Improvements in and relating to Roller Bearings.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Roller Bearings.
I, GEORGE CROYDON MARKS, of 18, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
London, W.C., Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent (being a communication
from Bernard Granville, of Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States of
America), 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:-
1
This invention relates to that type of roller bearing in which a cage is employed
for maintaining the rollers spaced apart and parallel to the axis of rotation. The
invention has for its object to effect greater economy in the production of such
bearings without sacrifice of efficiency.
Heretofore it has been customary in the production of roller bearings of this
class to provide the retaining cage with pockets each of which was carefully
milled to form a smooth bearing of a corresponding shape to that of the rollers
while for the introduction of the rollers into position within the pockets the cage
was provided with a cap which after all the rollers were set in position in the
cage was secured thereto and thereby the whole series were retained without
possibility of the rollers falling out. The milling of the circular shaped pockets
and the formation of the cage to permit of the rollers passing into the pockets is
costly and it is the object of the present invention to avoid the trouble and expense
incurred by such a construction of the bearing.
The invention consists in providing a cage for such a roller bearing from cast
metal having the pockets formed in the casting and not shaped nor machined as
to conform to the circular shape of the rollers. In such a cage the rollers are
introduced into the pockets from without or from within and loosely fit therein
so that the rollers are not necessarily held by the cage on the cage being with-
drawn from the bearing, the sole function of the cage being in this case merely
to maintain the rollers spaced apart and parallel to the axis of rotation. In the
course of experiments I found such a bearing to be quite efficient and practically
equal to a cage in which the pockets for the bearings are milled or machined for
holding as well as spacing the rollers apart while the expense of production is
materially reduced.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1
is a cross section of a cage for a roller bearing according to the invention, while
Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal section on the line y Figure 1, while Figures 3
and 4 are respectively cross section and longitudinal section of a roller bearing
applied with a roller cage in accordance with the invention.
In carrying the invention into effect I cast a cage A from brass or other suitable
or relatively soft metal and I provide in the casting pockets B which do not
correspond in shape to the rollers that are carried therein. It is preferred to
provide the pockets with radial walls band with exterior edges B₁ which form
exterior apertures B through which the rollers may be sprung into the pockets
such apertures being provided of the same width as the diameter of the rollers.

page_text: On the rollers being placed in position in the pockets B the cage A is ready to
be applied within a bearing such as 1 the rollers projecting upon the internal
and external peripheries of the cage and thus rotating upon the internal peri-
phery of the bearing and the external periphery of the shaft or spindle such
as E. It will thus be understood that it is not necessary to the efficiency of
the bearing that the cage should be machined or touched after casting. In
practice, however, it is preferable to turn or machine the external periphery and
faces of the cage while leaving the pockets untouched.
It is obvious that the shape of the pockets may be varied so as to permit of
the rollers being introduced from within and precluded from passing out from
the exterior by providing the external aperture narrower than the diameter of the
roller. The pockets may however be formed so as to readily permit the rollers
to be inserted from within or without. In such a bearing therefore it will be
understood that the rollers are simply maintained spaced apart and not actually
held by the cage so that when withdrawing the cage it may be necessary in
order to retain the rollers therein that a sleeve or wire ring should be caused to
encircle the cage or a plug be inserted within it.
The rollers are preferably made of hardened steel.
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:
In a roller bearing a cage provided substantially as and for the purpose here-
in before described.