Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
  • F16C27/00—Elastic or yielding bearings or bearing supports, for exclusively rotary movement
  • F16C27/08—Elastic or yielding bearings or bearing supports, for exclusively rotary movement primarily for axial load, e.g. for vertically-arranged shafts

Definitions

• This invention relates to a thrust bearing which maintains its axial alignment when subjected to cocking loads in addition to thrust loads. It is particularly advantageous in slant axis rotary mechanisms.
• Oil film thickness in hydrodynamic-type thrust bearings tends to be quite small, usually of the order of a micron or two. Misaligned bearings of this type tend to fail rapidly due to scuffing of the friction surfaces. Bearings of the rolling element type require good alignment to prevent excessive contact stresses from developing due to some rollers carrying more load than others.
• the present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
• a self-aligning thrust bearing which includes first and second relatively rotatable mem ⁇ bers, the first of which has a thrust surface and the second of which has a thrust abutment surface facing and very close to the thrust surface.
• the self-aligning thrust bearing includes a thin bearing member between the thrust surface and the thrust abutment surface, the area of said bearing member being large in proportion to its thickness, together with peripheral sealing means defining a shallow sealed chamber between the bearing member and one of said surfaces, the sealing means being substantially uniformly axially compressible and exten ⁇ sible. Liquid fills the shallow sealed chamber so that axial and cocking loads of either of the relatively rotatable members may rock the bearing member without effective axial displacement during operation of the mechanism.
• the first of the relatively rotatable members is a shaft provided with a thrust collar
• the second of the relatively rotatable members may be a housing in which the shaft is journalled.
• the opposite surfaces of the thrust collar are both thrust surfaces
• the two walls of the groove are both thrust abutment surfaces; and there are self-aligning thrust bearings between both surfaces of the collar and the two walls of the groove.
• Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a slant axis rotary mechanism shaft and housing provided with the self-aligning thrust bearing of the invention
• Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale of the upper right-hand corner of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of the action of the self-aligning thrust bearing of the present invention, v/ith the angular bearing motion many hundred times larger than it is in actuality;
• Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to the upper part of Fig. 1, showing a second embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on a greatly enlarged scale, showing the upper right portion of Fig. 4.
• the numeral 10 designates a portion of a shaft which is journalled in a housing of a slant axis rotary engine as is well known in the art, and illustrated in such patents as Goloff et al U.S. patent 4,049,327, issued September 20, 1977, to appli- cant's assignee.
• the shaft portion 10 is provided with a circumferential thrust collar 11; and 12 is a bearing supporting structure of the housing in which the shaft portion 10 is journalled.
• the bearing supporting structure 12 consists of a pair of annular plates 13a and 13b and a spacer ring 14 which are assembled by means of bolts (not shown) to define an annular groove 15 in which the thrust collar 11 is received.
• the annular plates 13a and 13b are provided with respective con ⁇ fronting annular bosses 16a and 16b which define inner annular channels 17a and 17b and outer annular channels 18a and 18b.
• inner peripheral seats 19a and 19b and outer peripheral seats 20a and 20b which have respective integral inner confining walls 21a and 21b and integral outer confining walls 22a and 22b.
• Inner peripheral sealing means 23a and 23b are bonded to the inner peripheral seats 19a and 19b and confining walls 21 and 21b; and outer peripheral sealing means 24a and 24b are bonded to the outer peripheral seats 20a and 20b and confining walls 22a and 22b.
• the inner peripheral seals 23a and 23b are identical to the outer peripheral seals 24a and 24b except for their different diameters; and as best seen in Fig.
• each of them consists of a ring of elastomeric material molded around a metal reinforcing member such as the reinforcing member 25a of Fig. 2.
• the metal reinforcing members 25a are serpentine in cross section, or bellows-like, with the open sides of the bellows facing radially so that the reinforcing members offer little resistance to axial deformation but offer substantial resistance to radial deformation.
