Press-fit bearing locking system, apparatus and method
US9816519B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 1, 2016 |
| Grant date | Nov 14, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 3, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC F)Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating
- CPC primaryF16C2360/44
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A press-fit bearing locking system, apparatus and method is described. A press-fit bearing locking system includes a diffuser having a diffuser groove on an inner diameter (ID), a bushing comprising an outer diameter (OD) press-fit into the grooved ID of the diffuser, the OD of the bushing having a bushing groove tracing a path of the diffuser groove, and a high thermal expansion material (HTEM) key seated within the bushing groove. A press-fit bearing locking method includes seating a HTEM key inside a groove on an OD of a bushing, press-fitting the bushing with HTEM key into a diffuser such that the bushing groove is opposite a groove on an ID of the diffuser, operating an electric submersible pump assembly including the diffuser during a temperature rise, and allowing the HTEM key to expand into the diffuser groove during the temperature rise to lock the bushing against the diffuser.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.