Method of centering a shaft in a bearing and hydrostatic bearing with high rigidity for carrying out this method

Claim 3

A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the supply of fluid to each of the chambers is varied selectively as a direct function of the variations of pressure in said chambers in response to radial forces of the shaft.

Claim 4

A hydrostatic bearing of high rigidity for carrying out the method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least one ring floating but angularly fixed in the interior of an annular housing surrounding the shaft supported by said bearing, into which housing there issues at least one supply of fluid under pressure, and ways selectively supplying said fluid to the radially opposed chambers of said bearing, said ring selectively controlling, by its displacement, the flow of said fluid through said ways, one of the faces of said ring constituting at least one movable wall with several cavities in communication, through said ways, each with at least one of the radially opposed chambers of said bearing each of said cavities communicating through a restriction with the supply of fluid under pressure.

Claim 5

A bearing according to claim 3, characterized in that the floating ring has parallel end faces and is mounted so as to be radially movable in all directions between two complementary parallel end faces of the bearing.

Claim 6

A bearing according to claim 3, characterized in that the restrictions comprise calibrated passages extending through the floating ring.

Claim 7

A bearing according to claim 4 characterized in that the ways are formed in a member fast with the bearing and situated opposite the planar end faces of said ring, said ways communicating through canals with the opposed radial chambers.

Claim 8

A bearing according to claim 4, characterized in that the ways are formed in the floating ring.

Claim 9

A bearing according to claim 4, characterized in that the ways are formed in the exterior surface of a fixed member fast with the bearing.

Claim 10

A bearing according to claim 3 characterized in that the cavities are hollowed in the floating ring.

Claim 11

A bearing according to claim 3 characterized in that the cavities are hollowed in the exterior surface of a fixed member fast with the bearing.

Claim 12

A bearing according to claim 5 characterized in that the floating ring forms an elongated sleeve one face of which co-operates with several cavities each fed through a fixed nozzle, the ways being formed by longitudinal grooves disposed between said cavities.

Claim 13

A bearing according to claim 11 characterized in that the sleeve co-operates axially with two series of cavities each of said cavities being angularly separated from its neighbor by a way.

Claim 14

A bearing according to claim 4 characterized in that the floating ring carries sealing members avoiding parasitic flows of fluid in parallel with those which pass through the restrictions.

Claim 15

A bearing according to claim 13 characterized in that at least one wall of the cavities is constituted by a surface of a fixed annular spacer co-axial with said bearing and situated opposite the floating ring.

Claim 16

A bearing according to claim 14 characterized in that the ways and the cavities are hollowed in the spacer.

Claim 17

A bearing according to claim 3 characterized in that it also includes means for balancing the shaft axially.

Claim 18

A bearing according to claim 3 characterized in that the aforementioned restrictors are disposed between the supply of fluid under pressure and the annular housing containing the floating ring.

Claim 19

A bearing according to claim 17 characterized in that each restrictor is formed between the sides of two orifices respectively belonging to two members co-axial with the shaft and angularly offset one relatively to the other.

Claim 20

A bearing according to claim 3 characterized in that the face of the floating ring opposite that face thereof forming a movable wall of the cavity is connected to the supply of fluid through an adjustable nozzle.

Claim 21

A bearing according to claim 17 characterized in that the entry faces of all the ways are situated in the same plane perpendicular to the axis of the bearing, facing a single front face of the floating ring resiliently urged against said plane and mounted in a manner so as to be able to effect very small rocking movements in the course of which its axis makes a very small angle relative to the axis of the bearing, to ensure the aforementioned control of the flow of fluid through the ways.

Claim 22

A bearing according to claim 20 characterized in that the cavities are hollowed into the said front face of the floating ring.

Claim 23

In a fluid pressure bearing for a journal, comprising a body, a cylindrical bearing member for said journal mounted in said body, said bearing member having openings and collector grooves positioned to provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced pressure zones about said journal, and duct means in said body for conducting fluid under pressure from an outside source through said openings to said pressure zones to hold said journal in a normal running position, said duct means including an annular space surrounding said bearing member and individual channels for establishing a communication between said annular space and each of said openings, the improvement comprising an annular flow rate control member disposed in said annular space and surrounding said bearing member with a clearance space therebetween so as to be bodily movable within said space relative to a median position in which said annular member being responsive, on the one hand, to the pressure fluid entering said annular space so as to move to said median position and, on the other hand, to any decrease in the rate of fluid flow through a given pressure zone so as to move from said median position in a direction and over a distance such as to cause a corresponding increase in the rate of fluid flow through said given pressure zone and a corresponding decrease in the rate of fluid flow through pressure zones opposing said given pressure zone.

Claim 24

In a fluid pressure bearing for a journal, comprising a body, a cylindrical bearing member for said journal mounted in said body, said bearing member having openings and collector grooves positioned to provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced pressure zones about said journal, and duct means in said body for conducting fluid under pressure from an outside source through said openings to said pressure zones to hold said journal in a normal running position, said duct means including an annular space surrounding said bearing member and individual channels for establishing a communication between said annular space and each of said openings, the improvement comprising an annular flow rate control member disposed in said annular space and surrounding said bearing member with a clearance space therebetween so as to be bodily movable within said space relative to a median position in which said annular member being responsive, on the one hand, to the pressure fluid entering said annular space so as to move to said median position and, on the other hand, to any decrease in the rate of fluid flow through a given pressure zone so as to move from said median position in a direction and over a distance such as to cause a corresponding increase in the rate of fluid flow through said given pressure zone and a corresponding decrease in the rate of fluid flow through pressure zones opposing said given pressure zone.