Radial And Thrust Patents (Class 384/107)
  • Patent number: 12117020
    Abstract: The air compressor includes: a housing assembly, wherein the housing assembly has a first installation cavity, a second installation cavity and a rotation-shaft cooperating cavity, and the first installation cavity has a gas inlet and a gas outlet; a rotor shaft, wherein the rotor shaft is rotatably fitted inside the rotation-shaft cooperating cavity, and extends into the first installation cavity and the second installation cavity; a pressure wheel, wherein the pressure wheel is nested to the rotor shaft and is located inside the first installation cavity, and the housing assembly is provided with a controlling flow channel for communicating the gas-intake side and the wheel-back side of the pressure wheel; and a driving assembly, wherein the driving assembly is nested to the rotor shaft and is located inside the second installation cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2024
    Assignee: GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Pengfei Niu, Zhengyu Wang, Haifeng Tang, Gaoxia Zhao, Xiaoliang Chen, Tao Guo, Zeyu Zhang, Xiangjun Wang, Peiming Wu, Olgierd Krzysztof Urbanczyk, Lei Gao, Haichao Yu, Yang Feng, Minglong Kang, Dapeng Gao, Zili Ren, Ruyi Yang
  • Patent number: 11795997
    Abstract: A fluid film bearing includes a plurality of bearing pads that are arranged in a circumferential direction of a rotating body that rotates about an axis, and that support the rotating body via a fluid film, wherein the bearing pad includes a base layer made of metal, an elastic layer that is layered on the rotating body side of the base layer, and that is made of an elastically deformable elastic material, a sliding layer that is layered on the rotating body side of the elastic layer, and that opposes the rotating body and is made of a bearing material, and a metal plate that is layered between the elastic layer and the sliding layer, and that is more rigid than the elastic layer and the sliding layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshitomo Noda, Takuzo Shigihara, Shimpei Yokoyama, Chihiro Yoshimine, Masaya Kawano
  • Patent number: 11732747
    Abstract: A laminated elastomeric journal bearing has an outer sleeve having an inner surface, at least a portion of each end of the inner surface being a concave surface of revolution, and an inner sleeve having an outer surface, at least a portion of each end of the outer surface being a convex surface of revolution. Alternating layers of elastomer and metal are located between the sleeves, with adjacent surfaces of the layers and the sleeves being adhered to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Textron Innovations Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel P. Sottiaux, Marco A. Agredano, Frank B. Stamps
  • Patent number: 11519459
    Abstract: A fluid dynamic bearing device 1 includes: a shaft member 2; a bearing sleeve 8 that has the shaft member 2 inserted into the inner periphery thereof; a housing 7 that holds the bearing sleeve 8 on the inner periphery thereof and has a bottomed cylindrical shape having an opening at an end portion on one axial side; and a seal member 9 provided at the opening of the housing 7. The seal member 9 has a disk portion 9a disposed on one axial side of the bearing sleeve 8, and a protrusion (cylindrical portion 9b) protruding to the other axial side from an outer diameter end of the disk portion 9a. An outer peripheral surface 9c of the seal member 9 is fixed to an inner peripheral surface 7a1 of the housing 7.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Harada, Shinji Komatsubara, Shouhei Oka, Jun Hirade
  • Patent number: 11300211
    Abstract: A capillary magnetic-liquid sealing device includes: a housing having a shaft chamber; a rotating shaft arranged in the shaft chamber; a first pole shoe and a second pole shoe fitted over the rotating shaft and spaced apart in an axial direction of the rotating shaft; a permanent magnet fitted over the rotating shaft and located between the first pole shoe and the second pole shoe; a first magnetically nonconductive capillary block and a second magnetically nonconductive capillary block fitted over the rotating shaft and spaced apart in the axial direction of the rotating shaft. A first capillary cavity is formed among the first magnetically nonconductive capillary block, the first pole shoe and the rotating shaft; and a second capillary cavity is formed among the second magnetically nonconductive capillary block, the second pole shoe and the rotating shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Decai Li, Rui Sun, Qian Li
  • Patent number: 11286940
    Abstract: A pump device is provided. In the pump device, a bottom portion of a case body with a suction port formed therein is provided with a through-hole through which a fluid sucked through the suction port passes, and the case body is provided with a shaft holding portion holding the lower end of the fixed shaft and a plurality of connection portions disposed with a space interposed therebetween in the circumferential direction of the rotor so as to surround the through-hole and connecting the shaft holding portion and the bottom portion. The upper end side of the connection portion is provided with a protrusion protruding upward beyond the upper end surface of the shaft holding portion, and at least one of the protrusions is a rotation preventing portion that prevents rotation of the thrust bearing in the circumferential direction of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noboru Otsuki, Hiroki Kuratani
