Abstract: A foil bearing assembly for use in a gas turbine engine is provided. The assembly includes an annular bearing carrier mounted to the housing of the engine. An annular foil carrier disposed within the bearing carrier and carrying a plurality of overlapping foils that engage an outer surface of a journal. The journal is mounted to the rotating assembly of the engine to define a cavity. Disposed in the cavity is a showerhead having an inlet for receiving a flow of cooling air and a plurality of orifices for providing impingement cooling of the inner surface of the journal. The use of a showerhead in a thrust foil bearing is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for mounting a bearing on a shaft. An intermediate member is mounted on the shaft. The inner race of the bearing is mounted onto the intermediate member. Two separable compression members are mounted on the outer diameter of the inner race. The compression members are mounted with an interference fit, thus inducing a state of compression in the inner race. The intermediate member is radially compliant and compensates for thermal growth of the shaft in excess of the thermal growth of the inner race. The state of compression in the inner race persists to about 1000° F. In one embodiment, the present invention includes an inner race fabricated from a material with low fracture toughness or for which a state of compression is desirable, such as a ceramic material.

Abstract: An improved structure of a radiating fan comprises a blade seat, an axle center and a bearing. The central portion of the blade seat is installed with the axle center made of precision ceramic material, the outer peripheral surface of the axle center is covered by a hollow bearing made of precision ceramic material. Since the axle center and the bearing made of precision ceramic material have the advantages of long lifetime, low noise, and without using lubricating oil. Thus it is better than the axle center made of stainless steel and the oil bearing made of copper.

Abstract: A molten metal impeller having a base portion including a circumferential notch. The notch having a generally radial wall and a generally axial wall, at least one of the radial or axial walls including a plurality of grooves. A ceramic bearing ring is cemented into the notch.

Abstract: A thrust control system for use with a turbocompressor having gas bearings. More specifically, the system concerns an arrangement of gas bearings for use in a turbocompressor or other device where a large temperature difference between the turbine and the compressor housing could cause unacceptable performance of the turbocompressor thrust bearings if located in proximity of the turbine and compressor wheels. This danger is obviated in the system by relocating the gas thrust bearings so as to minimize the axial distance between them. This configuration affords the additional advantage that gasses of different composition may be separately used as a seal gas in cases where the process gas in the turbine and compressor are incompatible.

Abstract: For an impeller pump, the seal/bearing unit has two rotor-stator pairs of tapered sleeves arranged back-to-back. The sleeves have a spiral groove, and convey barrier-liquid from an entry-mouth in an entry-chamber to an exit-mouth in an exit-chamber. Having two sleeves gives the units mechanical stability, thrust support capability, and resistence to vibrations and other abuses. The tapered sleeves may be arranged wide-narrow-wide, or narrow-wide-narrow. The sleeves may be mounted for sliding in the housing and on the shaft, or may be fixed to the housing or shaft.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to implement a high-temperature, high-pressure, high-output, high/low-pressure integrated steam turbine provided with a turbine rotor formed as an integral rotor member. It is provided with a high-pressure turbine (3) to which primary steam (20) is supplied, a low-pressure turbine (5) having last-stage turbine rotor blades (47), a turbine rotor (2) formed of an integral rotor member, an integral casing (6), and a downward-exhaust type of exhaust chamber (15); it has a rated power of at least 100 MW; the last-stage turbine rotor blades are rotor blades of an effective blade length of at least 36 inches rotating at 3000 rpm, or are rotor blades of an effective blade length of at least 33.

Abstract: A seal-less, magnetic drive pump for pumping fluids at very low temperatures below about −100 degrees centigrade such as liquid nitrogen and at cryogenic temperatures below about −150 degrees centigrade such as liquefied natural gas (LNG). The pump includes a housing having an intake and exhaust with a back plate mounted therein in which a shaft is journaled in self-lubricating ball bearings having metallic balls and races and having polymeric ball retainers. An impeller is mounted on the first end and a first magnet is mounted on the second end of the shaft. A second magnet is positioned so as to rotate around the first magnet to rotate the impeller. The first magnet is encased in a material having a coefficient of thermal expansion greater than that of the magnetic material.

