Improvements relating to Wheels and to Bearings therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1899-Accepted, 13th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Wheels and to Bearings therefor.
We, JOSEPH TEMPERLEY and JOHN RIDLEY TEMPERLEY, both of The Temperley
Transporter Company, 72, Bishopsgate Street Within, in the City of London,
Engineers, 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:-
Our invention relates to wheels and to bearings therefor and is chiefly designed
to improve the construction and increase the efficiency of wheels which run on
fixed axles or shafts, such as the running-wheels of the travellers of transporters
or vehicles; the sheaves of pulley-blocks, loose pulleys and the like.
Heretofore wheels of this kind have been made with the fixed axle-pius or
journals of steel, wrought iron or other comparatively hard metal, whilst the
bushes in the said wheels have been made of brass, gun-metal, white-metal or
other comparatively soft metal.
When a wheel having a soft metal eye, is made to run loose on a fixed axle of
harder metal, the eye, as soon as it wears ever so little, has its bearing surface on
the pin reduced to practically a line, and abrasion and rapid wear of the eye take
place in consequence, the linear bearing surface on the pin at the same time
gradually wearing to a face having cusps at its sides. These cusps act as scraping
edges, and rapidly enlarge the eye of the wheel which has consequently to be re-
bushed at short intervals of time. Rebushing in this case however is by itself not
sufficient to ensure even temporary efficiency because the axle, being already
worn, does not fit the new bush, and the scraping edges or cusps start their work
of destruction at once. Also to restore the wheel to its original place in relation
to other parts of a machine, a new axle is required as well as a new bush.
Now according to one part of our said invention, we make the wheel with a
bushing of hard steel or other suitable metal and the pin of, or with its wearing
surface of comparatively soft metal, such as gun-metal, white metal or the like.
By this arrangement, the hard or permanent part of the bearing, viz.: the steel
bush, wears very slowly, and what little wear does take place is evenly distri
buted, so that the bore of the bush remains truly cylindrical, whilst the pin,
being of much softer metal, wears so as to bear evenly on the hard bush. If the
wheel runs in only one direction, the width of the bearing surface remains prae-
tically 180° even when the axle is much worn. Therefore durability, steadiness
and smooth running are ensured. When the wheel is required to run alternately
in opposite directions, two bearing surfaces become formed by the wearing away
of the surface of the pin; such surfaces, although not so wide, are nevertheless
sufficiently effective; one of these surfaces acts when the wheel runs in one dirce-
tion and the other when the said wheel runs in the other direction, the inner surface
of the bush in the wheel having to rock on the cusp at each reversal.
In some cases, when the wheel runs in two directions, a longitudinal channel or
groove is made in the soft axle or pin. This groove prevents the formation of
the angle or cusp between or at the intersection of the bearing surfaces. The
bearing surfaces remain concentric with each other and with the eye of the wheel
and therefore always in contact, the rocking motion which would otherwise take
place being thus avoided.
The bush or liner may be grooved on two sides so that it may be reversed when
one side is much worn. In other cases, instead of making the bush or liner
with longitudinal grooves, it can be made in two pieces secured to the pin so as to
| leave longitudinal spaces or channels between them.

page_text: It is obvious that by putting a new liner on the axle, or by using a new axle, a
perfect fit is readily obtained and the original conditions of efficiency and position
of the wheel are restored.
According to another part of our said invention we provide improved means, to
be hereinafter described, for supplying oil to the said bearing.
Our said invention moreover comprises other improvements hereinafter set
forth.
In the accompanying drawing, we have shown how our said invention can be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a vertical central section showing one form of our improved wheel
and bearing.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the wheel removed from the bearing-pin or stud.
Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams illustrating the result of wear in our improved
bearing as compared with the bearings heretofore employed.
Figures 5 and 6 are vertical central sections showing other forms of our
improved bearing.
Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section illustrating a further modification of our
said invention.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
a is the body of the wheel and b a hard steel bush secured in the axial hole
through the hub thereof, preferably by casting the said wheel around it. c is a
steel pin or stud secured to a suitable support and having a metal bush & thereon
secured in position by means of a metal pin e passed transversely through it and
the pin c, so as to enable the said bush to be reversed when one side is worn.
The fixed bush d always wears so as to conform itself to the curve of the steel
bush and thus provides a steady support or journal for the wheel a, as shown on
an exaggerated scale, in Figure 3 for rotation of the wheel in one direction, and
in Figure 4 for rotation in both directions. In this case, the surfaces f. f¹ and f¹ fª
are of the same radius as the interior of the bush b, and the cusps f, f', f, formed
being of comparatively soft metal, do not act detrimentally on the steel bush b.
