Flywheel assembly

摘要

A flywheel assembly is described which is suitable for use as a compact power storage device. The assembly comprises a housing, a flywheel coupled to a shaft which is rotatably mounted in the housing via bearings, a primary chamber which is defined within the housing and contains the flywheel, and a secondary chamber which is defined within the housing and contains the bearings. Furthermore, it includes a molecular pump driven by the shaft for pumping gas molecules from the primary chamber to the secondary chamber. Location of the bearings in a high pressure chamber inhibits off-gassing from the bearing grease. Furthermore, any such off-gassing under load will not increase the gas pressure in the first chamber containing the flywheel as it is separate from the secondary chamber containing the bearings.

主权项

1. A flywheel assembly comprising:
a housing; a flywheel coupled to a shaft, and the shaft is rotatably mounted in the housing via first and second bearings, with the first bearing arranged to support one end of the shaft and the second bearing arranged to support the other end of the shaft; a drive operable to rotate the flywheel and the shaft; a primary chamber which is defined within the housing and contains the flywheel and a portion of the drive; at least one secondary chamber which is defined within the housing, with the first and second bearings contained within the at least one secondary chamber; and at least one molecular pump driven by the shaft for pumping gas molecules from the primary chamber to the at least one secondary chamber which contains both of the first and second bearings supporting the corresponding ends of the shaft, wherein the first and second bearings are provided between the shaft and a hub which is fixedly mounted in the housing and extends inwardly along the shaft from a wall of the housing, and the at least one secondary chamber containing the first and second bearings is defined between the hub and the shaft.