Chiefly Applicable to Ratchet Drills, Screw-presses, and for other Dynamic Purposes.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Jan., 1888
Specification Accepted, 23rd Mar., 1888
Chiefly Applicable to Ratchet Drills, Screw-presses, and for
other Dynamic Purposes.
We, ANTON SCHÜTZ, EDUARD SCHULTES, and RICHARD PLUCKER, Manufacturers, of
Solingen, Germany, do hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner
the same may be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
Our invention relates to screw-spindles and nuts for ratchet drills, vices, presses,
punching tools and similar appliances, the object being to facilitate the manufacture
and to reduce friction.
As illustrated by the annexed drawings, (Fig. 1 to 4) the principal feature of novelty
consists in providing either the interior of the screw nut or the circumference of the
spindle with one or more recesses or sockets and introducing into the same balls a of
steel, glass, or other suitable material, instead of forming an ordinary screw thread.
These balls project over the recesses, and (in the case of screw nuts) into the cylin-
drical bore of the nut, or (in the case of screw-spindles) over the cylindrical surface of
the spindle, and fit into the correspondingly shaped screw thread of the counter part
(either the spindle or the nut).
In the drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation of a screw spindle A passing through a
nut B provided with a smooth bore and with four recesses, each of which contains a
ball or roller a, a. Fig. 2 is a cross section of the spindle and adjoining parts of the
nut. Fig. 3 is an axial section of the nut showing three of the balls in their respective
sockets. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a screw-spindle provided with a single ball, together
with a section through the thread of the nut.
In the case of two or more balls, they are, of course, distributed in such a manner,
as to fit into the screw thread of the counter part.
By turning the spindle A shown in Fig. 1, the balls a are caused to revolve in their
sockets, thus forming rollers over which the screw thread moves. There will evidently
be less friction, than between ordinary screws and nuts, where helical surfaces slide
over each other.
The spindle or the nut may have two or more screw threads, thus forming a multiple
screw or nut.
The same principle of construction may be applied to endless screws, the rack or the
wormwheel being provided with rollers instead of the teeth.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our invention, and
in what manner the same may be performed, we declare, that we claim:
1. The combination of a screw-spindle, with a screw nut having, instead of a screw
thread, one or more recesses or sockets containing balls or rollers adapted to revolve
in the thread of the spindle, when the latter is being turned.
2. The combination of a screw nut, with a spindle having, instead of a screw thread,
one or more recesses or sockets containing balls or rollers adapted to revolve in the
thread of the screw nut, when the latter is being turned.
3. The means for reducing friction between a helical surface and its counter part.
The whole substantially as described and illustrated for the purposes specified.
Dated this 25th day of January 1888.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London,
Agents for the Applicants.