A Centrifugal Lubricator.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 18th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Centrifugal Lubricator.
I, GEORGE BARKER, of 77 Colmore Row, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention
as communicated to me from abroad by Christopher Heinrich, of the City of
Milwaukee, County of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America,
Mechanical Engineer, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The main objects of my invention are to utilize centrifugal force to feed a
lubricant automatically and continuously to a loose pulley or other piece of
mechanism which revolves on a fixed bearing, and to regulate the feed according
to the speed of the pulley or other rotating device.
It consists essentially of a closed cup or receptacle having a piston or follower,
and a feed passage leading from the cup above or outside of said piston to the
bearing to be lubricated, and means of opposing more or less resistance to the
movement of the piston or follower, as hereinafter particularly described and
pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings like letters designate the same parts in both
figures.
Fig. is a vertical medial section on the line 11, Fig. 2, of a lubricator
embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof on the line 22,
Fig. 1.
A designates a cylindrical cup or receptacle formed at the bottom with an
externally screw-threaded neck a, by which it is attached to the hub of a loose
pulley or to any other rotary part which turns on a fixed bearing. It is provided
at the top or outer end, which is made open, with a screw cap B, and packing
ring b, by which it is closed and leakage is prevented, and has a feed passage a
leading out of the upper or outer portion of the cup through one side, the base and
neck a thereof, to the bearing to be lubricated. It has also a vent passage a²
through the bottom to admit air behind the piston or follower.
It is also
C is a centrifugal piston or follower formed on the upper or outer side with a
central hollow stem c, which is both externally and internally threaded. It is
provided with a cupped packing D of leather or other suitable flexible material
which is clamped between it and a nut c¹ threaded on the neck c.
provided with a spreader E consisting of a metal disk threaded on said stem c and
formed with a beveled periphery adapted to engage the correspondingly beveled
edge of the cupped packing D, and when screwed down upon said stem c, to press
said packing outwardly against the walls of cup A, thereby increasing the resistance
to the movement of the piston in said cup. The packing D and spreader E
constitute an adjustable frictional bearing between the piston and cup for controlling
the centrifugal movement of the piston and regulating the feed of oil.
F is a tapered externally screw-threaded plug inserted in the upper or outer end
of stem c, which is split lengthwise as shown, so as to permit its expansion by the
taper plug F in the threaded hole in disk E, and thereby securely lock said disk in
place when it is set as desired on said stem. The stem c is formed at its lower end
in the under side of the piston with a squared socket c², and the larger end of plug F
is formed with a similar socket f, to receive correspondingly shaped tools for the
purpose of adjusting the spreader E upon said stem c, and locking it when adjusted
by means of the plug F. The spreader disk E is formed in the upper or outer

page_text: side with sockets ee, to receive a spanner wrench or other tool for turning it on
said stem c. By means of these devices any desired resistance or obstruction to the
movement of the piston or follower in the cup or receptacle, may be secured so as
to cause the oil to be fed at the desired rate through passage a' to the bearing by
the centrifugal action of the piston or follower for any given rate of rotation.
It will be observed that the cap is concaved or recessed on the inside so as to
extend beyond or outside of the opening from the cup into the feed passage a¹. By
this means impurities carried by centrifugal force outwardly against the cap, are
held therein and prevented from entering and clogging said passage.
By providing an adjustable resistance to the movement of the centrifugal piston
or follower B, I am enabled to regulate the supply of oil to the bearing without
the use of a valve in the feed passage.
I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact details of con-
struction shown and described for the purpose of explaining my invention, since
any means of readily varying the resistance to the centrifugal action of the piston
or follower in a cup or lubricator generally resembling that shown, will accomplish
the desired result.
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. In a centrifugal lubricator, the combination of an oil cup or receptacle,
having a feed passage leading from the upper or outer part thereof through the
base, a piston or follower adapted to be moved outwardly therein against the
contents of the cup by centrifugal force and an adjustable frictional bearing
between the piston and cup whereby the movement of the piston and the feed
of oil is regulated as desired, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. In a centrifugal lubricator, the combination of an oil cup or receptacle
having a feed passage leading from the upper or outer part thereof to the bearing
to be lubricated, and a vent opening or passage in the bottom, and a piston or
follower adapted to be moved outwardly therein against the contents of the cup by
centrifugal force, and provided with an expansible bearing, and ineans wholly
within the cup of spreading said bearing more or less, whereby adjustable
resistance to the movement of the follower is afforded, substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
3. In a centrifugal lubricator, the combination of an oil cup or receptacle
having a feed passage leading from the upper or outer part thereof through the
base, and a piston or follower adapted to be moved outwardly against the contents
of the cup by centrifugal force and provided with an expansible packing, a spreader
for expanding the packing and means of securing the spreader in place, whereby
the rate of feed may be regulated as desired, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
4. In a centrifugal lubricator, the combination of an oil cup or receptacle
having a feed passage leading from the upper or outer part thereof, and a vent
opening or passage through the bottom, a piston or follower provided with an
internally and externally threaded split stem and with cup-shaped flexible packing
having a beveled edge, a spreading disk threaded upon said stem and having a
beveled periphery, and a tapered plug threaded in said stem, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
Dated this 17th dow of L1002