Moreover wear of the bush b can be compensated for by making the bush d, when
renewed, of slightly increased diameter to correspond. In the reverse case, riz.:
that heretofore adopted in which the female bush is made of soft and the pin c
of hard metal, the wear (for rotation in both directions) similarly causes three
cusps, f, f, to gradually form on the pin c. These cusps, however, being
of hard metal, rapidly cut away the bush in the eye of the wheel. Moreover, as
the female bush wears away more rapidly than the pin, its radius is always greater
than that of the arcs between the cusps on the pin, so that the contact between
the wearing surfaces is practically only a line. It will be seen that, in this case,
it is not possible to compensate efficiently for the wear of the pin c, by reason of
the irregularity of such wear.
In order to still further ensure that the surface of the male bush or bearing
surface d shall conform itself to the inner surface of the bush b, we sometimes
make the said surface with a channel or groove g, Figure 5, at the place where
the middle cusp (f, Figure 4) tends to form, and thus still further promote the
uniform wearing of the bearing. The channel or groove g is made of such
width that, for each direction of rotation, the resultant of the forces acting on the
pin passes through or within the said groove or channel, as indicated by the
dotted lines f, f, Figure 5. A channel g of this kind is preferably made on
cach side of the bush to provide for reversal of the same when worn.
If desired, the liner can be made in two pieces d', d, Figure 6, secured to the
pin or stud c by means of a bolt so as to leave longitudinal spaces or channels g¹
between them. These pieces can be reversed, when worn, in a similar manner to
the liner shown in Figure 1.
In some bearings the journal is not sufficiently large to permit of its being made
with an inner steel pin and an outer softer metal or other bush as in the arrangement
described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. In this case, the pin is made of gun

page_text: or other suitable metal which, whilst being sufficiently strong for the purpose in
view, is yet softer than the hard steel bush b, so that the greater part of the
wear will take place on the said pin.
For purposes of lubrication, we sometimes form the axle or pin with an internal
chamber, Figure 7. The said chamber is adapted to be partly filled with cotton
waste and is provided with a passage for conducting oil to the bearing face and
with an aperture 7 which is adapted to be closed by a peg m and serves to permit
the introduction of oil into the chamber j. A pin is screwed into one side of the
axle-pin hand, by engaging with a recess in the frame, serves to prevent rotation
of the said axle pin.
Oil is supplied to the bearing shown in Figures 1 and 2, from a chamber
formed in the wheel a and having a passage to conduct the oil to the bearing
face. The chamber is partly filled with cotton waste and is closed by a plug P
having a coned surface engaging with a conical seat at the outer end of the
chamber. The plug is secured in position by means of a nut s engaging with
the screw-threaded stem of the said plug. Oil is introduced into the chamber /
through a hole t extending obliquely through the outer conical part of the plug p
in such a position that the level of the oil will always be below either the inner
or the outer end of the hole t, thus preventing escape of the oil.
It is obvious that the periphery of the wheels can be of any desired form accord-
ing to the purpose to which they are to be applied and that they can be made of
any suitable metal or material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
-
1. The improved wheel having a bush of hard steel or like material running
on a relatively fixed journal or pin, the surface of which is formed of softer metal,
substantially as, and for the purposes, hereinbefore described.
2. The modification of our invention in which the surface of the pin is formed
with one or more longitudinal channels or grooves, substantially as, and for the
purposes, herein before described.
3. The improved bearing-pin constructed substantially as described with refer-
ence to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawing, for the purposes specified.
4. The combination, with a wheel, of a bush of hard steel or like material in
said wheel, a relatively fixed pin, a bush of softer metal fixed on said pin, and
means for retaining and reversing the position of the said bush on the said pin,
substantially as described.
5. The improved lubricating device comprising a chamber closed by a conical
plug and to which the oil is supplied through an obliquely arranged hole in the
said plug, substantially as, and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
6. The improved wheel and bearing, constructed substantially as described with
reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing, for the purposes
specified.
7, The improved bearing-pin constructed substantially as described with refer-
ence to Figure 7 of the accompanying drawing, for the purposes specified.
Dated this 1st day of December 1899
JOSEPH TEMPERLEY,
JOHN RIDLEY TEMPERLEY.
D. Young and Co.
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.