Improvement in Roller Bearings and Ball Bearings.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th July, 1897-Accepted, 7th Aug., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Roller Bearings and Ball Bearings.
I, HERMANN HAEDICKE, Rector, of Schutzenstrasse, Remscheid, in the German
Empire, 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 invention has for its object, to avoid certain defects which are inherent to
roller and ball bearings as usually made.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a diagram of a bearing in which the balls
do not touch each other, and in which, consequently, there is no sliding friction.
Fig. 2 is a diagram of an ordinary roller or ball bearing, in which the balls or
rollers touch each other.
Figs. 3 to 6 are diagrams illustrating my improvements.
In Fig. 2 the rollers touch each other and push each other along as they turn
on their respective axes. All of them turn in the same sense, the right hand side
moving downward, and the left side upward. Consequently, there is sliding friction
between the rollers, producing waste of power and wear and tear which depend
on the load and on the speed of rotation.
To avoid this defect, I interpose between the supporting rollers intermediate
rollers of smaller diameter, which touch the supporting rollers, but turn in an
opposite sense, as indicated by the arrows. The points of contact, therefore, roll
in the same direction and at the same speed, without any sliding friction. There
is, however, some sliding friction between the rollers and their supporting base,
or race, because there the intermediate rollers and the supporting rollers move in
opposite directions.
In Fig. 4 the forces with which the supporting rollers a and b act upon an inter-
mediate roller c are indicated by the lines P which form two sides of a
parallellogram, shown in Fig. 6 on a large scale. The diagonal K of the
parallellogram represents the resultant with which the rollers a and b press the
intermediate roller c upon the base or race.
The friction between the rollers and their base is proportional to the resultant
force K, which again depends on the difference between the diameter of the sup-
porting rollers and that of the intermediate rollers. Consequently by making the
intermediate rollers only slightly smaller than the supporting rollers, the friction
of the whole system will be reduced to a minimum.
Fig. 5 indicates the application of my invention to a horizontal journal bearing,
the difference between the radius of the journal and that of the cylindrical bearing
or race being equal to the diameter of the supporting rollers.
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:
Roller bearings and ball bearings having in addition to the supporting rollers

page_text: or balls intermediate rollers or balls of slightly less diameter, which intermediate
rollers or balls are inserted between the supporting rollers or balls without any
guide, substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated this 5th day of July, 1897.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
37 & 39, Essex Street, Strand, London, Agents,