alternatively, the connection portion may be a region in which a plurality of circles, polygons, or irregularly shaped hollows are provided on the substrate.

In the example shown in fig. 1, the support 12 is provided with a plurality of mesh openings in which the first support 2 or the second support 3 is provided. The two ends of the first support 2 in the second direction are fixedly connected with the substrate 1, and the two ends of the second support 3 in the second direction are fixedly connected with the substrate 1.

The upper and lower both ends of first support piece 2 and second support piece 3 are the stiff end, and the upper and lower both ends of first support piece 2 link to each other with the internal face of mesh respectively, have the gap between the internal face of mesh respectively at the left and right both ends of first support piece 2, and the upper and lower both ends of second support piece 3 link to each other with the internal face of mesh respectively, have the gap between the internal face of mesh respectively at the left and right both ends of second support piece 3. Thereby, the left and right ends of the first support and the left and right ends of the second support can move along the thickness direction of the substrate while the first support and the second support are respectively connected with the substrate.

When the first support 2 and the second support 3 are not moved, the portion having the substrate 1 between the two first supports 2 adjacent in the left-right direction is spaced apart from the two first supports 2, the portion having the substrate 1 between the two second supports 3 adjacent in the left-right direction is also spaced apart from the portion having the substrate 1 between the two first supports 2 adjacent in the left-right direction, and when the first supports 2 and the second supports 3 are moved, the portion having the spacing between the two first supports 2 adjacent in the left-right direction is also spaced apart from the portion having the spacing between the two second supports 3 adjacent in the left-right direction.

The structure of the connecting portion is not limited to being provided with meshes, the connecting structure of the first supporting member and the second supporting member with the substrate is not limited to being that the upper end and the lower end of the supporting member are connected with the substrate, in other embodiments, the connecting portion is a section of area of the substrate, in other words, the connecting portion is sheet-shaped, the surface of a section of strip-shaped area of the first supporting member extending along the second diagonal is welded or bonded with the surface of the substrate, the surface of a section of strip-shaped area of the second supporting member extending along the fourth diagonal is welded or bonded with the surface of the substrate, and when the left end and the right end of the first supporting member and the left end and the right end of the second supporting member are not moved, the first supporting member and the second supporting member are abutted on the substrate along the thickness direction of the substrate; or the connecting part is a section of the substrate, and the upper end and the lower end of the first supporting piece and the upper end and the lower end of the second supporting piece are welded or bonded with the surface of the substrate.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the plurality of first supports 2 and the plurality of second supports 3 are each arranged from one end of the substrate 1 in the first direction to the other end of the substrate 1 in the first direction. In other words, the substrate 1 includes the supporting portion 12, not the connecting portion 11.

As shown in fig. 5, the plurality of first supports 2 and the plurality of second supports 3 are each arranged from one end of the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 to the other end of the substrate 1 in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, the substrate 1 is provided with a plurality of rows of first supporting members 2 arranged at intervals along the first direction and a plurality of rows of second supporting members 3 arranged at intervals along the first direction, N rows of first supporting members 2 arranged side by side are arranged at intervals with N rows of second supporting members 3 arranged side by side, N is a constant greater than 1, and adjacent two rows of first supporting members 2, adjacent two rows of second supporting members 3, and adjacent first supporting members 2 and second supporting members 3 are respectively staggered.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first supports 2 and the second supports 3 are diamond-shaped, on one support portion 12 of the substrate 1, two rows of supports arranged side by side in the up-down direction are a group, the first supports 2 arranged in groups and the second supports 3 arranged in groups are arranged at intervals one by one in the up-down direction, and the adjacent rows of the first supports 2 and the adjacent rows of the second supports 3 are staggered, in other words, the second diagonal line of at least part of the first supports 2 in one row of the first supports 2 is located between the fourth diagonal lines of the two second supports 3 adjacent to the first supports 2. The two rows of first supports 2 in each set of first supports 2 are staggered, in other words, the second diagonal of at least some of the first supports 2 in one row of first supports 2 is located between the second diagonal of two other first supports 2 adjacent to the first support 2 in the other row of first supports 2. Two rows of second supporting pieces 3 in each group of second supporting pieces 3 are staggered.

