Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
111 words
A shaft vibration evaluator for evaluating dynamic loading imposed on a bearing in a fluid film journal bearing, comprising: means for sensing lateral displacement of said shaft with respect to said bearing along first and second angularly spaced apart axes to produce first and second displacement signals; means responsive to said first and second displacement signals for calculating ellipse parameters of an elliptical orbit of an axis of said journal; means for calculating a set of spring and damping coefficients of said fluid film journal bearings; and means responsive to said ellipse parameters and said spring and damping coefficients for calculating a value related to a dynamic load on said bearing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
111 words
A shaft vibration evaluator for evaluating dynamic loading imposed on a bearing in a fluid film journal bearing, comprising: means for sensing lateral displacement of said shaft with respect to said bearing along first and second angularly spaced apart axes to produce first and second displacement signals; means responsive to said first and second displacement signals for calculating ellipse parameters of an elliptical orbit of an axis of said journal; means for calculating a set of spring and damping coefficients of said fluid film journal bearings; and means responsive to said ellipse parameters and said spring and damping coefficients for calculating a value related to a dynamic load on said bearing.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
21 words
A shaft vibration sensor according to claim 1 wherein said means for sensing lateral displacement includes first and second proximity sensors.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 2 wherein said first axis includes an axis of a static load on said shaft and said second axis is tangentially spaced 90 degrees from said first axis.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
88 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 1 wherein said means for calculating ellipse parameters includes means for sensing first and second maxima of said first and second signals and a phase angle between said first and second maxima, said means for calculating ellipse parameters being responsive to said first and second maxima and said phase angle to calculate a major axis, a minor axis and an angular displacement of at least one of said major and minor axes from said first and second angularly spaced apart axes.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
38 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 1 wherein said means for calculating a set of spring and damping coefficients includes means for calculating an eccentricity ratio and means responsive to said eccentricity ratio for calculating said coefficients.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 5 wherein said means for calculating an eccentricity ratio includes means for sensing a speed of said shaft and means for sensing a temperature of a lubricant in said bearing.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
28 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 6 wherein said means for sensing a speed is responsive to at least one of said first and second displacement signals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
42 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 5 wherein said means for calculating an eccentricity includes means for sensing a mean lift and a displacement of said journal during starting of said shaft whereby a mean center of said ellipse is determined.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
A shaft vibration evaluator according to claim 1 wherein said means for calculating a value related to a dynamic load includes means for calculating a ratio of a dynamic load to a maximum permitted load.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
104 words
A method for evaluating a dynamic loading imposed on a bearing in a fluid film journal bearing comprising: sensing lateral displacement of said shaft with respect to said bearing along first and second angularly spaced apart axes to produce first and second displacement signals; calculating ellipse parameters of an elliptical orbit of an axis of said journal in response to said first and second displacement signals; calculating a set of spring and damping coefficients of said fluid film journal bearing; and calculating a value related to a dynamic load on said bearing in response to said ellipse parameter and said spring and damping coefficients.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
104 words
A method for evaluating a dynamic loading imposed on a bearing in a fluid film journal bearing comprising: sensing lateral displacement of said shaft with respect to said bearing along first and second angularly spaced apart axes to produce first and second displacement signals; calculating ellipse parameters of an elliptical orbit of an axis of said journal in response to said first and second displacement signals; calculating a set of spring and damping coefficients of said fluid film journal bearing; and calculating a value related to a dynamic load on said bearing in response to said ellipse parameter and said spring and damping coefficients.