US 11,808,299 B2
Compliant foil radial bearing
Phillip Heward, Warwick (GB); Vasudeva Nimma, Warwick (GB); and Stephen Pye, Warwick (GB)
Assigned to BLADON JETS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Castletown (IM)
Appl. No. 17/440,572
Filed by BLADON JETS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Castletown (IM)
PCT Filed Mar. 22, 2019, PCT No. PCT/EP2019/057348
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 17, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/192880, PCT Pub. Date Oct. 1, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0145929 A1, May 12, 2022
Int. Cl. F16C 17/02 (2006.01); F16C 27/02 (2006.01); F16C 43/02 (2006.01)
CPC F16C 17/024 (2013.01) [F16C 27/02 (2013.01); F16C 43/02 (2013.01); F16C 2226/62 (2013.01); F16C 2360/23 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A compliant foil radial bearing comprising:
a bushing comprising a bore defined therethrough;
a spring foil arranged to conform to a radially inner surface of the bore;
a fluid foil arranged to conform to a radially inner surface of the spring foil for rotatable receiving a rotor, wherein:
the radially inner surface of the bore comprises a plurality of axially oriented pads arranged around the circumference thereof,
wherein the pads are arranged such that variation in a circumferential direction exists between surface profiles defined by the pads.
 
13. A method of manufacturing a compliant foil radial bearing comprising:
providing a bushing comprising a bore defined therethrough;
forming a plurality of axially oriented grooves within the radially inner surface of the bushing to define a plurality of axially oriented pads arranged around the circumference of the bore;
providing a spring foil comprising axially oriented loops arranged to fit within the axial grooves;
inserting the spring foil into the bushing such that the radially inner surface of each axially oriented pad supports the spring foil between circumferentially spaced axially oriented contact regions,
wherein one or more of the axial grooves are provided with radially outer retaining socket regions for retaining one or more retaining members, and
wherein the spring foil comprises two circumferential end regions between end loops and circumferential extremities, with one circumferential end region comprising a circumferential length greater than the other to provide a retaining portion arranged to wrap around one of the retaining members.
 
14. A compliant foil radial bearing comprising:
a bushing comprising a bore defined therethrough;
a spring foil arranged to conform to a radially inner surface of the bore;
a fluid foil arranged to conform to a radially inner surface of the spring foil for rotatably receiving a rotor, wherein:
the radially inner surface of the bore comprises a plurality of axially oriented pads arranged around the circumference thereof, each pad comprising a radially inner surface arranged to support the spring foil, axial grooves being formed between adjacent pads; and wherein
the spring foil comprises axially oriented loops arranged to fit within the axial grooves; and
the radially inner surface of each pad supports the spring foil between circumferentially spaced axially oriented contact regions formed by contact between the radially inner surface and the spring foil, such that circumferentially spaced axially oriented resilient strips disposed between loops support the fluid foil; and wherein:
one or more of the axial grooves are provided with radially outer retaining socket regions for retaining one or more retaining members, wherein the spring foil comprises two circumferential end regions between end loops and circumferential extremities, with one circumferential end region comprising a circumferential length greater than the other to provide a retaining portion arranged to wrap around one of the retaining members.