A rotary blood pump includes a casing defining a pumping chamber. The pumping chamber has a blood inlet and a tangential blood outlet. One or more motor stators are provided outside of the pumping chamber. A rotatable impeller is within the pumping chamber and is adapted to cause blood entering the pumping chamber to move to the blood outlet. The impeller has one or more magnetic regions. The impeller is radially constrained in rotation by magnetic coupling to one or more motor stators and is axially constrained in rotation by one or more hydrodynamic thrust bearing surfaces on the impeller.

A rotary machine includes a compression section that is disposed between the pair of radial bearings in a casing and compresses a fluid, an expansion section that is disposed side by side with the compression section and expands the fluid, and a thrust bearing that is disposed at a position close to a first end portion or a second end portion of a rotary shaft in an axial direction with respect to the compression section and the expansion section. Among a compression section suction port, a compression section discharge port, an expansion section suction port, and an expansion section discharge port, the compression section suction port is disposed at a position closest to the first end portion in the axial direction, and the expansion section discharge port is disposed at a position closest to the second end portion in the axial direction.

An electric motor system includes a drive shaft, first and second magnetic bearing portions facing each other and supporting the drive shaft, an electric motor to rotate the drive shaft, and a gap detection unit to detect a position of the drive shaft During rotation of the drive shaft, greater external force acts, on average, on the drive shaft in a first direction than in a second direction. The first and second direction extend from the second and first magnetic bearing portions to the first and second magnetic bearing portion. The first and second magnetic bearing portions produce first and second magnetic forces on the drive shaft in the first and second directions. A magnitude of the second magnetic force is greater than a magnitude of the first magnetic force. The gap detection unit is arranged closer to the second magnetic bearing portion than to the first magnetic bearing portion.

The invention is based on a pump apparatus, in particular a magnetic coupling pump apparatus, having a rotor shaft (16), having a pump impeller (22) which is securely connected to the rotor shaft (16), having at least one axial bearing (18) which rotatably supports the rotor shaft (16) at a side facing the pump impeller (22), having a magnetic pump stator (42), having a magnetic pump rotor (44) which is connected to the rotor shaft (16) in a rotationally secure manner, having a containment can (30) which extends between the magnetic pump stator (42) and the magnetic pump rotor (44) and which at least partially closes a central pump space (28), and having at least one central support element (32) which is mounted in the region of the pump impeller (22) in a rotationally secure manner.

It is proposed that the pump apparatus (1) have an elastomer disk (36) which is arranged between the support element (32) and the axial bearing (18) and that the magnetic pump stator (42) and the magnetic pump rotor (44) be arranged with an axial offset (X) with respect to each other, wherein the magnetic pump stator (42) and the magnetic pump rotor (44) are provided as a result of the axial offset (X) to produce an axial force F(ax, mag) in the direction of the elastomer disk (36).

An electric motor system includes a drive shaft, first and second magnetic bearing portions facing each other and supporting the drive shaft, an electric motor to rotate the drive shaft, and a gap detection unit to detect a position of the drive shaft During rotation of the drive shaft, greater external force acts, on average, on the drive shaft in a first direction than in a second direction. The first and second direction extend from the second and first magnetic bearing portions to the first and second magnetic bearing portion. The first and second magnetic bearing portions produce first and second magnetic forces on the drive shaft in the first and second directions. A magnitude of the second magnetic force is greater than a magnitude of the first magnetic force. The gap detection unit is arranged closer to the second magnetic bearing portion than to the first magnetic bearing portion.

A rocket engine propulsion system having improved engine performance is described herein. The rocket engine propulsion system includes an axial counterbalance to reduce or eliminate axial thrust exerted on components of a turbopump. The axial counterbalance can allow for a larger range of axial thrust forces while coupling this ability to a rotational speed (e.g., rotations per minute, or RPM) of a shaft. The axial counterbalance includes a rack and pinion system in which the rack can be teeth extending circumferentially around a shaft and the pinon can be teeth extending outwardly from a swing arm perpendicular to the shaft. The swing arm is rotatably attached to a bracket which is constrained by a static support. The swing arm can also include a weight on an end of the swing arm opposite the end of the swing arm including the pinion.

A mixed-flow impeller for an electric submersible pump can include a lower end and an upper end; a hub that includes a through bore that defines an axis; blades that extend at least in part radially outward from the hub where each of the blades includes a leading edge and a trailing edge; an upper balance ring that includes a radially inward facing balance chamber surface and a radially outward facing diffuser clearance surface; and an upper guard ring disposed radially outwardly from the upper balance ring where the upper guard ring includes an axially facing diffuser clearance surface that is disposed axially between the trailing edges of the blades and the upper end.

A blood pump is described that includes an impeller having proximal and distal bushings, at least one helical elongate element, a spring that is disposed inside of the helical elongate element and along an axis around which the helical elongate element winds, and a film of material supported between the helical elongate element and the spring. A frame is disposed around the impeller. A flexible elongate element extends radially from the spring to the helical elongate element, and maintains the helical elongate element within a given distance from the spring, to thereby maintain a gap between an outer edge of a blade of the impeller and an inner surface of the frame, during rotation of the impeller. Other applications are also described.

A blood pump is described that includes an impeller having proximal and distal bushings, at least one helical elongate element, a spring that is disposed inside of the helical elongate element and along an axis around which the helical elongate element winds, and a film of material supported between the helical elongate element and the spring. A frame is disposed around the impeller. A flexible elongate element extends radially from the spring to the helical elongate element, and maintains the helical elongate element within a given distance from the spring, to thereby maintain a gap between an outer edge of a blade of the impeller and an inner surface of the frame, during rotation of the impeller. Other applications are also described.

An arrangement for monitoring a centrifugal pump is provided. receiving the residual axial thrust of a centrifugal pump. The arrangement includes a load-relieving device configured to receive the residual axial thrust developed during pump operation, an axial bearing, and a sensor ring is associated with the axial bearing. The ring (10) is divided into segments having sensors at the segment dividing regions.