IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING APPARATUS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Roswell Carter Munson, of the Hop and Malt
Exchange, Southwark Street, in the County of Surrey, Merchant,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING APPARATUS."
A communication from abroad by Henry Augustus Clark, of Boston,
Massachusetts, United States of America.
Scaled the 5th January 1872, and dated the 6th July 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Roswell Carter Munson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th July 1871.
I, ROSWELL CARTER MUNSON, of the Hop and Malt Exchange,
Southwark Strect, in the County of Surrey, Merchant, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING
APPARATUS," a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to novel apparatus more especially
designed for automatically lubricating the bearings of loose pulleys or
wheels, and other revolving parts of machinery that cannot be con-
veniently lubricated in the ordinary manner; and, secondly, to the

page_text: manner of regulating the flow of oil or other lubricating material to the
bearings or parts to be lubricated.
The first part of my Invention consists in providing the pulley or
other part to be lubricated with an apparatus so constructed and applied
thereto that the action of centrifugal force generated by the revolution
of the said pulley or other part forces the oil or other lubricant from
the reservoir of the apparatus to the bearing, the supply of oil ceasing
with the revolution of the said pulley or other part.
According to one method of carrying my Invention into practice
I screw or otherwise attach to the boss of the pulley a cylinder or cup
of suitable form for containing the oil. This cup is fitted with a piston,
preferably of lead, or other heavy_metal properly packed to fit closcly,
and at the same time slide easily inside the cup. A small tube or
passage leads from the outer end of the cup (or that end most remote
from the axle) to the bearing. This tube may be placed in the centre
of the cylinder or cup and pass through the piston, which must be
packed to slide upon it, the said tube terminating or having an opening
near the outer end of the cup; or the said tube may be placed outside
the cylinder; in either case it may be fitted with a valve or other
contrivance for regulating the flow of the oil to the axle. The cup
should be screwed or otherwise so attached to the pulley that it may
be removed for supplying oil to the reservoir, and should also be of such
a size and shape as to permit the ready removal of the piston for
cleaning. The said cup is closed by a screw cap at its outer end.
While the pulley is at rest no pressure will be exerted upon the contents
of the reservoir, and no oil will be supplied to the bearing, but when
the said pulley is in motion the centrifugal force will cause the oil in
the cup to pass through the tube to the bearing.
I modify the above-described apparatus by employing two cups of
glass or other suitable material, one of which is placed and secured
within the other. The external diameter of the inner cup is slightly
less than the internal diameter of the other, so that an annular space
is left between the two cups, and at the outer end of the cups there is
a space or aperture through which the inner cup communicates with
the said annular space. A piston is fitted within the smaller cup, and
a tube at the bottom of the large cup leads therefrom to the axle or
bearing. When the pulley is in motion the piston pressing on the oil
forces it from the inner cup through the annular space and tube to

page_text: the bearing the outer end of the large cup has a suitable cap or
cover.
I may further modify my apparatus by using an elastic reservoir
instead of the cylinder and piston above described. This reservoir. may
be of india-rubber, leather, or other similar substance, but on account
of the deleterious action of oil upon such substances I prefer to
construct it of thin metal cups of such shape that two of such cups.
soldered together at their edges form a flattened spheroid. One of these
spheroids may be used as the reservoir, or a number of them may
be fastened together to communicate with each other internally: A
weight is attached to the lower side, preferably by filling a portion
of the cup with lead or other metal. A tube passing through the centre
of the clastic vessel is attached firmly to the outer end of the same
(that is, the end most remote from the axle) and passes. through the
inner or weighted end to the axle or bearing through the hub of
the pulley, into which it is screwed or otherwise securely attached.
This inner end of the clastic vessel is fitted to slide upon the tube, and
is packed to make it properly tight. thereon. The tube has a. hole or
number of holes near the outer extremity of the reservoir to admit tho.
oil from the same into the said tube. When the pulley is in motion
the centrifugal force acting on the weight drives the same outward, and
the inner end of the clastic vessel being free to slide on the tube is
thereby forced toward the outer end of the said vessel. The oil contained
therein is thus forced through the tube to the bearing as hercin-before
described in connection with the other forms of my said apparatus.
The second part of my Invention consists in placing a ball within
the tube which communicates between the reservoir of lubricators.
(whatever their construction) and the shaft or part to be lubricated,.
which ball is slightly less in diameter than the diameter of the passage,.
so that the oil may pass between it and the sides of the passage.. The
said tube or passage must reach to the shaft or bearing, and the ball
be kept in close proximity thereto by its own weight or by of a spring.
In order to facilitate the adjustment of the lubricator to the pulley.
I prefer to make the tube of two parts, one sliding within the other
like the parts of a telescope.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Roswell Carter Munson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROSWELL
CARTER MUNSON, of the Hop and Malt Exchange, Southwark Street,
in the County of Surrey, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Roswell Carter-Munson, Her special licence
that I, the said Roswell Carter Munson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Roswell Carter Munson, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATING APPARATUS," a communication to me from
abroad by Henry Augustus Clark, of Boston, Massachusetts, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Roswell Carter Munson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Roswell Carter Munson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification.
My Invention relates, firstly, to novel apparatus more especially
designed for automatically lubricating the bearings of loose pulleys or

