Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A turbine has a housing, an impeller centered on and rotatable about an axis in the housing, and an axle assembly in the housing having a large-diameter mounting part and a small-diameter bearing stem centered on the axis and extending into the impeller. A sun gear traversed by the bearing stem is fixed to the impeller and forms with the impeller a rotor having a center of mass spaced axially a predetermined distance from the large-diameter mounting part. A ring gear rotatable in the housing about the axis around the sun gear meshes with planet gears rotatable on the housing about respective planet axes radially equispaced from and angularly equispaced about the impeller axis. Each planet gear meshes inwardly with the sun gear. A bearing supports the rotor on the stem of the axle assembly at a bearing location spaced from the large-diameter mounting part by a distance equal to between 0.4 and 1.2 times the predetermined distance between the center of mass and the mounting part.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim