The present invention relates to a thrust bearing arrangement, in which a thrust bearing is brought to a given position on an axle or a shaft and subsequently secured in said position as stated in the preamble of the following claim.

Normally, a thrust bearing is moved to a given setting or position on an axle and secured preliminary in this position by means of washers, shims or like devices, whereafter a locking ring is screwed along the axle into locking abutment with the bearing. This procedure, however, is highly time consuming and also assumes that the setting of the thrust bearing can be checked in some way or another.

The object of this invention is to provide a thrust bearing arrangement of the aforesaid kind which will enable the thrust bearing to be brought to a given position or setting on an axle and quickly secured in said position in a simple manner.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by means of a thrust bearing arrangement having the charac¬ terizing features set forth in the following claim. The simplest method of positioning and securing the thrust bearing resides in first bringing the bearing to its correct setting and then inserting between one end of the bearing and a shoulder against which the bearing is intend¬ ed to lie in operation, or alternatively between the lock¬ ing ring and the other end of the bearing against which said ring bears in operation, a feeler gauge whose thick¬ ness corresponds to the clearance intended. The axle is then displaced in one axial direction or the other so as to take up the clearance, whereafter the locking ring in the

form of a shrink ring, heated to an appropriate temperature is pushed onto the axle and brought into abutment with the bearing and into clamping engagement with the feeler gauge or like device., The shrink ring is then allowed to cool slightly, or may be forcibly cooled, and the feeler gauge removed, wherewith the locking ring is seated firmly on the axle in precisely the position determined by the intended clearance. A zero-clearance can also be achieved in a corresponding manner, of cours«, with the aid of the shrink ring.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, the single Figure of which illustrates in longitudinal section a screw compres¬ sor provided with a thrust bearing arrangement according to one embodiment of the invention.

The illustrated screw compressor comprises a housing 1 which incorporates a high-pressure end wall 2. An end wall 3 is screwed firmly onto the low pressure side and the high-pressure end wall 2 carries a casing 4. A male rotor 5 and a female rotor 6 are rotatably journalled in the hous¬ ing 1 , in radial bearings 7.

The rotors 5, 6 are provided on the high pressure side with respective bearing trunnions 15, 16 which etend exter¬ nally beyond the high-pressure end wall 2. A respective thrust bearing 17, 18 is mounted on each of the outwardly projecting trunnions 15, 16. Each of the thrust bearings comprises a rolling bearing having a respective inner race 19 and 20, which is slideably mounted on a respective trunnion 15, 16, and an outer race 21 and 22 which abut the outer surface of the end wall 2, A locking ring 23 and 24 is shrink-fitted on a respective trunnion in abutment with a respective inner race 19 and 20.

All play, or clearance, between the shrink rings 23, 24, the 'thrust bearings 17, 18 and the outer surface of the end wall 2 is eliminated when the rotors 5, 6 are urged in a direction towards the low-pressure end wall 3, while an intended clearance a. of 0.04-0.05 mm is obtained between the inner surface of the end wall 2 and the high-pressure end surfaces of the rotors 5, 6 when the shrink rings 23, 24 are locked to the trunnions 15, 16 in precisely the correct position. This trust bearing arrangement was achieved quickly and easily, by simply displacing the rotors 5, 6 into abutment with the inner surface of the high-pressure end wall 2, prior to fitting the shrink rings, by appropriate manipula¬ tion of the low pressure trunnions, to which access could be obtained via a belt pulley 25 mounted on the low pres¬ sure trunnion 26 of the male rotor 5 and by removing a co¬ ver plate 27 outside the low pressure trunnion 28 of the female rotor. A feelere gauge, or corresponding device, whose thickness corresponds to the intended clearance a. was then inserrted between respective outer races 21, 22 and the outer surface of the hhigh-pressure end wall 2; this could be readily carried out, since the thrust bearings 17, 18 were not yet secured in position. Heated shrink rings 23, 24 were then pushed over respective trunnions 15, 16 and pressed against the outer surfaces of respective inner races 19 and 20. As the shrink rings 23, 24 cool, they shrink firmly around the trunnions 15, 16 and therewith fixate the clearance a..

It will be understood that the invention is not restric- ted to the illustrated and described embodiment and that modifications can be carried out within the concept of the invention. For example, the invention may be applied with other types of thrust bearings. Furthermore, an enhanced temperature differential can be achieved when fitting the shrink rings 23, 24, by forced cooling of the trunnions 15, 16.