Abstract: A fluid machine comprising a fluid storage tank (1), provided with an inlet (2) and at least with one outlet nozzle (3), and in the area of the outlet nozzle (3) there is mounted, on a holding device (4), at least one rolling rotor (5) represented by a body of a rotary shape.

Abstract: A bushing assembly as a means to enable guided movement of a shaft in an opening of a housing comprises a stationary bushing support carried by a housing internal wall. The bushing support has a support internal wall defining a bushing support opening through the bushing support to receive a movable shaft. Carried by the shaft is a removable wear sleeve having a wear sleeve outer wall in juxtaposition with and spaced apart from the support internal wall to permit relative axial movement of the wear sleeve with the shaft within the bushing support opening. Disposed between and for contact with the support internal wall and with the wear sleeve outer wall is an anti-friction layer.

Abstract: A coating (22) with a high coefficient of friction and low thermal conductivity covers a turbomachine low pressure shaft (12) in the vicinity (17) of a concentric high pressure shaft (11), in the area at which high friction contact between the two shafts could occur if a bearing (13) on the low pressure shaft (12) breaks following a failure causing the appearance of an out-of-balance mass. Friction would also more quickly equalize shaft speeds and reduce overheating in them.

Abstract: A blood pump used for extra corporeal circulation, and more particularly, as a small turbo blood pump including a casing having an interior region, an aperture formed in an upper portion defining a blood inlet, and an aperture formed in a lower portion defining a blood outlet. An impeller is rotatably mounted within said casing interior region and includes a rotary shaft and at least one vane depending therefrom. The at least one vane has an upper radius adjacent the blood inlet that is less than a lower radius adjacent the blood outlet. The base of the at least one vane forms an exterior angle of less than 90.degree. with the axis of the rotary shaft. A driven magnet is mounted to the at least one vane. The impeller is rotationally driven by a non-contacting driving magnet that is exterior to the casing.

Abstract: A rectifier vane stage is connected to a stator that is supported at the internal end thereof by a connecting ring which includes a support ring and a stiffening ring, a retaining lip of which is inserted into the support ring and similarly into the recesses of the ends of the vanes. The possibility of the vane accidentally coming loose following breakage of said vane is therefore eliminated.

Abstract: A pump comprises a housing having a shaft bore and a pump chamber, a bearing provided for an inner periphery of the shaft bore, a shaft rotatively supported by the shaft bore through the bearing, and a transporting member connected to one end portion of the shaft for transporting fluid by imparting mechanical energy to the fluid sucked in said pump chamber.

Abstract: A blood pump comprising: a pump housing, and a rotor mounted for rotation within the housing. The rotor has a rotational axis and an attached impeller. The blood pump has a blood flow path that passes about the rotor, with the rotor having a peripheral edge surrounding an end face. The end face has a profiled surface that augments blood flow radially outwardly from a central portion of the end face toward the peripheral edge as the rotor rotates when compared with a flat end face.

Abstract: A submersible centrifugal pump is claimed which includes an inner downthrust washer for receiving the downthrust load from the upward movement of the produced fluid, and an outer sealing washer, which is a non-load bearing washer, for allowing the repositioning of the impeller to prevent gaps that create recirculation.

Abstract: A driving connection is provided for torque transfer in the drive line of a motor vehicle for releasable connection of a crankshaft with a pump wheel of a coaxially mounted hydrodynamic torque converter in which the pump wheel is mounted so that it is rotatably supported integrally with the housing by a radial bearing.

