IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING BEARINGS FOR PLUMMER BLOCKS, AXLE Boxes, and other JOURNAL SUPPORTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,.
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING BEARINGS FOR PLUMMER
BLOCKS, AXLE Boxes, and other JOURNAL SUPPORTS."-A communication
from abroad by Maurice Rueff, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 16th July 1872, and dated the 22nd May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd May 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING BEARINGS
FOR PLUMMER BLOCKS, AXLE BOXES, AND OTHER JOURNAL SUPPORTS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the substitution in a practical and useful
manner of rolling friction for rubbing friction in plummer blocks, axle
boxes, and other journal supports employed in mechanics, or in the arts

page_text: in connection with the production or transmission of rotative force. The
said Invention effectually solves this problem, and furnishes the means
for working without lubricating the plummer blocks, bearings, or boxes,
which will not become heated with velocities of from 100 to 2000
revolutions and more.
My apparatus may be constructed of wrought or cast iron or steel,
and of any required dimensions. It may be applied to all kinds of trans-
mitting mechanisms, or to machines, or engines either stationary or
portable, to the shafts of steamboats, to the axle boxes and all the rolling
stock of railways. It will work at any speed determined by the motor,
of which it does not absorb any of the power, and whose movements it
facilitates.
The use of this Invention not only obviates the necessity for any
lubrication of the apparatus to which the same is applied, but it also
dispenses with the brasses generally used, which may be replaced by a
simple hoop or ring of hardened wrought or cast iron fixed inside the
plummer block or box to receive the friction of steel cylinders or rollers
interposed between the block and the shaft or axle to which they are
applied.
Another important advantage presented by this Invention is that it
permits of completely closing the plummer block bearing or box to
which it is adapted, thereby preventing the entrance to the frictional
parts of dust or other foreign matter which would impede the motion of
the parts, and cause the rapid deterioration of the same. Furthermore,
the application may be readily made to plummer blocks, bearings, or
boxes already in use, and this application is very important with regard
to the utilization of existing apparatus, especially the stock of railways.
The means employed for obtaining these results consist in the inter-
position of metal rollers between the frictional parts of the bearings; but
an essential feature of this Invention is that these rollers are maintained
in position constantly parallel by their insertion in the compartments of
a metallic lantern wheel or trundle that follows the rollers in their
movements around the axis to which they are applied. The said lantern
wheel has flanges at its two ends for keeping it in place in the block
'while permitting it the required rotating motion with the rollers. In
order to prevent the rapid wear of the journals which would occur by

page_text: their contact with the hardened steel rollers I use the aforesaid ring or
hoop of wrought or cast iron. This hoop, whose surface is excessively
hard, receives the pressure of the steel rollers, and the shaft is effectually
protected against the deterioration to which it would be subjected if this
arrangement were not employed. And for the same purpose I place in
the interior of the plummer block a ring or hoop similar to that above
described, and which protects the surface of the plummer block; the
latter may therefore be made of the ordinary metal.
In a modification of the said Invention, which is more especially
applicable to small plummer blocks, I dispense with these hoops or rings,
but in this case it will be necessary to harden the journals of the shaft
and the interior of the plummer block or bearing box.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
my executors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROLLING BEARINGS FOR PLUMMER BLOCKS, AXLE BOXES, AND OTHER JOURNAL
SUPPORTS," a communication to me from abroad by Maurice Rueff, of
Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, 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
Drawings forming a part of this Specification:—
The object of this Invention is the substitution of rolling friction for
sliding or rubbing friction in plummer blocks, axle boxes, and other
machinery bearings where there is a circular movement. By adopting
the construction herein-after described velocities from 100 to more than
2000 revolutions per minute are attainable without any lubrication, and
without heating the bearings. These bearings, of which several examples
are shewn in the accompanying Drawings, may be made of wrought or
cast iron, or of steel. They may be of any required size, and can be
applied to any shafts or revolving parts of machinery, whether stationary
or movable, to the shafts of marine engines, and to the axle boxes and
other parts of railway rolling stock. They may be employed at any
speed determined by the motor, from which they absorb little force, and
whose movement they facilitate.
With bearings constructed according to this Invention lubrication is
rendered quite unnecessary, and the brasses generally used are dispensed
with. These may be replaced if desired by a simple iron bush, either
wrought or cast, and either hardened or not, or by a bush of other metal
fixed within the box or bearing to form a working surface for the steel
rollers interposed between the axle or shaft, and the bearing in which
it rotates.
Another advantage resulting from this Invention is that the box or
bearing can be entirely closed to prevent the access of dirt, grit, or other
substances which might impede the working of the apparatus, or cause
its deterioration. And furthermore, the said improved bearings may be