  • Patent number: 11181142
    Abstract: A bearing system includes a first bearing, a second bearing, and a rotating member. The first bearing is hollow and has a first inner face. The second bearing is located in the first bearing. The second bearing includes a second inner face axially aligned with the first inner face. A partitioning space is formed between the first inner face and the second inner face. The rotating member has a shaft and a protruding portion coupled to the shaft. The protruding portion is located in the partitioning space. A dynamic pressure gap is formed between the protruding portion and the first inner face during rotation. Another dynamic pressure gap is formed between the protruding portion and the second inner face during rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Alex Horng, Ko-Chien Wang
  • Patent number: 11070105
    Abstract: A motor includes a rotor having an output shaft and a rotor main body, a bearing member for supporting the output shaft movable in an axial line direction and rotatable around the axial line, and a bearing holding member holding the bearing member. The bearing member has a tube part supporting the output shaft and a slidably contacting part capable of slidably contacting with the rotor main body. The bearing holding member has an opposed face facing the rotor main body and a recessed part provided in the opposed face. The tube part of the bearing member is inserted into the recessed part and is separated from a bottom face of the recessed part. A space between the bottom face of the recessed part and the tube part is structured as a lubricant storage part and a communication path is provided between the bearing holding member and the bearing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: NIDEC SANKYO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Yamamoto, Masaki Harada
  • Patent number: 11035403
    Abstract: A radial force support apparatus includes: a shaft coupled to an impeller and configured to rotate together with the impeller; and a foil radial bearing supporting the shaft. The foil radial bearing includes a top foil disposed on an inner circumferential surface of the foil radial bearing and facing at least a part of an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, and the shaft facing the top foil includes at least one groove provided on the outer circumferential surface of the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: HANWHA POWERSYSTEMS CO., LTD
    Inventors: Jong Won Choi, Sang Hyeon Park
  • Patent number: 10910908
    Abstract: A motor includes a base, a stator, a dynamic pressure bearing unit and a rotor. The base includes a shaft tube. The shaft tube includes a closed end and an open end. The stator is mounted around the shaft tube. The dynamic pressure bearing unit includes a bearing, a dynamic pressure assembly and a thrust plate. The bearing is received in the shaft tube. The dynamic pressure assembly and the thrust plate are disposed in a position relatively adjacent to the open end of the shaft tube and relatively distant from the closed end of the shaft tube. The dynamic pressure assembly is located between the bearing and the thrust plate. A lubricating fluid layer is disposed between the dynamic pressure assembly and the thrust plate. The rotor is connected to the thrust plate and is rotatably coupled with the bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Alex Horng, Wen-Nan Chou
  • Patent number: 10900491
    Abstract: A compressor system includes; a compression section that sucks and compresses gas; a rotor that includes the compression section; a gas bearing that supports the rotor; a dynamic-pressure generating gas supply system that supplies, to a gas supply port for dynamic pressure of the gas bearing, bleed gas from the gas pressurized by the compression section; and an external gas supply system for static pressure that supplies, to a gas supply port for static pressure of the gas bearing, external gas from outside of the compression section. The dynamic-pressure generating gas supply system and the external gas supply system for static pressure respectively include paths that are independent of each other to the gas bearing. The gas supply port for dynamic pressure and the gas supply port for static pressure are independent of each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideki Nagao, Tomoaki Okamura
  • Patent number: 10876535
    Abstract: A compressor includes a thrust force adjusting part which is configured to adjusts a thrust force between a back surface of a disc part in an impeller and a casing. The thrust force adjusting part includes an outer sealing part which seals a gap between the back surface and the casing, an inner sealing part which seals the gap at a position away inward in a radial direction, and a throttle formation part which has a throttle part in which the gap in an axial direction is formed to be narrowed inward in the radial direction. An outer space sandwiched by the outer sealing part and the inner sealing part and an inner space sandwiched by the inner sealing part and the throttle part are formed the gap. The width of the throttle part is narrower than the width of the inner space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hideki Nagao