The arrangement mode of the first supporting pieces and the second supporting pieces is not limited to two adjacent rows of first supporting pieces, two adjacent rows of second supporting pieces and the adjacent first supporting pieces and the adjacent second supporting pieces are respectively staggered. In other embodiments, the first support and the second support are projected in a trapezoid, and the two rows of first supports arranged side by side are arranged with the first bottom edges facing each other, in other words, with the first bottom edge of the first support located in the upper row below the second bottom edge and the first bottom edge of the first support located in the lower row above the second bottom edge. Two rows of second supports arranged side by side are also arranged with the first bottom edges facing each other. The adjacent first supporting pieces and second supporting pieces are staggered, in other words, the second bottom edge of at least part of the first supporting pieces is positioned between two second supporting pieces adjacent to the first supporting pieces.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, the first supports 2 and the second supports 3 of M rows are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the air bearing, M is a constant greater than or equal to 1, and the first supports 2 and the second supports 3 of M rows are arranged at intervals along the axial direction of the air bearing. In other words, the first supporting members 2 and the second supporting members 3 are not staggered.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 1 and 2, the substrate 1, the first support 2 and the second support 3 are of integral construction, and the elastic foil is manufactured by: the connecting part 11 is formed on the foil to be processed through stamping hollowed-out, and the first supporting piece 2 and the second supporting piece 3 are formed through stamping gaps. The processing method is simple and has lower processing cost.

It will be appreciated that the method of processing the flexible foil is not limited to the above, and that in other embodiments, other methods of processing the flexible foil may be used, such as welding the first support and the second support to the substrate.

An air bearing according to an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail below with reference to fig. 3 to 6.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, which are schematic cross-sectional views of the air bearing in a heavy load state, the air bearing sleeve is arranged at the periphery of the rotating shaft 6, and other positions, except for the connection positions of the elastic foil and the top foil 5 with the bearing sleeve 4, are located at the circumferential positions of the air bearing, in other words, the positions, except for the positions, located at the circumferential positions of the dovetail joints 41 in fig. 3, of the air bearing, the top foil 5, the elastic foil and the bearing sleeve 4 are sequentially arranged at the outer part of the rotating shaft 6 along the radial direction of the air bearing, and both ends of the first supporting piece 2 in the circumferential direction of the air bearing and both ends of the second supporting piece 3 in the circumferential direction of the air bearing extend outwards along the radial direction of the air bearing and are abutted against the inner circumferential surface of the bearing sleeve 4, so as to play a supporting role.

Because the air bearing provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the elastic foil, the rigidity and the damping of the air bearing provided by the embodiment of the invention can be adaptively adjusted according to the loaded state of the air bearing, the air bearing has longer start-stop life and good stability, and the heat productivity is lower when the air bearing runs in a light load state. Meanwhile, as the air bearing is internally provided with only one layer of elastic foil in the radial direction, the air bearing has the advantages of convenience in installation and lower cost.

In some embodiments, the top foil 5 is connected to the bearing sleeve 4 by plugging at both ends in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve 4 and is movable relative to the bearing sleeve 4 in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve 4. The two ends of the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve 4 are connected with the bearing sleeve 4 in an inserting manner and can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve 4 relative to the bearing sleeve 4. The mounting operation of the top foil 5 and the elastic foil is more convenient, and the production difficulty of the top foil 5 and the elastic foil is reduced.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 3, 5 and 6, the inner wall surface of the bearing housing 4 has a dovetail 41, the dovetail 41 has two protrusions extending in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 and disposed opposite to each other, a receiving groove 42 is provided between the protrusions and the inner wall surface of the bearing housing 4, and either end of the top foil 5 and either end of the elastic foil are movably disposed in the receiving groove 42 in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4. So that both the circumferential ends of the elastic foil and the circumferential ends of the top foil 5 are movable in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4.

In the example shown in fig. 3, the bearing housing 4 has a dovetail 41, and one end of the top foil 5 in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 and one end of the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 are located in a receiving groove 42 on one side of the dovetail 41, and the other end of the top foil 5 in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 and the other end of the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing housing 4 are located in a receiving groove 42 on the other side of the dovetail 41. In other words, the top foil 5 and the elastic foil are both wound in a cylindrical shape, and the circumferential ends of the top foil 5 are disposed opposite to each other with a space therebetween, the circumferential ends of the elastic foil are disposed opposite to each other with a space therebetween, the dovetail 41 is located in the space, and the accommodation groove 42 on one side of the dovetail 41 accommodates one circumferential end of the top foil 5 and one circumferential end of the elastic foil, and the accommodation groove 42 on the other side of the dovetail 41 accommodates the other circumferential end of the top foil 5 and the other circumferential end of the elastic foil.

Preferably, since the air bearing has a distance section with a smaller pressure generated by an air film at a certain interval in the circumferential direction, for example, 120 ° at intervals, when the bearing housing 4 has a dovetail 41, the elastic foil adopts a structure including a supporting portion, a connecting portion and a plugging portion 13, wherein the plugging portions 13 at two circumferential ends of the elastic foil are respectively plugged into corresponding receiving grooves 42, and the connecting portion is disposed corresponding to the distance section.

