Rotary shaft supporting device

Claim 2

A rotary shaft supporting device comprising an annular housing, a plurality of resilient support members each arranged to generally follow a chord of one of the arcs obtained by equally dividing said annular housing, a resilient annular member disposed to contact at an outer circumferential surface thereof the geometrical centers of said supporting members, and a rotary shaft supporting bearing mounted on an inner circumference of said resilient annular member, said supporting members being corrugated, the amplitude of said corrugations extending in a direction parallel to the axis of said bearing.

Claim 3

The rotary shaft supporting device of claim 1, wherein the amplitudes of said corrugations are disposed asymmetrically on both sides of the geometrical center of each supporting member.

Claim 4

The rotary shaft supporting device of claim 2, wherein there are about the same number of individual corrugations on each side of the geometrical center of each supporting member, and the amplitude of the first corrugations on opposite sides of the center extend in different directions.

Claim 5

The rotary shaft supporting device of claim 1, wherein said device comprises a center bearing support for an automotive drive shaft.

Claim 6

A rotary shaft supporting device comprising an annular housing, a plurality of resilient supporting members each arranged to generally follow a chord of one of the arcs obtained by equally dividing said annular housing, a resilient annular member disposed to contact at its outer circumferential surface the geometrical centers of said resilient support members, and a rotary shaft supporting bearing mounted on the inner circumferential surface of said resilient annular member, wherein each of said resilient support members comprises two strips arranged in face-to-face relationship with spaces therebetween, forming flexing portions of said resilient support members.

Claim 7

A rotary shaft supporting device comprising an annular housing, a plurality of resilient supporting members each arranged to generally follow a chord of one of the arcs obtained by equally dividing said annular housing, a resilient annular member disposed to contact at its outer circumferential surface the geometrical centers of said resilient support members, and a rotary shaft supporting bearing mounted on the inner circumferential surface of said resilient annular member, wherein each of said resilient support members comprises two strips arranged in face-to-face relationship with spaces therebetween, forming flexing portions of said resilient support members.

Claim 8

A rotary shaft supporting member comprising an annular housing, a plurality of resilient supporting members each arranged to generally follow a chord of one of the arcs obtained by equally dividing said annular housing, each supporting member comprising a pair of spaced strips, a resilient annular member disposed to contact at an outer circumferential surface thereof the geometrical centers of said supporting members, and a rotary shaft supporting bearing mounted on an inner circumference of said resilient annular member.

Claim 9

A rotary shaft supporting member comprising an annular housing, a plurality of resilient supporting members each arranged to generally follow a chord of one of the arcs obtained by equally dividing said annular housing, each supporting member comprising a pair of spaced strips, a resilient annular member disposed to contact at an outer circumferential surface thereof the geometrical centers of said supporting members, and a rotary shaft supporting bearing mounted on an inner circumference of said resilient annular member.

Claim 10

A rotary shaft supporting device as defined in claim 6, wherein each of the strips of the pair is cured in a direction opposite to the direction of curvature of the other.