Abstract: An apparatus for supporting a rotatable shaft within a gas turbine engine during a high rotor imbalance condition includes a first bearing and a fixed support frame. One of the support frame or shaft includes a one-piece flange that has a first portion, a second portion and a failure region with a predetermined load capacity, which connects the first and second portion together. The bearing is radially disposed between the rotatable shaft and the fixed support frame, and is supported by the second portion of the flange. The bearing provides a load path between the fixed support frame and the rotatable shaft until a high rotor imbalance condition when the failure region fails in response to the application of loads that exceed the load capacity of the failure region. The failure of the failure region then provides for the separation of the first portion of the flange from the second portion and the elimination of the load path through the bearing.

Abstract: A brush seal assembly for turbo-engines is provided for sealing off spaces on a circumferential gap which are differently acted upon by pressure, particularly between an engine stator and an engine rotor. A holding device for a bristle bundle is provided on the engine stator, from which holding device the bristle bundle is guided between circumferential webs in a sealing manner against the engine rotor and forms an axial gap in the circumferential direction with respect to one web facing the high-pressure side. The upstream one of the circumferential webs, together with the engine rotor surface, forms an axial ring gap for flow of fluid therethrough. Turbulence reducing structure is disposed upstream of the upstream web in the high pressure space and serves to reduce the turbulence in flow of air from the upstream space through the axial ring gap. This turbulence reducing structure can be in the form of a metal sponge and/or a honey comb structure.

Abstract: A vacuum pump is provided with back-up bearings in addition to magnetic bearings for supporting its rotor with respect to the pump housing. The rotor has a hollow rotary shaft extending backwards enclosing in its inner space a forwardly protruding tubular shaft affixed to the pump housing, and another cylindrical member affixed to the rotor protrudes backward inside this fixed tubular shaft. One set of back-up bearings is provided on the outer surface of the fixed tubular shaft spaced from the inner surface of the rotor shaft and another set of back-up bearings is provided on the inner surface of the fixed tubular shaft, spaced from the protruding cylindrical member. The back-up bearings thus positioned can be made smaller for improved dynamic emergency capabilities.

Abstract: A pump assembly for conventionally driven centrifugal pumps having a rolling element comprised of product lubricated ceramic or hybrid anti-friction bearings. The ceramic bearings are comprised of ceramic balls and ceramic races, whereas the hybrid bearings are comprised of ceramic balls with races made of another material. The ability of these bearings to perform well with poor lubrication allows the fluid that is being pumped to be used to lubricate and cool the bearings. An alternate embodiment comprises a double suction pump with the same durability and cost saving advantages.

Abstract: An integrated bearing system with journal and thrust bearings is incorporated in a single unit centrally pinned to the bearing housing and having integral thrust surface and journal surface lubrication grooves in combination with turbine and compressor wheel thrust surfaces. The bearing employs a first aperture substantially equidistant from the ends to engage the locating pin to prevent rotation of the bearing within the bearing case bore, while allowing the bearing to be free to symmetrically wobble within the bearing case bore.

Abstract: A submerged motor pump (4) has an auxiliary bearing assembly (19, 20) for supporting a rotatable main shaft (9) when the submerged motor pump is not in an operating condition or operates in a transient condition. The submerged motor pump includes a pump casing (6), at least one impeller (12), a motor (10,11), and a thrust balancing mechanism (15) for balancing thrust forces. The submerged motor pump further includes hydrostatic bearings (16, 17, 18) for supporting the main shaft at axially spaced locations by a pressurized fluid pumped by the submerged motor pump. The auxiliary bearing assembly has tapered support surfaces (FL, FU) for supporting the main shaft at the axially spaced locations.

Abstract: An electric fan, which includes a body having a center shaft defining an axially extended center axle hole, a fan blade assembly having a hub and an axle axially disposed at the center of the hub and coupled to the center axle hole of the center shaft, and a lubricating axle bearing mounted within the axle hole of the center shaft around the axle, wherein the center shaft has a stop flange axially forwardly raised from the periphery of the top end thereof and defining a receiving chamber; the hub has an oil groove on the inside around the axle for receiving lubricating oil from the lubricating axle bearing when the electric fan is turned upside-down during a repair work; an oil return wheel is mounted on the axle and received in the receiving chamber defined within the stop flange of the center shaft for guiding lubricating oil back from the oil groove to the lubricating axle bearing after a repair work of the electric fan.