In the example shown in fig. 5 and 6, the bearing housing 4 has a plurality of dovetails 41, with a top foil 5 and a resilient foil between adjacent dovetails 41. In other words, the bearing housing 4 is provided with a plurality of top foils 5 and a plurality of elastic foils, the top foils 5 and the elastic foils are in one-to-one correspondence, a corresponding one top foil 5 and one elastic foil are arranged between two adjacent dovetails 41, one circumferential end of the top foil 5 and one circumferential end of the elastic foil are inserted into the accommodating groove 42 of one dovetails 41 towards the other dovetails 41, and the other circumferential end of the top foil 5 and the other circumferential end of the elastic foil are inserted into the accommodating groove 42 of the other dovetails 41 towards the one dovetails 41.

Preferably, because the air bearing is provided with a distance section with a section of air film which generates smaller pressure at a certain angle in the circumferential direction, for example, each interval is 120 degrees, the bearing sleeve 4 is provided with three dovetails 41, the three dovetails 41 respectively correspond to one distance section, the elastic foil adopts a structure comprising a supporting part and a plugging part 13 and not comprising a connecting part, at the moment, three top foil pieces 5 which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the air bearing and three elastic foil pieces which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction of the air bearing are arranged in the bearing sleeve 4, and the dovetails 41 are arranged between two adjacent top foil pieces 5 and two adjacent elastic foil pieces.

In the embodiment of the invention, the splicing structure of the top foil and the elastic foil and the bearing sleeve which can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve is not limited to the arrangement of a dovetail joint. In other embodiments, the inner wall surface of the bearing sleeve is provided with at least two insertion grooves, wherein the two insertion grooves are spaced and oppositely arranged in the circumferential direction of the air bearing, and the insertion grooves extend along the tangential direction of the bearing sleeve for inserting the circumferential ends of the top foil and the elastic foil, so that both the circumferential ends of the elastic foil and both the circumferential ends of the top foil can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve.

In other embodiments, the inner wall surface of the bearing sleeve is provided with a limit groove extending along the radial direction of the limit groove, one ends of the top foil and the elastic foil in the circumferential direction are provided with fixing pieces extending along the radial direction of the bearing sleeve, and the fixing pieces are inserted into the limit groove to enable one ends of the top foil and the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve to be fixed relative to the position of the bearing sleeve, and the other ends of the top foil and the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve can move along the circumferential direction relative to the bearing sleeve.

The air compressor of the embodiment of the invention is described below, and comprises the air bearing of the embodiment of the invention, and the air bearing is sleeved on a main shaft of the air compressor. The air compressor is preferably an air compressor for a fuel cell.

Because the air compressor adopts the air bearing of the embodiment of the invention, the rigidity of the air bearing can be adaptively adjusted according to different loaded states, and the air compressor has longer start-stop life and good stability, thereby the air compressor of the embodiment of the invention has longer service life.

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "thickness," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "inner," "outer," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like indicate or are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, merely to facilitate description of the present invention and to simplify the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be configured and operated in a particular orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," and the like, are used merely to distinguish between directions, states, or components, e.g., distinguish between supports, and are not to be construed as indicating or implying a relative importance or implying a number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first" or "a second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" means at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless specifically defined otherwise.

In the present invention, unless explicitly specified and limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," and the like are to be construed broadly, and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally formed; may be mechanically connected, may be electrically connected or may be in communication with each other; either directly or indirectly, through intermediaries, or both, may be in communication with each other or in interaction with each other, unless expressly defined otherwise. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art according to the specific circumstances.

In the present invention, unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, a first feature "up" or "down" a second feature may be the first and second features in direct contact, or the first and second features in indirect contact via an intervening medium. Moreover, a first feature being "above," "over" and "on" a second feature may be a first feature being directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is level higher than the second feature. The first feature being "under", "below" and "beneath" the second feature may be the first feature being directly under or obliquely below the second feature, or simply indicating that the first feature is less level than the second feature.

For purposes of this disclosure, the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "a particular example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples may be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction.

While the above embodiments have been shown and described, it should be understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and not to be construed as limiting the invention, and that variations, modifications, alternatives, and variations of the above embodiments may be made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An elastic foil, comprising:

a substrate (1);

A plurality of first supports (2), in a projection plane in a thickness direction of the substrate (1), a projection of the first supports (2) is polygonal, a line connecting two vertexes of the first supports (2) is a first line and the first line extends in a first direction, the first direction is orthogonal to the thickness direction of the substrate (1), the first supports (2) are arranged on the substrate (1), and both ends of the first supports (2) in the first direction are movable relative to the substrate (1) in the thickness direction of the substrate (1), the plurality of first supports (2) are arranged at intervals in the first direction;

a plurality of second supports (3), in a projection plane in a thickness direction of the substrate (1), a projection of the second supports (3) being polygonal, and a line connecting two vertexes of the second supports (3) being a second line and extending in the first direction, a dimension of the second line being smaller than a dimension of the first line, the second supports (3) being provided on the substrate (1), and both ends of the second supports (3) in the first direction being movable in the thickness direction of the substrate (1) with respect to the substrate (1), the plurality of second supports (3) being arranged at intervals in the first direction, the first supports (2) and the second supports (3) being arranged at intervals in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and the thickness direction of the substrate (1);

