A system and method for directing a fluid in a rotating machine is provided. The system may comprise a shaft, a fluid catching member, and a fluid jet. The fluid catching member may be positioned radially outward of the shaft. The fluid catching member may have a surface and a flange. The surface may extend radially outward from the shaft. The flange may extend radially along a portion of the shaft and way from the surface. The flange may bound, in part, a fluid catchment volume between the flange and a portion of the shaft. The fluid jet may be positioned radially outward of the fluid catching member flange. The fluid jet may be configured to eject a stream of fluid under pressure such that the stream of fluid has low angle of incidence with the surface of the fluid catching member at the first point where the stream contacts the surface.

The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide a thrust bearing cooling device which can improve the cooling efficiency of a thrust bearing. A thrust bearing cooling device comprising: a fluid storage tank in which a thrust bearing is installed and a fluid is stored, an outer surface of the fluid storage tank being exposed to external air; and at least one heat exchange fin provided in the fluid storage tank.

A control apparatus controls driving of an oil feeding unit. The oil feeding unit includes a piezoelectric body that deforms in response to a voltage applied thereto, and a reservoir to store lubricating oil. The capacity of the reservoir changes in accordance with deformation of the piezoelectric body so as to discharge lubricating oil from the oil feeding unit. The control apparatus includes N driving circuits 71a to 71n configured to apply voltages to the piezoelectric body (where N is an integer equal to or greater than two). The N driving circuits 71a to 71n are connected in parallel to the piezoelectric body. During oil feeding, the control apparatus uses a predetermined number of the driving circuits selected from the N driving circuits. The predetermined number is smaller than N.

Systems and methods are presented for directing oil to a bearing of a rotatable shaft. A system comprises a bearing race, a nozzle, and an oil catcher. The bearing race defines a first radial passage and a second radial passage axially displaced from the first radial passage. The nozzle is arranged to eject a stream of oil under pressure toward the shaft. The oil catcher is positioned between the bearing race and the shaft. The oil catcher comprises an annular catching flange at least partly defining a catchment region. The oil catcher defines a first channel extending from the catchment region to the first radial passage of the bearing race and a second channel extending from the catchment region to the second radial passage of the bearing race.

A rolling bearing device includes: a bearing portion that has an inner ring, an outer ring, a plurality of balls, and a cage that holds the plurality of balls; and an oil supply unit that supplies lubricating oil to the bearing portion. The oil supply unit has: a pump that discharges the lubricating oil through drive of a piezo element; a voltage boost portion that boosts a voltage to be applied to the piezo element; and a control portion that causes the pump to operate while varying a voltage boost time included in a period since the start of voltage boost by the voltage boost portion until the start of the drive of the piezo element.

A motor that ensures efficient supply of a lubricating oil to a mechanical seal and a bearing to reduce temperature rise in driving of a motor is provided. The motor includes a mechanical seal through which a rotary shaft of a rotor is inserted. The mechanical seal includes a seal ring and a mating ring. The seal ring has a sealing surface. The mating ring is secured to the rotary shaft. The mating ring has a sealing surface that contacts the sealing surface of the seal ring. The mating ring has a through hole on an outer edge side of the mating ring with respect to the sealing surface of the mating ring. The lubricating oil flows through the through hole to the bearing side.

A turbocharger includes a compressor housing, a turbo shaft, a bearing housing, a bearing cartridge, and a spacer. The compressor housing includes a backplate. The turbo shaft extends through the backplate and the bearing housing, and is rotatable about an axis. The backplate is positioned between an interior of the compressor housing and an interior of the bearing housing. The bearing cartridge is positioned in the bearing housing and rotatably supports the turbo shaft therein. The spacer is engaged with the bearing housing and an outer radial portion of the bearing cartridge to prevent rotation therebetween. The spacer includes a deflector formed integrally therewith that directs a lubricant axially away from the compressor housing.

A pump included in an oil supply unit includes a piezoelectric body that is repeatedly deformed when a pulsed drive voltage is applied from a drive unit. The pump discharges lubricant as the volume of a storage unit that stores fluid to be supplied decreases with deformation of the piezoelectric body. An abnormal discharge detection device that detects an abnormal fluid discharge operation of the pump includes: a measurement unit that measures a terminal voltage of the piezoelectric body; and a control unit functioning as a determination unit that determines if the discharge operation is being performed normally or not based on whether or not the measured terminal voltage has changed with time during application of a pulse of the drive voltage.

The invention relates to a compressor (20) for generating a compressed air flow for a fuel cell (10), having a compressor element (21), in particular a compressor wheel, wherein the compressor element (21) is coupled in a to a drive shaft (23) for co-rotation, the drive shaft (23) being driven by a motor (22), in particular an electric motor, wherein at least one hydrodynamic or hydrostatic bearing (24, 25) is used to mount the shaft (23) in a rotatable manner, wherein the plain bearing (24, 25) is connected to a lubricant supply means (30), which is used to supply a lubricant for hydrodynamic or hydrostatic pressure generation to the plain bearing (24, 25), wherein the lubricant is water or a fluid mixture, predominantly comprising water, wherein the plain bearing (24, 25) has a lubricant inlet and a lubricant outlet, wherein the lubricant can be routed to the plain bearing (24, 25) via the lubricant inlet and the lubricant can be discharged from the plain bearing (24, 25) via the lubricant outlet, and wherein a discharge area of the circulation system (30) is disposed in the area of the lubricant outlet. An operationally safe design can be implemented for such a compressor if provision is made for the cross-section area of the outlet of the liquid outlet of the plain bearing (24, 25) to be completely covered by the lubricant held in the discharge area.

The present invention provides an abnormality detector for a rolling bearing including an outer race, and an inner race. The abnormality detector includes a filter configured to prevent metal pieces contained in lubricating oil flowing through the bearing space between the outer and inner races from passing through the filter, while allowing the lubricating oil to pass through the filter so as to flow to the outside space of the bearing space; an electric circuit including a pair of permanent magnets mounted, as a pair of electrodes, to the filter so as to be spaced apart from each other, and lines extending from the respective electrodes to a power source; and an output detector configured to detect a change in electrical output from the electric circuit when metal pieces adhere between the pair of permanent magnets, thereby detecting the state of metal pieces contained in the lubricating oil.