Grooved Resilient Bushing for Shaft Misalignment and Shock Loads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing bushings for aligning rotatable shafts fail due to torque rating limitations, excessive misalignment leading to wear, and high operating temperatures causing rubber delamination, resulting in premature failure and costly repairs.
Innovation Solution
A compressively resilient bushing with a cylindrical sleeve made of materials like PEEK, featuring T-shaped grooves and ledges, optionally filled with an elastomer, providing flexibility and resilience to absorb shock loads and maintain alignment under varying conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rubber layer is used around the bushing to provide resilience, then the bushing can absorb shock loads and accommodate misalignment, but the rubber layer gets squashed under torque and causes the bushing and coupling to fail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rubber to compressively resilient material that maintains its elastic properties under compressive torque loads. This material parameter change allows the bushing to absorb shock loads while resisting squashing deformation, thereby resolving the contradiction between shock absorption capability and torque rating.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite structure with a compressively resilient material that combines the properties of elasticity and torque resistance. This composite material approach enables the bushing to simultaneously achieve shock absorption and maintain structural integrity under torque, preventing the failure mode of rubber layers being squashed.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the bushing accommodates a great degree of misalignment, then it can adjust shaft misalignment effectively, but excessive wear develops on the inside diameter causing the bushing and coupling to fail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter to compressively resilient material that resists wear while maintaining flexibility for misalignment accommodation. This material property change allows the bushing to handle greater misalignment degrees without developing excessive wear on the inside diameter, thereby extending service life.
Solution Approach 2:
The compressively resilient material provides beforehand cushioning against wear by absorbing the stresses of misalignment before they can cause damage to the inside diameter surface. This preventive cushioning effect allows the bushing to accommodate misalignment while protecting against excessive wear and extending operational duration.
3Temperature
If the bushing operates at higher temperatures, then it can withstand demanding operating conditions, but the rubber layer cooks and delaminates off the insert layer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from rubber to compressively resilient material with higher thermal stability. This material substitution eliminates the cooking and delamination issue at elevated temperatures while maintaining the desired resilient properties, thereby resolving the contradiction between temperature tolerance and layer adhesion stability.
4Ease of manufacture
If a solid cylindrical bushing is used, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but it cannot accommodate misalignment and absorbs shock loads effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by introducing circumferential grooves that divide the bushing wall into multiple segments. This segmentation allows the bushing to flex and accommodate misalignment while maintaining a relatively simple cylindrical structure that is easy to manufacture. The grooves create controlled flexibility without requiring complex internal structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible shell approach by creating a compressively resilient cylindrical structure with circumferential grooves that provide flexibility. This flexible shell design allows the bushing to absorb shock loads and accommodate misalignment while maintaining structural simplicity and ease of manufacture, avoiding the need for complex internal mechanisms.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The bushing effectively reduces vibrations, maintains alignment, and extends the service life by allowing the bushing to recover its shape and size after deformation, thereby preventing premature failure and reducing maintenance costs.
Implementation Method 1
a bushing having the ability to recover its size and shape after elastic deformation caused by compressive stress
Implementation Method 2
A plurality of T-shaped grooves through the outer wall extending longitudinally from the top of the cylindrical sleeve to a bottom of the cylindrical sleeve; each of said T-shape grooves having a ledge partially overlapping from the top of the cylindrical sleeve to a bottom of the cylindrical sleeve at opposite sides of said T-shape grooves, said ledges extending from the top of the cylindrical sleeve to a bottom of the cylindrical sleeve
Implementation Method 3
The bushing effectively reduces vibrations, maintains alignment, and extends the service life by allowing the bushing to recover its shape and size after deformation
Data Source
AI summary
A compressively resilient bushing useful for aligning shafts and couplings and adjusting shaft misalignment. They find use as component parts of shaft, and other coupling devices. It comprises a cylindrical sleeve having an outer wall, and a hollow core through. The cylindrical sleeve defines an inner wall of the cylindrical sleeve. The hollow core extends longitudinally from a top to a bottom of the cylindrical sleeve. The cylindrical sleeve comprises a compressively resilient material. Grooves through the outer wall are around a circumference of the cylindrical sleeve. T-shaped grooves through the outer wall extend longitudinally from the top to the bottom of the cylindrical sleeve. Each T-shape groove has a ledge partially overlapping from the top to the bottom of the cylindrical sleeve at opposite sides of. Said T-shape grooves and the ledges extend from the top to the bottom of the cylindrical sleeve.