Design and Fabrication of Semi - Automated Thrust Bearing Assembling Equipment

Abstract

Thrust bearings are widely used in submersible pumps to withstand thrust force. Even though there are variety of thrust bearing materials are available carbon bearings are most widely used. The reason behind is self-lubricating capacity of carbon. In the present era, pumping water from underground is done by different types of pumps and motors. One among this type is submersible motors and pumps. There are various components available inside the submersible motors. One of such components is segment holder. This component is responsible for the suspension effect given to the system due to the shaft play. This segment holder has a number of components which are assembled manually till date. Hence, an SPM (special purpose machine) which assembles each component of the segment holder automatically is developed. This system consists of five different stations where loading/unloading, housing the o-ring in groves, segment holder placement, ball placement, segment piece placement and pressing are done. These processes are done in timing basis. The components required are fed into the system using external devices. The whole SPM (special purpose machine) works with the proportioned usage of pneumatic systems and stepper motor.