Bushing Loose Running Pulleys and Wheels.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1887
Complete Left, 24th Mar., 1888
Complete Accepted, 18th May, 1888
Bushing Loose Running Pulleys and Wheels.
I JAMES SHEPHERD of 27 Plymouth Avenue, Stockport Road Manchester in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:
My invention relates to the construction of steps suitable for pedestals and plummer
blocks used in connection with hangers, wall and pillar brackets, engine bearings, and
appliances for carrying rotating shafts and axles of every description, and for lining
or bushing pulleys or wheels intended to run loose upon their shafts.
The object is to ensure economical and continued lubrication of the shaft axle or
pulley over its entire bearing surface so as to reduce wear and tear of the working
parts to minimise the quantity of lubricant required, and to provide a cheap and easy
means of renewing old and worn out steps and bushes.
In applying my invention to the bearings of shafts and axles I make the body of
the bearing of cast iron or steel of the ordinary or any suitable design, and into that
portion of the bearing in which the shaft or axle must lie and revolve I fit my
improved step. This step forms the principle of my invention. It may be made of
brass or any suitable alloy of metals, or can be made from hard wood, compressed
paper, or other fibrous material but, I prefer to employ strips of any well known anti-
friction metal rolled or cast to the thickness required. These strips I perforate
through over their entire surface with round, square, hexagon, or rectangular holes,
the size to be in proportion to the dimensions of the step, or the working surface of
the step or bush may be perforated, slotted, or rifled over its entire surface but only
partially through the thickness of the metal or material employed, but I prefer to use
the through perforation on the score of cheapness, as the holes may be punched
through instead of drilling the metal, and also of increased usefulness as the through
perforations offers greater facilities for clearing the holes when required-A perforated
step is by preference formed by bending strips of through perforated metal of any
width and thickness to a circle of the required diameter. For ordinary pedestals and
plummer blocks the bottom step only need to be used and the metal forming the step

page_text: may be bent or flanged at each end so as to rest in a shallow recess cast or cut in
either side of the pedestal as a means to prevent the step from shifting in any
direction. The top cap of the pedestal when bolted down in its position will rest upon
the flanged portion of the step making firm and secure the entire arrangement. In
cases where top steps are considered necessary it only requires the same process
carrying out as with the bottom step.
For loose running pulleys and wheels the boss of the pulley or wheel is bored
sufficiently large to receive a perforated metal bush or liner to be driven tightly in
and if necessary secured in position by screws or pins, after which the bush or liner
may be opened out to any required diameter.
Steps and bushes made and perforated as herewith described for lubricating purposes
differ materially from steps that have holes put in them to be plugged or fitted with
alloys of metal, plumbago, and other similar substances. My improvement consists
in providing open perforations over the entire surface of the step or bush so as to
forin cells, or reservoirs into which the lubricating material used can pass in and out,
causing them to fill and discharge their contents by the action of a rotating shaft
passing over their surface which ensures constant, perfect, and economical lubrication
to the wearing surfaces of both shaft and stop-also as an easy means to renew the
step, or clean out the perforations when required.
Dated this 29th day of November 1887.

