IMPROVED PIVOTED-PAD JOURNAL BEARING AND MOVEMENT RESTRAINING ARRANGEMENT THEREFOR

摘要

An arrangement for restraining pivoted bearing pads of a pivoted pad journal bearing against movement from an approximate required location and for maintaining a substantially proper circumferential distance between adjacent bearing pads while still allowing sufficient freedom of pivotal movement to the respective bearing pads as required, such as pivotal movement required for formation of the oil film between the bearing pads and the rotating journal. A pair of adjacent pivoted bearing pads are each respectively pivotally connected to a connecting link between the two pads, with the connecting link and its pivoted connections to the bearing pads lying on substantially a common line with the pivot points of the two connected bearing pads. This construction provides a geometric configuration which permits small pivotal movements of the connected pivoted bearing pads with very little resisting movement. A plurality of pivoted bearing pads (such as four, for example) may be connected in the manner just described, and one pad or link of the plurality should preferably be fastened to the stationary support to prevent simultaneous translational motion of all pads in a circumferential direction. A further advantage of the subject construction is that it maintains substantial parallelism in a circumferential direction between the shoulders of the journal or trunnion and the corresponding facing axial ends of the bearing pad by preventing excessive rotation of the bearing pad about its radial axis to thereby insure maintenance of a satisfactory hydrodynamic oil film at the interface between the journal and the pivoted bearing pad.