Abstract: A ducted fan gas turbine engine is provided with a fan which is carried by a shaft. A frangible fuse ring maintains the shaft carrying the fan coaxial with the engine longitudinal axis. In the event of severe fan damage, the fuse ring (28) fractures and the fan shaft orbits about the engine longitudinal axis. A pair of threaded members (39, 41), one of which is of generally frusto-conical configuration, cooperate as a result of the orbiting motion to restore the coaxial relationship between the fan shaft and the engine longitudinal axis.

Abstract: An open bowl for a vertical turbine pump, includes a bowl body having an inner wall and an outer wall, both walls being of substantially constant optimum thickness, surrounding a vertical axis and connected by diffuser vanes which define hydraulically optimized diffuser passages through the bowl body extending from a bottom end to a top end, the diffuser vanes being radially hollow and providing open paths through the inner and outer walls to a cavity surrounded by the inner wall; a flange at the top end of the outer wall for attachment of a discharge conduit for the pumped fluid; provision on the bottom end of the outer wall for attaching to a flange of a suction bell; further provision on an inner surface at the top of the inner wall for providing sealing engagement with an upper end of a separable substantially cylindrical bearing housing; and provision at the bottom end of the inner wall for attaching to a flange of the bearing housing.

Abstract: An inter-rotor bearing assembly includes a first annular member having a circumferential inner surface and a second annular member having a circumferential outer surface. The outer surface is concentric to and disposed radially inward of the inner surface and a bearing is disposed between the surfaces. The bearing has an outer race fixedly attached to the first annular member along the inner surface, an inner race fixedly attached to the second annular member along the outer surface, and rolling elements disposed between the races. A low density high circumferential strength support ring is fixedly attached to the first annular member disposed concentrically outside of the inner race and is preferably made of a titanium matrix composite. The rolling elements may be cylindrical rollers having cylindrical rolling surfaces. The support ring may be fixedly attached around or integral with the first annular member.

Abstract: A bearing device for use in a pump which has a bearing member composed of a hard and brittle material made of ceramic such as silicon carbide (SiC). The bearing device has a bearing housing, a ceramic bearing member housed in the bearing housing and supporting a shaft, an elastic material around the ceramic bearing member for preventing the ceramic bearing member from being broken, and a thrust collar for preventing fragments of the ceramic bearing member from being scattered when the ceramic bearing member is broken.

Abstract: A centrifugal blood pump assembly according to one aspect of the invention includes a housing, an impeller adapted to rotate within the housing for feeding blood, an impeller position control device, and an impeller rotation torque generating device. The impeller rotates without contacting the inner surface of the housing when the position control device and torque generating device are operative. Even when the position control device is inoperative, operation of the torque generating device enables rotation of the impeller while a blood flowpath is defined between the surface of the impeller facing the torque generating device and the inner surface of the housing. A centrifugal blood pump assembly according to another aspect of the invention involves a pump including a housing having blood inlet and outlet ports and an impeller adapted to rotate within the housing for feeding blood.

Abstract: A molecular drag pump including a stator and a rotor supported in the stator using two ball bearings at least one of which presses against at least one bearing surface of the stator serving as an axial abutment for the rotor, wherein the contact between the ball bearing and the bearing surface operates in bending and not in shear.

Abstract: Disclosed is a bearing unit which can be used in a drainage pump operated without supply of clean water or a hydraulic pump, which exhibits excellent wear resistance against water containing earth and sand and satisfactory assembling facility, and a method of manufacturing the bearing unit.The contact surface of a bearing made of stainless steel and/or that of a sleeve is applied with a sprayed coating, the main component of which is WC, and which contains one or more elements selected from a group consisting of nickel, chromium and cobalt as a binder material thereof, or a sprayed coating, the main component of which is Cr.sub.3 C.sub.2, and which contains NiCr as a binder material, after the sprayed coating has been formed, heating at from 300.degree. C. to 550.degree. C. is performed for one hour or longer so that hardness and wear resistance equivalent to those of a WC-12% sintered article is attained.

