IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Dunham, of 69, Mark Lane, London, E.C., Merchant,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LUBRICATORS." A communication
from abroad by Victor Lieuvain, Engineer, Rouen, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Dunham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th April 1878.
"1
WILLIAM DUNHAM, of 69, Mark Lane, London, E.C., Merchant. IMPROVEMENTS
IN LUBRICATORS." A communication from abroad by Victor Lieuvain, Engineer,
Rouen, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to a new style of lubricator called a "rotary lubricator,"
of a simple form of construction, and which can be fitted to machinery with great
facility.
It consists,-
1st. Of an automatic rotary oil distributor composed of one or more rotating
cylinders driven by the part of the machine to be lubricated, or from any other
convenient part of the machine.
2nd. Of a metallic or other box in which the oil is kept at a constant level,
and in which the distributing cylinders are placed, such cylinders always dipping
into the oil.
3rd. Of an air-tight reservoir by means of which the oil, as it passes from
the box, is automatically replaced at intervals, so as to keep a constant level
therein.
The different parts herein described may be combined in different ways, and
the whole apparatus may either be applied directly to the part to be lubricated,
or at any suitable distance therefrom.
The special advantage of this lubricator is that it lubricates with regularity the
part of the machine on which it is placed, but only during the time that such part
is in motion, thus reducing the consumption of oil for lubricating that part to a

page_text: minimum, the quantity depending upon the speed and the nature of the part to
be lubricated.
One or more distributing cylinders are mounted upon an axis placed horizon-
tally in the metallic or other box containing the oil. One end of one or more
flexible grooved or other metallic blades rests upon the upper surface of these
cylinders, the lower parts of which blades are fixed upon a sinall axis turning in
the sides of the box. These blades serve as channels or gutters to conduct the oil
which they collect from the surface of the rotating cylinders into a tube or tubes
which pass through the bottom of the box, and are in communication with the part
to be lubricated.
Above the box is an air-tight reservoir containing oil to replace that used by the
lubrication.
Passing through the top of the box and the bottom of the reservoir are two tubes,
one of which is of a sufficient length to allow its lower end to be always below the
ninimum level of the oil in the box, its upper end passing a short distance through
the bottom of the reservoir into the oil contained therein.
The other tube through which air passes descends into the box a short distance
above the minimum level of the oil. This end is cut off obliquely to facilitate the
readier entrance of the air and the draining of the oil from the tube. The other end
of the air tube rises to near the top of the reservoir.
When the box and the reservoir have been filled with oil to the required height,
upon the machine being started the cylinders in the box will be caused to revolve
by means of a cam, excentric, pulley, toothed or ratchet wheels, or any other well-
known suitable appliance, and the oil in the box will adhere to the surface of the
cylinders. The blades by their friction upon the surface of the cylinders will collect
a certain quantity of oil which will run along the inclined plane formed by the
blades and pass down the gutter. into the tube or tubes which communicate with
the part to be lubricated.
When the level of the oil in the box has been lowered to below the lower end of
the air tube passing into the reservoir, air rushes up that tube into the reservoir,
and the equilibrium being destroyed, the oil will descend by the other tube from
the reservoir into the box, until the level of the oil reaches the end of the air tube,
when the equilibrium will be re-established.

page_text: IN LUBRICATORS. A communication from abroad by Victor Incuvain, Engineer,
Rouen, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to a new style of lubricator called a
rotary lubricator,"
of a simple form of construction, and which can be fitted to machinery with great
facility.
It consists,-
1st. Of an automatic rotary oil distributor, composed of one or more rotating
cylinders, driven by the part of the machine to be lubricated, or from any other
convenient part of the machine.
2nd. Of a metallic or other box in which the oil is kept at a constant level and
in which the distributing cylinders are placed, such cylinders always dipping into
the oil.
3rd. Of an air-tight reservoir by means of which the oil as it passes from
the box is automatically replaced at intervals, so as to keep a constant level
therein.
The different parts herein described may be combined in different ways, and
the whole apparatus may either be applied directly to the part to be lubricated, or
at any suitable distance therefrom.
