IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRI- CATORS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Maiden, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRI-
CATORS."
Sealed the 3rd May 1870, and dated the 5th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Maiden at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
• 5th November 1869.
I, JOHN MAIDEN, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LUBRICATORS," to be as follows:-
. My Invention relates to the lubricators employed to supply oil or
other lubricating matter to the bearings of line shafting, and gennerally
speaking to the bearings of machinery, and more particularly to
those lubricators which are usually formed of glass and are placed in
an inverted position over the bearings to be lubricated, that is to say,
the said lubricators are so placed when in. action as that the oil or
lubricating matter shall flow through a tube fitted into the opening

page_text: through which the said lubricating matter has been introduced into the
interior of the lubricator, but a portion of my said Invention may be
applied to other descriptions of lubricators.
The lubricators of the class above mentioned have hitherto been
made with a neck or opening similar to the necks of some descriptions
of bottles, and the said neck has been cemented into a metal socket,
and the said socket has been fitted or formed with a tube through which
the lubricating material has been supplied to the bearing, or the said
neck has been fitted with a wood plug or stopper in which the aforesaid
tube has been fixed. It has been found that the aforesaid cement has 1
been liable to be softened or melted and the efficiency of the lubricator
has been thereby impaired, and also that the aforesaid wood stoppers
are not so durable as to be practically efficient.
Now in lieu of the aforesaid methods I effect the connection of the
aforesaid tube with the body of the lubricator in manner as follows,
namely: I grind, cut, or otherwise form the interior of the neck of
the lubricator as near as may be to a true circle, and I fit therein a
metal ferule, the said ferule being by preference ground into its place.
The interposition of a very thin coating of cement, which may be of a
description not liable to be softened by heat will enable the said ferule ?
to be firmly fixed in position. The said ferule is tapped, that is to say,
has a screw thread formed on its interior surface, and a metal plug or
stopper is fitted to be screwed into the said ferule. The said metal plug
is formed with a milled collar in order that it may be readily removed
from the lubricator when it is required that the said lubricator shall be 2
re-filled, and the said metal plug is fitted or formed with a tube or with
tubes preferably bored, through which the lubricant is to descend to
the bearing, and in order that the sediment deposited by the said
lubricant may to a great extent be retained in the lubricator I make
the said tube or each tube to project to some distance from the end of 3
the said plug and into the body of the lubricant, this arrangement
lessening the tendancy of the tube or tubes to become choked or fouled.
The said tube or each tube may if preferred be fitted with a wire or
needle, as in the case of the so-called needle lubricators, in which
case I form a groove or two or more grooves in each wire or needle;
which is made to fit the tube more accurately than is usual, the size of
the said groove or the number of the grooves being capable of being
varied to suit different descriptions of lubricant.

page_text: A further portion of my Invention is of advantage more particularly.
where lubricators either of the improved description herein-before
described or of other descriptions are employed in positions hitherto
inaccessible without the use of a ladder or other equivalent. I form the
body of each lubricator intended to be employed as immediately afore-
said with a projecting collar or flange, the said collar or flange being
preferably formed on the portion of the lubricator which is uppermost
when in action, or I form a groove or recess around the body of the
lubricator, or otherwise so form the said lubricator as that it may bo
readily and securely clasped by the instrument next to be described.
The said instrument consists of a spring fork, clip, or pair of tongs,
which is or may be fixed to one end of a pole, staff, or handle of a
suitable length to reach the lubricator, so as that when it is required
that the said lubricator shall be removed from the bearing the said clip,
fork, or tongs shall be caused to clasp the body of the lubricator under
the aforesaid collar or flange, and the lubricator may by these means be
lifted out of its place, and after being refilled may be replaced in its
position without requiring the use of a ladder. In order that the said
lubricator may be capable of being so removed and replaced the cap
of the bearing is formed with a socket to receive the neck of the
lubricator.
When applying this portion of my Invention to existing bearings I
sometimes employ a conical socket formed with sheet metal bands which
are passed through the ordinary oil hole of the cap, and are turned
down or rivetted underneath the cap, thus secureing the said socket to.
the cap.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Maiden in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, JOHN.
MAIDEN, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine; in the thirty-