page_text: easily applied to existing axles and machinery, a matter of great im-
portance particularly in railway rolling stock.
The method adopted for attaining these results is to interpose metal
rollers between the rubbing surfaces; but I wish it distinctly understood
that an essential point in the construction of these improved bearings is
that the said rollers are constantly maintained in a position parallel to
the axle and to each other by the insertion of a metal lantern wheel or
framing, between the bars of which they lie quite free, and which accom-
panies the rollers in their motion round the shaft to which they are
applied. And another essential feature of the Invention is that the said
lantern wheel is so made and adjusted as to move perfectly free from
contact either with the axle or shaft, or with the axle box or plummer
block.
When these improved bearings are applied to the axle boxes of rail-
way or other carriages, or the bearings of cone drums, or vertical or
inclined shafts, metal balls which may be of iron, steel, or other metal
are introduced between the end of the shaft or axle and the end of the
box or bearing whenever the said shaft or axle presses against the end
of the bearing or box. These balls roll, and thus prevents the shocks
and the rubbing friction which would otherwise occur, and would cause
the heating and "seizing" of the parts in contact.
It is chiefly in the axle boxes of railway and other carriages that such
end blows or pressures are to be apprehended when for any reason the
carriage leans or bears more to one side than the other; like effects are
found in the bearings of the shafts of cone drums, and of vertical or
inclined shafts.
I will now more particularly describe several forms of these improved
bearings, shewn in the accompanying Drawings; the same letters refer
to corresponding parts in the several Figures.
In Figures 1 and 2, which represent respectively a transverse section
and a plan of my improved bearing applied to a large shaft, a is the
shaft, and f the block containing the bearing rollers 6 of hardened steel
or other suitable metal, which are interposed between the shaft and
the interior surface of the block, each roller occupying the space between
two bars of the lantern wheel or framing c, which serves to keep the

page_text: rollers always parallel, and which accompanies them in their movement
round the shaft. At the two ends of this lantern wheel are rings which
keep it in its place within the block while they permit it to revolve with
the rollers, sufficient clearance being left between all parts of the said
lantern wheel or frame to permit it to rotate without touching the axle t
or the bearing, as herein-before specified.
In order to avoid the rapid wearing of the shaft in contact with the
hardened steel rollers a ring of hard metal e may, as above stated, if
desired, be fitted on the shaft a. By this means the shaft itself is pre-
served from wear, the pressure of the rollers acting on the hard surface 1
of the ring e. In the same turn I have also shewn a ring or lining d
within the block for protecting it in like manner from wear. It will
also be observed that these bearings are carefully closed, and will not
permit the entrance of dust or gritty substances to the bearing.
In Figures 3 and 4, which represent respectively a longitudinal section 1
and plan, is shewn a modified form of bearing suited to a shaft of small
diameter. The rings d and e are in this case dispensed with, and only
the rollers b and the lantern wheel or frame c are retained.
Figures 5 and 6 represent respectively a longitudinal and transverse
section, and illustrate the application of the said improved bearing to the 2
axle of a carriage. In this case the axle a is of the usual form; it is
enclosed within the lantern frame c, which has the friction rollers 6 in
the spaces between its bars. The end of this box can be removed when
required. The said box has a central projecting disc g, around which
are placed a number of balls or spheres, so fitted that they roll round it 2
when the end of the axle a is forced towards the end of the box f. It
will be readily understood that similar balls may be applied at the end
of any revolving shaft or axle, the size and number of the balls being
adapted to the dimensions of the said shaft.
Figure 7 illustrates an arrangement of rollers which renders unne- a
cessary the circular guiding, grating, or similar contrivance, and which
may also apply to the above-mentioned purposes.
I
Having thus described the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, I wish it understood that I claim,-

page_text: First. The bearings fitted with friction rollers guided by a lantern
frame revolving free of contact with the axle or shaft, and also with the
axle box or other bearing, and which bearings are closed to prevent the
entrance of dust or other substances, as herein described.
Second. In combination with roller bearings constructed as above
described the balls to sustain the end pressure, as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
W. J. LowE.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)