Thrust Bearing for Shafts.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Oct., 1893-Accepted, 2nd Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Thrust Bearing for Shafts.
I, SIMON INGERSOLL, of Scofield Avenue, Glenbrook, Fairfield County,
Connecticut, United States of America, Machinist, 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:-
My invention has for its object to provide a thrust bearing for shafts, more
especially adapted for use upon the propeller shafts of steam vessels, which shall be
inexpensive, durable, and practically impossible to get out of repair, and in which.
the friction shall be reduced to the minimum, and the necessity for slippage shall be
practically eliminated.
With these ends in view I have devised the simple and novel construction of
which the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing is a.
Specification, numbers being used to designate the several parts:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my novel bearing, the rollers appearing in:
perspective.
Fig. 2 a section on the line, x, in Fig. 1 looking down, and
Fig. 3 is a side elevation illustrating certain obvious modifications in the details.
of construction.
1 denotes the shaft which is journalled in bearings 2 the operative faces of which.
consist of a series of steps or shoulders 3. These bearings are formed integral with
or rigidly secured to base plates 4 which rest upon a bed plate 5. The bearings.
are made adjustable in order that lost motion may be taken up by means of bolts 6
which pass through slots 7 in the base plates and engage the bed plate. The base.
plates and bearings are also additionally locked in position by means of set screws 8
which pass through abutments 9 at the outer ends of the bed plate and bear against.
the rear edges of the base plates. It will be seen that by means of these bolts and
set screws I am enabled to get a very fine adjustment and to lock the base plates.
and bearings rigidly in position after adjustment. 10 denotes a collar which is
keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to the shaft the opposite faces of which are.
provided with steps or shoulders 11 which correspond with steps or shoulders 3 on
the operative faces of the bearings. 12 denotes blocks on the shaft which turn.
freely thereon and carry series of rollers 13 journȧlled on screw pins 14 which
engage the blocks. The peripheries of these rollers engage corresponding steps on
the faces of the bearings and on the faces of collar 10. The outer roller is of
greatest diameter, the diameters of the rollers in the several series decreasing inward
in uniform ratio so as to bear on the successive steps of the bearings and collar..
This construction insures that all of the rollers will rotate at the same rate of speed
thereby wholly avoiding friction between the rollers themselves. I have illustrated
my novel thrust bearing as made double so as to provide for the taking up of
friction in backing as well as when the shaft is turning forward. It is obvious that
when the shaft is turning forward one of the blocks and the rollers carried thereby
will be in use the other block and the rollers carried thereby being wholly out of
use; and that when the shaft is backing the block and rollers that were in use
during the forward movement will be out of use, and the other block will be in use
and the rollers carried thereby will take up the entire thrust of the shaft. In order
to prevent the possibility of screw pins 14 by which the rollers are carried being
turned out, I make the threads upon the screw pins in the two blocks reverse
threaded so that when either block is in use the action of the rollers is to turn the
screw pins in, it being in fact rendered impossible for them to be turned out in use..
The number of rollers in each series is not of the essence of my invention, nor is
the number of series of rollers on each block of the essence of my invention. In

page_text: Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown each block as carrying three series of rollers and have
shown three rollers in each series. In Figs. 1 and 2 I have furthermore shown
the diameter of each roller as corresponding with the diameter of the step or plane
upon which it travels. This however is not an essential feature of my invention.
It has been found in practice that it is desirable to make the rollers as large as
possible and also to make them as thin as possible consistent with the required
degree of strength so as to reduce the sliding friction between the peripheries of the
rollers and the planes upon which they travel to the minimum. In Fig. 3 I have
therefore illustrated a form of my invention in which two series of rollers only are
used upon each block and have shown two rollers only in each series. These
rollers furthermore are made of much greater diameter than the steps or planes upon
which they travel.
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. The combination with a shaft having a collar provided with steps 11 on its
faces, of bearings in which said shaft is journalled and which are provided with
corresponding steps on their inner faces, and blocks which turn freely on the shaft
and are provided with series of rollers which engage the corresponding steps upon
the faces of the bearings and the collar.
2. The combination with the shaft having a collar fixed thereon the faces of said
collar consisting of series of steps, of bearings in which said shaft is journalled the
inner faces of said bearings consisting of series of steps corresponding with the steps
on the collar, and blocks adapted to turn on said shaft and carrying series of rollers
adapted to bear upon corresponding steps on the faces of the collar and the bearings,
the diameter of each roller corresponding with the diameter of the step or plane
upon which it travels.
3. The combination with the shaft carrying a collar the operative faces of which
consist of series of steps, of bearings in which said shaft is journalled, the inner faces
of said bearings consisting of series of steps corresponding with the steps on the
collar, slotted base plates by which the bearings are carried, suitable means for
locking said base plates and bearings in position after adjustment, and blocks
adapted to turn on the shaft and carrying series of rollers adapted to engage
corresponding steps upon the opposite faces of the collar and the inner faces of the
bearings.
· Dated this 31st day of October 1893.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.