Abstract: A device for releasing tension in a pump shaft is shown and described. An annular elastomeric member is positioned on the circumference of the pump shaft, the elastomeric member having circumferentially spaced holes provided in a surface distal to the shaft. The elastomeric member is confined in an axial direction, and a volume control member is positioned in each of the holes, such that the elastomeric member is also confined in a radial direction. During operation of the pump, the torque on the pump shaft induces a tensile load on the shaft which in turn causes a compression load on the components mounted on the shaft, the compression load being borne by the elastomeric member. After operation of the pump, the volume control members are retracted from the holes, such that the elastomeric member is allowed to compress, thereby unloading the shaft and connection to the pump impeller. The impeller may then be easily unscrewed and removed from the pump shaft.

Abstract: A carbon seal contaminant barrier system for a gas turbine engine including a lip seal for wiping the surface of a rotating seal runner, and a baffle spaced from the rotating seal runner to prevent the impingement of the contaminants on the lip seal. The lip seal and the baffle are spaced axially and cooperate to minimize the contaminants passed to a carbon sealing system. The circumferential carbon sealing ring having a plurality of passages therethrough for delivering pressurized gas adjacent the carbon sealing ring. The pressurized gas being utilized to reduce the drag on the lip seal and to reduce the migration of contaminants onto the carbon seal. The barrier system being utilized to reduce the contamination of the carbon seal and prevent the inherent leakages associated therewith and the potential contamination of the environmental system of the aircraft.

Abstract: A fixed bearing for a radial or diagonal flow compressor is guided in a damping bush whose axial position can be fixed by means of a reconciling plate to establish a desired running gap with respect to the compressor housing. The damping bush has a receiving device for a supporting element which rests against the reconciling plate, such that the supporting element and the reconciling plate are removable when the damping bush is disposed in the compressor housing. When the rotor is mounted, the required thickness of the reconciling disk can be determined and this reconciling disk can then be inserted without removing the rotor or the damping bush for the adjustment of the desired running gap.

Abstract: An improved device for adjusting the bearing clearance of a pump is shown and described. In a preferred embodiment, an annular piston is provided adjacent to a bearing assembly, and an elastomeric member is provided adjacent to the piston. The elastomeric member has a plurality of apertures circumferentially spaced around the elastomeric member, a volume control member being provided in each of the apertures. The volume control members are selectively advanced into and retracted from the apertures, the elastomeric member being compressed and expanding in an axial direction when the volume control members are advanced into the apertures, thereby forcing the piston to move toward the bearing assembly. When the volume control members are retracted from the apertures, the elastomeric member compresses in an axial direction, thereby allowing the piston to move away from the bearing assembly.

Abstract: A thrust bearing assembly for a surface mounted centrifugal pump utilizes the pump liquid for lubrication of a thrust bearing and radial bearings. The thrust bearing mounts to the rearward end of the intake chamber. A communication passage extends between the thrust chamber and the intake chamber. A circulation tube leads from the intake chamber to the rearward end of the thrust chamber. A portion of the water being delivered to the intake chamber is diverted through the circulation tube, where it circulates through the thrust bearing and back to the intake of the pump. The shaft passes through the thrust chamber to an electrical motor. A mechanical seal seals the shaft at the rearward end of the thrust chamber.

