摘要 |
A turbine cartridge assembly (19) for a gas-driven dental handpiece has a pair of bearing assemblies (38,39) on the rotor shaft (30) and axial and radial support means associated with the bearing assemblies. The radial support means may comprise a ring of resilient material (62,63) around each bearing assembly to provide radial support for the cartridge assembly (19) within the housing (18) and dampens the transfer of vibration. The axial support means may comprise a resilient spacer member, e.g. a spring-like washer (60), associated with either or each bearing assembly (38,39) for compression between the outer race (41,44) of the bearing assembly and portions (29,28) of the handpiece housing (18) to axially preload the bearing assemblies (38,39). The radial and axial support means are retained on the cartridge assembly (19) e.g. by snap rings (64,65), so that the cartridge (19) is removably insertable in the handpiece housing (18) as a unitary assembly. |