Claims
- 1. A bearing assembly, including a shaft and a bearing, for use in a magnetic-drive centrifugal pump, the improvement comprising:
- a first groove and a second groove disposed in said shaft, the first groove being associated with a first journal area, and the second groove being associated with a second journal area, the first groove having a first groove length spanning at least an axial dimension of said first journal area and the second groove having a second groove length spanning at least an axial dimension of said second journal area.
- 2. The bearing assembly according to claim 1 wherein the shaft has a shaft cross section, the shaft cross section having an alpha sector and a beta sector, the first groove having a first groove cross section oriented at an alpha angle within the alpha sector, the second groove having a second groove cross section oriented at a beta angle within the beta sector, the alpha sector selected to minimize radial loading forces applied to the first groove from the first journal area, and the beta sector selected to minimize radial loading forces applied to the second groove from the second journal area.
- 3. The bearing assembly according to claim 2 wherein the bearing comprises a first bushing, a second bushing, and a bearing body; the first bushing and the second bushing longitudinally oriented along an axis of the bearing body, the first bushing and the second bushing coaxially retained within the bearing body; the first bushing having a first cylindrical hollow and the second bushing having a second cylindrical hollow, the shaft coaxially mating with the first cylindrical hollow and the second cylindrical hollow, the first groove providing a bypass channel for the first bushing and the second groove providing a bypass channel for the second bushing.
- 4. The bearing assembly according to claim 3 further comprising a bearing cavity located between the first bushing and the second bushing, and wherein the bearing cavity is hydraulically coupled to the first groove and to the second groove.
- 5. The bearing assembly according to claim 1 further comprising removal means for removing particulate matter from a shaft-bearing interface of the bearing assembly, the removal means being associated with a first groove cross section of the first groove and the removal means being associated with a second groove cross section of the second groove.
- 6. The bearing assembly according to claim 5 wherein the removal means comprises the first groove cross section and the second groove cross section having radially extending sides.
- 7. The bearing assembly according to claim 5 wherein flat areas adjoin the first groove and the second groove, and wherein the removal means for removing particulate matter comprises the first groove cross section and the second groove cross section having sides that are approximately perpendicular to the flat areas.
- 8. A shaft for use in a magnetic-drive centrifugal pump, the improvement comprising:
- a plurality of axial grooves disposed in the shaft, the axial grooves having groove cross sections, the groove cross sections including sides;
- substantially flat areas located on said shaft, the substantially flat areas adjoining said axial grooves; and
- a cylindrical area bounding the flat areas.
- 9. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein said sides orthogonally meet with the substantially flat areas.
- 10. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein the shaft includes journal areas; wherein the axial grooves follow substantially linear paths paralleling an axis of the shaft, a length of each one of said axial grooves spanning an axial dimension of the corresponding journal areas of said shaft.
- 11. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein the axial grooves are radially and axially displaced with respect to one another.
- 12. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein the groove cross sections have shapes selected from the group consisting of U-shapes, V-shapes, semi-ellipses, rectangles, and semi-circles.
- 13. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein the shaft has a front portion having a front shaft radius and a rear portion having a rear shaft radius, and wherein the front shaft radius is smaller than the rear shaft radius; and wherein the axial grooves are located in the rear portion.
- 14. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein the substantially flat areas meet the cylindrical area at boundaries, the boundaries being gradually tapered between the cylindrical area and the substantially flat areas.
- 15. The shaft according to claim 8 wherein each of the grooves is associated with a first boundary and a second boundary such that the shaft has a plurality of first boundaries and a plurality of second boundaries, the respective sides being approximately perpendicular to the corresponding flat areas, at the first boundaries and the second boundaries.
- 16. The shaft according to claim 15 wherein each of the grooves is associated with a third boundary and a fourth boundary such that the shaft has a plurality of third boundaries and a plurality of fourth boundaries; the substantially flat areas meeting the cylindrical area at the third boundaries and the fourth boundaries; the third boundaries being gradually tapered between the cylindrical area and each first region of the flat areas; the fourth boundaries being gradually tapered between the cylindrical area and each second region of the flat areas.
- 17. A shaft for use in a magnetic-drive centrifugal pump, the improvement comprising:
- a first groove and a second groove disposed in the shaft; the first groove having a first groove cross section including sides, the second groove having a second groove cross section including sides;
- substantially flat areas adjoining said grooves; and
- a cylindrical area bounding the flat areas.
- 18. The shaft according to claim 17 wherein the first groove cross section is located at an alpha angle with respect to a twelve o'clock orientation of the shaft, and wherein the second groove cross section is located a beta angle with respect to the twelve o'clock orientation of a cross section of the shaft.
- 19. The shaft according to claim 17 wherein said flat areas include a first flat area being associated with the first groove and a second flat area being associated with the second groove, the first flat area surrounding the first groove and the second flat area surrounding the second groove.
- 20. The shaft according to claim 19 wherein the shaft has two first flat regions and two second flat regions, one first flat region and one second flat region extending between said first groove and the cylindrical area, another first flat region and another second flat region extending between the second groove and the cylindrical area.
- 21. The shaft according to claim 19 wherein the first flat area has a first flat region and a second flat region, the first flat region extending between said first groove and the cylindrical area, the second flat region extending between the first groove and the cylindrical area.
- 22. The shaft according to claim 21 wherein the first flat region is bounded by a first boundary and a third boundary, the first boundary adjoining said first groove, the third boundary located next to the cylindrical area, the second flat region bounded by a second boundary and a fourth boundary, the second boundary adjoining said first groove, the fourth boundary located next to the cylindrical area.
- 23. The shaft according to claim 22 wherein the third boundary is tapered for a gradual transition not to exceed a predetermined maximum surface roughness between the cylindrical area and the first flat region of the first groove.
- 24. The shaft according to claim 22 wherein the fourth boundary is tapered for a gradual transition not to exceed a predetermined maximum surface roughness between the cylindrical area and the second flat region of the first groove.
- 25. The shaft according to claim 17 wherein the shaft has two first boundaries and two second boundaries, one first boundary and one second boundary being associated with the first groove; another first boundary and another second boundary being associated with the second groove; the first boundaries and the second boundaries being located at approximately orthogonal intersections of the sides and the flat areas.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of Ser. No. 08/378,774, filed on Jan. 26, 1995.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
3781073 |
Jorn et al. |
Dec 1973 |
|
3994542 |
Wojdyla |
Nov 1976 |
|
5641275 |
Klein et al. |
Jun 1997 |
|
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
378774 |
Jan 1995 |
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