Gas bearing assembly

Claim 1

In a gas bearing assembly for a rotary shaft including a plurality of pads concentrically arranged about said shaft each defining an arcuate inner surface arranged to extend circumferentially of said shaft in proximity thereto, said pads being arranged such that there is provided at least one non-load bearing pad which does not receive the load of said shaft and at least a plurality of load-bearing pads which receive the load of said shaft, first pivot means connected to a fixed support and having said load-bearing pads pivotally supported thereon, and second pivot means connected to a fixed support through a resilient interconnecting member and having said non-load bearing pad pivotally supported thereon, each of said pads being positioned to have a leading edge and a trailing edge spaced apart circumferentially of said shaft and being defined relative to the direction of rotation of said shaft, with each of said pivot means being respectively connected to each of said pads at a point on the side of said pads toward the leading edge thereof, the improvement comprising spring means provided separately from said second pivot means connected to abut said non-load-bearing pad at said leading edge thereof at a point spaced from the point from which said second pivot means supports said non-load bearing pad to impart a force biasing said non-load bearing pad radially inwardly of said shaft at a point proximate said leading edge thereof.