Abstract: The object of the invention is to increase the efficiency of a low-pressure steam turbine connected to a condenser and to reduce its cost of manufacture.According to the invention this is achieved when the dividing plane (8) of the top and bottom part (6, 7) of the outer casing (1) of the low-pressure steam turbine lies at the level of the axis (9) of the turbine rotor (4) and the concrete foundation (14) reaches up to the dividing plane (8). Both the bottom part (7) of the outer casing (1) and the bearing points (10) of the turbine rotor (4) are secured in the concrete foundation (14). The outer casing (1) is designed to be open at least on one side at right angles to and horizontally to the axis (9) of the turbine rotor (4). A condenser (16) is attached to each lateral opening (17) in the outer casing (1).

Abstract: A brush seal assembly for turbo-engines is provided for sealing off spaces on a circumferential gap which are differently acted upon by pressure, particularly between an engine stator and an engine rotor. A holding device for a bristle bundle is provided on the engine stator, from which holding device the bristle bundle is guided between circumferential webs in a sealing manner against the engine rotor and forms an axial gap in the circumferential direction with respect to one web facing the high-pressure side. In this case, at least on the side which faces the space of the higher pressure on the seal, the bristle bundle is to have devices for the shielding against a turbulent flow triggered by the engine rotor.

Abstract: A centrifugal well pump has modules of pumping stages, each module having a separate thrust bearing. The thrust bearing for each module is supported by an uppermost diffuser of the module. A thrust runner rotates with the shaft and engages the stationary thrust bearing. A tension member engages the runner and extends downward through the stages. The tension member has a number of upward facing load shoulders, one for each impeller within the module. Each of the load shoulders supports the hub of one of the impellers. Downthrust on each impeller transfers through the load shoulder to the tension member, and from there to the thrust runner.

Abstract: A water pump includes a shaft to which an impeller has been attached, and a water pump housing in which the shaft is freely rotatably supported by a plain bearing. An annular mandrel having a lip seal fixedly secured to its distal end is inserted into an annular groove provided in the pump housing, thereby limiting the axial movement of the shaft.

Abstract: A brush seal assembly is provided for sealing off spaces on a circumferential gap which are acted upon by pressure in a different manner, particularly between an engine casing and an engine shaft. On the engine casing, a holding device for a bristle bundle is provided from which the bristle bundle is guided between circumferential webs sealingly against the engine rotor and, with respect to the one web facing the high pressure side, forms an axial gap in the circumferential direction. In the axial gap, a covering ring for the bristle bundle is arranged in an axially and radially movable manner which is operated by the differential pressure and can be displaced with respect to the bristle bundle. With respect to the ends of the webs surrounding the engine shaft at a distance, the covering ring is to project out of the axial gap and surround the engine shaft by means of a radial sealing gap.

Abstract: The invention relates to a friction vacuum pump (1) with a housing (2, 3), a rotor (8) and a rotor bearing (9) which is supported in the housing (2, 3) via a sleeve-like support (21). In order to obtain a precise support which nonetheless permits slight oscillations in the rotating system, it is proposed that the sleeve-like support (21) is in turn supported in the housing (2, 3) via several, preferably three, substantially axially extending rods (26).

Abstract: A pressure compensation system for a rotary pump prevents axial displacement of the pump shaft. The pump includes a shaft rotatable about a major axis extending centrally of the shaft, at least one impeller attached to the shaft, and a pump housing for enclosing the shaft and at least one pump impeller for generating fluid pressure for pumping upon rotation of the shaft and the at least one impeller. In these pumps, the fluid pressure can exert an axial thrust along the major axis of the shaft. Therefore, such pumps include means for thrust compensation during rotation of the shaft. The improvement in the means for thrust compensation includes a first set of permanent magnets arrayed around and attached to the shaft and a second set of permanent magnets arrayed on the pump housing. The second set of permanent magnets magnetically attracts the first set of permanent magnets to hold the shaft and the at least one impeller at a fixed position along the major axis of the shaft with respect to the pump housing.

