Tilting Pad Bearing and Corresponding Hot Oil Drainer

Abstract

The invention relates to a tilting pad bearing for supporting a shaft having a longitudinal axis, the tilting pad bearing having—at least two tilting pads which are spaced apart from one another and each have a bearing surface and—at least one hot oil drainer which is arranged in an intermediate space between the at least two tilting pads, the at least one hot oil drainer being supported so as to be movable in the direction to and from the shaft.

Claims

1. A tilting pad bearing for supporting a shaft with a longitudinal axis, comprising: at least two tilting pads spaced apart from each other, each of which has a bearing surface, and at least one hot oil drainer which is arranged in an intermediate space between the at least two tilting pads, and wherein the at least one hot oil drainer is mounted such that it is moveable towards and away from the shaft.

2. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1, wherein the tilting pad bearing is an axial bearing and the at least one hot oil drainer is moveable in an axial direction, or wherein the tilting pad bearing is a radial bearing and the at least one hot oil drainer is moveable in a radial direction.

3. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1, further comprising at least one force application element for applying a force acting radially inwards on the at least one hot oil drainer.

4. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 3, wherein the at least one force application element comprises at least two force application elements for applying the force on the at least one hot oil drainer.

5. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 3 wherein the at least one force application element comprises at least one mechanical element and/or at least one hydraulic element.

6. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1 wherein the at least one hot oil drainer comprises a plurality of hot oil drainers and the at least two tilting pads comprises more than two tilting pads, wherein there is at least one hot oil drainer of the plurality of hot oil drainers between each adjacent tilting pad element of the more than two tilting pads and wherein each tilting pad element comprises at least as many force application elements as hot oil drainers for applying a force acting radially inwards on each hot oil drainer.

7. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1 wherein the at least one hot oil drainer is moveable along a guide.

8. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1 wherein the at least one hot oil drainer is arranged such that it can be swivelled about a swivel axis that extends parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft.

9. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 1 wherein the at least one hot oil drainer comprises at least one dam and at least one oil injection device for spraying oil onto the shaft supported in the tilting pad bearing.

10. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 9, wherein the at least one hot oil drainer comprises at least two dams that are spaced apart from each other in a direction of rotation of the shaft, and wherein the oil injection device is located between the at least two dams.

11. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 10, wherein the at least one hot oil drainer comprises at least two oil injection devices that are arranged on different sides of the at least one dam.

12. A hot oil drainer for a tilting pad bearing according to claim 1.

13. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 5 wherein the at least one mechanical element is a spring.

14. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 13 wherein the spring is a compression spring.

15. The tilting pad bearing according to claim 7 wherein the guide prevents a movement of the at least one hot oil drainer in an axial direction and/or in a direction of rotation.

Description

[0022] The invention also solves the problem addressed by way of a hot oil drainer for a tilting pad bearing as described here.

[0023] In the following, some examples of embodiments of the present invention will be explained in more detail by way of the attached figures: They show

[0024] FIG. 1—a sectional view through a tilting pad bearing according to a first example of an embodiment of the present invention,

[0025] FIG. 2—an enlarged section from FIG. 1,

[0026] FIG. 3—a sectional view through a tilting pad bearing according to a second example of an embodiment of the present invention,

[0027] FIG. 4—an enlarged section from FIG. 3,

[0028] FIGS. 5 to 10—further embodiments of a hot oil drainer.

[0029] FIG. 1 depicts a sectional view through a tilting pad bearing according to a first example of an embodiment of the present invention. It has a bearing housing 2 on which four tilting pads 4 are arranged. In the example of an embodiment shown, the tilting pad bearing is a radial bearing. Between two of the tilting pads 4 is a hot oil drainer 6 which, in the example of an embodiment shown, can be displaced radially inwards, i.e. towards the shaft that is not depicted here for the sake of clarity, by means of a spring 8, which constitutes a force application element in the example of an embodiment shown. It can be seen that the respective hot oil drainer 6 is not located centrally between the two adjacent tilting pads 4. Rather, there is a larger intermediate space 10 in front of the respective hot oil drainer 6 in the clockwise direction than behind the hot oil drainer 6 in the clockwise direction. The tilting pad bearing shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended for a shaft that rotates in the clockwise direction.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged section from FIG. 1. One can see the hot oil drainer 6 with the spring 8 inside, which is arranged between the adjacent tilting pad bearings 4. The hot oil drainer 6 features a dam 12, which constitutes the leading edge in the example of an embodiment shown. The dam 12 forms part of the hot oil drainer 6, which protrudes the furthest radially inwards, i.e. towards the shaft to be supported, in the radial bearing shown. If the tilting pad bearing is designed as an axial bearing, the dam 12 protrudes in the axial direction, thereby forming the part of the hot oil drainer 6 that is closest to the shaft to be supported.

