Improvements in Anti-friction Bearings.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1892-Accepted, 30th July, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by FRANK CLEVELAND PITCHER, of 28, India Street,
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.]
Improvements in Anti-friction Bearings.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention relates to antifriction bearings for journals, and particularly for
the journals of railway car axles, although the invention hereinafter described
is not limited to car axle journals, but may be used for any purpose to which it is
adapted.
The invention has for its object to provide a simple and effective antifriction
bearing, the parts or members of which are adapted to exclude dust from the
surfaces of the journal and its antifriction supports, and to be readily taken apart
and put together.
The invention also has for its object to provide an antifriction bearing including
a box or casing and a series of antifriction rollers supported by said box around
the journal, the whole being of such construction that the antifriction rollers cannot
be caused by an independent longitudinal movement of the journal or of the box to
bind on either end of the box to such an extent as to interfere with the free rotation
of the rolls.
To these ends the invention consists in the improvements which I will now
proceed to describe and claim.
Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this Specification,
Figure 1 represents an end elevation of my improved antifriction bearing, the
cap at the outer end thereof being removed to expose the interior.
Fig. 2 represents a side elevation of the box or casing, the end cap being in
place.
Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal section on line 3 3, Fig. 1, showing the end cap
in place.
Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of a portion of one of the sections of
the box.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all of the figures.
In the drawings:
;
:
a represents the journal, which is in this instance formed on a car axle a¹. The
journal is provided with an enlargement or shoulder at a² for a purpose which will
presently appear. The box or casing which receives the journal is composed of
two sections b b, each constituting one-half of the body of the box. Each section
has a semi-circular cavity c, the two cavities forming, when the sections are
assembled, a circular chamber or cavity which surrounds the journal a and forms
an annular space around said journal for the reception of the antifriction rollers d d.
Each section 6 has at its inner end a wall or flange b' which has a semi-circular
recess 62 formed with a shoulder 6 which fits the shoulder a² on the journal a, the
recesses 62 of the two sections closely fitting the journal at both sides of the
shoulder a². The shoulder a² on the journal and the shoulders 63 on the sections of
the box increase the area of bearing surface of the inner end of the box on the
journal, and thus make a tight joint which will prevent dust from entering the
interior of the box around the journal.
The sections bb are connected by bolts ff passing through the sections,
said bolts being detachable so that the sections can be readily separated and

page_text: represents a cap attached by bolts h h to the outer ends of the sections b b, said
cap covering the outer end of the cavity of the box.
The antifriction rollers d d are of such diameter that each extends across the
annular space, and bears simultaneously on the journal a and on the wall of the
cavity c. Said rollers are kept separated from each other and held at a uniform
distance apart by means of smaller intermediate rollers d¹, arranged as shown in
Figure 1, each roller d¹ bearing on the wall of the cavity c, and on two of the
rollers d. The intermediate rollers d' constitute frictionless separating devices
which keep the rollers d from rubbing against each other, as will be readily
:seen.
The rollers d and d are shorter than the length of the cavity c, as shown.in
Figure 3, so that the ends of said rollers are not liable to bear withi any considerable
friction or pressure upon the ends of said cavity. The ends of the rollers d and d¹
are preferably rounded or of convex form, as shown in Figure 3, so that if either
roller by reason of endwise displacement comes in contact with an end casing it will
have only a limited area of bearing on said end, so that the friction caused by said
bearing will be reduced to the minimum.
The journal a is of uniform diameter from the shoulder a² to the extreme outer
end of the journal, the flange or enlargement at the outer end of the journal which
is common in car axle journals, being omitted. The length of the journal a is such
that when its shoulder a bears against the shoulder 3 of the box the outer end of
the journal is separated from the cap at the outer end of the box, as shown in
Figure 3. This arrangement prevents the outer end of the journal from being
brought into contact with the cap g by any independent endwise movement of either
the box or the journal; hence there is no liability of breaking or injuring the cap g
by such contact.
It
It will be understood that the box is affixed to the car-truck in the usual or any
suitable way. In the running of railroad trains there is usually a tendency of
either the boxes or the axle to move endwise independently to a limited extent.
will be observed that whenever this tendency exists the form of the journal a, the
same being made without a flange or enlargement at its outer end as already
described, will enable it to move independently without imparting a similar move-
ment to the rollers d, hence there is no liability of a forcible pressure of the ends
of the rollers against the inner end of the roller-containing cavity in the box, as
there would be if the journal were provided at its outer end with the usual flange
or enlargement.
The sectional construction of the box, above described, enables it to be readily
applied to and removed from the journal, and also facilitates its manufacture by
casting, while the movable cap or cover g at the outer end of the box permits
access to the cavity of the box for the purpose of inspecting or removing and
replacing the rollers d.d!.
It will be seen that the rollers d d' are freely interchangeable and removable,
there being no positive engagement of the rollers with the box, so that each is free
to be withdrawn when the cap g is removed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated.to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what 'I claim is-
1. In an antifriction bearing, the combination substantially as herein before set
forth of the following elements, viz.: first, a journal having a shoulder a²; secondly
a box composed of separable section bb,, each having a semicircular cavity
terminating in an end wall having a semicircular recess, and a. cap or plate g
attached to the outer ends. of said sections, said cavities forming a circular roller
holding chamber surrounding the outer portion of the journal while the end' walls
bear against the shoulder a², thus sustaining the end thrust of the journal, the
journal being shorter than the chamber so that its outer end cannot bear on the
cap g, and thirdly, a series of loose antifriction rollers d and smaller loose anti-

page_text: friction rollers d' inserted in said chamber, said rollers being freely movable endwise
and having reduced ends whereby the area of their bearing on the ends of the
chamber is reduced to the minimum.
2. As an improvement in antifriction bearings, a box composed of two separably
connected sections bb, each having a semi-circular cavity c and an end wall 61
having a shouldered recess 62, and a cap g attached to the outer ends of the sections,
said cavities c forming a circular chamber, while the recesses in the end walls
constitute a shouldered orifice, combined with a journal having a shoulder formed
to fit said shouldered orifice and abut against the shoulder therein, said journal
being of uniform diameter from its shoulder to its outer end, and a series of
antifriction rollers d and smaller intermediate rollers d¹ located in the annular space
surrounding the journal, said rollers being shorter than the cavity or chamber
which contains them, as set forth.
CM 1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.