page_text: second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Maiden, Her special license
that I, the said John Maiden, my, executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Maiden, 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
LUBRICATORS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said John
Maiden, by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 John Maiden, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to 'be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :- :
My Invention relates to the lubricators employed to supply oil or
other lubricating matter to the bearings of line shafting, and gennerally
speaking to the bearings of machinery, and more particularly to those
lubricators which are usually formed of glass and are placed in an
inverted position over the bearing to be lubricated, that is to say, the said
lubricators are so placed when in action as that the oil or lubricating
matter shall flow through a tube fitted into the opening through which
the said lubricating matter has been introduced into the interior of the
lubricator, but a portion of my said Invention may be applied to other
descriptions of lubricators.
The lubricators of the class above-mentioned have hitherto been made
with a neck or opening similar to the necks of some descriptions of
bottles, and the said neck has been cemented into a metal socket, and
the said socket has been fitted or formed with a tube, through which
the lubricating material has been supplied to the bearing, or the said-
neck has been fitted with a wood plug or stopper in which the aforesaid
tube has been fixed. It has been found that the aforesaid cement has
been liable to be softened or melted, and the efficiency of the lubricator

page_text: has been thereby impaired, and also that the aforesaid wood stoppers are
not so durable as to be practically efficient.
Now in lieu of the aforesaid methods I effect the connection of the
aforesaid tube with the body of the lubricator in manner as follows;
namely, I grind, cut, or otherwise form the neck of the lubricator as
near as may be to a true circle, and I fit therein or thereon a metal
ferule, the said ferule being by preference ground into its place. The
interposition of a very thin coating of cement, which may be of a
description not liable to be softened by heat, will enable the said ferule
to be firmly fixed in position. In a modification of this method of
attachment which will be herein-after described I am enabled to dispense
entirely with the use of cement of any description. The said ferule is
tapped, that is to say, has a screw thread formed on its interior surface,
and a metal plug or stopper is fitted to be screwed into the said ferule.
The said metal plug is fitted or formed with tubes, through which the
lubricant is to descend to the bearing, and in order that the sediment
deposited by the said matter may to some extent be retained in the
lubricator I make the said tube or each tube to project to some distance
from the end of the said plug and into the body of the lubricant: The
said tube or each tube may if preferred be fitted with a wire or needle
as in the case of the so called "needle lubricators," in which case I form
a groove or two or more grooves in each wire or needle, the size of the
said groove or the number of the grooves being capable of being varied
to suit different descriptions of lubricant.
A further portion of my Invention is of advantage more particularly
where .lubricators either of the improved description herein-before-
described or of other descriptions are employed in positions hitherto
inaccessable without the use of a ladder or other equivalent. I form the:
body of each lubricator intended to be employed as immediately aforesaid
with a projecting shoulder, the said shoulder being preferably formed
on the portion of the lubricator which is uppermost when in action, or I
form a groove or recess around the body of the lubricator, or otherwise
so form the said lubricator as that it may be readily and securley clasped
by the instrument next to be described. The said instrument consists.
of a spring clip or tongs, which are or may be fixed to one end of a pole
or handle of a suitable length to reach the lubricator, so that when it is
required that the said lubricator shall be removed from the bearing. tho
said clip or tongs shall be caused to clasp the body of the lubricator