page_text: WILL DU
will be exerted upon the contents of the reservoir a ana mo un
supplied to the bearing, but when the said pulley is in motion the
centrifugal force will cause the oil in the cup to pass through the tube c
to the bearing.
In Figure 4 I have shown how I may modify the above-described
apparatus by employing two cups a, f, of glass or other suitable
material, one of which is placed and secured within the other. The
external diameter of the inner cup fis made slightly less than the
internal diameter of the outer cup a, so that an annular space g is left
between the two cups. There is also a space or aperture g' at the outer
end of the-cups through, which the inner cup communicates with the
said annular space, and there is a space or passage at the bottom-
between the two cups. A piston is fitted within the smaller cup f, and
a tube c at the bottom of the large cup leads from the same to the
axle or bearing. When the pulley is in motion the piston pressing on
the oil forces it from the inner cup through the spaces 9, 9', g², and
tube c to the bearing. The outer end of the large cup has a suitable
cap or cover d as above described.
I further modify my said apparatus by using an elastic reservoir as
shown in Figures 5 and 6 instead of the cylinder and piston above-
described. This reservoir may be of india-rubber, leather, or other
similar substance, but as such substances are liable to be affected by
the deleterious action of the oil I prefer to construct the said clastic
reservoir of thin metal.
The apparatus shewn in Figure 5 consists of a scrics of flattened
spheroids of sheet brass, copper, tin, or other suitable metal soldered
together at their edges and communicating with each other internally.
A weight is attached to the lower side preferably by filling a portion
of the cup with lead or other heavy metal. A tube c passing through
the centre of the elastic vessel is attached firmly to the outer end h
of the same (that is, the end most remote from the axle) and passes
through the inner or weighted end to the axle or bearing through the
hub of the pulley to which it is screwed or otherwise securely attached.
This inner end of the clastic vessel is provided with a sleeve j, which is
so fitted upon the tube c as to slide freely thereon, while it is sufficiently

page_text: tight to prevent any escape of oil. The tube c has a hole or number
of holes c¹ near the outer extremity of the reservoir to admit the oil
from the same into the said tube.
I prefer however to use the form of elastic reservoir shewn in Figure 6,
which is less costly and more readily constructed than that shewn in
Figure 5. The reservoir in this case is a single cup of thin metal
with an elastic bottom or inner end 2, which is provided with a weight i
as in Figure 5. The tube c is provided with holes c¹ and is surrounded
with a sleevej which slides on the said tube as above described; k is
an aperture for filling the reservoir d and which is closed by a cap k¹.
When the pulley is in motion the centrifugal force acting on
weight drives the same outward, and the inner end of the clastic-vessel
(which is free to slide on the tube) forward toward the outer end of
the said vessel. The oil contained therein is thus forced through the
tube to the bearing, as herein-before described in reference to Figures 1,
2, and 3.
the
To carry into practice the second part of my Invention I place a
ball 1, Figure 1, within the tube c, which communicates between the
reservoir of lubricators, whatever their construction, and the shaft or
part to be lubricated; this ball is slightly less in diameter than the
passage, so that the oil may pass between it and the sides of the passage.
The said tube or passage must extend to the shaft or bearing, and the
ball must be kept in close proximity thereto by its own weight or by
a spring m. To facilitate the adjustment of the lubricator to the
pulley I prefer to make the tube c of two parts, one sliding within
the other like the parts of a telescope.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be con-
veniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. A lubricating apparatus so constructed and applied to a wheel,
pulley, or other rotating object or body that the centrifugal force
generated by the revolutions of the same, and acting upon a body of

page_text: Second. The method of regulating the flow of the oil or other fluid
from the lubricator to the bearing as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Roswell Carter Munson, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
ROSWELL CARTER MUNSON. (L.S.)
Witness,
A. W. PATTON,
32, Ravensdon Street,
Kennington Park.