Improvements in Rolls and Guides for Roller Bearings.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 10th June, 1899-Accepted, 9th Sept.,
1899
[Communicated from abroad by THE HYATT ROLLER BEARING COMPANY, a cor-
poration organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, U.S.A., and
doing business at Harrison, County of Hudson, State of New Jersey, U.S.A.]
Improvements in Rolls and Guides for Roller Bearings.
I, WILLIAM JORDAN, of No. 120, Chancery Lane, London, Middlesex County,
England, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The present invention is designed to improve the operation of those roller
bearings in which the anti-friction rolls are formed of cylindrical spiral springs.
In making the springs for such rolls, it has been common to wind a long
strip of rectangular section upon a mandrel, into a spring of indefinite length,
and to cut such spring into sections to form the required rollers; thus making
all of the rolls of the same twist, whether right or left hand.
It is common to supply oil to such bearings, to prevent wear of the surfaces,
and when the rolls all have the same twist, it has been found that the rolls tend
to feed or work all the oil, which is supplied to the bearings, toward one end of
the journal, by the engagement of the oil with the spiral interspace between the
coils of each spring; and one of the present improvements consists in supplying
the bearing with rolls, a part of which are wound with right hand twist, and
part with left hand twist, so that the oil which is crowded toward one end of
the bearing by one part of the rolls may be fed in the opposite direction by the
remaining rolls. Such construction produces a particularly efficient lubrication
for the journal, as the oil is constantly moved by the rolls, toward one end of the
journal or the other, and is thus distributed positively over its entire surface.
Where such rolls are placed in loose contact with one another around the
journal, it has been common to provide a movable guide consisting of two or three
parallel bars connected at their ends by semi-annular arched braces.
Such bars divide the rolls around the journal into unequal groups, and one
object of the present invention is to connect the arched braces by three guide
bars in such manner as to make the groups nearly equal in size; which I effect
by extending the ends of the braces past the center line of the journal. Where
the inner sides of the braces interfere with their passage over a shaft laterally
(which is necessary in applying the guide to the shaft in most cases) I trim off the
inner corners of the braces so as to make their inner sides parallel to one another.
The invention also includes a composite anti-friction roller consisting of one
spiral spring fitted tightly inside another, to reinforce the strength of the outer
coils; the coils of the respective springs being preferably wound in reverse
directions, or made of different pitch, so that their interspaces may not coincide.
It is old to make flexible shafting of a composite spiral spring, but the springs
in such flexible shafting are subjected only to torsion and bending, while the rolls
used in the present invention are subjected to neither torsion nor bending, but
solely to lateral compression. Such lateral compression is sustained exclusively

page_text: by the arched or circular form of the coils, which thus perform a totally different
function than in a flexible shafting.
In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a plan of a pillow-block bearing containing the
improvements, the cap of the bearing being removed. Fig. 2 is a section on
line 2, 2, in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows an alternative arrangement for the reversely
wound rolls; Fig. 4 is a plan of the guide; Fig. 5 an end view of the guide and
journal; Fig. 6 shows one of the composite rolls partly in section, to exhibit the
inner spring; and Fig. 7 is an end view of the same.
A is the body of the bearing, A¹ its cap, B the chamber containing the rolls C,
and D is the journal sustained by the rolls. E are the lateral bars of the guide,
E¹ the central bar, and F the arched braces. The bars are shown concave where
they touch the rolls.
In Fig. 1, the rolls in the group at one side of the guide bar E¹ are shown
wound with a right hand twist, and those at the other side with a left hand
twist.
In Fig. 2, each of such groups is shown comprising three rolls; and the four
rolls in the bottom group may also be wound one half of them with the right
hand twist, and the other half with the left hand twist.
