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KR-102962636-B1 - Ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing and method of manufacturing the same

KR102962636B1KR 102962636 B1KR102962636 B1KR 102962636B1KR-102962636-B1

Abstract

An ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing and a method for manufacturing the same are disclosed. The aerostatic bearing comprises a substrate as a bearing housing, subcutaneous tubing, and a plurality of orifices on the tubing. A method for manufacturing the aerostatic bearing comprises the steps of forming the bearing housing and the subcutaneous tubing, joining the subcutaneous tubing and the substrate together, and obtaining geometric accuracy and surface finish of the bearing surface by applying an encapsulating material that surrounds the subcutaneous tubing network and covers the surface of the substrate to replicate the geometric structure and surface finish of a molding master.

Inventors

  • 리 쉬엔 양

Assignees

  • 아크리비스 시스템즈 피티이 엘티디

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20200713
Priority Date
20191207

Claims (20)

  1. As a method for manufacturing an ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing, i. A step of providing a substrate (20) which is a housing for an aerostatic bearing; ii. A step of preparing the subcutaneous tubing and bending the subcutaneous tubing into a shape based on an aerostatic bearing design; iii. A step of mounting the subcutaneous tubing (20) of step (ii) onto a substrate (10) and aligning the subcutaneous tubing (20) with respect to the substrate (10); iv. A step of positioning a substrate (10) having a subcutaneous tubing (20) bonded to a molding master with an accurate geometric structure; v. Step of injecting an encapsulating material between the substrate (10) and the molding master; vi. When the encapsulating material is cured, demold the substrate (10) from the molding master, and the cured encapsulating material forms a solid layer on the substrate (10) as a surrounding layer (70); and vii. A step of machining a plurality of orifices (22) in the subcutaneous tubing (22) to obtain an ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing; comprising a method.
  2. In paragraph 1, A method in which an internal volume fixed to the surface of a substrate (10) is formed by a gas distribution system that supplies externally pressurized gas to the subcutaneous tubing (20).
  3. In paragraph 2, A pressurized gas source (80) provides pressurized gas to the subcutaneous tubing (20), a method.
  4. In paragraph 1 or 2, The above subcutaneous tubing (20) is terminated by a gas fitting (72), and the internal volume of the subcutaneous tubing (20) is connected together to fluidly communicate, method.
  5. In paragraph 1, The above orifice (22) is manufactured in a position for an aerostatic bearing design.
  6. In paragraph 1 or 2, The above orifice (22) is a method of being sized according to the aerostatic bearing design.
  7. In paragraph 6, A method in which the diameter of the orifice (22) is in the range of 1 micrometer to 300 micrometers.
  8. In paragraph 1, A method in which the outer diameter of the subcutaneous tubing (20) is in the range of 0.1 to 3 mm.
  9. In paragraph 1, A method in which the wall thickness of the subcutaneous tubing (20) is in the range of 0.01 mm to 0.5 mm.
  10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the encapsulated material is 0.1 to 5 mm.
  11. In paragraph 1 or paragraph 10, A method in which the total thickness of the encapsulated material is 0.25 mm to 0.5 mm.
  12. In paragraph 1, The above encapsulation material has a coating thickness of 0 to 1 mm, measured from the highest point of the subcutaneous tubing (20) to the surface of the hardened encapsulation material layer.
  13. In paragraph 1, A method of bonding subcutaneous tubing to a substrate using an adhesive.
  14. In paragraph 1, The above subcutaneous tubing (20) is manufactured from a material including stainless steel, glass, ceramic, polymer, or composite material.
  15. In paragraph 1, The above subcutaneous tubing (20) has a circular, rectangular, or square cross-section.
  16. In paragraph 1, A method comprising the additional step of applying a release agent to a molding master before injecting an encapsulated material.
  17. As an ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing, a. A substrate (10) having a flat surface; b. A network of subcutaneous tubing (20) having an internal volume fixed to the surface of a substrate (10) formed by a gas distribution system having at least one orifice (22) and supplying external pressurized gas from a pressurized gas source (80) - one end of the subcutaneous tubing (20) terminates in a gas fitting (72), and the internal volumes of the tubing (20) are connected together to be fluidly connected - ; and c. An ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing comprising: a surrounding layer (70) formed from an encapsulating material applied to a flat surface of a substrate (10) so that the encapsulating material completely surrounds the subcutaneous tubing (20) - said encapsulating material forms an adhesive bond with the network of the subcutaneous tubing (20) and the surface of the substrate (10).
  18. In Paragraph 17, An ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing in which the diameter of the orifice is in the range of 1 micrometer to 300 micrometers.
  19. In Paragraph 17, An ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing in which the outer diameter of the above-mentioned subcutaneous tubing (20) is in the range of 0.1 to 3 mm.
  20. In Paragraph 17, An ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing in which the wall thickness of the above-mentioned subcutaneous tubing (20) is in the range of 0.01 mm to 0.5 mm.