The ratio of the size of the second connecting line to the size of the first connecting line is 0.9-1; and/or

The ratio of the size of the first connecting wire to the thickness of the substrate (1) is 10-60, and the ratio of the size of the second connecting wire to the thickness of the substrate (1) is 10-60;

when the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a light load state, the first supporting piece mainly plays a supporting role, and when the air bearing with the elastic foil is in a heavy load state, the first supporting piece and the second supporting piece play a supporting role simultaneously.

2. A flexible foil according to claim 1, wherein either end of the first support (2) in the first direction and either end of the second support (3) in the first direction comprise a first segment (21) and a second segment (22), the first segment (21) and the second segment (22) being spaced apart in the second direction at one end in the first direction, the first segment (21) and the second segment (22) being connected at the other end in the first direction.

3. A flexible foil according to claim 2, wherein the angle between the first segment (21) and the second segment (22) is 0 ° to 55 °.

4. A flexible foil according to claim 1, characterized in that the first support (2) is fixedly connected to the substrate (1) at both ends in the second direction and the second support (3) is fixedly connected to the substrate (1) at both ends in the second direction.

5. The flexible foil according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the substrate (1) is provided with a plurality of rows of the first supports (2) arranged at intervals along the first direction and a plurality of rows of the second supports (3) arranged at intervals along the first direction, wherein N rows of the first supports (2) arranged side by side are arranged at intervals with N rows of the second supports (3) arranged side by side, wherein N is a constant greater than 1, wherein two adjacent rows of the first supports (2), two adjacent rows of the second supports (3), and wherein adjacent first supports (2) and second supports (3) are arranged alternately.

6. A flexible foil according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of said first supports (2) and a plurality of said second supports (3) are each arranged from one end of said substrate (1) in a first direction to the other end of said substrate (1) in the first direction; or alternatively

The substrate (1) comprises a connecting part (11) and a supporting part (12), wherein the connecting part (11) and the supporting part (12) are arranged at intervals in the first direction, and the supporting part (12) is provided with a plurality of first supporting pieces (2) and a plurality of second supporting pieces (3).

7. A flexible foil according to claim 6, wherein the connection portion (11) comprises a plurality of connection bars (111), the connection bars (111) extending in the first direction, the plurality of connection bars (111) being arranged at intervals in the second direction, and a gap being formed between two adjacent connection bars (111);

the support part (12) is provided with a plurality of meshes, and the first support piece (2) or the second support piece (3) is arranged in the meshes.

8. An air bearing, comprising:

a bearing sleeve (4);

a top foil (5), wherein the top foil (5) is arranged in the bearing sleeve (4), and the top foil (5) extends along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve (4);

elastic foil, which is an elastic foil according to any one of claims 1-7, which is located between the top foil (5) and the bearing housing (4), and which first direction coincides with the circumference of the bearing housing (4), both ends of the first support (2) in the first direction being movable in the radial direction of the bearing housing (4) with respect to the bearing housing (4), both ends of the second support (3) in the first direction being movable in the radial direction of the bearing housing (4) with respect to the bearing housing (4).

9. An air bearing according to claim 8, characterized in that both ends of the top foil (5) in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve (4) are connected with the bearing sleeve (4) in an inserted manner and can move relative to the bearing sleeve (4) in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve (4);

the two ends of the elastic foil in the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve (4) are connected with the bearing sleeve (4) in an inserting mode and can move along the circumferential direction of the bearing sleeve (4) relative to the bearing sleeve (4).

10. An air bearing according to claim 9, characterized in that the inner wall surface of the bearing housing (4) is provided with a dovetail (41), the dovetail (41) is provided with two protruding parts which extend along the circumferential direction of the bearing housing (4) and are oppositely arranged, a containing groove (42) is arranged between the protruding parts and the inner wall surface of the bearing housing (4), and either end of the top foil (5) and either end of the elastic foil are movably arranged in the containing groove (42) along the circumferential direction of the bearing housing (4).

11. An air bearing according to claim 10, characterized in that the bearing housing (4) has one said dovetail (41), one end of the top foil (5) and one end of the elastic foil being located in the receiving groove (42) on one side of the dovetail (41), the other end of the top foil (5) and the other end of the elastic foil being located in the receiving groove (42) on the other side of the dovetail (41); or alternatively

The bearing sleeve (4) is provided with a plurality of dovetails (41), and the top foil (5) and the elastic foil are arranged between two adjacent dovetails (41).

12. An air compressor comprising an air bearing according to any one of claims 8 to 11.