One half the rolls in the bearing would thus be wound in each direction, and
they would operate, as they rotate within the casing, to carry the oil alternately
back and forth over the length of the journal. To divide the rolls into groups of
nearly equal size, and to thus avoid any irregularity in the passage of the guides
beneath the journal, and to enable the rolls to support the journal uniformly;
the arched braces are constructed to include about two thirds of a circle, which
carries the ends of the braces past the center line of the journal. It is very
desirable to apply the braces to the journal laterally so that the guide may be
removed from the bearing when the cap is loosened from the same; and to effect
such object, the ends of the braces are not extended inwardly concentric with
the journal, but are formed with parallel faces F", which adapt the braces to pass
over the journal, as shown in Fig. 5.
By this construction, the guide bars are disposed at substantially equal distances
around the journal, and the entire guide is adapted for application to the shaft
at the side of the same, thus avoiding the necessity of exposing the end of the
shaft to apply the guide. The winding of the rolls in opposite directions per-
forms the desired function, in distributing the oil, irrespective of the guides;
and to illustrate this function, the casing is omitted in Fig. 3, and the rolls are
shown applied to the journal without any guide, the alternate rolls being wound
in opposite directions, and thus producing the same effect upon the oil as described
for the oppositely wound groups in Fig. 1.
In the composite rolls shown in Fig. 6, the coils of the outer spring C are wound
with right hand twist, while the coils of the inner spring C¹ are wound with the
left hand twist, thus making the interspaces of the coils cross one another, and
enabling the inner coils to sustain the pressure upon the outer coils more
effectively.
The same effect may be produced by winding the inner and outer springs of
the same twist, but of different pitches, so that the interspaces may not coincide.
By fitting the inner spring snugly within the outer spring, the strength of the
roll is enormously increased, and the strength of a solid roll is obtained, in con-
nection with the flexibility of the spiral spring, which has proved to be of great
advantage in such bearings.
In Fig. 7, the bore of the composite roll is shown about one third of its exterior
diameter, representing a roll of one and a half inch diameter with a half inch
central hole, which proportions form a roll of very great strength under com-
pression, while the spiral windings of the two springs afford the lateral flexibility
which is necessary.
It will be perceived that the insertion of one spring within another affords a
thickness of metal around the central hole, and a degree of lateral flexibility

page_text: which would be absolutely unattainable with a single spring, as metal of half
inch thickness could not, in practice, be wound upon a mandrel, of half inch
diameter. The inner spring is, in practice, fitted snugly within the outer
spring, by making it of suitable size to enter the bore of the outer spring when
the latter is grasped at opposite ends, and slightly untwisted to enlarge its bore,
the reaction of the outer spring when its ends are released, serving to clamp the
inner spring and firmly hold it in place.
It is obvious that the flexibility of each spring is preserved in the composite
structure, and the flexibility of the entire roll is much greater than if it were
wound of a single coil of thicker metal. The inner spring serves to reinforce the
outer spring, whatever the proportions or arrangement of the coils and inter-
spaces; but the winding of the inner springs, so as to avoid the coincidence of
the interspaces, serves to sustain the coils of the outer spring more perfectly
under the lateral pressure of the load. I have found in practice that the efficiency
of a roller bearing is greatly increased by the use of the composite rolls and triple
bar guides, and that the lubrication can only be perfectly maintained by forming
the rolls in the casing, of opposite twists.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a roller bearing, the combination, with the journal and a cylindrical
casing surrounding the same, of a series of spiral spring rolls fitted between the
journal and casing and compressed by the load upon the journal, the rolls being
wound, a part of them with right hand twist and a part with left hand twist to
preserve an equal distribution of the oil, substantially as herein set forth.
2. In a roller bearing, the combination, with the journal and a cylindrical
casing surrounding the same, of a series of composite rolls fitted between the
journal and casing and compressed by the load upon the journal, and formed each
of two spiral springs, the inner one fitted snugly within the outer to reinforce it
under the lateral compression of the load imposed by the journal, substantially as
herein set forth.
3. A roller bearing having three groups of loose rolls about equal in number,
and provided with a guide having three guide bars and arched braces connecting
the bars at nearly equal distances from one another, each arched brace comprising
about two thirds of a circle, and the inner sides of the braces at their ends being
formed with flat faces F1 to pass over the journal when applied laterally thereto,
substantially as herein set forth.