U.S. patent application number 15/152108 was filed with the patent office on 2017-09-21 for hydrostatic bearing assembly.
The applicant listed for this patent is Industrial Technology Research Institute. Invention is credited to Chih-Ming Chen, SHANG-TE CHEN, Po-Hsiu Ko.
Application Number | 20170268567 15/152108 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59828274 |
Filed Date | 2017-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170268567 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; SHANG-TE ; et
al. |
September 21, 2017 |
HYDROSTATIC BEARING ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A hydrostatic bearing assembly for a shaft is disclosed, which
consists of a base ring, two side rings enclosed up the base ring
at both sides, and a plurality of hydrostatic blocks fixed
respectively on surfaces of the base ring and of the side rings
corresponded to the shaft, as result to hold the shaft to resist
against loadings from the axial direction and/or the radial
direction and provide lubrication through oil passages inside.
These hydrostatic blocks are locked with screws or bolts on the
base ring and on the side rings in order to be replaced
individually on site.
Inventors: |
CHEN; SHANG-TE; (Taichung
City, TW) ; Chen; Chih-Ming; (Taichung City, TW)
; Ko; Po-Hsiu; (Taichung City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Industrial Technology Research Institute |
Hsin-Chu |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
59828274 |
Appl. No.: |
15/152108 |
Filed: |
May 11, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F16C 2360/31 20130101;
F16C 32/0696 20130101; F16C 2226/60 20130101; F16C 33/1055
20130101; F16C 43/02 20130101; F16C 32/0651 20130101; F16C 33/1045
20130101 |
International
Class: |
F16C 32/06 20060101
F16C032/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 15, 2016 |
TW |
105107947 |
Claims
1. A hydrostatic bearing assembly, comprising: a shaft, comprising
a flange; a base ring, comprising a main oil passage disposed
through said base ring; a radial hydrostatic block, removably
affixed on an inner radial surface of said base ring and directly
adjacent to an outer radial surface of said flange; a first side
ring, comprising a first side oil passage disposed through said
first side ring; a first axial hydrostatic block, removably affixed
on said first side ring and directly adjacent to a first axial
surface of said flange; a second side ring, comprising a second
side oil passage disposed through said second side ring; a second
axial hydrostatic block, removably affixed on said second side ring
and directly adjacent to a second axial surface of said flange
opposite to said first axial surface of said flange.
2. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein said radial
hydrostatic block, said first axial hydrostatic block, and said
second axial hydrostatic block are respectively fixed on said base
ring, said first side ring, and said second side ring with screws,
bolts or the combination.
3. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the main
oil passage, the secondary oil passage, the oil inlet and the oil
outlet are in fluid communication with each other.
4. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein said radial
hydrostatic block, said first axial hydrostatic block, and said
second axial hydrostatic block are radially aligned about said
shaft.
5. A hydrostatic bearing assembly for a shaft, comprising: a base
ring, comprising a main oil passage disposed through said base
ring; two side rings, enclosing the base ring on opposite sides;
and a plurality of hydrostatic blocks, removably affixed on a
surface of the base ring between said base ring and said shaft,
each hydrostatic block comprising: an oil inlet:, and an oil
outlet, directly adjacent to said shaft.
6. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the
hydrostatic blocks are fixed on the surface with screws, bolts or
the combination.
7. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the main
oil passage, the oil inlet and the oil outlet are in fluid
communication with each other.
8. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the
hydrostatic blocks are equidistantly spaced on the surface.
9. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein the
hydrostatic blocks are irregularly spaced on the surface.
10. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein said
radial hydrostatic block comprises: a radial oil inlet; and a
radial oil outlet, directly adjacent to a radial surface of said
flange.
11. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 10, wherein said
first axial hydrostatic block comprises: a first axial oil inlet;
and a first axial oil outlet, directly adjacent to a first axial
surface of said flange.
12. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 11, wherein said
second axial hydrostatic block comprises: a second axial oil inlet;
and a second axial oil outlet, directly adjacent to a second axial
surface of said flange opposite from said first axial surface.
13. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein said first
axial hydrostatic block comprises: a first axial oil inlet; and a
first axial oil outlet, directly adjacent to a first axial surface
of said flange.