  • Patent number: 10837486
    Abstract: A shaft member for a fluid bearing device includes, on an outer peripheral surface thereof, two bearing surfaces (31 and 32) separated from each other in an axial direction, and a middle relief portion (33) formed between the bearing surfaces (31 and 32) and having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the bearing surfaces. The middle relief portion (33) includes a cylindrical surface portion (331) having a ground surface, and stepped portions (332) arranged on both axial sides of the cylindrical surface portion and having a diameter difference from the cylindrical surface portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jun Hirade, Masashi Yamagou, Mikihisa Fujiwara, Tetsuya Kurimura
  • Patent number: 10819180
    Abstract: A charging amount of lubricating oil (11) into an internal space of a housing (7) is adjusted so that, within a range of a use temperature, an oil level of the lubricating oil (11) is positioned on a lower side with respect to an upper end portion of a chamfered portion (8f) formed in an upper-end inner peripheral edge portion of a bearing member (8). The bearing member (8) integrally includes: a small-diameter cylindrical portion (81); and a large-diameter cylindrical portion (82). Under a state in which an upper end surface (8c) of the small-diameter cylindrical portion (81) is exposed to an atmosphere, the large-diameter cylindrical portion (82) is sandwiched from both sides in the axial direction with an annular member (9) and a bottom portion (7b) of the housing (7) so that the bearing member (8) is fixed along an inner periphery of the housing (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shinji Komatsubara
  • Patent number: 10451104
    Abstract: A gas bearing system has at least one gas bearing (30, 32, 34) with a moving part and a static part and which can be operated in both aero-dynamic and aero-static modes. The system has a source (36) of pressurized gas fluidly connected with the bearing and a control system (134) for regulating the supply of pressurized gas to the bearing in dependence on the rotational speed of the moving part. The system has particular application in a turbocharger (1) where a flow of pressurized gas from the source is introduced into the bearing at the start-up and slow down phases of operation of the turbocharger, the flow being stopped, or reduced, when the turbocharger has reached normal operating speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Birmingham High Performance Turbomachinery Limited
    Inventors: Kyle Jiang, Guang Pu
  • Patent number: 10415573
    Abstract: A sintered metal bearing is formed of a porous body formed through sintering of a compact obtained through compression molding of raw-material power. The sintered metal bearing includes a dynamic pressure generating portion formed on an inner peripheral surface, the dynamic pressure generating portion including dynamic pressure generating groove array regions formed continuously to each other in an axial direction of the sintered metal bearing. The dynamic pressure generating groove array regions each include a plurality of dynamic pressure generating grooves arrayed so as to be inclined with respect to a circumferential direction of the sintered metal bearing. An axial dimension of the sintered metal bearing is set to 6 mm or less, and a density ratio of the sintered metal bearing is set to 80% or more and 95% or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shinji Komatsubara
  • Patent number: 10371200
    Abstract: A bearing assembly is for movably coupling first and second members, one being movable relative to the other. A plain bearing section includes an inner ring having a bore for receiving the first member and an outer cylindrical bearing surface. An outer ring is disposed about the inner ring and has an inner cylindrical bearing surface disposed against the inner ring bearing surface, one bearing surface sliding against the other when the movable member displaces about a first axis. The two rings engage to prevent relative displacement between the rings when the movable member displaces about a second axis. An elastomeric bearing section is disposed about the plain bearing section, is connected with the second member and is formed such that at least a portion of the elastomeric bearing section flexes when the movable member angularly displaces about the second axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Aktiebolaget SKF
    Inventors: Daniel L Riedl, Lester John Temple James, Michael Brett Colton, William Andrew Curry
  • Patent number: 10312767
    Abstract: A washer member 22a and a seal member 41a are disposed in a mutually non-contacting state in the axial direction. A rotary shaft 11 has an annular groove 11a in the outer circumferential face. A minimum diameter part 11a3 of the annular groove 11a is disposed between the uppermost surface of the washer member 22a and the lowermost surface of the seal member 41a. The upper end of the annular groove 11a is disposed axially below the uppermost surface of the seal member 41a. The outer surface of the seal member 41a and the outer circumferential face of the rotary shaft 11 that faces the seal member 41a in the radial direction are subjected to oil-repellent treatment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Tokyo Parts Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Masahiro Nishidate
