In order to effect a seal a porous material which comprises one side of two opposing surfaces is used to restrict and evenly distribute externally pressurized gas, liquid, steam, etc. between the two surfaces, exerting a force which is opposite the forces from pressure differences or springs trying to close the two faces together and so may create a non-contact seal that is more stable and reliable than hydrodynamic seals currently in use. A non-contact bearing is also disclosed having opposing surfaces with relative motion and one surface issuing higher than ambient pressure through a porous restriction, wherein the porous restriction is part of a monolithic porous body, or a porous layer, attached to lands containing a labyrinth, the porous restriction and lands configured to not distort more than 10% of a gap created from differential pressure between each side of the porous restriction.

A centrifugal compressor to be used in a chiller system includes a casing, an impeller, a motor and a diffuser. The casing has an inlet portion and an outlet portion. The impeller is attached to a shaft rotatable about a rotation axis, and has an impeller shroud which encloses the impeller. The motor rotates the shaft in order to rotate the impeller. The diffuser is disposed in the outlet portion downstream of the impeller. The centrifugal compressor further includes a seal bearing. The seal bearing is attached to the inlet portion to seal the impeller shroud, and rotatably supports the impeller and the shaft.

A centrifugal compressor includes a rotation shaft, an impeller, a housing including a first chamber, a second chamber of which pressure is lower than the first chamber, and a partition wall that partitions the first chamber and the second chamber and includes a through hole through which the rotation shaft is inserted, and a seal member arranged in the housing. The seal member includes a gas seal and a support. When the rotation shaft is rotating, the gas seal surrounds an outer circumferential surface of the rotation shaft in a non-contact state in which dynamic pressure forms a gap between the gas seal and the outer circumferential surface of the rotation shaft. The support supports the gas seal in a state in which the gas seal is movable in a direction intersecting an axial direction of the rotation shaft.

A bearing and/or seal assembly where pressurized gas (e.g., air) may be arranged to produce a contact-free bearing and/or seal is provided. The assembly includes a permeable body (12) including structural features (13) selectively engineered to convey a pressurized gas (Ps) from an inlet side (20) side of the permeable body to an outlet side (22) of the permeable body to form an annular film of the pressurized gas relative to the rotatable shaft. Disclosed embodiments may be produced by way of three-dimensional (3D) Printing/Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies with practically no manufacturing variability; and may also cost-effectively and reliably benefit from the relatively complex geometries and the features and/or conduits that may be involved to, for example, form the desired distribution pattern or impart a desired directionality to the pressurized gas conveyed through the permeable body of the bearing and/or seal assembly.

A dustproof seal structure includes a rotor assembly and a stator assembly rotatably supporting the rotor assembly. The stator assembly forms a horizontal thrust aerostatic bearing between a lower surface of the thrust plate and an upper surface of the stator assembly when compressed air is supplied between the lower surface of the thrust plate and the upper surface of the stator assembly. The thrust plate and the stator assembly form a sealing portion through which the compressed air flows. The sealing portion includes an inclined flow path whose height increases from an outer peripheral surface of the thrust plate toward the inside in a radial direction.

A method and apparatus for coating and baking and deposition of surfaces on glass substrate or flexible substrate, such as films and thin glass sheets or other similar work pieces as it transitions thru and between small gaps of aero-static or hydro-static porous media bearings and differentially pumped vacuum grooves, in a non-contact manner, in order to process within a vacuum environment. The process is also intended to incorporate simultaneous and immediately sequential ordering of various processes.

Apparatus and methods for controlling a pressure differential across one or more seals of a bearing chamber in a gas turbine engine are disclosed. In some embodiments, the apparatus comprises a scavenge pump in fluid communication with an interior of the bearing chamber for driving oil from the bearing chamber; and a venting valve. The venting valve is configured to cause venting of the interior of the bearing chamber in parallel to the scavenge pump based on the pressure differential across the one or more seals.

A vacuum pump (100) includes a rotor (22b), a rotor blade (13), and a magnetic-bearing-integrated stator (22a) including a coil. The rotor includes a pair of spacer members (29), a support member (27), a permanent magnet (26), and a protective ring (28), and in an axial direction of a rotary shaft (11), the support member has a mechanical strength higher than that of the protective ring.

A centrifugal compressor to be used in a chiller system includes a casing, an impeller, a motor and a diffuser. The casing has an inlet portion and an outlet portion. The impeller is attached to a shaft rotatable about a rotation axis, and has an impeller shroud which encloses the impeller. The motor rotates the shaft in order to rotate the impeller. The diffuser is disposed in the outlet portion downstream of the impeller. The centrifugal compressor further includes a seal bearing. The seal bearing is attached to the inlet portion to seal the impeller shroud, and rotatably supports the impeller and the shaft.

In order to effect a seal a porous material which comprises one side of two opposing surfaces is used to restrict and evenly distribute externally pressurized gas, liquid, steam, etc. between the two surfaces, exerting a force which is opposite the forces from pressure differences or springs trying to close the two faces together and so may create a non-contact seal that is more stable and reliable than hydrodynamic seals currently in use. A non-contact bearing is also disclosed having opposing surfaces with relative motion and one surface issuing higher than ambient pressure through a porous restriction, wherein the porous restriction is part of a monolithic porous body, or a porous layer, attached to lands containing a labyrinth, the porous restriction and lands configured to not distort more than 10% of a gap created from differential pressure between each side of the porous restriction.