US3499504A

US3499504A - Lubricated movable and interacting components for use in machines and a method for forming and breaking in such components

Info

Publication number: US3499504A
Application number: US753000A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald N Nelsen
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1968-08-15
Filing date: 1968-08-15
Publication date: 1970-03-10
Anticipated expiration: 1987-03-10
Also published as: GB1252472A; JPS4915860B1; FR2015738A1; DE1941419A1

Description

March 10, 1970 R. N. NELSEN 3,499,504

LUBRCATED MOVABLE AND INTERACTING COMPONENTS FOR USE 1N MACHINES AND A METHOD FOR FORMING AND BREAKING IN SUCH COMPONENTS Filed Aug. l5, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 YS TE M Wl TH SEHR/N6 SURFACE 9 ?9/\ A o, INVENTOR.

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METHYL STE/9531975 March 10, 1970 R. N. NELSEN 3,499,504

LUBRICATED MOVABLE AND INTERACTING COMPONENTS FOR USE IN MACHINES AND A METHOD FOR FORMING AND BREAKING IN SUCH COMPONENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. l5, 1968 A-noRNEV March 10, 1970 R. N. NELSEN 31,499,504 LUBRICATED MOVABLE AND INTERACTTNG COMPONENTS FOR USE IN MACHINES AND A METHOD FOR EORMING AND BREAKING IN SUCH COMPONENTS Filed Aug. 15, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 frz Ver! tor.'

@na/a M Nels en,

United States Patent O 3,499,504 LUBRICATED MOVABLE AND INTERACTING COMPONENTS FOR USE IN MACHINES AND A METHOD FOR FORMING AND BREAK- ING IN SUCH COMPONENTS Ronald N. Nelson, Dekalb, Ill., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 753,000 Int. Cl. Flllm 1/00; Clm 1/24; Flc l/24 U.S. Cl. 184-1 24 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine having relatively movable and interacting components and their -method of manufacture and particularly a metal aluminum bearing surface which supports a coacting relatively rotatable journal surface in a dynamoelectric machine. The bearing surface is of a smooth and dimensionally accurate finish, and it is treated with an oletinic composition which is introduced over the fresh surface and is reacted with the surface to form a protective coating which prevents oxidation of the surface. The surface is then mounted within a machine in supporting relation with a journal of a movable assembly. The bearing surface is treated with olenic material prior to initial break-in of the interacting surfaces between the bearing surface and the rotatable journal surface. The olenic material will reduce both friction and oxidation between the two surfaces, especially during initial relative movement, and a lubrication system then feeds a non-olelinic lubricant mixture, in one form hydrocarbon oil and a selected stearate, eg., methyl or vinyl by way of example, onto the interacting surfaces. The lubrication system provides a mixture of hydrocarbon and the selected stearate so that the relatively movable surfaces are continuously effectively lubricated from the very start of the break-in, providing a desired finish and the sustained lubrication during continued operation of the machine.

Background of the invention It was previously discovered that a long chain olefin and an organic fatty acid ester were ideal synergistic components of bearing compo-sitions for relatively movable bearing elements. For illustrations of lubrication compositions which are usable with the present invention and which preceded the present invention, reference may be made to Owens 3,208,941, issued Sept. 28, 1965, entitled Olein-Unsaturated Ester Lubricants and Owens et al. 3,208,940, issued Sept. 28, 1965, entitled Lubricating Compositions and Methods of Lubricating both of these patents being issued to the same assignee as the assignee of this application.

Both of the cited Owens patents comprehend the problern of providing hydrodynamic and boundary lubrication for such metals as aluminum and aluminum alloys and not only understand the problem attendant upon breaking in such metal bearing surfaces without galling or damaging the surfaces, but also fully understand the problems of continuous lubrication thereafter. The Owens patents propose substantial advances in the art related to the composition of the lubricating material.