  • Patent number: 10280972
    Abstract: A groove-type dynamic pressure gas radial bearing, comprises a bearing outer sleeve and a bearing inner sleeve, the outer circumferential face and the two end faces of the bearing inner sleeve are respectively provided with regular groove-type patterns, and the groove-type pattern in one end face is in mirror symmetry with the groove-type pattern in the other end face, and the axial contour lines of the groove-type patterns in the outer circumferential face and the radial contour lines of the groove-type patterns in the left and right end faces are in one-to-one correspondence and are connected with each other. The groove-type dynamic pressure gas radial bearing provided by the invention can achieve a load capacity of 1-3 kg and a limit rotating speed of 200,000 rpm to 450,000 rpm, it can realize the application of groove-type dynamic pressure gas radial bearings in ultra high-speed areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Inventor: Lifeng Luo
  • Patent number: 10250097
    Abstract: A static pressure seal-equipped motor in which front and rear gaps are sealed by first and second static pressure seal portions disposed at first and second axial end portions of a motor rotating shaft protruding toward front and rear. Sealing gas supplied to sealing gaps of the first and second static pressure seal portions is caused to diverge and flow to chemical liquid atmospheres and a motor chamber or an encoder chamber into the chemical liquid atmospheres, and also prevent entry of chemical liquid-containing gas from the chemical liquid atmospheres into the motor chamber or encoder chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: Harmonic Drive Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Toshiki Maruyama, Kazumasa Furuta
  • Patent number: 10250099
    Abstract: An electric motor includes a frame, a sleeve, a stator and a rotor. The frame includes a frame housing having a cylindrical shape whose one end is open. The sleeve has a cylindrical shape and fitted in the frame housing. The stator is attached to an outer peripheral part of the frame housing. The rotor includes a rotating shaft that is rotatably and pivotally supported by the sleeve, and a magnet that is disposed opposite to the stator. One end of the rotating shaft is fixed. The rotating shaft has a columnar shape. Oil is provided to a gap between rotating shaft and the sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tsuyoshi Kurita
  • Patent number: 10240671
    Abstract: A journal pin may comprise an internal bore formed along an axis of rotation of the journal pin, a recessed wall of the internal bore having a diameter greater than the diameter of the internal bore, the internal bore extending completely through the journal pin, and a collar coupled to the journal pin, wherein the collar comprises a second recessed wall; and a carrier press fit onto the collar. The journal pin may comprise an undercut radially outward from the internal bore and radially inward from an outer diameter of the journal pin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Marc J. Muldoon
  • Patent number: 10215230
    Abstract: Certain exemplary embodiments can provide a system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, composition of matter, and/or user interface adapted for and/or resulting from, and/or a method and/or machine-readable medium comprising machine-implementable instructions for, activities that can comprise and/or relate to, positioning a rotating shaft within a machine via an externally-pressured gas bearing system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Radiant Physics Inc.
    Inventors: Victor Iannello, Christopher Sortore
  • Patent number: 10199065
    Abstract: A fluid bearing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a shaft arranged to extend along a central axis extending in a vertical direction; a rotating portion arranged opposite to an outer circumferential surface of the shaft, and arranged to be capable of rotating about the central axis with respect to the shaft; a lubricating oil arranged in a gap between the rotating portion and each of upper and lower outer circumferential surfaces of the shaft; a first groove defined in at least one of a middle outer circumferential surface of the shaft and a portion of an inner circumferential surface of the rotating portion, the portion being opposite to the middle outer circumferential surface, the first groove being arranged to extend along a circumferential direction; a plurality of second grooves each of which is defined in an upper surface of the rotating portion; and a plurality of communicating holes each of which is defined in the rotating portion, and is in communication
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shingo Suginobu
  • Patent number: 10119572