14. The hydrostatic bearing assembly of claim 1, wherein said
second axial hydrostatic block comprises: a second axial oil inlet;
and a second axial oil outlet, directly adjacent to a second axial
surface of said flange opposite from said first axial surface.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan
Patent Application No. 105,107,947, filed on Mar. 15th, 2016. The
entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby
incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this
specification.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The disclosure is related to a bearing assembly, and
particularly to a hydrostatic bearing assembly of which components
can be individually replaced on site.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Modern wind turbines are usually set up on beaches or on sea
water for converting strong wind into electrical power. The main
wearing components mounted inside the nacelle, such as bearings,
may need to be maintained timely, if do so, the nacelle and blades
connected together need to be disassembled first from the top of
the tower, and then hanged down on the ground or on the deck for
replacement. As result it will be a hard task which not only costs
money but takes time, and probably even gets worse when the weather
is bad.
[0004] Besides the wind turbine, it likely needs to provide a
possible solution to replace worn component, such as bearings, of
any other machine that would not be allowed to be disassembled or
to be moved on site.
SUMMARY
[0005] One embodiment of the disclosure is to provide a hydrostatic
bearing assembly for a shaft, which comprises a base ring, two side
rings enclosed up the base ring at both sides, and a plurality of
hydrostatic blocks fixed respectively on surfaces of the base ring
and of the side rings as to hold the shaft. These hydrostatic
blocks are configured to be replaced individually if worn out.
[0006] Another embodiment of the disclosure is yet provide a
hydrostatic bearing assembly for a shaft, which comprises a base
ring, two side rings enclosed up the base ring at both sides, and a
plurality of hydrostatic blocks fixed on an surface of the base
ring as to hold the shaft. These hydrostatic blocks are configured
to be replaced individually if worn out.
[0007] In order to make the aforementioned features of the
disclosure more comprehensible, the embodiments accompanied with
figures are described in detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further
understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate
embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description,
serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
[0009] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a hydrostatic bearing
assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in which a side ring is
moved out from the hydrostatic bearing assembly showed in FIG.
1.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view in which an axial
hydrostatic block is moved out from the side ring showed in FIG.
2.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view in which a radial
hydrostatic block is extracted out from the base ring showed in
FIG. 2.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hydrostatic block.
[0014] FIG. 6 is another perspective view of the hydrostatic block
showed in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS
[0015] In the following, the embodiments of the disclosure are
described in detail. These descriptions are intended to explain the
structure or the step process of the disclosure, and are not
intended to limit the disclosure, and therefore the disclosure is
not limited thereto.
[0016] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a hydrostatic bearing
assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure. From FIG. 1,
for example, the hydrostatic bearing assembly 1 mainly consists of
a base ring 2, two side rings 31, 32 which enclose up the base ring
2 with screws or bolts at both sides, and a plurality of
hydrostatic blocks 4, 5. The base ring 2 is fixed on inside the
nacelle of a wind turbine (not showed in figure), and the
hydrostatic blocks 4, 5 are also fixed respectively on inside
surfaces of the two side rings 31, 32, and of the base ring 2 which
are corresponded to the shaft S of the turbine. The hydrostatic
blocks 4, 5 are locked with screws or bolts respectively to the
side rings 31, 32 and to the base ring 2, as to support and to
lubricate the shaft S in the axial direction and in the radial
direction with an appropriate pressure on the shaft S, and so all
above are stationary except the shaft S. Because the shaft S
receives an axial thrust from the blades via a hub (not showed), so
that the axial hydrostatic blocks 4 are optionally needed to resist
against the thrust. However this situation should not be a
limitation to the disclosure if there is no such thrust.
[0017] Referring to FIG. 1, the base ring 2 and the side rings 31,
32, as of rings with holes (not indexed in figure) outside for
fixture, have respectively a main oil passage 21 and secondary oil
passages 311, 321 inside for lubrication to the shaft S with oil.
These oil passages 21, 311, 321 can be aligned up and be through to
each other after the side rings 31, 32 are correctly locked on the
base ring 2 at both sides. An external oil lubrication system (not
showed) provides oil with a pressure for lubricating from the
holes, for example, of the base ring 2 to the hydrostatic blocks 4,
5 via these oil passages 21, 311, 321 (as arrows showed). The
hydrostatic blocks 4, 5 optionally have respectively a restrictor
inside to receive oil to form oil layers (not showed) on the
surfaces of the shaft S. The excess oil after lubricated can be
returned back to the oil lubrication system via another interior
oil passages (not showed) of the base ring 2, or via any small gaps
therebetween to complete a cycle.
