Improvements in Bearings for Shafts of Horizontal Engines.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Dec., 1886.
Specification Accepted, 21st Jan., 1887.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bearings for Shafts of Horizontal Engines.
I, CHARLES TALBOT PORTER, residing at New York City, in the County and State
of New York, United States of America, 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:-
In the construction of horizontal engines, especially those which are intended to be
run at high speeds, it becomes important to construct the main bearing in such a
manner that the shaft shall be perfectly supported in the horizontal direction and the
wear of the journal and its box shall be taken up in this direction, so that the impact
of the steam on the line of centres shall be resisted in these engines as well as it is in
vertical engines, and that by means of the bolts confining the binder the horizontal
wear may be taken up.
The action of the steam in thrusting and pulling on the piston rod, as also the
momentum of the piston and its connections, exert great force on the shaft in the
horizontal direction, alternately urging the shaft towards and from the cylinder. It
is found that the shaft tends to enlarge its bearing recess horizontally rather than
vertically.
United States Letters-Patent No. 201197, were issued to me March 12th, 1878, for
an improved journal box, which was designed to meet these requirements. In that
invention wedges were employed to draw the side boxes of a four-part journal box up
to the journal.
Objections have been found to exist to that invention, first on account of its com-
plicated and expensive character, and second, on account of its liability to derangement,
each one of the four wedges requiring to be adjusted separately. The present inven-
tion is designed to avoid these objections. It consists in providing for the main shaft
of horizontal engines a bearing formed in the bed-plate and combining the following
features:-
First: The cap or cover of the bearing is constructed to be closed on the shaft by
a movement in the horizontal direction.
Second The bearing is extended underneath the shaft beyond its centre line a
sufficient distance and properly matched to the cylindrical surface to provide a proper
and reliable support for the said shaft, with the Hy-wheel and pulley when the engine
is at rest, although the said cap or cover be entirely removed.

page_text: Third The bearing is cut away on the upper side sufficiently to allow the shaft to
be introduced and removed by passing it over the said extension of the lower part of
the bearing in an inclined direction.
The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent what I
consider the best means of carrying out the invention.
Fig. 1 is a plan view.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line a.
Fig. 3 is an elevation.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where
they occur.
A is a portion of the main framing or bed of a horizontal steam engine. Certain
portions are designated when necessary by additional marks as A¹. The cavity to
receive the shaft is considerably more than semi-cylindrical. The metal on the lower
side of the cavity marked A', extends beyond the centre line of the shaft. The cavity
is enlarged on the upper side, as indicated by a, to afford room to raise and lower the
shaft, to allow it to be introduced and removed notwithstanding the elevation of the
outer edge of the bottom supporting surface A'.
B is the binder. The recess for the shaft in this is correspondingly less than a
half cylinder. Care strong bolts, and C¹ nuts, which hold the binder adjustably to
the frame A. There may be the ordinary provisions for oiling, etc.
I have repre-
sented the bearing as Babbitted, but this is not essential.
The bed plate is continued under and in front of this bearing so as to distribute
properly on the foundation that large portion of the entire weight of the engine which
is carried in it.
I am aware that main bearings for the shafts of horizontal steam engines have been
made in the end of the bed-plate and that the cap or cover has been made to close on
these bearings horizontally. Therefore I do not claim this construction broadly; but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
In a horizontal steam engine the framing A, having a more than semi-cylindrical
recess for the main shaft, with a cavity a in the top, and a bottom bearing A', adapted
to reliably support the shaft when the binder is removed, in combination with a
binder B applied and removed horizontally, and with securing and adjusting
means C, C¹, all arranged for joint operation substantially as herein specified.