    Abstract: A magnetic bearing assembly for a rotary machine, having a rotor circuit and a stator magnetic circuit secured to a stationary support element having at least one body of ferromagnetic material and at least one coil, both being fitted in a protective annular housing leaving uncovered a surface of revolution of said ferromagnetic body and a surface of revolution of said one coil facing a surface of revolution of the rotor circuit. The bearing assembly comprises at least one row of blades secured on the rotor circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: NUOVO PIGNONE SRL
    Inventors: Andrea Massini, Luciano Mei, Manuele Bigi
  • Patent number: 10036279
    Abstract: A bearing including a bearing pad and a housing is provided. The bearing pad has a thrust face for supporting a vibration along an axial direction of the bearing. Additionally, the housing is formed integrally using an additive manufacturing process and is attached to or formed integrally with the bearing pad. The housing defines a working gas delivery system for providing a flow of pressurized working gas to the thrust face of the bearing pad and a fluid damper cavity. The fluid damper cavity provides a dampening of the axial vibration supported by the thrust face of the bearing pad along the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2018
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bugra Han Ertas, Joshua Tyler Mook, Jason Joseph Bellardi
  • Patent number: 9970481
    Abstract: Rotary bell cup atomizing apparatus driven by a turbine mounted on a rotatable motor shaft supported within an air bearing assembly is provided. The air bearing assembly includes a cylindrical main air bearing supporting the motor shaft, a proximal, annular, disk-shaped thrust bearing and a distal, annular, disk-shaped thrust bearing supporting the turbine, and including vibration-damping “O”-rings positioned adjacent the bearings. In operation, air supplied to the apparatus drives the turbine and supports the turbine and motor shaft such that all rotating surfaces of the atomizing apparatus are supported in air, and universal, 3-dimensional vibration damping, both axial and radial, of all rotating components is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: EFC Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Gunnar van der Steur, Joseph Cichocki
  • Patent number: 9920830
    Abstract: A planetary gearbox includes a gearbox housing, a sunwheel rotatable in the housing about a central gearbox axis and having outer teeth, a ringwheel arranged concentrically to the central gearbox axis within the housing and having inner teeth, a planet gear carrier rotatable in the gearbox housing about the central gearbox axis, and a plurality of planet gears mounted on the planet gear carrier for rotation about corresponding planetary gear pins and having outer teeth meshing with the inner teeth on the ringwheel and the outer teeth of the sunwheel. At least one segmented radial sliding bearing supports the planet gear carrier on the gearbox housing and includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced-apart radial sliding bearing segments positioned radially outside the planetary gear pins so that the planet gear carrier is supported by the radial sliding bearing at a position located radially outside the planetary gear pins.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 20, 2018
    Assignee: FLENDER GMBH
    Inventors: Arno Klein-Hitpass, Joachim Rohde, Boris Trogrlic
  • Patent number: 9916855
    Abstract: A bearing portion includes an upper dynamic pressure portion, a lower dynamic pressure portion, and an intra-bearing space defined between a lower surface of a fluid in the upper dynamic pressure portion and an upper surface of a fluid in the lower dynamic pressure portion, and not including the fluid. An airway defined in a shaft includes an inner opening arranged to be in communication with the intra-bearing space, and an outer opening arranged to be in communication with an extra-bearing space. Each of the inner and outer openings is defined in a side surface of the shaft. The extra-bearing space and the intra-bearing space are arranged to be in communication with each other through the airway. The airway is arranged to extend substantially in a straight line or lines, is angled with respect to a central axis, and has no other openings than the inner and outer openings. This contributes to preventing a gas inside of a housing from leaking out of the housing through the airway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takeyuki Shuto, Toshinari Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 9765810
    Abstract: Provided is a technique whereby a DLC film having a desired surface roughness and a desired film hardness can be easily formed within a short period of time while preventing cost increase so that a large quantity of boll joints, which are less expensive and yet have stable sliding characteristics, can be supplied. A method for manufacturing a ball joint provided with a ball stud that has a spherical surface section and a holder section that pivotally holds the spherical surface section, said method comprising: an intermediate underlayer-forming step for forming an intermediate underlayer, that has a fine irregular surface structure, on the surface of the spherical surface section using a sputtering method; and an amorphous hard carbon film-forming step for forming an amorphous hard carbon film, that has a root mean square roughness on the surface of 6.5-35 nm, on the intermediate underlayer using a PIG plasma film formation method.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Miyake, Ryohei Nishiumi, Kentaro Komori
