The Timken Company

Keith M Gordon

William E Harbottle

Richard A Knepper

Robert A Hanson

Michael L Blair

Jay M Landry

A rotary air bearing (A) as shown in the Figure has a journal ( ) provided with a pair of outwardly presented tapered surfaces located opposite the tapered surfaces on the journal, and a low friction liner ( ) bonded to the tapered surfaces on the hub and having tapered surfaces which are separated from the tapered surfaces of the journal by small air gaps (g).

Rotary air bearing and process for manufacturing the same

A superconducting magnetic bearing assembly has an outer element having an axis. Disposed about the axis, the outer element has first and second inverted generally conical surfaces, each surface disposed at an acute angle to the axis. These surfaces define a volume. Fixedly disposed within the volume is an inner element rotatable relative to the outer element. The inner element has first and second conical inner elements. The first conical inner element has a first surface opposed to and spaced from said first generally conical surface of the outer element, the opposed first surfaces lying generally parallel to each other. The second conical inner element has a second surface opposed to and spaced from the second generally conical surface of the outer element, the opposed second surfaces lying generally parallel to each other. A spacer is disposed between first and second conical inner elements for adjusting the axial spacing between the surfaces of the conical inner elements, thereby to adjust the dimension of the space between the opposed surfaces. A first element is of superconductive material and a second element is of a material that can generate a magnetic field about the second element. The superconductive first element expels the magnetic field to maintain the spaced apart relationship of the opposed surfaces under load.

Superconducting magnetic bearing

A method of forming a ball bearing assembly capable of withstanding, in a non-operating mode, an axial load exceeding a predetermined axial load at which bearing damage would otherwise occur includes the following steps: assembling a bearing assembly with at least one set of annular bearing races and, disposed therebetween, a multiplicity of balls, each race having a face surface aligned transversely to the axis of rotation of the bearing assembly, (b) mounting the bearing with the first race fixed axially, (c) applying an axially directed load against the second race of a predetermined magnitude selected to be greater than the intended operating preload and less than a bearing damaging load, (d) grinding the face surfaces of the bearing races flush, (e) releasing the force, and (f) in operating condition, providing a stop ring having a flat stop face surface opposed to the face surfaces of the bearing races, the face surface of the first bearing race disposed in engagement with the stop face surface and the face surface of the second bearing race, under normal axial load, spaced therefrom. Application of an axial load upon the bearing assembly causes the face surface of the first race to move toward the stop face surface and, at axial loading above the predetermined force, to bear thereupon, whereby axial load in excess of the predetermined magnitude is carried by the stop ring. A ball bearing assembly, e.g., formed according to the method, is also described.

Method of making axially hardened bearings

The invention is directed to a miniature ball bearing tester which detects vibrations therefrom when such a bearing is rotated by a rotor. The device includes a base upon which are supported reeds. The reeds support an upper housing tooling which includes a bearing support for mounting a bearing thereon for rotation. A rotor is attachable to a bearing mounted on the upper tooling. The rotor is then driven to rotate the bearing and upon a defect being detected, the reeds are as a result forced to move in a direction radial with respect to the axial direction of the bearing. An accelerometer picks up the movement and the signal therefrom is then band pass filtered, integrated to obtain a velocity measurement and output by, for example, a speaker to detect any frequencies resulting from a flaw in the miniature bearing.

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Munsonville, NH, United States of America

Keith M Gordon