Improvements in the Application of Anti-friction Rollers to Thrust Bearings.
Year: 1889

page_text: al of Application, 19th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 16th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 25th Jan., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Application of Anti-friction Rollers to Thrust
Bearings.
I, JOHN BROWN HARDWICKE of 10 Union Court in the City of London commission
agent do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
My object is to apply anti-friction balls or rollers to and in connection with thrust
and step hearings in such a way as shall overcome the difficulties hitherto met with
in their use.
In carrying out my invention in applying rollers to the thrust bearings of screw
propellor shafts, I, by preference, make use of rollers of the form of the frustrum of
a cone. A portion of the roller at each end may be turned parallel so as to form
journals, or the roller may be bored through and mounted on a spindle. The rollers
on their spindlos are then mounted in suitable bearings so as to lie between the
surfaces through which the thrust is passed. In the case of a screw-propellor shaft
one of these surfaces is obtained by means of forging or otherwise securing a block
or collar to the shaft, and from this the thrust is passed to another block secured in
any suitable or convenient manner to the keelson or framework of the vessel.
bearings for the rollers may be formed in or upon either one or other of these blocks,
but preferably in or upon the stationary one, and then the thrust of the revolving
shaft will be delivered first upon the rollers, which by rolling will diminish the friction
otherwise experienced.
The
I may place as many rollers as may be conveniently arranged upon the surface of
the thrust block, but by mounting them in bearings I prevent them from grinding
on each other while they roll; and if they are placed, as I design, so that their axes
shall always point to the centre of the propellor shaft, they will at all times afterwards
preserve that direction.
I place the rollers in a special manner so that the apex of each cone, of which the
roller is a frustrum, shall meet in one point in the line of axis of the propellor shaft,
and also so that the lines of contact of the surfaces of revolution of the rollers with
the thrust block shall all lie in one plane which must be co-incident with the plane
surface of the thrust block on which they roll.
In order to prevent any undue loss by friction arising from the end pressure of
these rollers against their bearings I may arrange other balls or rollers against
which the ends of the cone rollers may roll; and in the case in which the spindle
of the roller is of one piece with the roller itself I may screw a pointed screw
through a fixed abutment into the end of the spindle so as to receive the thrust,
or I may cause the end of the spindle to be made convex, and to revolve in con-
tact with a hard metal convex disc or discs suitably disposed. The rollers may be
mounted in a mortise in the thickness of the thrust block, or they may he placed,
as afore-mentioned, in suitable bearings upon its surface.
I may mount the cone rollers with their axes perpendicular to the axis of the
propellor shaft, in which case corresponding coned or bevelled surfaces would be
formed upon the thrust blocks. In whatever manner the axes of the rollers are
disposed, sets of them may be arranged to act so as to receive the thrust both in
the aft and forward directions, according to the direction of motion at the time
being of the screw.
Instead of cone rollers, I may make use, where preferred or requisite, of balls, or
of parallel or rounded rollers, the rollers in the latter case being preferably made
up of several discs revolving independently of each other side by side, and mounted
on the same spindle. Whether the rollers are balls, cones, or parallel or rounded
rollers, they are all mounted on axles substantially as described.

page_text: Thrust blocks and rollers may be placed, if necessary, at more than one position
along the shaft, and two or more sets of rollers may be combined at one position.
I provide suitable means for lubricating the spindles and other revolving parts of my
proposed arrangement.
I form the rollers of steel or other hard material, and, if preferred, may cause
them to roll against rings of suitable hard material fastened to the surface of the
revolving block, which may be able to be detached for renewal; or the rollers may
revolve against the substance of the block itself.
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the use of those anti-
friction rollers in the case of screw propellor shafts alone, but the arrangement can
be applied to the cases of turntables, turnstiles, cowls, pulleys, swing bridges, swivel
action for cranes, step bearings, and other parts of machinery where plane surfaces
under pressure revolve in contact with each other. The details of construction of the
parts may be modified to suit the different cases, but always preserving the special
manner of mounting the rollers.
Dated this Nineteenth day of March 1889.
CHARLES WATCHURST,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Application of Anti-friction Rollers to Thrust
Bearings.
1. JOHN BROWN HARDWICKE of 33 Blessington Road Lee in the county of Kent
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. :-
My.object is to apply anti-friction balls or rollers to and in connection with thrust
and step bearings in such a way as shall overcome the difficulties hitherto, met with
in their use.
In carrying out my invention 1 mount rollers, with coned or parallel peripheries,
in bearings formed on a framework which is fixed to the koolson of the vessel.or in
other convenient manner, and cause a collar formned on the propellor shaft to revolve
in contact with the said rollers, thus greatly reducing the friction now met with in
the use of the ordinary thrust bearing.
I have. illustrated my invention by the accompanying two sheets of drawings in
which Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the coned rollers and their arrangement in the
preferred manner; Fig. 2, in clevation, shows the parallel rollers and their arrange-
iment in position.
In Fig. 1. the coned rollers A are mounted on spindles B, which are then mounted
in bearings (shewn in the drawing with the caps removed) formed in or upon a
stationary framework or thrust-block D, which is secured to the.keelson of the vessel,
or in other suitable or convenient manner. The plan view of Fig. 1 is shewn in
horizontal section disclosing two pairs of rollers; but I may use as many rollers
as may be conveniently arranged upon the surface of the thrust-block D, placing
them radially in relation to the propellor shaft E, which is situated centrally between
them. The collar F formed or fixed upon the shaft E. transmits the pressure, passed
along the shaft onto the rollers A, by means of which the frictional contact made
with the thrust-block. D will be much diminished. According to the direction of the
pressure along the shaft, the thrust is received by the sets of rollors shown on the
right or left hand, of the collar F respectively. By mounting the rollors in bearings,
they are prevented from grinding on each other as they roll, and so if they are placed,
as 1.design, with their axes radial to the axis of the propellor shaft, they will at all
times preserve that direction.
I prefer to place the rollers so that the axes of each set of cones, of which the
rollers are frustrums, shall meet or intersect in one point in the line of axis of the

page_text: propellor shaft, and also so that the lines of contact of the surfaces of revolution -of
the rollers with the collar F shall all lie in one plane which must be coincident
The rollers may be,
with the plane surface of the collar on which they roll.
alternatively, mounted on bearings on the collar F, and roll against the surface of the
thrust-block D.
In order to prevent any undue loss by friction arising from the end pressure of
these rollers against their bearings, Imay arrange-other-balls or rollers against which
the ends of the coned rollers may roll; or I may screw a pointed or rounded screw G,
Fig. 1, through a fixed abutment into or upon the end of the spindle of the roller ;
or I may cause the end of the spindle to be made convex, and to revolve in contact
with a hard metal disc or discs H, Fig. 1, suitably disposed; or I may use any
combination of these methods.
I may mount the coned rollers with their axes perpendicular to the axis of the
propellor shaft, in which case corresponding coned or bevelled surfaces would be
formed upon the surface of the collar or thrust-block. Instead of coned rollers, I
may make use, where preferred or requisite, of spherical or of parallel rollers; but
in whatever forni they are made they are all mounted on axles substantially as
described.
The
When I use parallel rollers with their axes placed perpendicular to the axis of the
propellor shaft, I prefer to arrange them as shewn in Fig. 2, where the same letters
as in Fig. 1 are used to indicate similar parts. The rollers or wheels A are placed in
sets of pairs, one behind the other, each set being disposed in planes at right angles
to its companion, and revolving in contact with the collars F F respectively.
roller spindles B may be made either single or double ended, with their bearings C
to correspond. The rollers or wheels A in this case may be made up of several discs
revolving independently of each other side by side on the same axis. The rollers, of
whatever form, may take the thrust from a collar on the end of a shaft, as well as
where the shaft passes between them.
The arrangement of thrust-blocks and rollers may be placed, if necessary, at more
than one position along the shaft, and two or more sets of rollers may be combined
ut one position, and may be employed alone or in addition to the thrust bearings now
used. 1 provide suitable means of lubricating the spindles and other parts of my
proposed arrangement.
I form the rollers of steel or other hard material and, if preferred, may cause them
to revolve against rings or plates of suitable hard material fastened to the friction
surface, as indicated at K, Fig. 1, which may be detached for renewal.
The details of construction of the various parts may be modified to suit the
different cases,
but always preserving the special inanner of mounting the rollers.
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 mothod of using anti-friction rollers revolving in fixed bearings for the
purpose of taking the thrust of propellor shafts, in the manner and of the construction
substantially as illustrated and described.
2. The arrangement of one or more sets of pairs of parallel rollers, each set
revolving in contact with a collar on the propellor shaft substantially as described
and illustrated in Fig. 2.
3. The use of the aforesaid arrangement of rollers alone or in connection with the
usual thrust bearing; and the use of the same in connection with an end collar on, or
with collars placed between, the ends of the shaft.
4. The method of overcoming end pressure and friction of the rollers, substantially
as described, and illustrated in part at G. H, Fig. 1, in combination with the
arrangement of anti-friction rollers used in the manner and for the purpose as
aforesaid.

page_text: 5. The use of hard_metal detachable friction rings or plates as described and
illustrated by the part K, Fig. 1, in connection with the arrangement of anti-friction
rollers used in the manner and for the purpose as aforesaid.
Dated this Thirteenth day of December 1889.