Turbocharger Variable Turbine Geometry Guide Ring Spacer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing turbocharger designs with variable turbine geometry (VTG) have a complex assembly process due to a large number of components, requiring laborious production and assembly steps, which complicates the manufacturing and installation of the spacer device, leading to increased material usage and space requirements.
Innovation Solution
A simplified design using a guide ring with profiled ring parts that can be easily plugged onto the blade bearing ring and disk, reducing the number of components and machining steps, and incorporating a cast or sheet metal design with integrated disk and flange for improved support and sealing, while minimizing material waste through streamlined production processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If threaded pins are used as a spacer device, then the flow duct width can be defined, but the number of components increases and assembly becomes laborious
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the spacer function with the guide ring structure itself. The guide ring is designed with an integrated spacer device that includes a bearing surface and positioning features, eliminating the need for separate threaded pins. This single integrated component performs both the spacing function to define flow duct width and the guiding function for the VTG blades, thereby reducing component count while maintaining manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide ring is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously serves as a spacer device, a bearing support, and a positioning element. The integrated spacer device within the guide ring provides the flow duct width definition, while the guide ring itself supports the VTG blades and positions them correctly. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated spacer components.
2Manufacturing precision
If threaded pins are used as a spacer device, then the flow duct width can be defined, but the number of machining steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer functionality is merged into the guide ring structure, which is produced as a single cast component. This eliminates the need for separate machining operations to create bores, threads, and outer diameter enlargements that would be required for threaded pins. The integrated design allows the flow duct width to be defined during the casting process itself, significantly reducing the number of subsequent machining steps.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a machined spacer component (threaded pins requiring multiple machining operations) to a cast integrated guide ring with built-in spacer features. By changing the manufacturing method from machining to casting, the flow duct width parameter can be directly formed during the casting process, eliminating multiple subsequent machining steps while maintaining the required precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If a complex spacer device with multiple components is used, then the flow duct width can be precisely defined, but the outer diameter of the cartridge increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of the spacer device into the guide ring structure eliminates the need for additional external spacer components that would increase the cartridge outer diameter. The merged design allows the spacer functionality to be achieved within the existing guide ring footprint, maintaining a compact cartridge diameter while still precisely defining the flow duct width through the integrated bearing surface and positioning features.
4Manufacturing precision
If multiple assembly steps are required for the spacer device, then the flow duct width can be precisely defined, but the assembly expenditure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of the spacer device into the guide ring creates a single assembly unit that is installed as one component. This eliminates the multiple assembly steps required for separate threaded pins, including bore creation, thread formation, pin installation, welding, and distortion measurement. The integrated guide ring with its built-in spacer features is positioned and secured in a single assembly operation, dramatically reducing assembly expenditure while maintaining precise flow duct width definition.
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer features are pre-integrated into the guide ring structure during manufacturing, so that when the guide ring is assembled, the flow duct width is already precisely defined by the built-in bearing surface and positioning features. This preliminary integration of the spacer functionality eliminates the need for on-site assembly operations to create bores, threads, and mount separate spacer components, reducing assembly expenditure while ensuring precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A turbocharger (15) with variable turbine geometryhaving a blade bearing ring arrangement (1) which has a blade bearing ring (2) and a disk (3) which can be fixed to the blade bearing ring (2) to form a flow duct (4);having a spacer device (5) which is arranged between the blade bearing ring (2) and the disk (3) to set a defined width (B) of the flow duct (4), whereinthe spacer device (5) is designed as a guide ring (6) which has spacer profiles (7) whose height (H) corresponds to the width (B) of the flow duct (4).