Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 26th June, 1888
Specification Accepted, 17th Aug., 1888
1, JOHN WESLEY HYATT, of the city of Newark, State of New Jersey, U.S.A.
Engineer, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to furnish a cheap and effective construction for an
anti-friction journal bearing, and the device consists in a casing concentric with the
shaft, flanges at each end of the casing, and two or more independently rotating series
of rolls fitted with their adjacent sides in contact. All the rolls of all the series are
wholly disconnected and each roll is free to rotate about the shaft, being guided in a
fixed annular path by the plane surfaces of the adjacent rolls, and by the end flangos
in the case of the end series of rolls. By this construction I avoid the use of long
rolls, which require guiding collars or axles to hold them parallel with the shaft ;
and greatly cheapen the entire construction, as well as make it more effective.
My invention is shown in the annexed drawing, in Figs. 1 and 2, applied to a
pedestal, Fig. 1 being a plan of a pedestal with the cap removed, and Fig. 2 being a
side elevation in section on line, ., in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of a pulley
fitted with my roller bearing, the flange at one end of the hub being removed; and
Fig. 4 is a section of the same on line x, c, in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view partly in
section, of a car axle box provided with my improvements; Fig. 6 is a view at the
rear end of the same upon a smaller scale; Fig. 7 is a side view of the same; Fig. 8
is a view of a washer to insert between the separate series of rolls, if desired; Fig. 9
is an end view of a wagon axle box, with a flange attached, and three of the spokes;
and Fig. 10 is a vertical section of the same on line x, x, in Fig. 9. Fig. 11 is an
alternative construction.
E (Fig. 1) is a plain cylindrical cavity formed in the pedestal, of suitable diameter
to apply the rolls between flanges provided at the opposite ends of the recess to guide
the end series of rolls. The rolls are shown in the base A only, to expose the
flange more fully. The rolls are shown of about two thirds their diameter in length,
though this length may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention,

page_text: with six series arranged side by side batween the end flanges, each roll being guided
solely by contact with those in the adjacent series; or by the end flanges, in the case
of the series at the end of the casing. The flange is removable, being secured to
the pedestal by screws g, and is adjustable toward the flango" by means of packing h
insorted beneath it. This packing may be made of yielding material, as india-rubber,
or of several thin layers of tin or paper, which may be successively removed as the
flange requires adjustment. By such adjustment, the flanges may be kept as close as
desired to the end series of rolls, and the separate rolls thus kept from displacement.
In Figs. 3 and 4, I is a pulley having hub J hored to form a cavity E', and provided
with the fixed and adjustable flanges and as in the pedestal.
The flange is held to the end of the pulley hub by screws g, and a packing his
inserted beneath it, as in the pedestal, and the several series of rolls are shown one
half their diameter in thickness and are fitted between the flanges around the shaft K
and move independently of one another, as the pulley rotates on the shaft.
Such independence permits the rolls of the several series to break joints with the
adjacent rolls and alternate with those of the other series, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3:
thus assuming different relative positions as the pressure of the shaft may induce.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7, show a car axle box T, the rear flange being formed with a groove'
to receive bird-shot or small granules made of other material which would be inserted,
after the axle and rolls are fitted within the casing, through a hole plugged by a
screw. The flange at the front end of the box is formed as a circular disk fitted to
the casing by a screw thread, and screwed therein by a suitable wrench having studs
fitted to holes in the front of the disk; and kept from unscrewing by bolt. The
casing is formed with flat sides and ribs T to hold it in the pedestal upon the body of
the car, like other car axle boxes.
:
The small granules in the recess 'press upon all sides of the axle by their weight
and freedom of motion, and serve most effectively to exclude dust from the inside
of the casing. Tho flange s' is screwed so tightly into the casing as to retain oil, and
a supply of oil is introduced to the casing through a hole closed by a plug and
holes are provided in the lower part of the recess to lend any oil which works into
the recess back within the casing. Figs. 9 and 10 show the hub of a wagon wheel
bored cylindrically to form a casing and containing several series of rolls a separated
at intervals by washers 6. The flange 1, adjacent to the collar m³ upon the wagon
axle n', is made integral with the hub; but the flange l, at the front of the casing,
is attached to the axle by a nut o screwed upon the end of the axle o'.
Flanges and are formed on tho hub to hold the spokes h². One of the washers &³
is shown detached in Fig. 8, and by applying such washers at intervals between the
series of independent rolls, the rolls may be made very thin, as shown in Fig. 10, by
the process of punching them from thick sheets of stool.
As the washers sorve to guide the rolls in their annular path, the bearing formed
with punched rolls and washers, forins a very cheap and effective device where the
load upon the axle is not great.
The car axlo box shown herein is adapted to retain the lubricant ontirely within its
casing, and to prevent the fouling of the same by external dust or grit, and is thus
adapted to wear a long time without any attention. Fig. 11 shows a casing T with
the rolls held therein by end flanges w fixed rigidly upon an axle w
One of the flanges we is integral with the axle and the other held thereto by a set
screw u. Such flanges perform the same function as a flange rigidly attached to the
casing and it is therefore immaterial whether the flanges aro stationary or rotate with
the axle, as their function is to hold the series of rolls close together to prevent their
displacement and to hold each of said series in the desired annular path by the plano
of their adjacent series and flanges.
I am aware that rolls have been used in many combinations for an anti-friction
bearing, but I am not aware that separate series of disconnected rolls have ever been
held in pluce solely by their lateral contact with one another.
My construction avoids all the pivots, rings, and other means heretofore used to
keep the rolls in place.

page_text: The rolls and casing may be formed of any suitable material, and it is obvious that
the particular form of casing forms no part of my invention since the same may be
modified to suit any particular location in which my bearing may be used, and [
therefore, do not limit myself to any particular form of casing.
My bearing may he used in any position in which a shaft rests in a bearing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. The combination in a roller bearing, of separate independently rotating series
of disconnected rolls held in lateral contact in a casing with closed ends, and guided
in annular paths by the plane annular surfaces of the adjacent series of rolls, sub-
stantially as set forth.
2nd. The combination in a roller bearing, of a casing containing separate inde-
pendently rotating series of disconnected rolls, flanges to hold such rolls in the
casing, and means for adjusting one of the flanges toward the other, substantially as
set forth.
3rd. The combination in a roller bearing, of a casing containing separate inde-
pendently rotating series of disconnected rolls, flanges to hold such rolls in the casing,
an annular recess in one or both of such flanges, and small granules of metal or
other substance inserted in such recess to exclude dust, substantially as set forth.
4th. The combination, with a dust guard formed of an annular recess containing
small granules in or adjacent to a casing containing anti-friction rolls, of oil-holes or
passages extended from the interior of the recess within the casing to return the oil
thereto, substantially as set forth.
5th. The combination in a roller bearing, of a casing containing separate inde-
pendently rotating series of disconnected rolls, flanges to hold such rolls in the casing,
and loose washers surrounding the bearing or journal and inserted at intervals between
the separate series of rolls, as and for the purpose set forth.