COOLING AND LUBRICATING SYSTEM FOR BEARINGS

• US 3,690,410 A
• Filed: 12/17/1970
• Issued: 09/12/1972
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Leonard J. Sieghartner
• Original Assignee: Leonard J. Sieghartner
• Inventors: Sieghartner, Leonard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Antonakas, Manuel A.
• Application Number:
  US05/099,060
• Time in Patent Office: 635 Days
• Field of Search: 184/14B,6.28,6.22,36,6.18,14R 415/112,175
• US Class Current: 184/6.28
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 33/6659 Details of supply of the liquid to the bearing, e.g. passages or nozzles
• CPC Class Codes: F16N 2210/16 Pumps
• CPC Class Codes: F16N 39/02 by cooling heat-exchangers in general F28
• CPC Class Codes: F16N 7/363 Centrifugal lubrication

Abstract

A cooling system for the bearings of a rotary machine designed to recirculate oil from the bearing housing through a heat exchanger unit and back through the bearings. A pumping unit contained in the housing provides sufficient pressure to recirculate the oil in a closed path. The pumping unit employs a turbine impeller fixed to the machine'"'"''"'"'s shaft to develop the necessary pressure at standard motor speeds.

Claims

1. In a rotary machine having a shaft rotatably supported in its casing by a pair of bearings, a cooling system for recirculating cooled oil through said bearings, comprising:

a heat exchanger coil, regenerative turbine pumping means disposed in the interior of said casing adjacent to the inboard bearing on the side remotest from the outboard bearing and mounted on said shaft at one end of said casing for pumping the oil which has passed through said bearings into one end Of said heat exchanger coil, said pumping means comprising a housing mounted within said casing and having an internal pumping chamber, a regenerative turbine impeller fixed for rotation with said shaft and having vanes at its outer periphery operable within said pumping chamber, said housing having an outlet connecting said pumping chamber to said one end of said heat exchanger coil and an inlet in communication with said interior of said casing, said housing being disposed within said casing adjacent to one of said bearings with said housing inlet in direct communication with an elongated groove formed in said casing beyond and along the length of the outer race of said one bearing to facilitate flow of liquid into said housing inlet, and means for directly connecting the other end of said heat exchanger coil to the interior of said casing at its opposite end so that the cooled oil will pass through said pair of bearings and return to said pumping means.

2. In a rotary machine having a shaft rotatably supported in its casing by a pair of bearings, a cooling system for recirculating cooled oil through said bearings, comprising a heat exchanger coil mounted outside of said casing, a regenerative turbine pumping unit disposed in the interior of said casing adjacent to the inboard bearing on the side remotest from the outside bearing, said pumping unit including a regenerative turbine impeller fixed for rotation with said shaft and a housing mounted within said casing, said housing having a pumping chamber and said impeller having vanes at its outer periphery operable within said pumping chamber, said housing including an outlet connecting said pumping chamber to one end of said heat exchanger coil and an inlet in communication with the interior of said casing, a circular-shaped cartridge having its outer peripheral portion mounted to the interior of said casing, a center opening of sufficient diameter to accommodate the hub of said impeller, a first annular shoulder formed in one side surface of said cartridge, and a second annular shoulder formed inward of said first annular shoulder and of a diameter less than the diameter of said first annular shoulder but greater than the diameter of said impeller, and an annular liner of a diameter equal to said first shoulder seated in said first shoulder, said liner having an arcuate groove facing inwardly with an outer diameter equal to said second annular shoulder to define said pumping chamber, and means for connecting the other end of said heat exchanger coil to the interior of said casing through an end cap for said casing.

3. The combination of claim 2, further comprising an oil seal snugly fitted in said center opening of said cartridge to prevent leakage along the impeller hub and a radial notch formed in the surface of said cartridge between said central opening and said second shoulder to relieve the pressure on said oil seal.

4. The combination of claim 2, wherein said arcuate groove extends in a circumferential path of less than 360*, where an opening is provided through said liner at one end of said groove to define said housing inlet and a fitting is inserted through the other side surface of said cartridge in direct communication with the other end of said arcuate groove to define said housing outlet.

5. The combination of claim 2, further comprising an annular oil seal seated in said center opening and in frictional engagement with the hub of said impeller.