Los Angeles herald., 1909-01-24
BATTLE OF THE BEARINGS
Is NOW ON IN EARNEST
In Last Two Years Designers and
Makers Have Devoted Endless
Study to Problems in
This Field

N YER since wheels were invented
III the problem of how to overcome
the friction effects has been be-
fore the worlds mechanics. Automo-
bile makers have not been limited by
the cost, so have been free to equip
their vehicles with the best devices
possible to secure and have been GER
tain that among Americas wealthy
buyers would be found customers for
whom the best was none to good, says
Charles E. Duryea in the Automobile
Topics.
While for years there have been users
Of roller and ball bearings, not until
the last two years has the problem
come before the public in large form.
The introduction of a type of bearing
known as the annular, which is moth
ing more than the simplest possible
form made up in a most superior man
ner, set new mark for automobile
makers and calls their attention to ball
bearings quite forcibly. These annular
bearings have been fitted to every pos
sible part Of the vehicle from the small
accessories, such as the pump, fan or
magnetic, to the most essential parts.
Because like begets like, this use of
anti-frictiOn bearings has spurred the
| makers of roller bearings and of the
older adjustable type of ball bearings
to renewed activity and borne fruit Of
great value to motor vehicle users.
| Many people have doubtless won
dered why the ball bearing, unknown
| practically before the advent of the
/ bicycle, has become so common and
is admittedly so good at the present
| time, with a variety of forms of roller
bearings competing for supremacy. The
explanation is simple. Both ball and
roller bearings must be we'll made to
be long lived, and it has not been many
decades since factories were fitted to
! turn out such work at prices within
reach Of the buyers, and so the motor
vehicle has caused a great forward step
in mechanical progress by demanding
| the best and commanding prices suffi-
cient to permit makers supplying the
! demand.
| If one ball or roller is slightly ir-
regular or slightly larger than the
others, it must take all the strain, and
not only receive damage itself, but
very likely damage the surfaces on
which it rolls. This is why such bear
| ingS are all right if they are right,
and are all wrong if every part thereof
! is not right.
Admitting this perfect workman
snip, the question still remains as TO
which is the better ball or roller and
whether these are to be preferred to
the older form of plain, bronze or bab-
bit bearings, with which the world is
better acquainted. On this point de-
signers differ, and each is guided in his
selection by the nature of his service,
by the conditions surrounding the bear
ings, by the probable care or lack Of
care it will receive, the ease or diff
,1f1 1,vI1 11 hXyt tha
speed of the moving part. In general
bearings designed for nigh speed and
free from shock are of the ball variety,
while bearings intended for heavy loads
and lower speeds are more usually
fitted with rollers, leaving the plain
bearings for places where the strain
is intermittent or in the nature of
shocks, such as are received by the
bearings of an internal combustion en-
gine.