  • Patent number: 9765816
    Abstract: A bearing assembly may include a first bearing element defining a first bearing surface and a second bearing element defining a second bearing surface. One of the first and second bearing elements may have a fluid channel with an inlet for receiving a bearing fluid and at least one outlet in the bearing surface of the one of the first and second bearing elements. The first bearing element may be configured for rotation at a design rate of rotation relative to the second bearing element with the first bearing surface facing the second bearing surface. The first bearing element may apply a force directed from the first bearing surface toward the second bearing surface during rotation at a reduced rate of rotation less than the design rate of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Bryan Sydnor
  • Patent number: 9644888
    Abstract: A liquefier system includes: a feed line configured to feed a raw material gas from a raw material supply source such that a pressure of the raw material gas in a predetermined portion of the feed line is kept higher than or equal to a predetermined pressure; a cooling medium circulation line configured to cause a cooling medium to circulate; a static pressure gas bearing configured to be supplied with the gas that has a pressure higher than or equal to the predetermined pressure and to rotatably support a rotating shaft of an expansion turbine; and a bearing supply line configured to connect the predetermined portion of the feed line and a gas inlet of the static pressure gas bearing, such that the gas is supplied to the static pressure gas bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hidetsugu Ishimaru, Toshihiro Komiya, Seiji Yamashita, Yoshinobu Mori, Daisuke Kariya
  • Patent number: 9611543
    Abstract: The invention relates to a sliding element, such as a piston ring, having a coating on at least one running surface, which comprises, from the inside out, an adhesive layer (10), a metal-containing, preferably tungsten-containing, DLC layer (12), and a metal-free DLC layer (14), and is characterized in that the ratio of the thickness of the metal-free DLC layer to the thickness of the metal-containing DLC layer ranges from 0.7 to 1.5 and/or to the overall thickness of the coating ranges from 0.4 to 0.6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: Federal-Mogul Burscheid GmbH
    Inventors: Marcus Kennedy, Michael Zinnabold
  • Patent number: 9613651
    Abstract: This bearing apparatus includes a shaft portion, a sleeve portion, and a fluid arranged between the shaft portion and the sleeve portion. A thrust dynamic pressure portion is filled with the fluid, and a surface of the fluid is defined in a seal portion. The thrust dynamic pressure portion includes a dynamic pressure generation portion including thrust dynamic pressure grooves, an intermediate portion arranged outside of the dynamic pressure generation portion and including an annular groove in the shape of a circular ring, and a discharge portion arranged outside of the annular groove and including discharge grooves. The annular groove is arranged to have a depth smaller than a minimum radial width of the seal portion. This makes it easier for any air bubble in the thrust dynamic pressure portion to travel into the seal portion in accordance with a flow of the fluid caused in the discharge portion to be discharged outward.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Junya Mizukami
  • Patent number: 9605682
    Abstract: There is provided a blower fan including a motor. In its bearing apparatus, the inner circumferential surface of the rotor cylindrical portion 222b and the outer circumferential surface of the bearing portion are arranged to together define a seal gap 35. The bushing 26 includes a bushing base portion 260 and a bushing cylindrical portion 262. The inner circumferential surface of the bushing cylindrical portion 262 and the outer circumferential surface of the rotor cylindrical portion 222b are arranged to together define a vertical gap. The vertical gap is arranged to have a minimum radial width equal to or smaller than a maximum width of the seal gap. A lower end portion of the rotor raised portion 514 and an upper end portion of the bushing cylindrical portion 262 are arranged to together define a second horizontal gap 266a.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tomohiro Hasegawa, Shunji Matsumoto, Takahiro Kikuichi, Mitsuhito Nishio, Noriaki Yamada, Satoru Otsu, Hiroyoshi Teshima, Kiyoto Ida
  • Patent number: 9593682
    Abstract: The present disclosure refers to a partial texturization applied on a contact interface of a scroll fluid compressor. The scroll fluid compressor may have an orbiting whorl, a non-orbiting whorl, and a block frame which holds the orbiting whorl in contact with the non-orbiting whorl. The partial texturization can be applied on the lower surface of the orbiting whorl, the upper surface of the block frame, or both, and can include at least two first regions separated by second regions. The first regions have surfaces including a plurality of micro-cavities and the second regions have substantially smooth surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: WHIRLPOOL S.A.
