From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Invention for improving the lubrication of anti-friction bearings.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 114\2\ scan0255 | |
Date | 19th December 1935 guessed | |
My invention relates to bearings and particularly to bearings of the anti-friction type, such as ball bearings and roller bearings, and it has for its principal object to provide improvements in the lubrication of bearings of this nature. It has been illustrated in connection with a ball thrust bearing of the kind frequently used in the construction of motor vehicles, but the invention is not limited in application to structure of this particular type, but may be employed in anti-friction bearings generally. 10 Bearings of the character designated are frequently installed in inaccessible locations, such that adequate lubrication from outside sources is inconvenient, if not impossible, of which a typical example is the clutch release bearing of a motor vehicle. Bearings of this nature are difficult to lubricate, and at the same time are frequently operated at speeds and under loads such as to require the most thorough and effective lubrication. It has heretofore been common practice to mount the bearing in a housing initially packed with grease or other semi-solid 20 lubricant, but this practice has not resulted in satisfactory lubrication. Solid lubricants do not ordinarily have lubricating value comparable to liquid lubricants such as oil and have the added disadvantage that they channel and do not flow properly to the loaded areas. To secure the recognized advantages of fluid lubricants of high lubricating value, it has also been proposed to provide bearings with oil-carrying members of absorbent material, such as felt, arranged to contact with the rolling members to feed oil directly thereto. Such arrangements secure a satisfactory lubri- 30 cation of the bearing for a limited time, but are objectionable in that the balls or other rolling members remove the lubricant from the soft surfaces of the felts at a rate much higher than is needed for lubrication. The excess oil is thrown centrifugally away from the surface to be lubricated and thereby wasted, and bearings so lubricated are apt to run dry and require re-oiling of the felts at too frequent intervals. - 2 - | ||