IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THRUST BEARINGS to be as follows:
Year: 1885

page_text: I WILLIAM JAMES CARVER of 8, Dawlish Place, Maindeo, Newport, Mon-
mouthshire, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THRUST BEARINGS to be as follows:-
"
The object of this invention is to reduce the friction in thrust bearings.
-
For this purpose I provide a collar or equivalent upon the shaft which bears
against wheels suitably journalled in adjustable bearings and which may be arranged.
to take the thrust in either direction.
The plane in which these wheels work is by preference as nearly parallel with
the longer axis of the screw shaft as is practicable, but they may be placed at a
considerable angle thereto when necessary.
The usual arrangements for oiling and applying water when necessary may
be used.
This invention is adapted for the thrust bearings of screw steamships and other
places where a thrust has to be met.
Suitable provision is made where required for taking up or allowing for the wear
behind the collar,

page_text: "
I, WILLIAM JAMES CARVER of 8 Dawlish Place, Maindee, Newport, Monmouth-
shire, Marine Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THRUST BEARINGS and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is to reduce the friction in thrust bearings.
For this purpose I provide a collar or equivalent upon the shaft which bears
against wheels suitably journalled in adjustable bearings, and which may be arranged
to take the thrust in either direction.
⋅
The plane in which the wheels work is by preference as nearly paralled with
the longer axis of the screw shaft as is practicable, but they may be placed at a
considerable angle thereto when necessary.
The usual arrangements for oiling and applying water when necessary may
be used.
This invention is adapted for the thrust bearings of screw steam ships and other
places where a thrust has to be met.
Suitable provision is made where required for taking up or allowing for the wear
behind the collar.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan and Figure 2 a side elevation
of the invention as applied to the screw shaft of a steamer.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of the invention applied to a lathe spindle and
Figure 5 shows it applied to a vertical shaft as a footstep.
In Figures 1 and 2 A is the screw shaft. B the collar bevelled at B₁ to form the
face which bears against the thrust wheels C. The wheels C are carried in any
suitable bearings D whose distance from the collar B is adjustable as for instance
by the adjusting screws E. When adjusted the plummer blocks can be bolted firmly
down in the usual manner. The thrust wheels C may if desired have the flange C¹
but this is not essential.
The collar B may be a special collar provided for this purpose, or may be one of
the ordinary couplings, the bolts being countersunk or otherwise disposed so as not
to interfere with the wheels C.
In the drawing these wheels are shown applied to one side only of the collar B
and they would therefore take the thrust in one direction only; where it was
necessary that the thrust should be taken in both directions by the thrust wheels
another pair of wheels would be placed upon the other side of the collar which
would be bevelled as required for the purpose.
It will be seen that by reference to Figure 1 that the collar B is kept as small
as practicable so that the inner edge of the periphery of the wheel C comes very
near the main shaft A; by this means a relatively slow motion is imparted to the
wheel C which is made considerably larger in diameter than B. Also the end of
the spindle C is brought very near the shaft A; by this means the thrust from the
collar B is received by the wheels in a direction not very far from parallel with the
axis of the shaft A. The angle of the face B' is arranged to suit the wheels thos
placed.

page_text: In the application of this invention to lathes shown in Figures 3 and 4 the
thrust wheels C are carried on studs F which are supported in the heads or
blocks G of the rods H which project from the end of the headstock I in the manner
shown.
The rods H are preferably forked at H¹ to receive the heads G whose position
can either be adjusted on the rods, or the rods can be adjusted in the headstock so
as to bring the wheels C into the proper position to take the thrust of the lathe
spindle A. The end of spindle A is not turned flat off but bevelled so as to present
the proper face to the wheels C.
The application of the invention as a footstep at the bottom of a vertical shaft is
clearly indicated in Figure 5.
The wheels C support the shaft in the manner shown and the position of the
wheels may be made adjustable, or the shaft by be allowed by its own weight to
follow up the wheels as they work down in use.
The foregoing exemplifications will be sufficient to show the application of the
invention which however is not confined to the particular subjects referred to.
In general two thrust wheels are found to be sufficient.
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 thrust bearing for propeller shafts the combination with the thrust
collar B having a bevelled face B of thrust wheels C whose peripheries are adapted
to engage with said face B¹ substantially as specified.
2. In a thrust bearing the placing of the thrust wheel C at such an angle with
the main shaft that the inner edge of its periphery and the inner end of its
spindle are brought as near the main shaft as practicable substantially in the
manner and for the purpose specified and shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying
drawings.
3. As a means of taking the thrust of a lathe or other spindle the combination
therewith of thrust wheels C applied and operating substantially in the manner
specified and illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
4. As a footstep for supporting the weight of a vertical shaft the combination
therewith of thrust wheels C substantially as specified and shown in Figure 5 of
the accompanying drawings: