Center flange bearing suitable for use with electrical machinery

Abstract

A hydrodynamic sleeve bearing for supporting the shaft of a relatively large electromechanical machine. The bearing includes a base element and a cap element matable about the shaft to produce the bearing housing. The bearing housing when assembled includes a shaft receiving portion through which the shaft extends and a sump portion for containing a lubricant fluid. The design of the present invention minimizes the axial length of the shaft receiving portion to approximately that of the bearing liner contained therein. As a result, the weight of the cap element will be significantly reduced over many prior art constructions. Respective lubricant seals are attached at opposite end faces of the shaft receiving portion. The lubricant seals and the end faces are configured to permit lubricant fluid to flow directly back into the sump. The lubricant seals may be installed in a plurality of angular orientations, which may be particularly useful if a selected sensor device is installed thereon. The axial length of the bearing liner and shaft receiving portion is less than that of the sump. In addition, cooling fins are defined on both axial sides of the sump portion of the bearing housing for increased cooling capacity. The bearing liner is electrically isolated from the bearing housing and means are provided to check the integrity of this electrical isolation during use. An oil ring is provided to generate the desired hydrodynamic film, or a circulating oil system may be utilized.