Abstract: A pressurized bearing assembly for turbomachines like gas turbine engines wherein pressurized oil is used to apply an axial force to the outer bearing race of a ball bearing assembly. The force is transmitted through the race to the ball bearings and to the inner race of the bearing assembly, and is further transmitted, via the engine shaft, to the bearings of another, axially spaced apart bearing assembly. The force moves the balls in both assemblies into line-on-line running contact with their respective bearing races, and minimizes vibration in the assemblies.

Abstract: A magnetic pump is provided which is especially useful for pumping corrosive agents, having simplified components made of a hard ceramic, preferably silicon carbide, which form ceramic-on-ceramic axial and radial bearing surfaces. The pump has an impeller and magnetic rotor, each being mounted on an opposite end of a ceramic shaft by a respective ceramic bush. The shaft rides in ceramic first and second plain bearing bushes, each of which forms a radial bearing surface and an axial bearing journal end face. The ceramic impeller bush is secured to the shaft by a form fit and provides an axial bearing surface against the first bearing bush end face. Similarly, the ceramic rotor bush is secured to the shaft by a form fit and forms an axial bearing surface against the end face of the second plain bush.

Abstract: A unitized roller-seal for sealing centrifugal pump shafts which may be readily repaired and maintained in the field or plant. The unitized roller-seal includes a housing having a bore therethrough with an inner radial flange, a sealed roller bearing seated within the bore on one side of the radial flange within the housing, a lip seal member seated within the bore on the other side of the inner radial flange within the housing. The unitized roller-seal is secured and sealed to the pump casing. The pump shaft is rotatably supported in a sealed bearing housing, and extends through the roller bearing and lip seal member of the roller-seal such that the roller-seal stabilizes the shaft juxtaposed to the sealing surface where the lip seal member engages the shaft. The shaft may have an integral sleeve extending within the unitized roller-seal with a hard coated surface for engagement by the lip seal member.

Abstract: A canned motor pump includes a main housing with a rotatable shaft carrying an impeller, a high inertia flywheel mounted on the shaft, and a bearing housing stationarily mounted to the main housing. The bearing housing contains a convex radial bearing assembly pivotally mounted on an outer circumferential surface thereof for engagement with a bearing surface on an inner diameter of the flywheel. One embodiment of the convex radial bearing assembly employs a pad made of a self-lubricating, hard material and engageable with a hard metal surface on the inner diameter of the flywheel, and a second embodiment of the convex radial bearing assembly employs a pad with a hard metal surface on the outer diameter of the bearing housing and engageable with a sleeve made of a self-lubricating, hard material and located on the inner diameter of the flywheel.

Abstract: The present invention provides a compliant nut that can provide a more consistent compressive force to engine components by using a compliant section to absorb axial deflections. The present invention also provides a self centering feature that positions the nut upon compression, reduces thread stresses and prevents nut and shaft runnout. The invention consists of an annular member having threads on the inner diameter for mating with a threaded shaft and having a conical portion extending axially and radially inward from the annular member for abutting engine components and the engine shaft. The nut includes a plurality of exciter teeth circumferentially disposed and extending radially from the annular member used to provide shaft speed signal for engine controls and a plurality of axial spline members extending axially from the annular member on the opposite face from conical section for mating with torque applying tools and locking mechanisms.

Abstract: A venting arrangement for a magnetically supported vacuum pump which has a high speed rotor, wherein the load carrying capacity of the axial magnetic bearing is increased in the course of the venting process by reducing the gap between the axial support disk and the axial magnet in order to carry the additional forces caused by the venting process. In normal operation, the gap is adjusted to an upper limit value.

Abstract: An air cycle machine for producing a supply of cooled air and including a compressor rotor fixed to a shaft which is driven by a turbine rotor, the turbine serving to expand air which is pressurized by the compressor. Magnetic bearings support the shaft radially in a housing for rotation about a precisely established axis while a magnetic thrust bearing keeps the shaft in a precisely fixed axial position. The housing and the bearings are constructed as two split sections to permit the housing and the bearings to be separated radially and facilitate repair and/or replacement of the shaft and other internal components.