Patent ID: 7490992

Claim:
A bearing unit for holding a shaft, said bearing unit comprising: a housing having a central opening for receiving a shaft, said housing having a length, an inner surface and a longitudinal axis; at least one bearing land integral with said housing and forming a bearing layer, said inner surface being cylindrical in configuration except that said at least one bearing land extends inwardly from said cylindrical configuration for tangentially contacting and supporting a rotating shaft, said bearing layer being comprised of a slippery polymer alloy comprising a heterogeneous composition of a thermoplastic plastic in a continuous phase having a toughness of at least 20 foot-pound/inch based on an Izod unnotched impact test (ASTM 256), a breakaway coefficient of static friction at zero (0) rpm of no greater than 0.25, a wear resistance for passing the sand slurry abrasion test, a thermoset rubber compound dispersed in said thermoplastic as a discontinuous phase for adding flexibility to said bearing layer, and a lubricant dispersed in said thermoplastic.