Journal Bearings.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 19th July, 1892-Accepted, 10th Sept., 1892
Journal Bearings.
I, FRANK VAN BENTHUYSEN, of 407 Broadway, Albany, in the County of
Albany and State of New York, United States of America, Printer and Publisher,
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:-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a casing or shell for a reducible-lining of a
journal-bearing which is embodied in this invention :
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of said casing and the reducible-lining therefor,
showing the joints between the successive turns of said lining in close contact:
Figure 3 is a like section showing said joints made open:
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the reducible-lining detached from its casing:
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of my reducible-lining and
the casing therefor:
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section-partly in side elevation-of my invention
adapted to bicycle wheels provided with roller-bearings:
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of my journal-bearing
adapted to bicycle wheels, with the reducible-lining omitted therefrom:
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section showing a slight modification of the journal-
bearing shown in Fig. 7:
Figure 9 is a vertical transverse section of Fig. 8 at the line X.X:
Figure 10 is a vertical transverse section of Fig. 7 at the line Y Y, and
Figure 11 is a longitudinal section of a modified form of the case for containing
the roller-bearing.
My invention relates to certain improvements in journal-bearings, and it consists
in constructing said bearings in the manner herein shown and described, for the
purpose of reducing the friction on said bearings to a minimumn, and providing
facilities for reducing the diameter of the bore of journal-boxes when-from any
cause the bore of said boxes is larger than required.
As represented in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying drawings, A designates
the casing or shell for a journal-bearing, the periphery of said casing having a
cylindrical form, or, when preferred, any form suitable for the purpose, and said
shell may be made of a single piece, or so as to part longitudinally, according to
the requirements of the machinery whereon it is to be employed; the bore of said
casing or shell is decreased uniformly in diameter from one end to the other, the
diminishment being effected by a series of helicoidal steps, 1, of uniformly-
decreasing diameters to produce walls which are parallel to the central axis of said
casing, or, when preferred, walls having a slight concavity in the direction of the
length of said casing.
As shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, the steps 1 are separated from each other by a
helical-groove, 2, for a purpose hereinafter explained. The smaller end of said
casing is provided with a cap, 3, which-when the journal projects through said
cap-should have a central opening, 5, fitted to the diameter of the journal, and―
when desirable-a washer or annulus of leather or other suitable material may be
secured by said cap against the corresponding end of the casing A, for the purpose
of preventing dirt or grit from entering at that point to injure the journal. While
I have shown but two different forms of walls for the helicoidal steps it is manifest
that other equivalent forms of said walls may be employed to effect the same
purpose.
B designates my reducible lining, which may be made of any suitable metal or

page_text: composition which has a proper degree of resilience and endurance to wear; it is
commonly made of a metallic ribbon having a uniform width and a uniformly
tapering thickness, that will conform to the varying diameters between the walls of
the helicoidal steps 1 of the casing A, into which said lining is designed to fit
snugly. In the form of lining shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 6, a helical-rib, 4, is
formed on the outer face of the lining B to correspond to the position of the
groove 2 of said casing, so that, when a proper rotatory motion is imparted to the
lining B, the latter will be correspondingly screwed into, or out of, the bore of
the casing A, and it is obvious that when it is screwed inwardly into said casing
the lining B will have its bore correspondingly reduced in diameter. In Fig. 4, the
lining B has its outer face made convex to fit the concave form of the walls of the
helicoidal steps of its casing; said lining is made with a tapering thickness of
the ribbon and the diminution of its bore is effected in the manner hereinbefore
described in respect to the lining B. When the lining is formed to leave a space
between the successive turns--as shown in Figs. 3 and 5-said space forms a
receptacle to contain the lubricant used on the bearing, but in any form of this
part of my invention the compressible lining should be made shorter than the
casing which contains it, so as to afford space for screwing said lining inwardly, to
effect a reduction of the diameter of the bore of the same.
C designates a follower or ring fitted to screw into the outer end of the casing A;
said follower is made to bear against the larger end of the reducible lining for the
purpose of preventing the latter from being accidentally screwed outwardly.
In the form of my invention shown in Fig. 6, which is a double bearing for the
hub of a wheel or other device fitted to revolve on a stationary shaft, but which
may be used as a stationary bearing for a revoluble shaft, D designates the hub of
a wheel, or a stationary bearing, having at each end a casing, A', for containing a
roller-bearing, E, which may be made in the form shown in said figure or in any
other preferred form; each of said casings is preferably made of a greater diameter
than that of an intermediate neck, 15, whose bore should be large enough to
prevent any frictional contact with the portion of the shaft which passes through
said neck; the bore of each casing A' is made substantially like the bore of the
casing A herein before described, and each of said casings is provided with a
reducible lining, Bb, of a form substantially the same as the reducible linings
previously described herein. Immediately succeeding the bore of one of the
casings A there is a chamber, 6, which is separated from said bore by a tempered
annulus, 7, which forms the inner end of the bore, and at the inner end of the
chamber 6 another tempered annulus, 8, is preferably placed to form a wall at that
part of the chamber. A screw-cap, 9, forms a closure for the outer end of the bore
of each of the casings A', and a spirally-slotted opening. 10, is formed in the side of
each of said casings to correspond to the inclination of the helicoidal steps; through
each of said slotted openings a binding-screw, 11, is fitted to engage in the corre-
sponding lining Bb for the purpose of preventing the latter from acquiring a
rotatory motion from the journal which revolves therein. A shaft, F, which may
be either stationary or revoluble, passes through the bore of the neck 15, chamber 6,
and both casings A', and is provided with a circumferential flange, 12, so arranged
that it will rotate in the chamber 6. Between said flange and each annulus-
7 and 8-balls or rollers, 13, are interposed to form a thrust-bearing to resist an
endwise strain on the shaft F.
My reducible lining is operated in the following manner: When the bore of said
lining in either form herein shown and described-becomes so worn that a
perceptible shaking of the journal therein occurs, the follower C, or the screw-
cap 9, should be removed and the lining screwed inwardly until the latter is
reduced in its bore to the required diameter, then the closure for the outer end of
the casing can be replaced and the journal bearing will be restored to a.proper
working condition.
In the modification of my invention shown in Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11,
A designates a wheel-hub of slightly different form from the one shown in Fig. 6 ;

