Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Oct., 1887
Complete Left, 16th June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 20th July, 1888
RESERV
I, GEORGE SHANN of 3 Park Row, Albert Gate, London, in the county of
Middlesex Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
It refers to machines in which an upward pressure is communicated to a revolving
shaft, by means of a plate, revolving with the shaft and surrounded by a vessel or
casing, containing liquid. The casing has an opening in the top, which opening may
be made as large as is found convenient, but must at least be large enough to allow
the shaft to revolve freely within it. That part of the liquid which is immediately
under the plate is kept as nearly as possible at rest, while the liquid above the plate is
thrown into rapid rotation.
The effect of this is to form a vortex above the plate; which diminishes the liquid
pressure towards the central part of the upper side of the plate, and increases the
pressures towards the circumference of the upper side, and over the whole area of the
under side, and thus produces a resultant upward pressure upon the plate.
In this way the liquid is made to act as a bearing and to balance the downward
pressure on the shaft when the machinery is in motion.
Bearings on this principle have been, hitherto, so designed that the plates are
constrained to remain at fixed levels; any tendency of the liquid to raise the plates
being counteracted by the reaction of bearings on the shaft. My invention consists
in a construction of liquid-vortex bearings, such that the revolving plate may rise
under the influence of the pressure, and, as it were, float in the liquid when this has
attained the required velocity of rotation; also in making provision for the regulation
of this rise of the plates, by regulating the quantity, or the motion, of the liquid in
the casing.
A bearing may be made with a single revolving plate, or with two or more plates,
one above another.
It is not necessary that the plate or plates, in rising, should carry the shaft with
them, provided that the said plate or plates are so connected with the shaft as to
balance the downward pressure thereof. If machinery is to be driven from the
shaft, by means of frictional connexions, the rise and fall of the plate or plates may
be used to throw these connexions into and out of gear.
Dated this Eighteenth day of October 1887.

page_text: An Improved Construction of Bearings.
I, GEORGE SHANN, of 3 Park Row Albert Gate, London, in the county of
Middlesex, 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 invention applies to machines in which an upward pressure is communicated
to a revolving shaft by means of a plate revolving with the shaft and surrounded by
a vessel, or casing, containing liquid: This casing has an opening in the top, which
opening may be made as large as is found convenient, but must at least be large
enough to allow the shaft to revolve freely within it. That part of the liquid which
is immediately under the plate is kept as nearly as possible at rest, while the liquid
above the plate is thrown into rapid rotation.
The effect of this is to form, above the revolving plate, a vortex which diminishes
the liquid pressure towards the central part of the upper side of the said plate, and
increases the pressure towards the circumference of the upper side and over the whole
area of the under side, and thus produces a resultant upward pressure upon the said
plate. In this way the liquid is made to act as a bearing and to balance the downward
pressure of the shaft when the machinery is in motion.
Bearings on this principle have hitherto been so designed that the revolving plates
are constrained to remain at fixed leveles; any tendency of the liquid to raise the
plates being counteracted by means of bearings on the shafts.
My invention consists in the construction of these bearings in such a way that
their plates are free to rise in the casing under the influence of the liquid pressure.
When the revolving plates are rigidly connected with the shafts this is effected by
constructing the bearings of the said shafts in such a way that these shafts are free to
slide upwards in the direction of their length when the liquid pressure on the plates
becomes sufficiently great. If this construction be unsuited for the purpose for which
a particular shaft is to be used, the liquid vortex bearing may be so constructed as to
allow the revolving plate to rise without raising the shaft, the connexion between
the said shaft and its revolving plate being made by means of springs, or by
levers, so weighted as to balance the downward pressure of the shaft.
The height of the rise of the plate may be controlled by regulating the quantity
of liquid in the casing. When the said plate is too low, liquid is admitted to the
casing by means of a supply pipe which discharges into the central opening of
the upper part of the casing, when the said plate is too high, liquid is allowed to
leave the casing by means of an escape pipe communicating with the interior of
the casing below the surface of the liquid. Valves, or stop cocks, are provided for
regulating the flow of liquid through these pipes, which valves may, if desired, be
connected with the revolving plate in such a way that the opening and closing of the
said valves, can be effected automatically by the rise and fall of the said plate. If it
be desired to insure that a certain quantity of liquid shall be in the casing before thé
shaft is set in motion, the casing may be connected, by means of a pipe, with any
source of supply whose level is constant; the connecting pipe having its orifice below
the surface of the liquid in the casing and being provided with a flap-valve opening
toward the interior of the casing. When the shaft is stationary, liquid is free to flow
through this valve until the level of the liquid in the casing is the same as that of
the source of supply. When the shaft is set in motion, the liquid pressure in the
casing closes the valve and prevents any liquid from escaping.

page_text: The liquid above the revolving plate is usually set in motion by means of vanes
revolving with the said plate, and the liquid immediately below the revolving plate, is
prevented from rotating by means of other_vanes, or bafflers, so connected with the
casing as to be incapable of revolving. In order to keep this liquid immediately
below the plate the more nearly at rest, the lower vanes, or bafflers may be so
constructed that when the plate rises or falls, a part, or the whole, of the said
vanes, or bafflers may rise or fall with it, through a certain range. These lower
vanes, or bafflers, give a second means of preventing the revolving plate from rising
too high, since the upward pressure ceases when the interval between the revolving
plate and the top of the lower set of vanes, or bafflers, becomes too great.
When machinery is to be driven from the shaft, by means of frictional connexions,
the rise and fall of the revolving plate may be made to throw such connexions
into, and out of, gear.
When it is expected that some of the weights revolving with the shaft may have
their centres of gravity out of the line of the axis of the shaft, provision may be
made for allowing such weights to centre themselves by making the horizontal
supports of the shaft elastic, and thus giving to the shaft itself a certain amount
of lateral play.
In the foregoing description of the liquid vortex bearing, mention has been made
of one revolving plate only; but two or more such plates may be used, one above
another on the same shaft, when this arrangement is found convenient.
In order that my invention may be more easily understood, I have provided the
accompanying drawing which shows a section of the liquid vortex bearing having all
the regulating appliances hereinbefore described. In this drawing,
A is the revolving plate; B the vanes thereon.
Care vanes fixed in the casing.
D are a set of vanes capable of rising and falling with the plate, but not revolving
therewith.
E are weighted levers for raising the vanes D.
F is the supply pipe furnished with an automatic valve, by means of which liquid
can be introduced into the casing while the machinery is in motion.
G is the escape pipe, furnished with an automatic valve.
H is a pipe for filling the casing to the level of the source of supply, while the
machinery is at rest. A flap-valve is shown at the outlet of the pipe H.
K shows a friction cone, which can be thrown into and out of gear by means of
the rise and fall of the revolving plate.
my said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The construction of liquid vortex bearings having provision for varying the
height of the revolving plate, substantially as herein before described.
2. The controlling of the rise and fall of the said revolving plate by regulating the
quantity of liquid in the casing, substantially as herein before described.
3. The construction of vanes, or bafflers, in the lower part of liquid vortex bearings,
in such a way that the said vanes or bafflers shall rise and fall with the rise and fall
of the revolving plate.
4. In combination with liquid vortex bearings, the use of frictional connexions
which can be thrown into, and out of, gear by the change of level of the
revolving plate.
Dated this Sixteenth day of June 1888