Crankshaft thrust bearing and engine containing same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9677612-B2
Application number	US-201514717494-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2015
Priority date	Nov 28, 2012
Publication date	Jun 13, 2017
Grant date	Jun 13, 2017

Abstract

Improved fluid supply grooves in the face of an axial thrust bearing for a crankshaft are disclosed. The grooves have a larger cross-sectional area at the outer radius of the bearing body than at the inner radius of the bearing body.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A bearing assembly, comprising:
a semi-circular shaped bearing body with two sets of opposing faces;
a first set of the opposing faces including a radially outwardly facing surface and a radially inwardly facing surface;
a second set of the opposing faces including axially outwardly opposing faces;
a plurality of fluid supply grooves extending radially in one of said axially outwardly opposing faces of said bearing body; and
wherein at least one of said fluid supply grooves extends through and opens at the radially outwardly facing surface and opens at the radially inwardly facing surface, the at least one fluid supply groove having an outer opening with a larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface than a cross-sectional area of an exit opening of said fluid supply groove at the radially inwardly facing surface of said bearing body, wherein the exit opening is configured to allow a restricted fluid flow through the exit opening that maintains an oil supply in the at least one fluid supply groove that is gravity fed through the at least one outer opening.

2. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fluid supply groove is tapered from its larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface to its smaller cross-sectional area at the radially inwardly facing surface.

3. The bearing assembly of claim 2 , wherein the fluid supply groove has a continuously tapered width from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface.

4. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fluid supply groove has a constant width along at least a part of its length from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface and the groove is deeper at the radially outwardly facing surface than at the radially inwardly facing surface.

5. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein a depth of the fluid supply groove is constant from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface.

6. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of said plurality of fluid supply grooves has a larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface than a cross-sectional area of said fluid supply groove at the radially inwardly facing surface of said bearing body.

7. The bearing assembly of claim 1 , wherein the semi-circular shaped bearing body is configured to be positioned around a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine.

8. An apparatus comprising:
an internal combustion engine with a crankshaft having associated thrust bearings;
wherein at least one of said thrust bearings includes a semi-circular shaped bearing body with two sets of opposing faces;
a first set of the opposing faces including a radially outwardly facing surface and a radially inwardly facing surface;
a second set of the opposing faces including axially outwardly facing surfaces;
a plurality of fluid supply grooves extending radially in one of said axially outwardly facing surfaces of said bearing body; and
wherein at least one of said fluid supply grooves extends through and opens at the radially outwardly facing surface and opens at the radially inwardly facing surface, the at least one fluid supply groove having an outer opening with a larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface than the cross-sectional area of an exit opening of said fluid supply groove at the radially inwardly facing surface of said bearing, wherein the exit opening is configured to allow a restricted fluid flow through the exit opening that maintains an oil supply in the at least one fluid supply groove that is gravity fed through the at least one outer opening.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the fluid supply groove is tapered from its larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface to its smaller cross-sectional area at the radially inwardly facing surface.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the fluid supply groove has a continuously tapered width from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the fluid supply groove has a constant width along at least a part of its length from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface and the groove is deeper at the radially outwardly facing surface than at the radially inwardly facing surface.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein a depth of the fluid supply groove is constant from the radially outwardly facing surface to the radially inwardly facing surface.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein each of said plurality of fluid supply grooves has a larger cross-sectional area at the radially outwardly facing surface than the cross-sectional area of said fluid supply groove at the radially inwardly facing surface of said bearing body.

Assignees

• Cummins Inc

Inventors

• Gustafson Richard
• Perry April

Classifications

• F16C33/1065 Primary

  Grooves on a bearing surface for distributing or collecting the liquid · CPC title

• F16C33/046

  divided or split, e.g. half-bearings or rolled sleeves · CPC title

• F16C17/04

  for axial load only · CPC title

• F16C9/02

  Crankshaft bearings · CPC title