IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Ramsden Shaw, of Pendleton, in the
County of Lancaster, Mill Manager, and Sydney Boardman, of
Oldham, in the same County, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS."
Sealed the 14th July 1871, and dated the 12th May 1871.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Thomas Ramsden Shaw
and Sydney Boardman at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 12th May
1871, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment
Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
RAMSDEN SHAW, of Pendleton, in the County of Lancaster, Mill
Manager, and SYDNEY BOARDMAN, of Oldham, in the same County,:
send greeting.
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS IN
LUBRICATORS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for.

page_text: the same, and have made solemn Declaration that
first Inventors thereof.
TC C VITO
533
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Ramsden Shaw and
Sydney Boardman, do hereby declare that the following Complete
Specification, under our hands and seals, fully describes and ascertains
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, in and by the following statement and accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates to the lubricators employed to supply oil or
other lubricant to the bearings of shafting and to the parts of machinery
requiring to be lubricated.
In a well-known class of lubricators the lubricant is contained in a
vessel or reservoir usually made of glass, which is inverted when in
operation, the interior being open to communication with the outer
atmosphere only through the tube or passage which conveys the
lubricant to the bearing. In such lubricators it has been found that
the supply of lubricant to the bearing being effected by changes in the
temperature of the atmosphere has been irregular, and also that such
supply has continued at times when not required, thus causing a loss
of lubricant.
In our improved lubricator we prefer to employ the enclosed oil
reservoir, but we employ a valve to regulate the amount of lubricant
supplied in manner as herein-after indicated. The portion of the said
valve resting on the seat is by preference of a globular form, and
the said valve is seated upon the upper or inner end of the tube or
passage through which the lubricant is supplied. The said valve is
fitted or formed with a shank which enters the said tube, and with a
prolongation extending in an upward direction.
In lubricators adapted more particularly for fixed or stationary
bearings, such as, for example, pedestals or plummer blocks and hangers,
the said prolongation is made of a length and weight sufficient to effect
the stability of the valve upon its seat, the result of which want of
stability is that a slight vibration of the part to which the lubricator
may be fixed causes the valve to rock to some extent upon its seat, and
thereby to induce or permit the passage of oil to the bearing.
We also employ the said valve in lubricators specially adapted to be
applied to revolving bodies, such as, for example, to loose pulleys, in

page_text: order to lubricate the axles around which the said bodies or pulleys and
lubricators revolve, and to be applied to moving parts of machinery,
such as, for example, the ends of the connecting rods of steam engines to
lubricate the cranks or crank pins.
The oil reservoir in such lubricators is preferably formed of metal and
fitted with a lid or cover, and prepared to screw into the orifice through
which the oil is to be conveyed to the axle, or to be bolted or secured
to the pulley or moving part; but the material form and method of
attachment may be varied. The valve is seated on the inner end of the
oil passage, as in the case of the lubricator first described, and is fitted
or formed with a shank of a weight suitable to cause the said valve to
open and close during the rotation of the pulley or other revolving body,
and at times when the speed of rotation is not so great as to counteract.
the gravity of the said valve, or during the circuit or reciprocation of the
connecting rod end or other moving part.
In order that our Invention may be well understood, we have caused.
to accompany this Specification a Sheet of Drawings marked with letters.
of reference, to which Drawings we will in this place refer.
°
Fig. 1 represents a pedestal or plummer block having applied thereto
one of the lubricators herein mentioned as suitable for stationary bearings,
the said lubricator being shewn in section.
Fig. 2 is a section of the form of lubricator employed for loose pulleys
and moving parts of machinery.
And Fig. 4 represents a pulley to which is attached a lubricator:
differing from that represented by Fig. 2 in the method of attachment.
to the pulley or other body.
In Fig. 1 the oil reservoir a is in this example made of glass, and the
neck thereof is provided with a wooden plug or stopper b, one end of
which plug fits in the said neck, the other end entering the oil hole
of the bearing, as is usual. The said plug is lined with a metal tube c,
through which the lubricant flows to the bearing, and on the upper
end of the said tube is mounted the valve d. The said valve, shewn
separately at Fig. 3, is formed with a shank e, and with a prolongation f
It will be seen that the weight of the part ƒ will greatly exceed the
weight of the shank e; this preponderance of the said part having the
effect as herein aforesaid. When making the valves we form the shank e
of wire, and cast thereon the valve d'and the part f; but this method of

page_text: manufacture may be varied.
If preferred the part ƒ may be made
relatively lighter or smaller in diameter than shewn, and be fitted or
provided with a weight to give the aforesaid preponderance, in which
case the said weight may be so fitted as that the height of the said
weight from the valve d may be adjusted, or an adjustable weight may
be fitted to the part ƒ when made as shewn.
The form of the parts of the lubricator other than the part shewn in
Fig. 4, and the materials of which the said parts are made, may be
varied as desired, as, for example, the oil reservoir may be made of metal
and be fitted with a screwed cap, as in the lubricator represented by
Fig. 2, or may be formed in the substance of the bearing or of the cap
of the pedestal or hanger, the valve d being in all cases seated on the
upper end of the oil passage, and acting substantially as herein aforesaid.
.
In Fig. 2 the oil reservoir g is made of metal, and is formed with an
opening at the upper end, through which opening the lubricant may be
introduced into the said reservoir. A cap or plug h is fitted to be
screwed into the said opening in order to close it in a sufficiently air-
tight manner. The lower end of the reservoir is formed to screw into an
orifice formed in the boss of the pulley or wheel, or in a suitable part of
the revolving or moving body. The valve d is seated on the inner end
of the oil passage i, and is formed with a shank k, which enters the said
oil passage. The said shank is for the purpose of adding to the weight
of the valve and at the same time of guiding the said valve in its move-
ments. The said valve is fitted or formed with a prolongation which
serves to limit the movement of the said valve by coming into contact
with the cap h.
When the lubricator is applied, say, for example, to a pulley, the
valve d rises and falls during the comparatively slow revolution of
the said pulley, and by this movement induces or permits a flow of oil
through the passage i. When applied to that end of a steam engine
connecting rod which moves in a circular orbit a similar action takes
place.
In Fig. 4 a lubricator is represented as formed with an arm m, by
means of which it is bolted to the arm of the pulley, the lower end of
the lubricator entering an oil hole formed in the boss of the said pulley.
The form of the oil reservoir, and the material of which it is made, and
the method of attachment to the pulley or other body may be varied.

page_text: Although we have stated that the lubricators illustrated by Fig. 1 are
adapted for stationary bearings, we do not intend to confine their appli-
cation to such bearings, as they may in many cases be advantageously
applied to moving parts of machinery, particularly to parts reciprocating
in a straight line.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, together with
methods of carrying the same into practical effect, we would have it to
be distinctly understood that what we desire to claim is, the employment
in such lubricators as herein indicated of valves formed, fitted, applied,
and acting substantially as and for the purposes as herein-before set
forth, and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Ramsden Shaw and Sydney
Boardman, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Ninth day
of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one.
THOMAS RAMSDEN SHAW. (L.S.)
SYDNEY
BOARDMAN.
(L.S.)
Signed and sealed by the said Thomas
Ramsden Shaw and Sydney Board-
man, in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentees,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.