THRUST BEARING ASSEMBLY

摘要

A thrust bearing assembly (4), used to counteract axial thrust on a rotary shaft (10, 26), includes a base element (28) to which an articulated element (38) is mounted. The articulated element has a first sliding support surface (76). A rotating element (86), rotatable about a main axis (12), has a second sliding support surface (90) in contact with the first sliding support surface. The base element also has an alignment element (34) circumscribing the periphery of the articulated element. A stabilizer element (56, 78) is situated between and is in contact with both the articulated element and the alignment element. The articulated element can be either a single piece element (38a) or a multiple piece element (38) to provide the desired multi-axis articulated support.