Aligning means for bearings

Claim 2

A bearing support for a rotating shaft subject to translation along its axis of rotation comprising housing means having a clearance bore therein, bearing means disposed within said bore and adapted to support said shaft therein for rotation about said axis, said shaft and bearing means being subject to translational motion along said axis with respect to said housing means, and at least one annular shaped O-ring resilient means being annularly and radially resilient disposed within a perimetrical groove formed in the surface of said clearance bore between said housing means and said bearing means for maintaining said shaft substantially aligned along said axis with respect to said housing means, said annular shaped resilient means being free to rotate about its circumferential axis in said clearance bore in response to translational motion of said shaft thereby accommodating translational and radial motion between said shaft and said housing means along said axis with only minimal frictional resistance.

Claim 3

A bearing support as recited in claim 1 in which said perimetrical groove formed in the surface of said clearance bore includes a groove having a depth at least in part less than the diameter of the annulus of said O-ring.

Claim 4

A bearing support as recited in claim 1 in which said resilient means includes a pair of O-rings disposed within perimetrical grooves formed in the surface of said clearance bore, the depth of said grooves being at least in part less than the diameter of the annulus of said O-ring.

Claim 5

A bearing support as recited in claim 3 wherein the relative radial dimensions of said bore and bearing means are such as to form a gap therebetween and an incompressible viscous fluid is disposed within said gap and contained by said O-rings.

Claim 6

A bearing as recited in claim 1 in which said resilient means includes at least one O-ring disposed within a perimetrical groove formed in the surface of said bearing means.

Claim 7

A bearing arrangment for supporting at least one journal of a rotor element in a housing member for rotation about an axis, the combination comprising a bore within said housing member, a ball bearing means for supporting said journal within said bore and including at least one pair of ball bearings in a bearing cartridge therefor adapted to provide a predetermined bearing preload regardless of axial translation of said journal, said cartridge adapted to fit within said housing bore with a radial clearance sufficient to provide translational movement of said journal relative to said bore over an operating temperature range, and at least one annular shaped o-ring resilient means being annularly and radially resilient, disposed within a perimetrical groove formed in the surface of said bore for maintaining said journal axis substantially radially fixed relative to said housing member bore, said annular shaped resilient means being free to rotate aboUt its circumferential axis in said clearance bore in response to translational motion of said cartridge thereby permitting said axial translation of said cartridge over said temperature range with minimal frictional resistance.

Claim 8

A bearing arrangment for supporting at least one journal of a rotor element in a housing member for rotation about an axis, the combination comprising a bore within said housing member, a ball bearing means for supporting said journal within said bore and including at least one pair of ball bearings in a bearing cartridge therefor adapted to provide a predetermined bearing preload regardless of axial translation of said journal, said cartridge adapted to fit within said housing bore with a radial clearance sufficient to provide translational movement of said journal relative to said bore over an operating temperature range, and at least one annular shaped o-ring resilient means being annularly and radially resilient, disposed within a perimetrical groove formed in the surface of said bore for maintaining said journal axis substantially radially fixed relative to said housing member bore, said annular shaped resilient means being free to rotate aboUt its circumferential axis in said clearance bore in response to translational motion of said cartridge thereby permitting said axial translation of said cartridge over said temperature range with minimal frictional resistance.

Claim 9

A bearing as recited in claim 6 in which said resilient means includes an O-ring disposed in a first groove adjacent one end of said bearing cartridge and a further O-ring disposed in a second groove adjacent the other end or said bearing cartridge.

Claim 10

A bearing as recited in claim 7 in which the radial dimensions of said O-rings of said bore and bearing cartridge are such as to form a gap therebetween and a viscous fluid disposed within said gap between said O-rings for damping any radial motion between said bearing cartridge and housing.

Claim 11

A bearing arrangement as set forth in claim 7 wherein said grooves are eccentric with respect to the axis of said bore, the degree of eccentricity being such that said O-rings resiliently but positively restrain, under normal operation, said bearing cartridge against one wall of said housing bore whereby to positively fix said journal axis relative to said housing member while simultaneously permitting said axial translation over said temperature range.