The special advantage of this lubricator is, that it lubricates with regularity the
part of the machine on which it is placed, but only during the time that such part
is in motion, thus reducing the consumption of oil for lubricating that part to a
minimum, the quantity depending upon the speed and the nature of the part to be
lubricated.
One or more distributing cylinders are mounted upon an axis placed horizontally
in the metallic or other box containing the oil. One end of one or more flexible
grooved or other metallic blades rests upon the upper surface of these cylinders, the
lower parts of which blades are fixed upon a small axis turning in the sides of the
box. These blades serve as channels or gutters to conduct the oil which they collect
from the surface of the rotating cylinders into a tube or tubes which pass through
the bottom of the box, and are in communication with the part to be lubricated.
Above the box is an air-tight reservoir containing oil to replace that used by the
lubrication.
Passing through the top of the box and the bottom of the reservoir are two tubes,
one of which is of a sufficient length to allow its lower end to be always below the
minimum level of the oil in the box, its upper end passing a short distance through
the bottom of the reservoir into the oil contained therein.
The other tube through which air passes descends into the box a short distance
above the minimum level of the oil. This end is cut off obliquely to facilitate the
readier entrance of the air and the draining of the oil from the tube. The other end
of the air tube rises to near the top of the reservoir.
When the box and the reservoir have been filled with oil to the required height,
upon the machine being started the cylinders in the box will be caused to
revolve by means of a cam, excentric, pulley, toothed or ratchet wheels, or any
other well-known suitable appliance, and the oil in the box will adhere to the
surface of the cylinders. The blades by their friction upon the surface of the
cylinders will collect a certain quantity of oil, which will run along the inclined
plane formed by the blades, and pass down the gutter into the tube or tubes
which communicate with the part to be lubricated.
When the level of the oil in the box has been lowered to below the lower
end of the air tube passing into the reservoir, air rushes up that tube into the
reservoir, and the equilibrium being destroyed, the oil will descend by the other
.

page_text: tube from the reservoir into the box, until the level of the oil reaches the end of
the air tube, when the equilibrium will be re-established.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings Fig. 1 shews an elevation of the improved
lubricator; Fig. 2 shews a vertical section of the same; and Fig. 3 shews a sectional
plan of the box and reservoir.
The apparatus is shewn placed directly upon the shaft to be lubricated.
A is the shaft; B, the bearings; C, the cover of the plummer block; D, the oil
tray of the plummer block; E, E, are passages through which the oil passes to the
shaft A.
F is a metallic or other box, of any suitable form and dimensions, which contains
the oil and the automatic distributor, and is in communication with the reservoir
through the tubes G¹, G².
F' is the cover of the metallic or other box, upon which the reservoir is generally
mounted. Holes are made in the cover for the passage of the tubes G, G, and
the projection O.
G, G, are the oil tubes, which correspond with the passages E, E, in the cover of
the plummer block, and distribute the oil into the tray D or into the passages E, E..
The tubes G, G, which pass through the bottom of the box F should rise a short
distance above the level of the oil in the box.
H, H, are wooden or other revolving cylinders mounted upon the axis I, placed
horizontally in the box F, and dipping into the oil x. These cylinders receive a
regular intermittent rotary motion from the shaft A, to be lubricated by means of
the cam X acting upon the lever Y which works the pawls Z1, Z2, and the ratchet
wheel Z fixed on the axis I. This axis, carrying the distributing cylinders E, A,
turns freely in the bearings y, y.
J, J, are the flexible metallic blades, either grooved or not, the upper ends of
which rest upon the cylinders H, H. They are fixed upon the small axis i, turning
in the sides of the box F. The lower ends of these blades hang over the tubes G, G,
and distribute the oil therein, which they collect from the cylinders H, H, whilst
they are in rotation. The axis i is weighted, so as to cause the blades J, J, to press
always upon the distributing cylinders H, H.
