Bearing assemblies including proximity probes
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An improved bearing assembly, said bearing assembly comprising:
- a) a bearing housing adapted to rotatably support a shaft;
b) a cylindrical shell contained within said bearing housing and defining a shaft bore for receiving a rotatable shaft therethrough, said cylindrical shell including a liner portion having a softer metal layer disposed on an interior thereof such that an inner surface of said softer metal layer defines said shaft bore, said cylindrical shell further defining at least one probe receiving channel extending therethrough; and
c) at least one proximity probe for directly sensing proximity of the shaft and having a sensing end, said proximity probe located in said probe receiving channel such that said sensing end is situated radially external of said inner surface of said softer metal layer but is adjacent to said shaft bore where sensing is desired for sensing the relative vibration and position of a rotating shaft without contact therewith.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Bearing assembly including at least one proximity probe for monitoring the relative vibration of a rotating shaft contained therein. The bearing assembly includes a bearing housing surrounding and supporting a cylindrical shell. The cylindrical shell defines a shaft bore for receiving a rotating shaft. At least one proximity probe is embedded in the cylindrical shell for monitoring the shaft vibration. A second proximity probe may be added to enable monitoring radial shaft position. The proximity probes are connected to an instrument or instruments for displaying a signal received from the probes for allowing a user to determine shaft vibration or position.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. An improved bearing assembly, said bearing assembly comprising:
-
a) a bearing housing adapted to rotatably support a shaft; b) a cylindrical shell contained within said bearing housing and defining a shaft bore for receiving a rotatable shaft therethrough, said cylindrical shell including a liner portion having a softer metal layer disposed on an interior thereof such that an inner surface of said softer metal layer defines said shaft bore, said cylindrical shell further defining at least one probe receiving channel extending therethrough; and c) at least one proximity probe for directly sensing proximity of the shaft and having a sensing end, said proximity probe located in said probe receiving channel such that said sensing end is situated radially external of said inner surface of said softer metal layer but is adjacent to said shaft bore where sensing is desired for sensing the relative vibration and position of a rotating shaft without contact therewith. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 24, 25)
-
-
10. An improved bearing assembly comprising:
-
a) a bearing housing adapted to rotatably support a shaft; b) a cylindrical shell contained within said bearing housing and defining a shaft bore for receiving a rotatable shaft therethrough, said cylindrical shell including a liner portion having a softer metal layer disposed on an interior thereof such that an inner surface of said softer metal layer defines said shaft bore, said cylindrical shell further including a pair of probe receiving channels extending through said shell to said shaft bore, said probe receiving channels being angularly displaced from each other by approximately 90 degrees; and c) a pair of proximity probes for directly sensing proximity of the shaft and having corresponding probe sensing ends, said proximity probes being respectively secured in said probe receiving channels such that each respective sensing end thereof will be located radially external of said inner surface of said softer metal layer but will be adjacent to said shaft bore where sensing is desired for sensing the relative vibration and radial position of a rotating shaft without contact therewith. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 26)
-
-
17. A method of sensing relative shaft vibration of a rotating shaft supported within a bearing assembly, said method comprising the steps of:
-
a) providing a bearing housing adapted to rotatably support a shaft, said bearing housing including a cylindrical shell supported therein, wherein said shell defines a shaft bore for receiving a rotatable shaft therethrough, said cylindrical shell including a liner portion having a softer metal layer disposed on an interior thereof such that an inner surface of said softer metal layer defines said shaft bore, said cylindrical shell further defining at least one probe receiving channel extending therethrough; b) placing at least one proximity probe having a probe sensing end in a corresponding probe receiving channel defined by said cylindrical shell such that said probe sensing end will be radially external of said inner surface of said softer metal layer but will be capable of directly detecting proximity and vibration of said rotatable shaft; and c) securing said at least one proximity probe within said corresponding probe receiving channel. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification