New or Improved Gearing for Driving Centrifugal Machines.
Year: 1888

page_text: New or Improved Gearing for Driving Centrifugal Machines.
I, JOHN LAIDLAW of the firm of Watson Laidlaw and Company of 98 Dundas
Street, Kingston, Glasgow, in the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew, North Britain,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This Invention, which relates to new or improved gearing for driving centrifugal
machines, is more especially applicable to centrifugal machines of a small type, such
as are used for separating cream from milk and other more or less analogous
substances.
The new or improved gearing may be driven by hand or power and the sleeve of
the pinion by which it is driven is carried in a fixed bearing in the frame work whilst
the spindle which, carries the centrifugal basket passes loosely up through the afore-
said sleeve. On this sleeve there is carried a disc or arms into which vertical studs
projecting downwards are fixed. Upon each of these studs there is carried a pinion
which gears into a fixed circular rack in the lower part of the frame so that as the
aforesaid disc or arms is or are turned round each pinion has at the same time an
independent rotation imparted to it by travelling round the said circular rack. Each
of the aforesaid pinions has either formed in one piece with it or attached to it a spur
wheel and the lower part of the spindle of the centrifugal machine has teeth cut in it
corresponding to the teeth of the said spur wheels so that as the gearing herein
described is driven a great and uniform velocity is imparted to the centrifugal
basket.
Proper provision is made for oiling the aforesaid gearing.
Instead of making the vertical studs which carry the spur pinions and wheels to
project downwards as hereinbefore described they may be made to project upwards;
and in place of cutting the teeth in the spindle of the machine a pinion may be placed

page_text: on the spindle; also in place of using spur teeth in the gearing, what are known as
"spiral teeth" may be substituted.
Instead of having a pinion and spur wheel to give motion from circular rack to
pinion on spindle, a single wheel may be employed to gear direct from rack to
spindle.
It is to be understood that the gearing hereinbefore described is applicable to both
vertical and horizontal centrifugal machines.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Gearing for Driving Centrifugal Machines.
I, JOHN LAIDLAW, of the firm of Watson Laidlaw & Company, of 98 Dundas
Street, Kingston, Glasgow, in the Counties of Lanark and Renfrew, North Britian,
Engineer 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 Invention which relates to new or improved gearing for driving centrifugal
machines is more especially applicable to centrifugal machines of a small type such
as are used for separating cream from milk and other more or less analogous
substances.
The new or improved gearing may be driven by hand or power and the sleeve of the
pinion by which it is driven is carried in a fixed bearing in the frame-work, whilst
the spindle which carries the centrifugal basket passes up loosely through the aforesaid
sleeve. On this sleeve there is carried a disc or arms into which vertical studs
projecting downwards are fixed. Upon each of these studs there is carried a pinion
which gears into a fixed circular rack in the lower part of the frame, so that as the
aforesaid disc or arms is or are turned round, each pinion has at the same time an
independent rotation imparted to it by travelling round the said circular rack. Each
of the aforesaid pinions has either formed in one piece with it or attached to it, a
spur wheel, and the lower part of the spindle of the centrifugal machine has teeth cut
in it corresponding to the teeth of the said spur wheels, so that as the gearing herein
described is driven, a great and uniform velocity is imparted to the centrifugal
basket.
Proper provision is made for oiling the aforesaid gearing.
Instead of making the vertical studs which carry the spur pinions and wheels to
project downwards as hereinbefore described, they may be made to project upwards
and in place of cutting the teeth in the spindle of the machine, a pinion may be placed
on the spindle; also in place of using spur teeth in the gearing, what are known as
spiral teeth" may be substituted.
"
Instead of having a pinion and spur wheel to give motion from circular rack to
pinion on spindle, a single wheel may be employed to gear direct from rack to
spindle.
It is to be understood that the gearing hereinbefore described is applicable to both
vertical and horizontal centrifugal machines.
In order that my Invention may be properly understood, and readily carried into
effect, I have hereunto appended two explanatory sheets of drawings, which I shall
now proceed to describe.
Sheet. 1, Figure 1, shews a vertical, and Figure 2, a horizontal section, taken on
the line a, b, of my improved gearing when driven by hand. S, is the handle to
which is attached the tooth wheel S¹, the teeth of which gear into the teeth of the
bevel pinion S attached to the sleeve u. The sleeve u is supported on the frame of

page_text: the machine and has the spindle E, of the centrifugal machine passing through it.
The sleeve u, has formed in one piece with it or attached to it a disc or arms u¹, which
carries the spur pinion u². This spur pinion gears into the circular rack u³, attached
to the lower part of the frame-work V, of the machine. As the sleeve u, and disk u¹
makes one revolution round the axis, it carries the axis of the spur pinion u³ round
with it. The pinion u², gearing as aforesaid in the circular rack of the frame-work
rotates at a much greater speed than the sleeve u. Attached to the pinion u², there is
a toothed wheel u, the teeth of which gear into corresponding teeth in a pinion u³
attached to or formed in the lower part of the spindle E, of the machine.
In order to balance this system of gearing, I attach to the disc or arms u³, a
second and similar set of wheels, diametrically opposite to those already described,
as shewn in Figure 2.
By means of this system of driving gear above described, I obtain about
7000 revolutions of the separating drum per minute, to about 40 revolutions of the
driving handle.
Instead of driving the said machine by hand as herein before described with reference
to Figures 1 and 2, sheet 1 of the annexed drawings, the shaft may have a belt and
friction clutch driving gear attached to it, and may be driven by steam or other power.
This method of driving is shewn at Figure 3, sheet 2 of the annexed drawings.
Upon the boss which carries the shaft S2, there is an ordinary loose pulley a*, while
upon the shaft there is carried loosely a pulley a", with arms or projections a, for
carrying the automatic clutches a'. At the outer end of the shaft S2, the clutch
box a, is keyed. The object of this arrangement is to enable the speed of the
centrifugal machine to be gradually brought up to its highest point. As this arrange-
ment is well understood, it is not necessary to particularly describe it.
With a driving belt for working the centrifugal machine I can obtain a very much
higher initial velocity of the shaft S2, than when driving by hand. I am therefore
able to simplify the multiplying gear between the shaft S2, and the spindle E, of the
machine. This may be done as shewn in Figure 3, sheet 2, of the annexed drawings,
in which the toothed wheel u, is made to gear directly into the circular rack u³,
and into the teeth of the pinion on the spindle E.
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 arrangement of gearing for driving centrifugal machines whereby a very
high speed of rotation of the axis attached to the separating drum is obtained, with a
comparatively slow speed of the driving handle, substantially as hereinbefore described
and shewn upon the annexed two sheets of drawings.
2. The arrangement of the special gearing, with friction clutch, substantially as
herein before described, and shewn upon the annexed two sheets of drawings.
Dated this 24th day of April 1889.
JOHN LIDDLE,
154, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Applicant's Agent.