Improvements in Bearings for Mules and other Textile Machinery.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Jan., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Oct., 1893-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bearings for Mules and other Textile Machinery.
I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Firm of John Hetherington & Sons
Limited, of the Vulcan Works, Pollard Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinists, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates principally to such revoluble parts of mules and other
machinery used in the preparation and spinning of textile materials as are at times
forced in a direction parallel with the axes of revolution so that great pressure is
sustained by the bearing collars which are thus subject to excessive wear and
deterioration. My invention is particularly applicable to the rim shaft bearings of
the mule or to one of them but may also be applied to the bearings of other parts
of the mule such for example as the cam shaft and the vertical shaft and to places
where pressure is exerted in the said direction by the action of friction clutches or
results from other causes. I employ balls to receive the thrust pressure and to
transmit it to the abutment part of the bearing. These balls are contained in
annular channels formed in the fixed part of the bearing and in the shaft collar or
in a part fixed upon the shaft and are free to roll around the axis of revolution of
the shaft. If preferred the thrust bearing may be constructed as a separate
appliance so that it can be applied upon the shaft with one part secured to the shaft
and the other part fixed to the ordinary bearing or be loosely mounted upon the
shaft between the ordinary bearing and a collar or a part formed or fixed upon the
shaft. In some cases the improved bearings may be adapted to sustain the weight
of the revoluble part so as to lessen the friction and thereby effect a reduction in
the required driving power.
Although I have referred principally to mules my invention is applicable to
other machinery used in the opening cleaning preparation and spinning of textile
materials.
f T
1000
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bearings for Mules and other Textile Machinery.
I JOHN MUIR HETHERINGTON of the Firm of John Hetherington & Sons
Limited, of the Vulcan Works, Pollard Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinists, 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 and accompanying drawings:-
==
My invention relates principally to such revoluble parts of mules and other
machinery used in the preparation and spinning of textile materials as are at times
forced in a direction parallel with the axes of revolution so that great pressure is
sustained by the bearing collars which are thus subject to excessive wear and
deterioration.
My invention is particularly applicable to the rim shaft bearings of the mule or
to one of them but may also be applied to the bearings of other parts of the mule
such for example as the cam shaft and the vertical shaft and to places where
pressure is exerted in the said direction by the action of friction clutches or results
from other causes. I employ balls to receive the thrust pressure and to transmit it

page_text: to the abutment part of the bearing. These balls are contained in annular
channels formed in the fixed part of the bearing and in the shaft collar or in a
part fixed upon the shaft and are free to roll around the axis of revolution of the
shaft.
An example of the application of my invention is illustrated by the accompanying
drawing.
In the said drawing a is a portion of a shaft which may be horizontal or vertical
according to the precise application.
Supposing the shaft to be the rim shaft of a mule such shaft would be horizontal.
The shaft is fitted to revolve in bearings as is usual a part of one of the bearings
appearing at b. An annular collar c is mounted upon the shaft and secured by
means of a screw d. A washer e is mounted upon the flange of the bearing bush b.
In the opposed faces of the parts cand e channels are formed to receive hard steel
balls the channels in the two faces forming an annular race which is fitted with
balls as is usual in ball bearings. In the example the parts cand e are formed
separately from the bearing of the shaft and from any part ordinarily secured upon
the shaft but if preferred the separate part c might be dispensed with and the
channel for the balls be turned in the face of the boss of a wheel or of a pulley or
other body such as ordinarily fixed upon the shaft or in a collar formed upon the
shaft.
It is not essential that the part e shall fit upon the flange of the bearing as it
might be in the form of a loose ring or washer simply abutting against the end of
the bearing bush, or against the part in which the bearing is formed in case a
bearing bush is not provided as there would be little or no tendency for the part e
to revolve with the shaft, and for the same reason there is no absolute necessity for
the part c to be fastened upon the shaft.
The part e might be dispensed with and the channel be turned in the bearing
bush or the part in which the shaft is mounted to revolve.
In some cases the improved bearings may be adapted to sustain the weight of the
revoluble part so as to lessen the friction and thereby to effect a reduction in the
required driving power as for example in the case of the tin drum shaft of a mule
and the carriage bearers.
Although I have referred principally to mules my invention is applicable to
other machinery used in the opening, cleaning, preparation and spinning of textile
materials.
I am aware that balls have been extensively used in the formation of the bearings
of cycles prior to the date of my invention and I therefore make no claim in respect
of the use of the balls excepting in the manner and for the purposes set forth
herein.
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 thrust bearing for rim and other shafts in cotton machinery as set
forth.
2. The parts c and e or equivalent parts and the balls f interposed between a
collar or fixed part on the shaft a and the end of a bearing in which the shaft
revolves for the purpose set forth.
3. The employment in cotton machinery of ball bearings in the manner and for
the purpose set forth.
Dated this 2nd day of October 1893.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.