BEARINGS FOR PENDANT SHAFTS
Year: 1888

page_text: I GEORGE SHANN of 3 Park Row, Albert Gate, London in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for BEARINGS FOR PENDANT
SHAFTS to be as follows:-
--
The vertical shaft to be supported carries a horizontal plate, which revolves with
the shaft and is enclosed within a casing containing liquid; the shaft passing through
the bottom of the said casing. To prevent the liquid from escaping, the casing is
wholly or partly closed at the top; and at the bottom has either a water-tight joint
in which the shaft works, or is provided with a tube through which the shaft may
pass; the said tube rising from the bottom of the casing to a point above the level of
the liquid, and the connexions between the shaft and the plate being carried over the
top of the tube. When the latter arrangement is used, the tube passes through an
aperture in the centre of the horizontal plate and a water-tight joint is made
between the tube and the plate to prevent the liquid from rising through this
aperture.
The plate may either be constrained to remain at a fixed level, or may be allowed
to rise when pressed upward by the liquid. Also, if desired, the shaft may have a
certain amount of lateral play within the casing.
Provision may be made for adjusting the pressure of the liquid and the height of
the rise of the plate, by regulating the motion of the liquid, or the quantity of liquid
in the casing.
If convenient, two or more plates may be used, one above another, to support the
same shaft.
TJL: 011 1
1 1000

page_text: I GEORGE SHANN of 3 Park Row, Albert Gate, London in the county of Middlesex,
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 :-
The bearing is formed by means of a horizontal plate within a casing containing
liquid of which that portion which is on one side of the plate is kept as nearly as
possible at rest, while the liquid on the other side of the plate is thrown into rapid
rotation.
In this way the liquid which is at rest is caused to exert a pressure on the plate,
which by acting upwards balances the downward pressure of the Shaft.
My invention consists in the construction of such bearings in forms adapted to
Pendant Shafts.
The simplest arrangement for this purpose is to provide an aperture in the
bottom of the casing through which the shaft may pass, and to make the sides of
the said aperture fit so closely to the shaft that no liquid can escape.
It will be seen that if the top of the casing be completely closed the machinery
in this arrangement is entirely water-tight and will work equally well if the relative
positions of the parts be reversed, that is to say, if the casing be fixed to the shaft
and made to revolve therewith while the horizontal plate is held in a fixed position by
a stationary shaft passing through an aperture in the top of the casing. In this modi-
fication the vortex is made below the horizontal plate, and the liquid above the said
plate is kept at rest.
Instead of this simple arrangement I prefer to make the revolving shaft work within
a tube rising from the bottom of the casing to a point above the level of the liquid;
to make an aperture in the centre of the horizontal plate, through which the tube:
may pass, and to carry the connexions between the Shaft and the Plate over the top
of the tube.
This latter arrangement is shown in the accompanying drawing, where in A repre-
sents the vertical Shaft B the horizontal plate, C the connexions between the Shaft
and the plate, D the casing with its cover, E the tube within which the Shaft works,
F. F. vanes of any description for giving motion to the liquid above the plate B,
and G, G, vanes or bafflers intended to keep the liquid below the plate as nearly as
possible at rest.
I have shown these vanes as being attached to a central boss H and prevented
from revolving by means of projections inside the casing, such as the pin K.
As there is an upward pressure of the liquid against the plate, it is necessary to
make a water-tight joint between the said plate and the outside of the tube E. This
may be done in various ways; the drawing shows it as made by means of a suitable
collar L of leather or other water proof material.

page_text: In any of these arrangements the horizontal plate and the casing may either have
their levels fixed, or may be allowed to change their relative positions under the action
of the liquid pressure.
In the drawing provision is shown for allowing the plato B to rise in the casing,
and for making the lower vanes G, G, rise along with it; the central boss H sliding
on the outside of the tube E. When the relative position of the plate and the casing is
not fixed the motion may be controlled by arrangements similar to those described in
my Patent Specification 14137 of 1887, which arrangements were applied to a liquid
bearing for the bottom of an upright shaft.
If machinery is to be driven from the shaft by means of frictional connexions, tho
rise and fall of the shaft, under the influence of the liquid pressure, may be made to
throw such connexions into and out of gear.
When desired the horizontal supports of the shaft may be made elastic so as to allow
the said shaft a cortain amount of lateral play.
In the foregoing description mention has been made of one horizontal plate only;
but two or more such plates may be used, one above the other on the same shaft,
when such an arrangement is found convenient.
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. The construction of liquid-vortex-bearings in forms adapted to Pendant Shafts,
substantially as herein-before described.
2. In connexion with such bearings, the use of means for controlling the relative
position of the horizontal plate and the casing, similar to those described in my
Specification 14137 of 1887, as applied to a bearing for the bottom of an upright
shaft.
3. In combination with these bearings, the use of frictional connexions for driving
machinery from the shaft, which connexions are thrown into and out of gear by the
alteration of the liquid pressure.
Dated this Eighteenth day of December 1888.