Patent ID: 7290932

Claim:
A bearing assembly for holding a shaft, said bearing assembly 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 stave adjacent the inner surface of said housing, said at least one bearing stave comprising a bearing layer, said bearing layer having a base portion and discontinuous surfaces on said base portion for contacting and supporting a rotating shaft, said bearing layer and discontinuous surfaces 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.