Patent ID: 7290935

Claim:
A bearing assembly, comprising: a shaft adapted for being mounted to a rotatable body; and a bearing sleeve rotatably receiving the shaft, the bearing sleeve comprising an inside wall surrounding the shaft, and an outer surface adapted for being mounted to a complementary supporting structure; wherein the bearing sleeve comprises a plurality of first bearing members formed at the inside wall at a first end thereof, and a plurality of second bearing members fanned at the inside wall at a second end thereof, the first bearing members being arranged in circular fashion, the second bearing members being arranged in circular fashion complementarily offset from the first bearing members, each of the first and second bearing members comprises a bearing surface and extending only partially along the entire length of the bearing sleeve, the bearing surfaces cooperatively supporting the shaft therebetween, wherein the bearing sleeve defines a plurality of first and second grooves in the inside wall thereof, and the first and second grooves are substantially parallel to a central axis of the bearing sleeve.