• the inner 23a and outer 24a peripheral sealing rings each have one face bonded to a peripheral seat and another face bonded to a confining wall and have a third face bonded to a first thin bearing member 26a which has a surface coating 27a of bearing material in very close spaced relationship to . a first thrust surface 28a of the thrust collar 11.
• the inner 23b and outer 24b peri ⁇ pheral sealing rings each have one face bonded to a peri ⁇ pheral seat and another face bonded to a confining wall, and have a third face bonded to a second thin bearing member 26b which has a surface coating 27b of bearing material in very close spaced relationship to a second thrust surface 28b of the thrust collar 11.
• the inner and outer peripheral sealing means 23a and 23b and 24a and 24b support the respective bearing members 26a and 26b in closely spaced relationship to thrust abutment surfaces 29a and 29b of the bosses 16a and 16b, respec ⁇ tively; and the small spaces between the bearing members 26a and 26b and the thrust abutment surfaces 29a and 29b define respective very shallow chambers 30a and 30b which include the inner annular channels 17a and 17b and the outer annular channels 18a and 18b, and which are sealed by the respective inner and outer peripheral sealing means 23a and 23b and 24a and 24b.
• a filling bore 31 communicates with one side of the annular channel 18a, while a vent bore 32 communi ⁇ cates with the opposite side of said channel; and the bores have respective threaded counterbores 33 and 34 which receive, respectively, a fill plug 35 and a vent plug 36.
• the shallow sealed chambers 30a and 30b are filled with liquid such, for example, as lubricating oil or hydraulic system fluid.
• any cocking moment of that load may rock the bearing member 26a and its counter ⁇ part 26b without effective axial displacement of the bearing member relative to the shaft 10 or relative to the member in which the supporting means 12 is mounted.
• the fluid volume remains constant, with one side of the peripheral sealing means 24a and 24b being compressed while the other side is extended.
• the actual rocking movement of the bearing member 26a is no more than a few minutes of angle.
• a second embodi ment of the invention is like the first embodiment above described except for the structure of the peripheral sealing means.
• the second embodiment is illustrated without a charging conduit 31, although such a conduit may be provided if desired.
• a thrust collar 111 is received between annular plates 113a and 113b which are separated by a spacer ring 114 to de ⁇ fine an annular groove 115.
• Bosses 116a and 116b on the inner surfaces of the annular plates 113a and 113b have respective thrust abutment surfaces 129a and 129b; while opposite faces of the thrust collar 111 provide thrust surfaces 128a and 128b.
• each of the sealing means 124a and 124b is in the form of a single convolution metallic bellows which is axially shallow and radially deep so as to be relatively flexible in the axial direction and relatively stiff in the radial direction.
• the peripheral sealing means 124a has a first margin welded at 125a between the boss 116a and a peri- pheral seat 120a, and has a second margin welded at 125a to the thin bearing member 126a; and said peripheral sealing means 124a is confined by a wall 122a.
• Each of the peripheral sealing means 123a and 123b and 124b is identical to the sealing means 124a, and is welded in precisely the same way between the adjacent boss and a peripheral seat, and to a thin bearing member 126a or or 126b. Sealed chambers 130a and 130b are filled with liquid such as lubricating oil or hydraulic system fluid.
• the thrust bearing means 23a, 24a, 26a and 23b, 24b, 26b receive axial and cocking loads either of the shaft 10 or of the member in which the supporting structure 12 is mounted, without effective axial displacement of the bearing means. This is particularly important in slant axis rotary mechanisms.
• the thrust bearing means may be used either in the bearing assembly 46 of patent 4,049,327, or at the thrust collar 26.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Support Of The Bearing (AREA)
• Sealing Devices (AREA)

Priority Applications (3)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Cited By (4)

Citations (7)

• 1979
  • 1979-10-01 JP JP50188879A patent/JPS56501291A/ja active Pending
  • 1979-10-01 GB GB8105355A patent/GB2071226A/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1979-10-01 WO PCT/US1979/000804 patent/WO1981000898A1/en unknown

Patent Citations (7)

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