Thrust bearing underspring

Claim 2

A fluid thrust bearing comprising: a thrust runner; a thrust plate to rotatably support the thrust runner; and a compliant foil bearing operably disposed between said thrust runner and said thrust plate and mounted on said thrust plate, said compliant foil bearing including a thrust disk having a plurality of converging surface individual compliant foils disposed towards said thrust runner and a foil stiffener disk disposed between the thrust disk and the thrust plate, the foil stiffener disk including a plurality of integral tabs formed from said foil stiffener disk and extending towards said thrust disk in the direction of rotation of said thrust runner with an individual tab generally disposed in a supporting relationship towards an individual foil on said thrust disk and said tabs divided into at least two prongs having a generally arcuate curvature.

Claim 3

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of tabs having a base at the foil stiffener disk and a free end extending therefrom and includes a first radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the free end of said tab and a second radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the base of said tab.

Claim 4

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 2 wherein the first bump has a height generally between 0.0005 inches and 0.030 inches greater than the height of the second bump.

Claim 5

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of tabs includes a single radially extending bump thereacross.

Claim 6

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 4 wherein the radially extending bumps have a height generally between 0.003 inches to 0.060 inches.

Claim 7

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 4 wherein the bumps radially outwardly diverge.

Claim 8

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 6 wherein the bumps have sides which are radial lines.

Claim 9

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 4 wherein said converging surface compliant foils are individually mounted upon said thrust disk.

Claim 10

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 4 wherein said converging surface compliant foils are integral with said thrust disk.

Claim 11

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of tabs is divided into three prongs.

Claim 12

A fluid thrust bearing comprising: a thrust runner; a thrust plate to rotatably support the thrust runner; and a compliant foil bearing operably disposed between said thrust runner and said thrust plate and mounted on said thrust plate, said compliant foil bearing including a thrust disk having a plurality of converging surface compliant foils disposed towards said thrust runner and a foil stiffener disk disposed between the thrust disk and the thrust plate, the foil stiffener disk including a plurality of first tabs extending in the direction of rotation of said thrust runner toward said thrust disk with an individual tab generally disposed in a supporting relationship towards an individual foil on said thrust disk and said first tabs divided into at least two generally arcuate prongs, said foil stiffener disk also including a plurality of second tabs extending in a generally radial direction towards said thrust plate.

Claim 13

A fluid thrust bearing comprising: a thrust runner; a thrust plate to rotatably support the thrust runner; and a compliant foil bearing operably disposed between said thrust runner and said thrust plate and mounted on said thrust plate, said compliant foil bearing including a thrust disk having a plurality of converging surface compliant foils disposed towards said thrust runner and a foil stiffener disk disposed between the thrust disk and the thrust plate, the foil stiffener disk including a plurality of first tabs extending in the direction of rotation of said thrust runner toward said thrust disk with an individual tab generally disposed in a supporting relationship towards an individual foil on said thrust disk and said first tabs divided into at least two generally arcuate prongs, said foil stiffener disk also including a plurality of second tabs extending in a generally radial direction towards said thrust plate.

Claim 14

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein stiffness of the first tabs is greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 15

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 12 wherein the stiffness of the first tabs is at least 10 2 times greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 16

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 13 wherein the stiffness of the first tabs is between 10 2 and 10 5 times greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 17

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein the second tabs are arcuate.

Claim 18

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein the second tabs are generally straight.

Claim 19

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein the height of the upwardly extending generally arcuate tabs is between 0.003 and 0.060 inches.

Claim 20

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein said converging surface compliant foils are individually mounted upon said thrust disk.

Claim 21

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein said converging surface compliant foils are integral with said thrust disk.

Claim 22

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein each of said plurality of tabs includes two radially extending bumps thereacross.

Claim 23

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 20 wherein each of said plurality of first tabs having a base and a free end and includes a first radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the free end of said tab and a second radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the base of said tab.

Claim 24

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 21 wherein the first bump has a height generally between 0.0005 inches and 0.030 inches greater than the height of the second bump.

Claim 25

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein each of said plurality of first tabs includes at least one radially extending bump thereacross.

Claim 26

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 23 wherein the radially extending bumps have a height generally between 0.003 inches to 0.060 inches.

Claim 27

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 24 wherein the radially extending bumps have a radial length generally between 0.2 inches and 8.0 inches.

Claim 28

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 23 wherein the bumps radially outwardly diverge.

Claim 29

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 26 wherein the bumps have sides which are radial lines.

Claim 30

The fluid thrust bearing of claim 11 wherein each of said plurality of tabs is divided into three prongs.

Claim 31

An underspring for a foil thrust bearing comprising: a compliant ring disk; and a plurality of tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk with each tab divided into at least two prongs having a generally arcuate curvature with respect to said ring disk and having at least one radially extending bump thereacross.

Claim 32

An underspring for a foil thrust bearing comprising: a compliant ring disk; and a plurality of tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk with each tab divided into at least two prongs having a generally arcuate curvature with respect to said ring disk and having at least one radially extending bump thereacross.

Claim 33

The underspring of claim 29 wherein each of said plurality of tabs includes two radially extending bumps thereacross.

Claim 34

The underspring of claim 30 wherein each of said plurality of tabs having a base at the foil stiffener disk and a free end extending therefrom and includes a first radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the free end of said tab and a second radially extending bump thereacross disposed near the base of said tab.

Claim 35

The underspring of claim 31 wherein the first bump has a height generally between 0.0005 inches and 0.030 inches greater than the height of the second bump.

Claim 36

The underspring of claim 29 wherein the radially extending bumps have a height generally between 0.003 inches to 0.060 inches.

Claim 37

The underspring of claim 29 wherein the bumps radially outwardly diverge.

Claim 38

The underspring of claim 34 wherein the bumps have sides which are radial lines.

Claim 39

The underspring of claim 20, wherein each of said plurality of tabs is divided into three prongs.

Claim 40

An underspring for a foil thrust bearing comprising: a compliant ring disk having first and second opposed flat surfaces: a plurality of first tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk extending from the first flat surface thereof, said first tabs divided into at least two prongs having a generally arcuate curvature and including at least one radially extending bump thereacross; and a plurality of second tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk and generally extending in a radial direction from the second flat surface thereof.

Claim 41

An underspring for a foil thrust bearing comprising: a compliant ring disk having first and second opposed flat surfaces: a plurality of first tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk extending from the first flat surface thereof, said first tabs divided into at least two prongs having a generally arcuate curvature and including at least one radially extending bump thereacross; and a plurality of second tabs integral with and formed from said ring disk and generally extending in a radial direction from the second flat surface thereof.

Claim 42

The underspring of claim 37 wherein the stiffness of the first tabs is greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 43

The underspring of claim 38 wherein the stiffness of the first tabs is at least 10 2 times greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 44

The underspring of claim 39 wherein the stiffness of the first tabs is between 10 2 and 10 5 times greater than the stiffness of the second tabs.

Claim 45

The underspring of claim 37 wherein the second tabs are generally straight.

Claim 46

The underspring of claim 37 wherein the height of the first tabs is between 0.003 and 0.060 inches from the surface of the compliant ring disk.