page_text: under the aforesaid shoulder, and the lubricator may by these means be
lifted out of its place and after being refilled may be replaced in
position without requiring the use of a ladder. In order that the said
lubricator may be capable of being so removed and replaced the cap of
the bearing is formed with a socket to receive the neck of the lubricator.
When applying this portion of my Invention to existing bearings I
sometimes employ a metal socket formed with sheet metal bands, which
are passed through the ordinary oil hole of the cap and are turned down
or riveted over inside the cap, thus securing the said socket to tho
cap.
In order that my Invention may be better understood I have attached
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings made for the most part about the full size;
and having letters of reference marked thereupon, to which Drawings I
will now refer.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a lubricator constructed in manner
according with my Invention. In the said Figure a is the glass rescr-
voir, 6 is the metal ferule, c is the metal plug, and d is the wire or
ncedle. The said ferule and the neck of the reservoir are ground
together in order that the said ferule may be fixed in its place with the
use of so small an amount of cement that the attachment will not be
materially affected by the amount of heat to which the lubricator may
be ordinarily subjected when in use. The plug c is fitted to be screwed
into the said ferule so as to be capable of being readily removed when
the reservoir requires to be replenished. In the example illustrated the
said screw plug is shewn as fitted with a wire or needle d. The said
needle is fitted in a tube e which is fixed in or formed on the plug c,
and projects to some extent into the body of the lubricator, the sediment
collecting below the end of the said tube, as shewn in the Drawing. The
groove formed in the needle is shewn clearly in the cross section of the
needle drawn below, Fig. 1. When desired the needle may be dispensed
with, the lubricator in such a case acting in the same manner as the
well known Bickerton lubricator. In Fig. 2 the ferule b'is shewn as
fitted to the inside of the neck of the reservoir instead of to the exterior
of the said ncck, being ground into its place as in the preceeding example.
This Figure also illustrates the method of sustaining the lubricator in
position when in use. The neck of the oil reservoir or the outside of
the ferule fits in a socket formed on the cap of the pedestal hanger or
bearing, or in a socket attached thereto or fixed over the bearing. In

page_text: the Drawing the said socket is shewn as formed of sheet metal and
fixed to the cap i by means of the bands in manner as herein-before
mentioned.
. In Figs. 3, 4, and 5 a modification of the method of attaching the
ferule is shewn. The neck of the reservoir is moulded with two or
more projecting shoulders, between which occur vacancies as shown at
ff, in Fig. 3, which is a plan view of the under side of the reservoir.
The ferule shewn in plan at Fig. 4, is formed with lugs g, g, correspon-
ding to the aforesaid vacancies between the shoulders on the neck of the
reservoir, so that the said lugs may be passed through the said vacan-
cies, and on the ferule being rotated to some extent will bear against the
said shoulders. A washer made of leather or other suitable material
is placed on the neck of the reservoir, which has been cut to a
sufficiently true surface, and the cap picce h is screwed into the
ferule, binding the whole together. In this example no cement is
required, and the durability of the attachment will thereby be much
increased.
Figs. 6 and 7 drawn about one-half the full size represent the afore-
mentioned spring clip or tongs. The said clip is made of steel or other
suitable metal and of a form suitable to clasp the lubricator at the point.
marked A, immediately under the projecting shoulder, the distance
between the points 1, 1, of the clip being less than the diameter of the
said part of the lubricator so that when the clip is applied to the said
part of the lubricator and forced against the lubricator the said points
will seperate and the lubricator will be admitted to the circular space
between the prongs of the clip, and may then be removed from its
situation on the bearing or replaced therein without danger of falling out
of the clip. The said clip is fixed to a pole or handle m, which may be
made of a suitable length to enable the lubricators to be reached in any
ordinary situation without the use of a ladder.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and means for
carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it to be understood
that. I claim,-
First. The methods of attaching the metal ferule bush or socket to
the glass oil reservoir, substantially as herein-before described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. Forming a groove in the wire or needle of "needle lubri-

page_text: Thirdly. The means for preventing the flow of sediment to the
bearing, substantially as herein-before described and shewn in the
Drawings.
Fourthly. Forming a collar, groove, or shoulder on the glass reservoir
for the purpose herein-before set forth..
And, lastly. The clip or tongs or any modification thereof, when used
in manner as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Maiden, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Signed and sealed by the said
John Maiden, in the presence
of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentec,
3, Smithy Door,
Manchester.
JOHN MAIDEN. (L.S.)