A bearing assembly is for supporting a pivotable member and includes a laminated bearing having a generally cylindrical body with a centerline and a central bore for receiving at least a portion of the pivotable member. The body is formed of a plurality of alternating, generally tubular elastomeric and metallic laminae nested coaxially about the central axis, each one of the elastomeric and metallic laminae having opposing axial ends. At least one and preferably two thermally conductive members are coupled with a separate one of the two axial ends of one of the metallic laminae and each extends generally axially from the bearing body so as to provide a heat sink.

A bearing assembly is for supporting a pivotable member and includes a laminated bearing having a generally cylindrical body with a centerline and a central bore for receiving at least a portion of the pivotable member. The body is formed of a plurality of alternating, generally tubular elastomeric and metallic laminae nested coaxially about the central axis, each one of the elastomeric and metallic laminae having opposing axial ends. At least one and preferably two thermally conductive members are coupled with a separate one of the two axial ends of one of the metallic laminae and each extends generally axially from the bearing body so as to provide a heat sink.

The invention provides a gear pump bearing block and method of manufacturing gear pump bearing block. Bearing block includes bush formed of antifriction alloy, having a cylindrical portion providing bore adapted to receive bearing shaft of a gear of pump, and further having a flange portion extending radially outwardly at end of cylindrical portion to provide thrust face adapted to slidingly engage with side surface of gear. Bearing block also has backing layer covering radially outer surface of cylindrical portion and rear face of flange portion, backing layer being formed of relatively less dense alloy compared to antifriction alloy. Furthermore, there is an annular formation of one or more stiffening members, formation surrounding bore, the, or each, stiffening member being embedded in flange portion, and the, or each, stiffening member being formed of material having higher elastic modulus than antifriction alloy.

The invention provides a gear pump bearing block and method of manufacturing gear pump bearing block. Bearing block includes bush formed of antifriction alloy, having a cylindrical portion providing bore adapted to receive bearing shaft of a gear of pump, and further having a flange portion extending radially outwardly at end of cylindrical portion to provide thrust face adapted to slidingly engage with side surface of gear. Bearing block also has backing layer covering radially outer surface of cylindrical portion and rear face of flange portion, backing layer being formed of relatively less dense alloy compared to antifriction alloy. Furthermore, there is an annular formation of one or more stiffening members, formation surrounding bore, the, or each, stiffening member being embedded in flange portion, and the, or each, stiffening member being formed of material having higher elastic modulus than antifriction alloy.

A flexure bearing includes an inner race, an outer race, and a plurality of substantially planar radially extending blades coupled between the inner and outer race. The blades have a thickness that is thinner than a thickness of the inner and outer races. The inner race, outer race, and blades have substantially the same height. At least one heating element is coupled to the inner race and/or the outer race. The heating element is configured to apply heat to the race that it is coupled to in order to tune the flexure bearing.

A flexure bearing includes an inner race, an outer race, and a plurality of substantially planar radially extending blades coupled between the inner and outer race. The blades have a thickness that is thinner than a thickness of the inner and outer races. The inner race, outer race, and blades have substantially the same height. At least one heating element is coupled to the inner race and/or the outer race. The heating element is configured to apply heat to the race that it is coupled to in order to tune the flexure bearing.

A boss is provided around the periphery of a bushing that is penetrated by a shaft, which moves inside the bushing in the axial direction of the shaft. The boss retains the bushing and the shaft moving inside the bushing, and has a heat conductivity that is higher than that of the bushing. An air gap is provided between the bushing and the boss.

A boss is provided around the periphery of a bushing that is penetrated by a shaft, which moves inside the bushing in the axial direction of the shaft. The boss retains the bushing and the shaft moving inside the bushing, and has a heat conductivity that is higher than that of the bushing. An air gap is provided between the bushing and the boss.

A gear pump bearing block has a bush formed of antifriction alloys. The bush has a cylindrical portion providing a bore adapted to receive a bearing shaft of a gear of the pump. It further has a thrust face at the end of the cylindrical portion, the thrust face being adapted to slidingly engage with a side surface of the gear. The bush has an inner component providing the bore, and an outer component forming a radially outer surface of the cylindrical portion. The inner and outer components are formed of respective lead bronze alloys, the lead bronze alloy of the outer component having a higher lead content than the lead bronze alloy of the inner component.

A bearing, for supporting a rotation shaft of a rotatable member, capable of being supported by a supporting portion provided with an engaging hole engageable with the bearing includes positioning projections having contact surfaces and bearing projections having sliding surfaces on which an outer peripheral surface of the rotation shaft slides. The positioning projections project from different positions so that between adjacent positioning projections, an outer peripheral surface of the bearing and the inner wall surface of the engaging hole form a gap therebetween. The bearing projections project from different positions so that between adjacent bearing projections, an inner peripheral surface of the bearing and an outer peripheral surface of the rotation shaft form a gap therebetween. With respect to a circumferential direction of the rotation shaft, the positioning projections and the bearing projections are provided at positions different from each other.