Improvements in Roller Bearings.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Sept., 1891-1ccepted, 31st Oct., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Roller Bearings.
I, FRANK VAN BENTHUYSEN, of 407 Broadway, Albany, in the State of New
York, United States of America, Printer and Publisher, 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:-
Figure 1 is an end elevation of my roller bearing as adapted to shaft journals:
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same, with the surrounding box or collar shown.
in vertical section taken at the line X X on Fig. 1:
Figure 3 is a detached end elevation of three of the rollers ranged in a direct
line:
Figure 4 is a vertical section of Fig. 3 at the line Y Y :
Figure 5 is a front elevation of my roller bearing adapted to the requirements of
a thrust-bearing for receiving an endwise pressure of a shaft; and
Figure 6 is a sectional view, on a reduced scale, showing the arrangement of the
conical rollers and coniform disks of said thrust-bearing.
This invention relates to improvements in roller bearings for journals of shafts
and other similar parts of machines; and it consists of an inner series of rollers-
each having in its opposite ends a depression that is concentric with its axis, a series
of outer rollers formed of disks arranged in pairs and connected together at their
centers; each pair of said outer rollers being formed to overlap the ends of two
adjacent rollers of the inner series, and the inner faces of the disks of said outer
rollers having a concentric depression that corresponds to the like depressions in the
ends of the rollers of the inner series, and a series of spherical-or other suitable
form of rollers fitted to enter the concentric depressions of the inner and outer
rollers so as to form frictionless interlocking-devices for retaining the inner and
outer series of rollers in their proper relation to each other.
As represented in the drawing, A designates the inner rollers, which may be
cylindrical-as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4-or coniform-as shown in Figs. 5
and 6; each of said inner rollers has in each of its opposite ends a depression, 1,
which is formed concentrically to its central axis, and thereby an annular rim, 2, is
formed on each end of said rollers; said depressions in both ends of the cylindrical
rollers should be made of a uniform diameter in all of said rollers, but the depressions
in the opposite ends of the coniform rollers should be made to correspond to the
different diameters of the opposite ends of said rollers.
B designates the outer rollers, which are composed of two disks or heads
connected together by a central bolt, 3, which, when the two series of rollers are
placed in position, occupies a space formed between two adjacent inner rollers; in
Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the disks or heads are made cylindrical, of equal diameters
which correspond to the diameter of the inner rollers A; in Figs. 5 and 6 the disks
for the outer rollers are made coniform, their diameters conforming with divergent
lines drawn from the center of the disk or flange C on which said rollers have their
bearing, but all of the rollers of the series must have a uniform size and shape, that
is to say, each of said rollers must be an exact duplicate of the others to produce the
best effect; the inner face of each disk is provided, with a concentric depression, 4,
which corresponds in diameter to the diameter of the depression in the adjacent end
of an inner roller.
D designates the rollers, of a spherical or other suitable form, placed in the
concentric depressions of the bearing rollers to form frictionless pivots between the
inner and outer rollers, and also serving as a means for retaining said inner and
outer rollers in their required relation to each other. The depressions of the inner

page_text: and outer rollers, when the latter are arranged in their proper positions, form suitable
seats for receiving the rollers D.
E designates a shaft fitted to rotate in the roller bearing shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
and F is the box or casing for said roller bearing.
G designates a shaft carrying the coniform-disk or flange C, the latter being
fitted to rotate with said shaft and forming part of the thrust-bearing which bears
against the coniform inner and outer rollers, as shown in Fig. 6. A non-revoluble
disk, H, having a coniform face like the disk C, forms the stationary head of said
thrust-bearing and receives the endwise pressure of the shaft G.
The rollers A, B, and D form an interlocking series of rollers that can only be
separated from each other by removing the central bolts 3 from the outer rollers B.
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. A roller bearing consisting of a series of inner rollers, a series of outer rollers,
and a series of rollers interposed between said inner and outer rollers substantially
as described; each of said inner rollers being provided with a concentric depression
in each of its opposite ends, each of said outer rollers being formed of a pair of
disks which are secured together by a central bolt so as to overlap the ends of the
adjacent pair of inner rollers; each of said disks having a concentric depression
formed in its inner face, and said interposed rollers being placed in the concentric
depressions of the inner and outer rollers so as to form a frictionless locking-
mechanism between the inner and outer rollers, substantially as herein specified.
2. In a roller bearing, the combination of two coniform-disks; one of said disks
being revoluble and the other stationary, a series of coniform inner rollers--each
having a concentric depression in each of its opposite ends, a series of outer rollers
composed of a pair of coniform disks secured together by a central bolt; each of said
disks having a concentric depression in its inner face, and a series of rollers of
spherical or other suitable form arranged in said concentric depressions, substantially
as and for the purpose herein specified.
Dated this 22nd day of September 1891
HERBERT J. ALLISON,
Agent for the Applicant.