Gas bearings

Claim 1

A GAS BEARING OF THE HYDRODYNAMIC PRESSURE TYPE INCLUDING AN ELEMENT MOVABLE ABOUT AN AXIS HAVING AN AXIAL BORE WITH A PRIMARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL CENTRAL AREA, RESPECTIVE SECONDARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL END AREAS AND RADIAL END AREAS, A HOUSING FOR THE MOVABLE ELEMENT PROVIDING A CLOSED RECEPTACLE FOR A COMPRESSIBLE GAS, A CYLINDRICAL BEARING ELEMENT CONNECTED IN FIXED RELATION TO THE HOUSING THREADING THE BORE OF THE MOVABLE ELEMENT, A PLURALITY OF POCKET PROVIDING CHANNELS WITH RESPECTIVE OPEN EXTERIOR ENDS AND RESPECTIVE INTERIOR END WALLS IN THE CURVED PERIPHERY OF ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF AN AXIAL LENGTH CORRESPONDING TO THE AXIAL DIMENSION OF ONE OF THE SECONDARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL END AREAS OF THE MOVABLE ELEMENT ARRANGED IN SYMMETRICAL CORRESPONDING DIAGONAL RELATION TO THE AXIS OF THE ELEMENT, A CORRESPONDING PLURALITY OF POCKET PROVIDING CHANNELS WITH RESPECTIVE OPEN EXTERIOR ENDS AND RESPECTIVE INTERIOR END WALLS IN THE CURVED PERIPHERY OF THE ONE OF THE ELEMENTS OF AN AXIAL LENGTH CORRESPONDING TO THE AXIAL DIMENSION OF THE OTHER OF THE SECONDARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL END AREAS OF THE MOVABLE ELEMENT ARRANGED IN SYMMETRICAL CORRESPONDING DIAGONAL RELATION TO THE AXIS OF THE ELEMENT OPPOSITE TO THAT OF THE ONE OF THE SECONDARY CHANNELS, A PAIR OF AXIALLY SPACED THRUST PADS MOUNTED ON THE FIXED BEARING ELEMENT IN JUXTAPOSED RELATION TO THE RESPECTIVE RADIAL END AREAS OF THE MOVABLE ELEMENT, AND MEANS FOR ROTATING THE MOVABLE ELEMENT WITH RESPECT TO THE BEARING ELEMENT AT A SPEED THAT PROVIDES A FILM OF GAS THEREBETWEEN HAVING ZONES OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE HYDRODYNAMIC GAS PRESSURE AT THE PRIMARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL CENTRAL AREA OF THE MOVING ELEMENT, HAVING POCKETED ZONES OF POSITIVE HYDRODYNAMIC GAS PRESSURE AT THE RESPECTIVE SECONDARY CIRCUMFERENTIAL END AREAS OF THE MOVING ELEMENT EXERTED RADIALLY OF THE AXIS, AND HAVING ZONES OF OPPOSING POSITIVE HYDRODYNAMIC GAS PRESSURE BETWEEN THE RESPECTIVE PADS AND THE RADIAL END AREAS OF THE MOVABLE ELEMENT EXERTED ALONG THE AXIS.