Turbocharger bearing retention and lubrication system

Claim 1

Exhaust gas driven turbocharger comprising a housing, a shaft within said housing having an axis and a pair of ends, a compressor wheel mounted within said housing on one end of the shaft for rotation therewith, a turbine wheel mounted within said housing on the other end of the shaft for rotation therewith, means for communicating air to said compressor wheel, means for communicating exhaust gas to the turbine wheel to cause the latter to rotate the shaft and the compressor wheel mounted thereon to compress the air communicated to the compressor wheel, and bearing means mounting said shaft for rotation relative to the housing, said bearing means including a bearing outer ring, a bearing inner ring, and ball bearing elements supporting the bearing outer ring on the bearing inner ring, lubrication passage means for supplying lubricating fluid to said bearing elements, said lubrication passage means including a circumferentially extending groove in said outer bearing ring circumscribing the latter, said bearing outer ring cooperating with said housing to define a circumferentially extending intersticial space about said bearing outer race receiving a film of lubricating fluid from said groove to dampen movement of said bearing means, said outer ring engaging axially spaced sets of said bearing elements and includes a pair of said grooves and a pair of said feed passages for feeding lubricating fluid from a corresponding groove to a corresponding set of said bearing elements, each of said grooves being located between its corresponding set of bearing elements and the other groove, said bearing outer ring extending between said grooves and including means cooperating with the housing to inhibit communication of lubricating fluid from one groove to another.