[0018] The hydrostatic blocks 4, 5, although being separated as the
axial hydrostatic block 4 and the radial hydrostatic block 5 of
name in the disclosure, actually they have the same interior
structure. Please refer to FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and U.S. Pat. No.
8,770,841. The hydrostatic blocks 4, 5 or the plate bearing have
respectively an oil restrictor (not showed) inside, an oil inlet
41, 51 on a surface to the base ring 2 or to the side rings 31, 32,
and an oil outlet 42, 52 on the other surface to the shaft S. The
oil with a pressure from the oil lubrication system can flow into
the oil inlets 41, 51 through the passages 21, 311, 321 and emerge
out from the oil outlets 42, 52 as to form thin oil layers on
cavities 43, 53 for lubricating the contact surfaces of the shaft
S. The axial hydrostatic block 4 and the radial hydrostatic block 5
can have different shapes or dimensions of the contact surfaces
outside, planar or curved, as to be fitted into any gaps between
the base ring 2 and the side rings 31, 32 respectively to the shaft
S.
[0019] In FIG. 1 and according to the above embodiment, the shaft S
of the turbine has a flange F to contact the axial hydrostatic
blocks 4 as to resist against the axial thrust from the blades.
However in other machine, there is no such possible axial thrust,
thus the flange is no more needed, and as result the axial
hydrostatic blocks 4 can be removed. The hydrostatic blocks 4, 5 in
the embodiment although are disclosed above to be applied with the
hydrostatic plate bearing of U.S. Pat. No. 8,770,841, any other
wear-resisting hydrostatic blocks capable to form oil layer, even
with or without restrictor inside, are actually approved, and this
should not be a limitation to the disclosure.
[0020] Depend on the stress distribution of the shaft S, the
hydrostatic blocks 4, 5, as showed in FIG. 2, are respectively
located equally or unequally, in number or in position, on the
inside circumference surfaces of the base ring 2 and the two side
rings 31, 32. However, in many situations, these hydrostatic blocks
4, 5 can be re-arranged in number and/or in position on the
surfaces as to meet the requirement of design. Moreover, these
hydrostatic blocks 4, 5 can be optionally connected to an external
monitoring system for consideration of replacement, for example as
an embodiment described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
14/969,290. Engineer can monitor all these hydrostatic blocks 4, 5
at a distance according to the variation of oil parameters from the
system to decide which of them needs to be replaced.
[0021] The disclosure provides an easy way to replace worn
hydrostatic blocks on site without moving or disassembled any other
components that are not relevant. In accordance to the above
application of wind turbine, if the space inside the nacelle is
allowed and a replacement decision is approved, engineer needs only
to take necessary spare hydrostatic blocks and hand tools to do the
replacement in the nacelle without hanging down the nacelle. As
showed in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, only by releasing screws or bolts (not
showed) from outside, one of or both the side rings 31, 32 can be
moved out from the base ring 2, and then the worn hydrostatic block
4 can be replaced with a spare one. Similarly in FIG. 4, after
screws or bolts (not showed) on the outside circumference surface
of the base ring 2 are released down, the worn hydrostatic block 5
can also be extracted out in axial direction for replacement. The
replacement of hydrostatic block is taken by blocks and by rings,
therefor at the same moment, the stability of the shaft S is quite
confirmed.
[0022] Another embodiment of the disclosure is also provided
herein. If the shaft S does not have the flange F or the like as
once described above, the two side rings 31, 32 are only taken to
enclose up the base ring 2 at both sides, and the axial hydrostatic
blocks 4 as result then need to be removed except the radial
hydrostatic blocks 5. The oil from the oil lubrication system will
flow directly into the hydrostatic blocks 5 via the oil passages 21
and emerge out later from the oil outlet 52 to the surface of the
shaft S, as showed in FIG. 1 and as described above.
[0023] With helps of the detailed description of the two
embodiments above, the main progresses of the disclosure are simply
to provide a safe and easy way to be applied with to replace the
worn hydrostatic block in the nacelle or in other cabin without
disassembling any other components not relevant, or even without
replacing the whole expensive bearing assembly 1.
[0024] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the
disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of
the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the
disclosure cover modifications and variations of this disclosure
provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and
their equivalents.
* * * * *