Patent ID: 7836694

Claim:
A method of cooling an air bearing comprising the steps of: providing air bearing cooling air, the air bearing cooling air comprising a pressure P 1 ; flowing the air bearing cooling air through a cooling air passage as a cooling air flow into a cooling air flow regulating device, the cooling air flow regulating device comprising a piston and wherein the piston is in a closed position, blocking the flow of air bearing cooling air through the cooling air flow regulating device; increasing the pressure of the air bearing cooling air to P 2 ; forcing the piston to move in an axial direction, orthogonal to a direction of the cooling air flow immediately upstream of the piston, so that the piston is moved outside of the cooling air passage by the increased pressure P 2 , thereby allowing at least a portion of the air bearing cooling air to flow to the air bearing both linearly through the cooling air flow regulating device and parallel to the cooling air flow immediately upstream of the piston; and cooling the air bearing.