IMPROVEMENTS IN THRUST AND STEP BEARINGS FOR SHAFTS, SPINDLES, OR AXLES
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by August Osenbrück at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 15th November 1879.
AUGUST OSENBRÜCK, of Hemelingen, near Bremen, in the German Empire.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THRUST AND STEP BEARINGS FOR SHAFTS, SPINDLES, OR
AXLES."
My Invention has for its object to reduce the friction in thrust and step bearings,
more particularly for shafts, spindles, or axles running at high speeds, and consists
mainly in interposing between the end of the shaft or the thrust collar thereof and
of the fixed part of the bearing which takes the thrust of the pressure one or
more division plates or washers or thrust rings, to which a positive rotary motion is
imparted by means of gearing in the same direction as that of the shaft or spindle,
but at a proportionately slower speed, so that the actual speed of the rubbing
surfaces, and consequently the friction and wear thereof, is proportionately reduced.
According to one arrangement of my Invention, suitable for a step bearing, there
is interposed between the end surface of the shaft and the fixed block or step of the
bearing upon which it ordinarily runs a division disc or thrust ring of suitable
material, such as gun metal, which is held central by means of a pin passing through
it and into holes in the shaft and step, and round which it is made to revolve by
teeth formed or fixed on its outer circumference gearing with a pinion on a spindle
carried in the bearing at the side of the shaft, and receiving motion from the latter
by toothed gearing such that the disc is made to revolve in the same direction as
but at a slower speed than the shaft. For effecting the lubrication of the moving
parts, the oil or lubricating fluid is caused to flow from an upper chamber in the
bearing through channels in the casing to the centre of the lower end thereof, where
it flows up a central channel formed in the before mentioned pin, and whence it
issues through lateral holes at the level of the division or thrust ring. This is
formed with grooves both on the surface of its central hole and on its upper and
lower rubbing surfaces, so that by the centrifugal action due to the rotation of the
disc the oil is caused to flow from the side holes of the pin through the said groove,
and thence over the entire surfaces of the disc to its outer circumference; and after
filling the chamber of the bearing surrounding it, it flows up again through chaunels
in the casing to the supply chamber at top.
The casing of the bearing is closed at the top by a cover having round the hole
through which the shaft passes a circular trough or channel which is filled with
fluid, into which dips a lip on the underside of a flanged gland that is attached to
17

page_text: and rotates with the shaft, so that the oil reservoir of the bearing is effectually closed
against ingress of dirt by this means.
According to another modification of the above arrangement a second division
disc or thrust ring is introduced between the first named one and the step of the
bearing, such ring being likewise driven by gearing from the above mentioned side
spindle, the gearing being so proportioned that the second disc revolves at a slower
speed than the first one.
According to another arrangement of my Invention, suitable for thrust bearings
to screw propeller shafts, there are arranged within the casing of the bearing,
between the end surfaces thereof and the thrust collar of the shaft, a number of
such before described thrust rings or discs, to each of which a positive motion is
imparted by a side spindle in the bearing driven by gearing from the thrust collar
of the shaft, and driving the said discs by gearing, the diameters of the respective
toothed wheels being so proportioned that each successive disc in the direction from
the thrust collar to the abutment surface of the bearing revolves at a slower speed
than the one preceeding it. As the said discs run upon the propeller shaft itself,
those running at a slower speed should be made of greater thickness than the others
in order to equalize the wear thereof on the shaft. Also if, as is preferred, every
alternate disc is of steel, these should be bushed with gun metal where they run on
the shaft. Radial grooves or channels are formed on the rubbing faces of the discs,
as also in the abutment blocks at the ends of the casing, and other channels are
formed through the the thickness of the discs near the edge of their central holes
and communicating with the radial channels, so that that the lubricating oil passing
inwards through the channels in the abutment blocks flows through the transverse
channels of the discs, and is then propelled outwards again through the radial
channels on the rubbing surfaces owing to the centrifugal action.
When the lengths of propeller shaft are coupled by flanged ends the said thrust
rings have to be made in halves to be fixed in the bearing; in this case the central
part of the disc may conveniently be made of a separate piece from the toothed ring
by which it is driven, and the halves of the latter are clamped on the halves of the
former by keys or screws.