Patent ID: 8282285

Claim:
A bearing support for radially supporting a rotatable shaft bearing within a housing, the bearing support comprising: a first portion and a second portion, the first portion being more flexible than and supported by the second portion, the first portion including a circumferentially-extending structure provided radially between and spaced apart from the bearing and the housing to provide said more flexibility, the circumferentially-extending structure including a plurality of circumferential sections each having circumferentially opposed ends, adjacent said sections being connected end-to-end to form a complete loop around the bearing; wherein the first and second portions transmit a radial bearing load to the housing substantially through the circumferentially-extending structure, causing a radial deflection/deformation of the first portion within a predetermined limit; wherein the second portion provides a direct link bypassing the circumferentially-extending structure to transmit an over-limit portion of the radial bearing load to the housing when the radial deflection/deformation of the first portion reaches said predetermined limit, the second portion including a plurality of inner and outer radial support members alternately positioned and circumferentially spaced apart from one another, the inner radial support members supporting the circumferentially-extending structure of the first portion on the bearing and the outer radial support members supporting the circumferentially-extending structure within the housing; and wherein each of the circumferential sections of the circumferentially-extending structure of the first portion comprises a band configured in a wave shape, the wave shaped band extending between the circumferentially opposed ends of each section.