Year: 1897

page_text: I, JOHN BOYD DUNLOP, of Hazeldene, Ailesbury Road, Dublin, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
It has hitherto been the practice to adjust the bearings of cycles and vehicles
by means of a screw threaded cone, cup or nut, and to lock the cone, cup, or
nut by means of another nut; and as the parts wear they require to be readjusted.
The object of this invention is to produce self adjusting bearings which will take
up the wear.
In carrying out my invention as applied, for instance to ball bearings for cycles,
I employ an adjusting cup or a cone of the usual form, but I prefer to have the
screw threads in the form of buttress threads reversed and of greater pitch than
usual, in order to provide a firm and steady screw-bearing surface for the cup
or cone, I also prefer that the screw threads should have two or more starts.
In order to make the bearings self-adjusting I employ a spring of suitable
strength and in such a manner as to screw the cup or cone home against the balls.
I prefer to use a coiled or a spiral spring.
When I adjust by means of the cup I hook or otherwise secure one end of the
spring to a hole provided in a milled edge formed on the cup and the other end of
the spring is secured to the hub or barrel. When I adjust by the cone or nut I
secure or engage one end of the spring to the cone or nut and the other end to the
axle or to another nut or another support fixed on the axle.
In some cases I may have the smaller end of the cone projecting through the
cup and on to this smaller end I screw a washer to which I attach one end of the
spring and the other end to the axle.
In some cases I may place the spring inside the hub or barrel one end of the
spring being engaged or secured to the cone and the other to a ratchet arrange-
ment. In this case I insert a pin through a hole provided in the hub and the pin
engages in a hole or slot in the ratchet; by turning the axle or the hub round
the spring is brought into action and the cone is thereby screwed home against the
balls the pin is then withdrawn.
When I apply this invention to the bearings of vehicle wheels I may use an
adjusting nut or cone on the outer end of the axle arm in a similar manner to that
already described; or alternatively I may use a ring or washer placed on the
inner side of the axle collar and screwed into the inner end of the box and regulated
by means of a spring in a similar manner to that already described,
or alternatively I may use a nut or ring screwed on to the inner end of the axle
arm in place of the ordinary collar the said ring or nut being regulated by means
of a spring one end of which is secured to the ring or nut and the other end to
the axle.

page_text: The invention is applicable to the bearings of wheels for vehicles of various
kinds of machinery and to bearings in general.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1897.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or relating to Adjustable Bearings.
I, JOHN BOYD DUNLOP, of Hazeldene, Ailesbury Road, Dublin, Gentleman,
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:-
It has hitherto been the practice to adjust the bearings of cycles and vehicles
by means of a screw threaded cone or cup and to lock the cone or cup by means
of a nut. As the parts wear, they require to be readjusted. The object of this
invention is to produce a self-adjusting bearing which will take up the wear and
not require to be locked.
In carrying out my invention as applied for instance to ball bearings for cycles
I employ adjusting or screwed cups or concs of the usual form, but I prefer to
have the screw threads in the form of buttress threads reversed and generally of
greater pitch than usual. The object in using reversed buttress screw threads is
to produce a screw with the screw bearing surface but slightly inclined from the
axis of the bearing. I may use V or other form of screw threads, but in all cases
the bearing surface is slightly inclined. The object in having the screw bearing
surface slightly inclined is to provide a firm steady bearing for the cup or cone,
so that when the cups or cones are screwed home they will remain steady and free
from slack without the use of a lock nut.
In order to prevent the self-adjusting cup or cone from pressing too firmly
against the balls the screw threads are of unusually coarse pitch, and I may use
screw threads with more than one start.
When I desire to produce self-adjusting bearings by the employment of a self-
adjusting cup in a non-rotating barrel such as the crank bracket of a bicycle,
I employ a spiral or other suitable spring in such a manner as to screw the cup
home against the balls. One end of the spring is hooked into a hole provided in
the barrel, and the other end is hooked into one of a number of holes or teeth
provided in a milled edge or flange formed on the self-adjusting cup.
When I desire to produce self-adjusting bearings by the employment of an
adjusting cone on the axle of a cycle wheel, I secure one end of a suitable spring
to the axle and the other end to the cone in such a manner as to screw the cone
home against the balls.
When I desire to produce self-adjusting bearings in a cycle wheel by the employ-
ment of a self-adjusting cup, I may dispense with the rotating spring, and the
rotation of the wheel when the cycle is being ridden will be sufficient to screw the
cup home.
The cup in the left side of the hub is provided with left hand screw threads,
and the cup in the right side is provided with right hand threads. The diameter
of the cups being less than the inside diameter of the hub; if the bearing be loose
the weight of the rider causes the cups to be eccentric to the hub, and the rotation
of the wheel causes the cups to roll within the hub and thus rotate in relation to
the hub in a direction tending to screw the cups home into position.
I prefer to provide the cup in the right side with a flange to engage against
the edge of the hub and so have the other cup only self-adjusting.

page_text: When I desire to produce self-adjusting bearings on a rotating axle such as a
cycle crank axle by the employment of a self-adjusting inside cone or cones, I
may dispense with the rotating spring and provide the cone or cones with screw
threads, similar to those already described, left hand threads in the left side and
right hand threads in the right side.
I prefer in cycle bearings to employ inside cones and outside discs and so pro-
duce bearings comparatively dust-proof and oil-containing.
When I desire to lock an adjustable cup in a hub or barrel I provide the cup
with holes round the circumference of the cup. A hole is also provided in the
hub or barrel in a plane with the holes in the cup. When the cup is screwed into
position, we spring on to the barrel a semicircular spring, one end of which is
turned inwards; this inturned end is directed in through the hole in the barrel
and into one of the holes in the cup and thus the cup is prevented from turning
in the barrel and the slightly inclined screw bearing surface prevents any slack
in the cup.
In order to make this invention clearly understood, I illustrate my improved
bearings as applied to cycles.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a self-adjusting and locking
bearing of a cycle wheel.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a self-adjusting bearing of a cycle crank
bracket.
Figure 3 is an end view of the cup A shown in Figure 2.
Figure 4 illustrates the spiral spring 1) shown in Figure 2.
Figure 5 illustrates the semicircular spring S shown in Figure 2.
In Figure 1, A is the self-adjusting and locking cup provided with reversed
buttress left hand screw threads; B is the self-locking cup provided with reversed
buttress right hand screw threads B2 and flange C engaging the end of the hub.
In Figure 2, A¹ is the self-adjusting and locking cup provided with reversed
buttress screw threads and a flange in which are the teeth C¹. D is a spiral
spring one end of which is attached to the barrel E, and the other end engages
with the peripheral teeth C, B is the fixed or locked cup provided with reversed
buttress screw threads and prevented from turning by the inturned end of the
spring S. The slightly inclined screw threads prevent any slack.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a self-adjusting bearing a cup or disc having screw threads substantially
as and for the purposes described and shown at A Figure 1.
2. In a bearing a self-locking cup or disc having screw threads substantially
such as described and shown at B Figure 1.
3. In a self-adjusting bearing a cup rotated by a spring and having screw threads
substantially as described and shown at A' Figure 2.
4. In an adjustable ball bearing a cone or cup left free to adjust itself.
5. In a self-adjusting bearing a cone having slightly inclined screw threads of
coarse pitch substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
6. In an adjustable-bearing a cup having screw threads substantially as described
and shown at B2 Figure 1.
7. The complete adjustable bearing substantially as described or illustrated in
Figure 1 or Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1897.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.