Patent ID: 7287906

Claim:
A hydrostatic bearing pad, comprising: a compensating groove; an adjacent pocket groove enclosing therein a first planar area constructed and arranged to resist a flow of pressurized fluid when said hydrostatic bearing pad is in a load supporting position relative to another surface; a second planar area interposed between said compensating groove and said pocket groove, said second planar area being constructed and arranged to resist the flow of the pressurized fluid from said compensating groove to said adjacent pocket groove when said bearing pad is in the load supporting position relative to the other surface; and a supply groove proximate to said compensating groove, said supply groove and said compensating groove being separated by a third planar area that is constructed and arranged to resist the flow of pressurized fluid from said supply groove to said compensating groove; wherein the supply groove is entirely disposed on a planar surface of the bearing pad, and wherein the pocket groove separates the first and second planar areas, wherein the compensating groove and pocket groove are not separated from each other by a drain groove, and wherein the supply groove is at least partially interposed between the compensating groove and an edge of the bearing pad.