Pump Bearing Asymmetry for Leakage-Safe Sealing Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pump bearing arrangements with two separate bearings lead to high internal leakages and inefficiencies due to alignment issues and surface discontinuities, making it difficult to seal effectively.
Innovation Solution
A pump bearing design featuring eccentric seal grooves and asymmetric pressure balance grooves that extend beyond 30 degrees, with tapered ends and varying depths, to ensure proper alignment and sealing, reducing internal leakages and improving efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If two separate bearings are used for drive side and driven side, then the bearing can be simpler to manufacture, but internal leakages increase and sealing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two separate bearings into a single integrated bearing structure that supports both the drive side and driven side shafts. This merging eliminates the interface between two separate bearing components, removing the source of surface discontinuities and enabling effective sealing across the entire bearing assembly, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and sealing effectiveness.
2Ease of manufacture
If two separate bearings are used, then manufacturing is easier, but alignment issues and surface discontinuities occur
Solution Approach 1:
The single integrated bearing structure eliminates the need to align two separate bearing components, thereby eliminating surface discontinuities and alignment precision issues while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through the unified design.
3Reliability
If a single piece bearing encompassing both drive and driven side bores is used, then sealing is easier, but alignment issues arise due to tolerancing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces asymmetric pressure balance grooves with different extensions on opposite sides of the bearing. This asymmetric geometry creates differential pressure forces that actively compensate for tolerancing variations in the housing bore and bearing outer profile, thereby maintaining precise alignment and resolving the contradiction between sealing effectiveness and alignment precision.
4Device complexity
If conventional two piece bearing arrangement is used, then device complexity is lower, but internal leakages increase causing inefficiencies
Solution Approach 1:
The single integrated bearing structure eliminates the interface between two separate bearing pieces, removing the leakage path that causes internal losses. This merging maintains relatively simple device complexity while dramatically reducing internal leakages and the associated energy inefficiencies.
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 design enhances reliability and stability by minimizing internal leakages and alignment issues, improving sealing efficiency and reducing the size and power requirements of the pump.
Implementation Method 1
The pressure groove surrounding the angular portion of the first bearing bore extends to 30 degrees with respect to a centerline of the top face in a clockwise direction and the pressure groove surrounding the angular portion of the first bearing bore extends greater than 30 degrees with respect to a centerline of the top face in a counter-clockwise direction
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A pump bearing including a top face (102), a side face (104) peripherally surrounding the top face, a bottom face (106) opposed to the top face, a first bearing bore (108) projecting from the top face to the bottom face, an edge (114) defined where the top face meets the side face, and an asymmetric pressure balance groove (112) defined within a portion of the edge of the top face and the side face defining first depth from the top face.