GB720816A - Improvements in and relating to thrust bearings - Google Patents

Abstract

720,816. Lubricating. CANADIAN GENERAL ELECTRIC CO., Ltd. March 16, 1953 [March 18, 1952], No. 7191/53. Class 12 (3) A self-lubricated thrust bearing for a high speed vertical shaft comprises a thrust collar secured to the shaft and carrying a rotating ring with a bearing surface co-operating with a stationary bearing comprising spaced resilientlysupported segments, the shaft being surrounded by a lubricant reservoir with an inner chamber and an outer oil-cooling chamber, means being provided whereby on rotation of the shaft a jet of cooled oil is directed to the inner chamber. In the construction shown, a shaft 1 of a verticallymounted generator is provided with a thrust collar 8 and a rotating ring 3 which bears against a stationary ring 4 made up of segments spaced apart and each provided with a babbitted surface. The segments are each resiliently supported by springs 6 mounted on a base ring 7. The bearing assembly is enclosed in an oil reservoir 9 consisting of an inner chamber 20 and an outer chamber 20a. The inner chamber is open to the atmosphere, but the outer chamber is sealed from the atmosphere by a cover 14. Cooling coils 18 are mounted on the reservoir. Ducts 19 are provided in the ring 3 and when the ring rotates oil is pumped through the ducts from the inner chamber 20 to the outer chamber 20a. Each duct 19 is directed almost tangentially to the inner periphery of the ring 3 and at the outer periphery has a flared mouth in which is fitted a circular disc 42 leaving a small opening 43 for the passage of oil. The segments of the ring 4 are spaced apart by keys 22 fitted in the base ring 7, each key being cut away and being fitted with baffles 25, 25a so that the oil circulates through the ducts 19, through the cooling coils 18, between the springs 6 and through the spaces between the segments to the inner chamber 20. A baffle 28 prevents the oil from flowing directly through the springs 6 into the chamber 20. Oil is also fed from the chamber 20 through ducts 30 to a guide bearing 17 with a babbitted surface 31 and flows through discharge ports 32 and through an air trap 33 into a free oil supply on the top of the cover 14 of the chamber 20a. This oil supply communicates through a vertical channel 35 and a horizontal channel 36 with the bottom of the chamber 20. To prevent air bubbles leaving the chamber 20a, a tube 11, which forms the inner wall of the chamber, is provided with an annular baffle 38. The baffle projects into a cut-away section 39 of the thrust collar 8 to form a narrow passage through which only oil particles pass during rotation of the shaft 1.