Patent ID: 7644572

Claim:
A turbo-engine comprising: a turbine having a high-speed shaft mounted on a first pair of bearing means for delivering rotational mechanical power, a low-speed output shaft for delivering useful rotational mechanical power to a load, a speed step-down mechanism coupling said shafts to one another in order to transmit such rotational mechanical power from said high-speed turbine shaft to said low-speed output shaft, said step-down mechanism including a high-speed gearwheel, a shaft for said high-speed gearwheel to rotate thereon and a second pair of bearing means for mounting said high-speed gearwheel on said gearwheel shaft to rotate independently of said turbine high speed shaft, and a spline coupling said high-speed shaft to said high-speed gearwheel of said speed step-down mechanism, wherein said spline is longitudinally traversed by a bore for conveying a mixture of lubricant droplets and air to said high-speed shaft bearings, said droplets assisting in self-balancing said spline and dampening vibrations therein at high shaft speeds.