Patent ID: 9279474
Filing Date: 2016-03-08
CPC Classification: F16F,Y02E,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A flywheel assembly comprising: a housing; a flywheel coupled to a shaft, and the shaft is rotatably mounted in the housing via first and second bearings, with the first bearing arranged to support one end of the shaft and the second bearing arranged to support the other end of the shaft; a drive operable to rotate the flywheel and the shaft; a primary chamber which is defined within the housing and contains the flywheel and a portion of the drive; at least one secondary chamber which is defined within the housing, with the first and second bearings contained within the at least one secondary chamber; and at least one molecular pump driven by the shaft for pumping gas molecules from the primary chamber to the at least one secondary chamber which contains both of the first and second bearings supporting the corresponding ends of the shaft, wherein the first and second bearings are provided between the shaft and a hub which is fixedly mounted in the housing and extends inwardly along the shaft from a wall of the housing, and the at least one secondary chamber containing the first and second bearings is defined between the hub and the shaft.