    Inventors: Fernando Withers Torres, José Daniel Biasoli de Mello
  • Patent number: 9581043
    Abstract: A turbocharger includes: a thrust bearing fixed to a turbocharger main body; and a supply oil passage provided in the turbocharger main body to the thrust bearing. The thrust bearing includes: an insertion hole in which to insert the turbine shaft; pressure receiving portions displaced from one another in phase in a rotational direction of the turbine shaft, and each configured to form an oil film between the pressure receiving portion and the thrust collar to receive a thrust load by use of oil film pressure; and intervening portions each located between two of the pressure receiving portions adjacent in the rotational direction of the turbine shaft, and being further away from the thrust collar than the pressure receiving portions. The intervening portion vertically under the insertion hole at least partially has a surface further away from the thrust collar than the other intervening portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventors: Yutaka Uneura, Atsushi Koike, Hideyuki Kojima
  • Patent number: 9524745
    Abstract: A device including a first axial portion, a second axial portion, and a radial portion is disclosed. A portion of the second axial portion is configured to connect to a hub. An upper surface of the second axial portion may be positioned above an upper surface of a sleeve limiter shoulder when the portion of the second axial portion is connected to the hub. The radial portion connects the first axial portion to the second axial portion. The radial portion is configured to increase stiffness by increasing surface contact between the radial portion and the sleeve limiter shoulder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Lynn Bich-Quy Le, Hans Leuthold, Chris M. Woldemar
  • Patent number: 9429193
    Abstract: A method includes compacting metal powder including at least not less than 70% by weight of particles with diameters of not more than 45 ?m to obtain a bearing material, sintering the bearing material, forming grooves for generating dynamic pressure on the sintered bearing material, and performing steam treatment to the sintered bearing material with the grooves to form a ferrosoferric oxide (Fe3O4) membrane on a porous surface of an inner surface or on porous surfaces of an inner surface and both end surfaces. Thus, gaps between particles become small because diameters of the particles of material powder of a powder sintered bearing material are approximately even and fine and are even small pores. As a result, sealing pores on the surface due to steam treatment is easy, and dynamic pressure cannot be leaked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: PORITE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoji Takezaki, Shigeyuki Tanabe, Shinobu Aso
  • Patent number: 9376915
    Abstract: An air motor and an electric painting device improves driving efficiency, and includes a housing, a main shaft inserted inside of the housing, an impeller fixed concentrically with the main shaft to an inserted portion of the main shaft and having a plurality of turbine blades formed on the outer periphery, bearings for rotatably supporting the main shaft and the impeller, and a nozzle having a tubular or hole-shaped channel for ejecting compressed air to the respective turbine blades for rotating the impeller along the circumference. When M1=ve/a0 where ve denotes flow velocity of the compressed air in an entrance of the channel of the nozzle, and a0 denotes acoustic velocity, the length of the channel of the nozzle is set to a dimension of a calculated value or greater using a predetermined expression.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: NSK Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoya Kobayashi, Tsuyoshi Nakamura, Yuu Koiwa
  • Patent number: 9371859
    Abstract: Provided herein is an apparatus, including a stationary component; a rotatable component; a fluid dynamic bearing defined by the stationary component and the rotatable component; a first channel substantially parallel to the fluid dynamic bearing; a second channel substantially perpendicular to the first channel; and a fluid reservoir substantially parallel to the first channel, wherein the second channel fluidly connects the fluid reservoir to the first channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Lynn Bich-Quy Le, Christopher Woldemar
  • Patent number: 9341214
    Abstract: A porous oil-impregnated sleeve is used for a fluid dynamic pressure bearing. The sleeve includes an inner surface, a first axial end face, a first recessed portion, and a first dynamic pressure generating groove. The first recessed portion is positioned on the other side of a line segment, which connects one-side end portion of the inner surface with an inner end portion of the first axial end face, in a cross-section including the central axis. A bottom portion of the first recessed portion, which has the longest distance between itself and the line segment, is positioned closer to the other side than a bottom portion of the first dynamic pressure generating groove in the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takehito Tamaoka, Kiyoto Ida, Masashi Hirayama, Kazuhiko Fukushima
  • Fan
    Patent number: 9341189
    Abstract: A fan includes a motor and an impeller. The motor includes a stationary portion and a rotating portion rotatably supported by the stationary portion. The stationary portion includes a stator and a bearing portion arranged inside of the stator. The rotating portion includes a rotor magnet arranged radially outside the stator; a shaft inserted in the bearing portion, and having an upper portion fixed to the impeller directly or through one or more members; and a thrust portion arranged axially opposite the bearing portion, and including an annular surface arranged around the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Teiichi Hirono, Shinichiro Noda, Yoshiharu Ikegami, Tomohiro Hasegawa, Tomohiro Yoneda, Shunji Matsumoto, Seungsin Yoo, Kouta Kabune