page_text: said hub is divided in the length of its bore by an internal circumferential rib, 14,
into separate chambers for containing the roller bearings E which-unlike the
roller bearings shown in Fig. 6-are preferably placed in cages, G, so as to be
removable as an entirety from the chambers of said hub. Each of said cages
consists of a body-piece, 16, and an annular end-piece, 20. The body-piece 16 is a
hollow cylinder that fits snugly into the bore of the hub A and it is provided with
a circumferential flange, 17, which overlaps onto the face of said hub, and with a
head, 18, having a central opening, 19, through which the shaft F protrudes. The
end-piece 20 is preferably provided with an annular rim near its outer edge so as to
form a coniform seat for receiving the inner end of the body-piece 16-as shown in
Figs. 7 and 8-but said end-piece and body-piece may be screwed together-as
shown in Fig. 11. Contained in each cage G, there is a roller-bearing, E, which is
fitted to fill the annular space between the bore of the body-piece 16 and the
periphery of the shaft F, but-as hereinbefore stated in respect to the roller-bearing
shown in Fig. 6-any other preferred form of roller-bearing may be substituted for
the one illustrated in the drawings. The cages G are secured in the bore of the
hub A so that their inner ends will bear against the rib 14-either by means of
corresponding screw-threads formed on the periphery of the body-piece and in the
bore of the hub A2, as shown in Fig. 7, or by means of screws 21, as shown in
Fig. 8. The shaft F is provided with a circumferential flange, 12, which will be
located in the space formed by the reduced bore of the hub A² to produce the
rib 14; said flange is arranged to come between the adjacent inner ends of the
cages G, and balls, 13, are interposed between said flange and the inner ends of
said cages so as to form anti-friction bearings to receive any endwise thrust that
either said shaft or hub may be subjected to.
When the cages G are made in the form shown in Fig. 11 they, and the roller-
bearings contained therein, may be removed from and replaced in the hub A
without separating said bearings from the cages.
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:
1. A reducible lining for journal-bearings, consisting of a metallic ribbon which
tapers uniformly in thickness from one end to the other; said ribbon being coiled
in a helicoidal form so as to produce a bore of uniform diameter; said lining being
uniformly reduced in its outer diameter and having its outer face provided with
means substantially as described-for adapting said lining to be screwed into the
corresponding bore of a casing, as and for the purpose herein specified.
2. The combination, with a reducible lining for journal-bearings consisting of a
metallic ribbon which tapers uniformly in thickness from one end to the other and
is coiled in a helicoidal form; the bore of said coil having a uniform diameter and
the outer face of said coil decreasing uniformly in diameter from one end to the
other, of a casing whose bore is formed by a series of helicoidal steps corresponding
to the outer surface of said lining; the bore of said casing decreasing uniformly in
diameter by means of said helicoidal steps-from one end to the other, as and for
the purpose herein specified."
3. The combination of a reducible lining for journal-boxes made of a metallic
ribbon of uniform width but tapering in thickness from one end to the other and
having a longitudinal rib on one of its faces; said metallic ribbon being coiled in a
helicoidal form to produce a bore of uniform diameter, and said rib being arranged
on the outer face of said lining, and a casing for containing said lining whose bore
is composed of a series of helicoidal steps corresponding to the outer face of said
lining and provided with a helicoidal groove for receiving the rib of the lining, as
and for the purpose herein specified.
4. The combination of a lining for journal-bearings which is made in a helicoidal
form whose outer diameter decreases uniformly from one end to the other, a casing
whose bore is formed of a series of helicoidal steps fitted to receive said lining, and

page_text: means substantially as herein described-for securing said lining in said casing, as
and for the purpose herein specified.
5. The combination of a hub provided at each end with a casing provided with
helicoidal steps of uniformly decreasing diameter, a reducible lining which is made
in a helicoidal form adapted to fit the helicoidal steps of the bore of said casing, a
roller bearing fitted to occupy the annular space between the bore of said lining
and the periphery of a shaft fitted to rotate in or form an axis for said hub, and a
shaft contained in said hub, as and for the purpose herein specified.
6. The combination of a shaft provided with a circumferential flange which
separates the journal into two parts, a hub having at each end a recess for con-
taining a roller-bearing; said recesses being separated by an internal circumferential
rib and each of said roller-bearings being contained in a cage that is removable
from said hub, and anti-friction balls or rollers interposed between the inner end of
said cages and the flange of said shaft, as and for the purpose herein specified.
7. A cage for roller-bearings consisting of a hollow cylindrical body-piece having
one end open and the other end partially closed, and an annulus which forms a
partial closure for said open end, as and for the purpose herein specified.
Dated this 19th day of July 1892.
HERBERT J. ALLISON,
Agent for the Applicant.