Vacuum Pump Bearing Support With Damped Hollow Spring Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vacuum pump supporting elements, such as those with spring arms, exhibit low damping characteristics due to temperature changes and chemical influences, and inadequately transmit radial movements of the bearing outer race, especially when using roller bearings, as the friction behavior varies significantly.
Innovation Solution
A supporting element with spring arms that incorporate hollow spaces filled with damping material, such as powder, to enhance damping characteristics, where the hollow spaces are enclosed to prevent material loss under negative pressure conditions, and manufactured using 3D printing to define the damping properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spring arms are used to connect inner and outer portions of the supporting element, then radial and axial forces are absorbed and dampened, but the damping characteristics are very low and vary with temperature and chemical substances
Solution Approach 1:
The spring arms are provided with hollow spaces that can be filled with damping material, creating a porous structure that enhances damping characteristics. This allows the spring arms to maintain consistent damping performance across varying temperature and chemical conditions by incorporating material that can be selected for environmental stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting element combines the spring arm structure with damping material to create a composite system. This composite approach integrates the mechanical flexibility of spring arms with the damping properties of the filling material, achieving reliable and consistent damping characteristics that are less sensitive to environmental changes.
2Force
If spring arms are used to connect bearing element to pump housing, then radial movements are transmitted, but the friction behavior varies to a very large extent causing inadequate transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow spaces in the spring arms can be filled with damping material that reduces friction variations. This porous structure allows for controlled deformation and more consistent friction behavior, improving the reliability of radial force transmission from the bearing element to the pump housing.
Solution Approach 2:
By modifying the spring arm structure to include hollow spaces and filling them with appropriate damping material, the physical parameters of the spring arms are changed. This alters the friction characteristics and deformation behavior, leading to more consistent radial force transmission across operating conditions.
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 solution significantly improves damping performance by allowing deformation of spring arms with damping material, maintaining consistent characteristics across varying conditions, effectively managing axial and radial forces in vacuum pumps.
Implementation Method 1
the spring arms each comprise at least one hollow space... for improving the damping characteristics it is provided that the spring arms each comprise at least one hollow space
Data Source
AI summary
A vacuum pump comprises stator elements in a pump housing. The stator elements cooperate with rotor elements. The rotor elements are held by a rotor shaft, wherein the rotor shaft is mounted in the pump housing via bearing elements. The bearing element is surrounded by a supporting element, wherein the supporting element comprises an inner portion, an outer portion and a plurality of spring arms connecting the inner portion (28) to the outer portion. Each spring arm comprises at least one hollow space.