IMPROVEMENTS IN ANTIFRICTION BEARINGS, APPLICABLE TO RUNNING SHAFTS AND AXLETREES OF MACHINES AND VEHICLES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Antoine Baron de Gablenz at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th April 1866.
I, ANTOINE Baron DE GABLENZ, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,
No. 60, Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ANTIFRICTION
BEARINGS, APPLICABLE TO RUNNING SHAFTS AND AXLETREES OF MACHINES AND
VEHICLES OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to do away with the friction and consequent
loss of useful effect inseparable from the method according to which axles and
shafts are usually laid down and worked in bearings.
Instead of the arrangement at present in use by which the axle or a certain
portion of the body of the shaft is exposed to friction against a fixed and non-
rolling or non-revolving surface in the whole length of the respective "bearing,"
"axle-box," or "brasses," I so construct the bearing that the shaft or the
axle is not subjected to any direct; friction this I realize by furnishing that
part of the shaft or axle that is usually laid down in bearings with a ring or

page_text: collar, the circumferential surface of which may be either convex or concave,
and bearing respectively upon a projecting ring or a groove upon or in a
circular movable plate connected with a corresponding stationary plate by
means of a central stud or pin. Between these two plates a number of anti-
friction balls or spheres, held at a proper distance apart by a corresponding
number of radial arms mounted upon a central pivot, are inserted for the
transmission of the rolling motion and reduction of the friction.
To facilitate the understanding of the improvements effected by me I have
annexed to the present Specification a Drawing shewing the application of my
Invention in practice. Figure 1 represents an elevation, partly in section, of
an antifriction bearing constructed according to the present Invention, designed
to be substituted for the axle boxes commonly in use in railway carriages,
locomotives, and for other similar purposes; Figure 3 is an arrangement
intended to be employed for bearings of fly wheel, pulley, or other shafts
connected with stationary motors or working machinery; whilst Figure 2
represents a plan of a portion of either arrangement, shewing the antifriction
balls and arms inserted between the two circular plates, the same letters of
reference denoting corresponding parts in each of the three Figures.
The shaft or axle E is provided with a ring or collar B, the circumferential
surface of which may be concave, as shewn in Figure 1, or convex as in
Figure 3. The periphery of the ring or collar B runs against or in contact
with a ring projecting on or in a circular groove cut in the movable plate V.
In Figure 1 the movable plate V is above the collar or ring B. Above the
plate V there is a corresponding stationary plate and a pivot d fixed in the
centre of the top plate S supports the movable plate V, the two plates being
thus connected together and kept equidistant. The stationary plate S may
slide freely within the horn plate or guard plate P, and the carriage spring C,
Figure 1, is connected with and fitted to the top of the plate S by means of
lugs and slots a, a, (Figure 2). Between the two circular plates V, S, the
antifriction balls or spheres i, are inserted; they revolve freely in circular
grooves g, g, cut in both plates, so as to maintain the balls or spheres at a
uniform distance from the centre; the balls or spheres i, i, are besides kept
at a uniform distance from each other by means of the radial arms and their
jaws f, f, revolving freely around the pivot d. 'During the motion of the
carriage wheel R, Figure 1, the collar or ring B, fixed on the shaft E, causes
the movable plate V to revolve, and a rotary motion is given thereby to the
balls or spheres i, i.
In the arrangement, Figure 3, the respective position of the plates V and S.

page_text: is the reverse of Figure 1, the movable plate being placed at the top, and the
stationary one underneath. The remainder of the arrangement, Figure, 3 is
analogous to Figure 1; in both cases a bracket or projecting arm H is provided
for the purpose of supporting the shaft E by means of a central stud or
pivot D.