USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

Hugh G Anderson

Wilbur Shapiro

Earl R Quandt

A Bayne Neild

Philip J Hatchard

Richard W Graham, Ii

A thrust bearing for a main propulsion shafting system on a ship having ting pads and fluid equalizing pistons. Hydraulic oil fills a recess on the face of each pad to provide additional lubrication and hydrostatic pressure to allow the bearing to handle added load capacity. The system for supplying oil to the recess may either be separate from the piston equalizing hydraulic system or part of a combined system. In the combined system, stationary control pads sense the oil thickness and control the oil flow.

Fluid equalized tilting pad thrust bearings

A self-aligning, vibration reducing marine thrust bearing assembly for use ith a propulsion shaft having spaced bearing flanges. The assembly includes a journal bearing sleeve enclosing the shaft and a stationary housing radially spaced from the journal bearing with pivoting means extending therebetween for accommodating any misalignment of the shaft and journal bearing within the housing. An annular fluid containing cavity is formed in the housing adjacent each flange with an annular bearing piston pivotally disposed therein, wherein sealing elements are positioned between the cavity walls and the piston to maintain a fluid seal therebetween. Tapered roller bearings are disposed between each annular bearing piston and each shaft flange raceway.

Self-aligning rolling contact thrust bearing/vibration reducer element

A 'fixed' pad element of a thrust bearing having a plurality of such pads th each pad including at least one groove formed in the sidewalls of the leading and trailing edge portions of the bearing pad to cause the edge portions to be more deformable than the intermediate portion. Such edge portion may also have a lower resultant coefficient of thermal expansion than the intermediate portion such that the pad surface, when hydrodynamically and thermally loaded, assumes a convex surface profile to define a wedge shaped hydrodynamic lubricating film between the pad and the adjacent thrust member. Additional lubrication may be provided through a central lubrication passage connected to a pressurized oil supply. In an embodiment where there is a plurality of sidewall grooves, some of the grooves may have different depth and width dimensions and such plurality of grooves may be filled with materials having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, greater deformability and/or greater compressibility than the material forming the body of the pad. In another embodiment, the bearing pad may be a composite laminated structure which includes one or more layers of materials having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion, greater deformability and/or greater compressibility than the body material wherein a greater thickness of such layer occurs adjacent the edge portions of the pad. When partially or substantially unfilled, such grooves may serve as cooling surfaces allowing additional cooling of the bearing pad.

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Severna Park, MD, United States of America

Hugh G Anderson