Patent ID: 9634547
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: F16C,F16J,H02K

Claim:
1. A method for extending a life of a bearing comprising: a. providing a housing for an electric motor, wherein said housing is electrically grounded; b. providing a shaft extending from said piece of rotatable equipment, wherein said shaft is rotatable with respect to said housing, and wherein said shaft is engaged with said electric motor; c. positioning a said bearing within said housing, wherein said being allows said shaft to rotate with respect to said electric motor; d. isolating said bearing from an environment external to said housing using a bearing isolator, wherein said bearing isolator is secured to said housing at a stator of said bearing isolator; e. securing a rotor of said bearing isolator to said shaft, wherein said stator and said rotor are formed with a plurality of corresponding grooves and projections such that said stator and rotor are abutted and intermeshed with one another to form a labyrinth seal during use; f. engaging a conductive insert with said stator, wherein said conductive insert is in electrical communication with said stator at a radially external surface of said conductive insert, and wherein said conductive insert is in electrical communication with and continually contacts said shaft at a radially internal surface of said conductive insert both when said shaft is at rest and when said shaft is rotating; and, g. providing a path to ground from said shaft through said bearing isolator, wherein said path passes from said housing to said stator, from said stator to a conductive insert secured to said stator, and from said conductive insert to said shaft.