Thrust bearing device

Claim 1

A thrust bearing device of an electric motor lubricated by liquid within a casing, comprising: a rotary disk fixed on a primary shaft of said motor, said rotary disk defining a sliding surface thereon; and a metal one-piece unitary sliding shoe member comprising an annular base having a bottom surface, a plurality of ribs extending from said base, and a plurality of segmental shoes spaced from each other in a circumferential direction of said base and extending directly from said ribs so as to be supported over said base by said ribs, said ribs spacing said segmental shoes apart from one another in said circumferential direction above said base, said segmental shoes defining sliding surfaces thereon in sliding contact with the sliding surface of said rotary disk, and said unitary sliding shoes member fixed to a bracket of the motor so as to be disposed on a retaining surface of the bracket, said device defining gaps between said retaining surface and the bottom surface of said base at respective locations corresponding to the positions at which said shoes are supported over said base by said ribs to prevent local contact of the sliding surfaces of said segmental shoes owing to manufacturing tolerances of the sliding surface of the rotary disk and the retaining surface of the bracket.