Turbocharger rotor
View Patent ↗A turbocharger rotor has a turbine wheel and shaft, a compressor wheel and adapter and a separate thrust runner clamped together by a fastener rod. The adapter is piloted on the shaft and the thrust runner is piloted on the adapter, which has annular ends engaging the shaft and adapter for torque transmission between the turbine and compressor wheels. An anti-rotation coupling relates the phase angles of the shaft with the adapter and the thrust runner during assembly. Opposed radial thrust faces on the thrust runner and adapter are disposed at opposite ends of a compressor bearing journal on the adapter to allow placement of mating bearings on a single element of a turbocharger housing. Advantages include simplification of manufacture and assembly of the rotor in a turbocharger housing.
1. A rotor for an engine turbocharger, the rotor including a turbine wheel, a compressor wheel, and additional rotor components comprising:
a shaft rotatable with and extending along a rotor axis from one wheel toward the other wheel;
an adapter rotatable with and extending along the axis from the other wheel to the shaft, the adapter including a first radial thrust face axially facing the one wheel;
at least one pilot axially aligning the shaft and the adapter with the axis;
a thrust runner piloted on at least one of the shaft and the adapter and having ends axially engaging the shaft and the adapter, the runner including a flange having a second radial thrust face axially facing the first radial thrust face; and
a fastener rod extending axially through at least the adapter and the thrust runner and clamping the thrust runner between the shaft and the adapter to fix the axial alignment of the rotor components and the axial positions of the thrust faces.
2. A rotor for an engine turbocharger, the rotor including a turbine wheel, a compressor wheel, and additional rotor components comprising:
a shaft rotatable with and extending along a rotor axis from the turbine wheel toward the compressor wheel;
an adapter rotatable with and extending along the axis from the compressor wheel to the shaft, the adapter including a first radial thrust face axially facing the turbine wheel for carrying secondary aerodynamic thrust forces;
at least one pilot axially aligning the shaft and the adapter with the axis;
a thrust runner piloted on at least one of the shaft and the adapter and having ends axially engaging the shaft and the adapter, the runner including a flange having a second radial thrust face axially facing the first radial thrust face for carrying primary aerodynamic thrust forces; and
a fastener rod extending axially through at least the adapter and the thrust runner and clamping the thrust runner between the shaft and the adapter to fix the axial alignment of the rotor components and the axial positions of the thrust faces.
3. A rotor as in claim 2 wherein the shaft is a separate component fixed on a stub of the turbine wheel to form a turbine/shaft assembly.
4. A rotor as in claim 2 wherein the adapter is a separate component fixed on a stub of the compressor wheel to form a compressor/adapter assembly.
5. A rotor as in claim 2 wherein the shaft has an external pilot end pressed into an internal pilot of the adapter for axial alignment of the turbine/shaft and compressor/adapter assemblies.
6. A rotor as in claim 5 wherein the shaft and the adapter are angularly coupled by an anti-rotation coupling adjacent the external and internal pilots.
7. A rotor as in claim 2 wherein the thrust runner is also angularly coupled to the shaft and adapter by the anti-rotation coupling.
8. A rotor as in claim 2 including a compressor bearing journal on the adapter and spaced axially between the first and second thrust faces on tha adapter and thrust runner.
9. A rotor as in claim 8 including a turbine bearing journal on the shaft adjacent the turbine wheel.
10. A rotor as in claim 2 wherein the fastener rod also extends through the shaft and is fastened to the turbine wheel and includes means for engaging the compressor wheel to maintain the rotor components in compressive engagement.