Compact turbocharger
First Claim
1. A compact turbocharger, comprisinga rotatable shaft having an exhaust gas driven turbine wheel at one end and a compressor wheel at the other end, a bearing housing surrounding said rotatable shaft, having an inner bearing-engaging portion with bearing engagement surfaces adjacent the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel, an outer housing portion forming, with said inner bearing-engaging portion, a coolant water jacket for cooling said bearing engagement surfaces, a pair of anti-friction ball bearings, each of said pair of anti-friction ball bearing being engaged between one of said bearing engagement surfaces of the bearing housing and said rotatable shaft, radial springs between said anti-friction ball bearings and said bearing engagement surfaces, an exhaust gas volute carried by said bearing housing around said turbine wheel, and a compressor casing around the compressor wheel forming a compressor inlet and outlet carried by said bearing housing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A turbocharger comprising two closely spaced ball bearings that does not require lubricating oil from an engine. The bearing housing forms a cooling jacket with two bearing engagement surfaces engaged with the outer races of the ball bearings through an intermediate radial spring. Closely spacing the ball bearings provides a rotor shaft of minimal length. In addition, an external motor-generator may be by mounted on the turbocharger, with the motor rotor solidly connected to the turbocharger rotor. In such an assembly, an electronic control is energizes the motor from battery power during acceleration up to approximately torque peak speed; thereafter, the control changes to a generator mode when there is excess energy in the engine exhaust gas.
101 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A compact turbocharger, comprising
a rotatable shaft having an exhaust gas driven turbine wheel at one end and a compressor wheel at the other end, a bearing housing surrounding said rotatable shaft, having an inner bearing-engaging portion with bearing engagement surfaces adjacent the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel, an outer housing portion forming, with said inner bearing-engaging portion, a coolant water jacket for cooling said bearing engagement surfaces, a pair of anti-friction ball bearings, each of said pair of anti-friction ball bearing being engaged between one of said bearing engagement surfaces of the bearing housing and said rotatable shaft, radial springs between said anti-friction ball bearings and said bearing engagement surfaces, an exhaust gas volute carried by said bearing housing around said turbine wheel, and a compressor casing around the compressor wheel forming a compressor inlet and outlet carried by said bearing housing.
- 9. In a turbocharger with a rotatable shaft carrying an exhaust gas-driven turbine and a compressor wheel, a bearing housing and a pair of bearings carrying the rotatable shaft, the improvement wherein the bearing housing forms a coolant jacket and a pair of cooled bearing engagement surfaces in heat transfer relationship with coolant in said coolant jacket, and wherein a first angular contact ball bearing has an inner race engaged with the rotatable shaft, a plurality of ball bearings and an outer race engaged with one of the cooled bearing engagement surfaces to accept thrust in one direction, a second angular contact ball bearing has an inner race engaged with the rotatable shaft, a plurality of ball bearings and an outer race engaged with the other of the cooled engagement surfaces to accept thrust in the direction opposite said one direction, radial springs between the outer races of said angular contract ball bearings, and a spacer between the inner races of said angular contact ball bearings.
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15. A compact turbocharger-motor generator assembly, comprising
a rotatable shaft having an exhaust gas driven turbine wheel at one end and a compressor wheel at the other end, a bearing housing surrounding said rotatable shaft, having an inner bearing engaging portion with bearing engagement surfaces adjacent the turbine wheel and the compressor wheel, an outer housing portion forming, with said inner bearing engaging portion, a coolant water jacket for cooling said bearing engagement surfaces, a pair of anti-friction ball bearings, each of said pair of anti-friction ball bearings being engaged between one of said engagement surfaces of the bearing housing and said rotatable shaft, radial springs between said anti-friction ball bearings and said bearing engagement surfaces, an exhaust gas volute carried by said bearing housing around said turbine wheel, a compressor casing forming a compressor inlet and outlet carried by said bearing housing; - and
an electric motor-generator having a motor housing connected to and carried by the compressor casing and a rotor connected to the turbocharger shaft. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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Specification