  • Patent number: 9284985
    Abstract: An oil seal bearing of a fan includes a ring-shaped body for supporting a shaft of the fan, and a protruded portion disposed on the ring-shaped body. The protruded portion has a first slope, wherein the first slope is disposed corresponding to an inner top surface of a hub of the fan. An oil storage space is formed between the first slope, the shaft and the inner top surface for storing a lubricant. A first angle is formed by the extension of the first slope and the inner top surface, such that the lubricant is retained by the capillarity between the first slope and the inner top surface. Under this circumstance, the oil sealing is achieved without any additional oil seal, the effective bearing height is maximized, and the advantages of enhancing the supporting efficiency and lengthening the lifetime of the product are also achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
    Inventors: Chao-Wen Lu, Chun-Chih Wang, Ding-Wei Chiu
  • Patent number: 9249829
    Abstract: Bearing assemblies, apparatuses, and motor assemblies using the same are disclosed. In an embodiment, a bearing assembly includes a plurality of superhard bearing elements distributed circumferentially about an axis. At least some of the superhard bearing elements may include a first end surface, a second end surface generally opposite the first end surface, a first side surface extending between the first end surface and the second end surface, a second side surface generally opposite the first side surface, and a bearing surface extending between the first end surface, the second end surface, the first side surface and the second side surface. Such superhard bearing elements may also include a ramped feature negatively sloping away from the bearing surface. The bearing assembly may further include a support ring that carries the plurality of superhard bearing elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: US SYNTHETIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Craig H. Cooley, Timothy N. Sexton
  • Patent number: 9216428
    Abstract: Each spindle system turbine blade has front and rear surfaces relative to the rotational direction. The rear surface is a recessed columnar surface with a radius of curvature R1, while the front surface is a smooth continuous surface having a projecting columnar surface with a radius of curvature R2 larger than R1 and a flat surface between which a projecting columnar surface with a radius of curvature R3 larger than R1 is arranged. Among the three surfaces, the projecting columnar surface is at an inlet side of a channel straddling the projecting columnar surface, while the flat surface is at the outlet side. A space sandwiched between a facing front surface and rear surface of adjoining turbine blades forms a gas channel. Gas ejected from a nozzle flows in from an inlet in a direction along the arc-shaped curve of the recessed columnar surface and out an outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: NSK LTD.
    Inventors: Naoya Kobayashi, Tsuyoshi Nakamura, Atsushi Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9200671
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an apparatus that includes a fluid dynamic bearing defined in a gap between an inner component and an outer component. In some instances, the inner component and the outer component are configured for relative rotation. In some instances, the apparatus further includes a fluid reservoir configured to supply a fluid to the fluid dynamic bearing and the fluid reservoir is defined by shearless surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: Seagate Technology LLC
    Inventors: Hans Leuthold, Troy M. Herndon
  • Patent number: 9087547
    Abstract: A disk drive device includes a stationary body, a rotating body on which a recording disk is to be mounted, and a fluid bearing unit that supports the rotating body in a freely rotatable manner relative to the stationary body. The fluid bearing unit includes a lubricant that is fluorescent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS JAPAN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Mitsuo Kodama
  • Publication number: 20150147010
    Abstract: A fluid dynamic bearing device (1), including: a bearing member (22) on a rotary side; a housing (7) on a stationary side; a sealing member (9); a radial bearing gap to be formed between an outer peripheral surface (22a) of the bearing member (22) and an inner peripheral surface (7a2) of the housing (7); and a thrust bearing gap to be formed between a lower end surface (22c) of the bearing member (22) and an inner bottom surface (7b1) of the housing (7). The radial bearing gap and the thrust bearing gap are filled with lubricating oil (11). An axial gap (10) containing air is formed between an upper end surface (22b) of the bearing member (22) and a lower end surface (9b) of the sealing member (9), which faces the upper end surface (22b) of the bearing member (22).
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2013
    Publication date: May 28, 2015
    Applicant: NTN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinji Komatsubara, Tetsuya Kurimura
  • Patent number: 9035516
    Abstract: There are provided a hydrodynamic bearing assembly and a motor including the same. The hydrodynamic bearing assembly includes a sleeve rotatably supporting a shaft and including a first circulation hole formed therein, the first circulation hole penetrating between an inner peripheral surface thereof and an outer peripheral surface thereof; a sleeve housing into which the sleeve is inserted; and a second circulation hole formed between the outer peripheral surface of the sleeve and an inner peripheral surface of the sleeve housing to be in communication with the first circulation hole, wherein an upper portion of the second circulation hole has a larger diameter than a lower portion thereof in an axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Myeung Hwa Heo, Won Ki Park, Satoru Sodeoka