L is a glass or other cylinder set in the plates M, M¹, thus forming the oil reser-
voir. The top plate M is provided with a stopper a, which serves to tighten the
plates upon the cylinder, by means of the tube N, carried by the bottom plate M
This tube communicates with the interior of the reservoir through the holes O, O'
The bottom of the tube N is closed by a stopper b. Passing through the lower
plate M are the two tubes G', G2; G is the oil tube, which is of sufficient length to
allow its lower end to be always below the minimum level of the oil x in the box F,
its upper end passing a short distance through the bottom plate M¹ of the reservoir;
G2 is the air tube, which descends into the box F to the minimum level of the oil
contained therein. The lower end is cut off obliquely, to facilitate the readier
entrance of the air, and the draining of the oil from the tube. The other end of
the tube G2 rises to near the top of the reservoir.
In order to put the apparatus, as described above and shown in the Drawings, in
working order, the oil is put into the box F to the required height, and the reser-
voir is filled through the tube N; the equilibrium being established, the shaft A is
set in motion, and the cam X raises the arm of the lever Y, causing the pawls Z¹, Z³,
to act upon the ratchet wheel Z and the cylinders H, H, to rotate, carrying the oil
upon their surface. The blades J, J, resting upon the cylinders H, H, will collect a
certain quantity of oil, which will run along the inclined planes formed by the blades,
and fall down the tubes G, G, into the tray D of the cover of the plummer block, and
thence on to the shaft A to be lubricated by the passages E, E. It is evident if the
shaft A continues to revolve that the oil collected by the blades J, J, and used for
lubrication will lower the level in the box F, and at a certain moment will uncover
the end of the tube G². But as soon as the end of this tube is uncovered, one or
more globules of air will rush up the tube into the reservoir, and the equilibrium
being destroyed, the oil in the reservoir will descend into the box F by the tube G¹,

page_text: An
until the end of the tube G2 is covered with oil, when the equilibrium will be re-
established and the oil from the reservoir will cease to flow by the tube G'.
intermittent supply of oil will be thus obtained, which will be reproduced regularly
only whilst the automatic apparatus is at work. This intermittent supply takes
place only because the level of the oil in the box F has been reduced to below the
end of the tube G2; and it is evident that this could not take place if the appa-
ratus was not at work, since no oil would be taken from the box F by the
cylinders H, H; therefore in no case could the apparatus lubricate when
at rest.
It will be readily understood that the apparatus above described can be combined*
in several different ways.
For instance, the automatic movement may be composed
of one or several cylinders, with one or several blades; the movement may be given
to the cylinders by a cam, excentric, pulleys, toothed wheels, or any other suitable
means. The reservoir may be in glass or metal, or other suitable material, and may
be placed on the box or at the side at any distance therefrom; and the whole
apparatus may be placed directly on the part to be lubricated, or at the side at any
suitable distance therefrom.
Fig. 4 shews a transverse section of the apparatus, in which a modification is
shewn of the means of raising the level of the oil in the box F when it has been
lowered by the lubrication; P shews the reservoir which may be in glass or any
other suitable material.
Instead of employing two tubes, as herein-before described, one tube Q is employed
with a rod R passing down the centre. The top of the rod R is furnished with a
conical valve S. The top end of the tube Q is provided with a stopper T, one end
fitting into the reservoir P, and the other into the box F.
It will be readily understood that as soon as the oil in the box F falls below the
opening of the tube Q, air will rush up the tube and cause the oil to descend by
the rod R. The lower end of the tube Q is cut off obliquely. The lower end of the
rod R rests on the bottom of the box F, and prevents the valve S from closing
the top of the tube Q, but when the reservoir P is removed for any purpose,
the valve S will fall into the top of the tube Q, and prevent the oil from running
out.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the means employed
in carrying the same into effect, as communicated to me, I would have it understood
that what I claim is the improved form of lubricator, called "rotary lubricator,"
consisting,―
1st. Of an automatic rotary oil distributor composed of one or more rotating
cylinders, driven by the part of the machine to be lubricated, or from any othor
convenient part of the machine.
2nd. Of a metallic or other box, in which the oil is kept at a constant level, and
in which the distributing cylinders are placed, such cylinders always dipping into
the oil.
3rd. Of an air-tight reservoir, by means of which the oil as it passes from the
box is automatically replaced at intervals, so as to keep a constant level therein,
all substantially as herein described, and shewn in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Dunham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord
WILLIAM DUNHAM. (L.S.)