[0031] Trailing the dam 12, the hot oil drainer 6 features an oil injection device 14, which is connected to an interior space 16 of the hot oil drainer 6 and via said interior space to an oil supply line 18. The hot oil drainer 6 shown can be displaced along a guide 20 in the directions indicated by the double-arrow 22.

[0032] FIG. 3 shows a sectional view through a tilting pad bearing similar to FIG. 1. This bearing also has four tilting pads 4 between each of which a hot oil drainer 6 is located, which can now be subjected to a force hydraulically rather than by a mechanical force application element, for example the spring 8.

[0033] FIG. 4 depicts an enlarged section. Between the two tilting pads 4 is the hot oil drainer 6, which can be displaced along the guide 20 in the directions indicated by the double-arrow 22. The hot oil drainer 6 features the dam 12, which again constitutes the leading edge. The oil injection device 14 is shown trailing this edge. The hot oil drainer 6 is supplied with the necessary oil via the oil supply line 18, said oil now also applying the force to the hot oil drainer 6 in the form of hydraulic fluid.

[0034] FIGS. 5 to 7 schematically depict a hot oil drainer 6. It features a dam 12, which in FIGS. 5 and 6 is located at the rear end of the hot oil drainer 6 shown. The hot oil drainer 6 depicted in FIG. 5 has a slit 24 that serves as an oil injection device 14. Conversely, the hot oil drainer 6 depicted in FIG. 6 shows a row of bores 26 that form the oil injection device 14.

[0035] FIG. 7 shows a different shape of the hot oil drainer 6. It also features the slit 24; however, in FIG. 7 it is located at the rear end of the hot oil drainer 6. The dam 12 is arranged at the front and has two flanks 28, which lend it a v-shape. Oil that is removed by this dam 12 from a shaft to be supported is thus moved in the axial direction and can easily leave the tilting pad bearing in this direction.

[0036] FIGS. 8 and 9 each depict a schematic side view of a hot oil drainer 6 between two tilting pads 4. A shaft 30 to be supported is schematically depicted above the tilting pads 4. The respective direction of rotation is shown by the arrow 32. The actual hot oil drainer 6 is mounted on a guide 20 such that it can be displaced, as is also the case in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 to 7. In addition, the hot oil drainer 6 can be tilted about an axis that is perpendicular to the drawing plane in FIGS. 8 and 9. In FIG. 8 it is clear that the hot oil drainer 6 is tilted to the right. This is largely achieved by the shaft 30 rotating in the anti-clockwise direction and the resulting flow of oil. In FIG. 9, however, the hot oil drainer is shown tilted to the left, as the shaft 30 is rotating in the clockwise direction.

[0037] FIG. 10 shows a schematic section view through the hot oil drainer 6 as it is depicted in FIG. 8. A sealing ring 34 is located on the guide 20 on which the hot oil drainer 6 is arranged, said sealing ring coming into contact with an inner side of the hot oil drainer 6. In the example of an embodiment shown, it protrudes above the guide 20 and preferably forms the only point of contact with the hot oil drainer when the hot oil drainer 6 is not tilted. This renders tilting possible. It is limited up until the position in which the lower wheel of the hot oil drainer comes into contact with the guide 20.

[0038] On the side facing the shaft 20, the hot oil drainer has two dams 12 that are spaced apart from each other, between which an oil injection device is located. The hot oil drainer 6 can be used for both directions of rotation shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. It is subjected to two different forces, each of which is indicated in FIG. 10 by an “F”. They refer to the force acting from below, i.e. radially, by means of the spring element or the hydraulic pressure of the oil, and the force acting in the direction of rotation by means of the rotation of the shaft 30 and the resulting flow of oil.

REFERENCE LIST

[0039] 2 bearing housing [0040] 4 tilting pad [0041] 6 hot oil drainer [0042] 8 spring [0043] 10 intermediate space [0044] 12 dam [0045] 14 oil injection device [0046] 16 interior space [0047] 18 oil supply line [0048] 20 guide [0049] 22 double arrow [0050] 24 slit [0051] 26 bore [0052] 28 flank [0053] 30 shaft [0054] 32 arrow [0055] 34 sealing ring