page_text: Bushing Loose Running Pulleys and Wheels.
I JAMES SHEPHERD of 27 Plymouth Avenue Stockport Road Manchester in the
County of Lancaster Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:
My invention relates to the construction of steps and bearings suitable for pedistals
and plummer blocks used in connection with hangers, wall and pillar brackets, engine
shaft bearings, and appliances for carrying revolving shafts and axles of every
description, and for lining or bushing pulley bosses, or the hub of wheels intended to
run loose upon their shafts and axles.
The object of this my invention is to obtain a regular and sufficient quantity or
supply of lubricating material to a shaft and its bearing over the entire working
surface, irrespective of the speed at which it may revolve, and to provide a cheap and
easy means to clean or to renew the steps and bearings.
In applying my improved step or bearing to shafts and axles, it is necessary to
state that the lubricating material can be supplied thereto either from the upper or
from the lower side of the shaft.
For shafts of ordinary diameters, and for heavy shafting I prefer to supply the
lubricating material from below the shaft, and in such manner that the process of
lubrication shall be perfectly self acting, and continuous when the shaft is revolving.
For such purpose I make the pedistal or plummer block intended for my improved
step of cast iron or steel, and of any suitable design.
The step or bearing may be made of brass, or any antifriction metal, or formed from
hard wood, compressed paper or other fibrous material. Over the lower portion of
the step or bearing I cast, drill, or punch holes of any desired form, and these holes
or openings through the step or bearing may be of any required depth by casting
projections, or otherwise forming them upon the underside of the step.
A cheap and efficient form of pedistal with the improved step or bearing attached
is shewn at Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 which accompany this specification.
Fig. 1 represents the front elevation of a pedistal with my improved step arranged
for ordinary use. Fig. 2 is a front elevation in section. Fig. 3 is an end elevation
of the same in section and Fig. 4 is a plan of the pedistal and step. In Fig. 2
and 3 "A" "A" represents a chamber formed in the centre portion of the block
or pedistal, and this chamber "A" "A" is in open communication through the
holes or passages "C" "C" into the side chambers "B" "B" all of which
contain the oil or lubricant to be used. In figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 "D" "D"
represents the improved step or bearing, and " E" "Ein Figs. 2, 3 and 4
represent the perforations therein, but I do not confine myself to the number or
form of these perforations, nor to the method of increasing their depth, as these may
be changed or altered without in the least departing from the spirit and intention of
my invention.
When lubrication is supplied from the underside of a shaft it is necessary that the
low level or bottom of the holes or perforations in the step should be carried near to
the bottom of the chamber in the pedistal, so that they are constantly covered by the

page_text: lubricant as a means to exclude air from the perforations, or to prevent air from
being drawn through them instead of the lubricating material in use. So long as
the bottom of the perforations aro closed with oil, and the shaft above them is
revolving the rotary action of the shaft continues to lift the oil or lubricant from
the bottom chamber in the pedistal to the upper surface of the step or bearing,
and as the lubricant works to the ends of the step or bearing it falls into the
outside chambers B, B, and returns through the holes C, C, back into the centre
chamber, this action being continuous.
For bearings forming portions of machinery, tools, implements, and instruments
of various kinds where the shafts are light, and ordinary pedistals cannot be used,
and also, for lining or bushing the bores of loose running pulleys and wheels I prefer
to supply the lubricant from the top side of the shaft or axle, and in such cases to
employ a step or bearing having holes of any form or size, cast, punched or drilled in
or through the thickness of the step or bush. Fig. 5 is a section of an ordinary
step or bearing perforated partially through the thickness of the metal. Fig. 6 is a
section of a similar step perforated through the thickness of the metal. Fig. 7 is a
plan of the same step or bearing shewing a general arrangement of the perforations.
Fig. 8 is the section of an ordinary step or bearing with a liner of thin perforated
metal over its surface, and Fig. 9 is a plan of the same step. Fig. 10 is a section of
a pulley boss or wheel hub with a section of a bush, or cylinder, of brass or any
anti-friction metal perforated throughout its length and circumference with any
number and size of holes, and fitted into the pulley boss or into the hub of loose
running wheels for the purpose of holding or storing oil for lubricating the shaft,
journal, or axle over which they revolve.
Steps, bearings, and bushes, made perforated and used as described in this specifi-
cation for lubricating purposes differ materially from steps, bearings, or bushes that
have had holes put in or through them in order to be plugged or fitted in with
plumbago and other substances intended for lubricating purposes. My invention
consists in providing one or more perforations over the surface of a step, bearing or
bush so arranged as to form " open receptacles colls, or chambers, into which oil and
other lubricating material can pass in and out, and that the action of a revolving
body over the working surface of a perforated step or bearing is sufficient to empty
and re-fill the perforations, cells, or chambers of the lubricating matter they may
contain. The action being continuous when the shaft or wheel is in motion.
גי
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1st. A step or bearing having open perforations through it, so arranged in the
block or pedistal supporting it that oil and other lubricants can be supplied to the
working surfaces of a shaft and its bearing from below, substantially as and for
the purposes set forth and indicated.
2nd. Perforating steps and bearings so as to form open cells or chambers to hold
oil and other lubricants when supplied from above a shaft or axle substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
3rd. Lining steps or bearings with strips or cylinders of perforated metal substan-
tially as and for the purposes set forth.
4th. Bushing the boss or nave of loose running pulleys and wheels with cylinders
or tubes of perforated metal substantially as set forth and indicated.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1888