Composite air bearing assembly
US8973848B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 8, 2014 |
| Grant date | Mar 10, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 8, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF16C2320/00
- WIPO fieldMechanical elements
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An air bearing assembly supporting a turbine driven rotatable motor shaft is provided. The assembly includes a composite cylindrical air bearing having alternating, bonded segmented porous carbon sections and nonporous carbon sections. The composite bearing has a sleeve installed circumferentially therearound. The sleeve has openings therein, therethrough and therearound such that the openings are adjacent the porous carbon sections and are oriented so as to be in longitudinal and circumferential registry with the porous carbon sections. Air passageways deliver supplied air into and through the sleeve openings, thence into and through the porous sections, thereby providing frictionless support for the rotating shaft. The assembly includes “O”-rings installed circumferentially therearound, one at each end of the assembly. A specific embodiment, namely a rotary bell cup atomizer driven by a turbine mounted on a rotatable motor shaft supported by the air bearing assembly, is disclosed and claimed.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.