Description

Ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing and method of manufacturing the same Cross-reference regarding related applications This patent application claims the benefit of Singapore provisional application No. 10201911803U filed on December 7, 2020, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Field of invention The present invention relates to aerostatic bearings, and more particularly to ultra-low profile aerostatic bearings and a method for manufacturing the same. Aerostatic bearings are a class of non-contact bearings that create a film of pressurized air or other gases by supplying gas under external pressure. This pressurized gas film acts as a lubricating layer that separates the bearing surface from the bonding elements of the bearing surface, allowing for relative motion while minimizing friction and viscous friction. Aerostatic bearings generally incorporate compensating elements that control the flow into the gas film and impart stiffness to the bearing. In other words, in a properly designed aerostatic bearing, an external force acting to alter the thickness of the lubricating gas film induces a change in the pressure distribution of the gas film, which generates a restoring force that resists the external force. Aerostatic bearings can be classified according to the type of compensation element used. Types of compensation elements include porous media, orifices, capillaries, and microchannels. Most aerostatic bearing compensation elements operate by introducing flow restriction at the inlet of the lubricating gas film. Since the performance of aerostatic bearings is sensitive to the characteristics of this inlet restriction, the repeatable and economical production of this inlet restriction function and methods for distributing pressurized gas to the inlet restrictor have been an active area of work, accompanied by a significant amount of prior art. U.S. Patent No. 5564063A and European Patent No. EP0237627A2 teach that orifice-compensated aerostatic bearings can be realized by plastically deforming a porous sintered material to create a surface area of increased flow resistance and subsequently drilling through this increased resistance layer with a laser beam to form a limiting orifice. This method produces aerostatic bearings of significant thickness (millimeter scale due to the possible minimum thickness of the porous sintered layer). EP0578130B1 teaches a method for producing aerostatic bearings at the microscale using anisotropically etched single-crystal silicon. This method results in costs that scale rapidly as bearing size increases due to the high material and process costs associated with silicon-based photolithography processes. U.S. Patent No. 6164827A discloses an aerostatic bearing design that uses a microchannel as an inlet limiting element without disclosing a gas distribution system used to connect the microchannel to an external source of pressure gas. U.S. Patent No. 9624981B2 discloses a design for a pressurized gas distribution system for an aerostatic bearing using a housing element with recessed and grooved parts, together with a composite cover in which an orifice is machined by a laser beam. The recesses and grooves of the housing element serve to distribute pressurized gas to the laser-machined orifice. This design also results in a bearing with a greater thickness than can be achieved using the currently disclosed design, because, in addition to the thickness of the composite cover, it is necessary to accommodate the recesses and grooves of the housing element. European Patent EP0708262A1 discloses a method for manufacturing an aerostatic bearing having a plurality of micro-holes through a nozzle, characterized in that the material thickness of the micro-hole region is thinned using a laser beam from the rear surface of the bearing surface so that the micro-holes in this region are introduced, and the bearing surface is machined to the required shape and surface tolerance before the holes are introduced. Since this design requires line-of-sight access to the micro-hole region from the rear surface of the bearing housing element, it imposes significant complexity and cost on the design and manufacturing of the housing element. U.S. Patent No. 9739305B2 discloses an aerostatic bearing comprising a base layer and a plurality of protruding bodies protruding from the base layer; and a sealing layer covering the base layer and exposing at least one exposed surface of the protruding bodies, wherein at least two protruding bodies are spaced apart from each other by the sealing layer, and two or more protruding bodies have different heights, and the highest of the exposed surfaces of the protruding bodies is exposed outside the sealing layer. The present invention relates to an ultra-low profile aerostatic bearing and a method for manufacturing the same. The present invention can be applied to orifice-compensated, intrinsic-compensated, capillary-compensated