In the present invention, I propose to make further improvements in the lubrication art, particularly effective for small or fractional horsepower dynamoelectric machines having relatively rotatable bearing elements of aluminum and aluminum alloy composition by applying an olenic composition onto the bearing surface so that it provides a functional bearing surface during the breaking-in period, this being a highly critical period of short duration but nevertheless of indispensable signifi- 3,499,504 Patented Mar. l0, 1970 cance to proper bearing operation. It utilizes thereafter a further lubrication system which continuously provides a lubricant mixture which coacts with the olenic material for sustained lubricating action on the interacting surfaces during the continued operation of the machine. It is essential to maintain efficient lubrication during start and stop in dynamoelectric machines entailing substantial numbers of operations, and it has been found that where viscosity varies and becomes either too viscous or too thin, then the lubricating system is inadequate. In the present invention with the lubricating system proposed, it is possible to achieve a sustained high level of lubrication efciency as the system feeds a lubricating mixture of a hydrocarbon oil and the selected stearate having a viscosity in the range of 12S-450 Saybolt Universal Seconds at F.

At the start of operation, a viscosity below about is insufficient and above 450 creates difficulties in starting by reason of the flow resistance and the difficulty to feed lubricant properly between the bearing surfaces.

Objects of the invention It is one of the principal objects of the present invenvention to provide a bearing lubricant especially adapted for use with an aluminum material in a dynamoelectric machine which will effectively solve the problem of meeting lubricating requirements during the initial break-in of the motor and to provide additional lubricating effect for the bearing during its subsequent operation.

Another important object of the present invention is to utilize au alpha olefinic lamination which is provided on one of the bearing components both to protect its surface against oxidation prior to assembly and which will be available for effecting a smooth and highly polished surface of such bearing component surface during the initial break-in period and providing thereafter self lubrication by capillary feed from a reservoir containing a combination of hydrocarbon-and-methyl stearate materials.

A further object of the present invention is to provide the novel coaction of two bearing lubrication materials, the one being an initial coating which lends its properties and values to the bearing during the initial break-in period and the other bearing material being utilized for its properties which are provided to the bearing system after initial break-in.

It is a further object of the present invention to utilize the principal advantages which are obtainable with a combination alpha oleinic-methyl stearate composition which has been found especially advantageous for use with aluminum bearing materials which are highly susceptible to galling, but to secure such advantages by means of an alpha olelinic coating which is rst applied over the surface of one of the bearing elements and to employ thereafter by means of capillary action a second lubrication material comprised of a combination of methyl stearate and hydrocarbon oil. In this manner, it is possible to achieve an economical and effective lubricating material combination which meets the requirements for initial break-in as well as subsequent operation, but in which the bearing composition embodied in the reservoir does not include a combination of olefin-methyl stearate but can include less expensive combinations of materials. Hence, the present invention proposes a more economical combination of bearing lubrication ingredients.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURES 1A through 1D together form exploded views illustrating, respectively, in FIGURE 1A an enlarged bearing element and illustrating the sizing and cleaning of the bearing surface. FIGURE 1B illustrates the applying step wherein the olefinic composition is coated onto q 3 the bearing surface. FIGURE 1C is an assembly view of the lubrication system and FIGURE 1D illustrates the breaking-in and forming of the bearing surface;

FIGURE 2 is a ternary diagram illustrating usable compositions of the three component system, methyl stearate-60O SUS oil and 300 SUS oil, which may be used by way of example at a selected viscosity with the olefinic lubricant material previously applied onto the desired bearing surfaces;

FIGURE 3 illustrates in sectional view the sizing Operation whereby that stationary bearing element is first sized and cleaned in preparation for the olefinic application or wash;

FIGURE 4 illustrates in sectional detail view the apparatus for applying olenic compositions to the bearing element;

FIGURE 5 is a graph of coefiicient of friction as affected by percent composition methyl stearate and making a direct comparison of machines using the present invention with those not using the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly broken away of a machine having relatively movable components in a small fractional horsepower dynamoelectric machine, incorporating another form of the present invention;

FIGURE 7 is a detail view of a portion of the end shield member in FIGURE 6 viewed from the right hand side of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is an exploded view of the bearing, lubricating, and support assembly illustrated in FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 9 illustrates the test apparatus by which the frictional values and comparative testing can be obtained for evaluating bearing performance.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG- URES lA through 1D, there is illustrated a metallic stationary bearing element 11 having a bearing surface 12 which rotatably supports a journal section of a shaft at each side of a rotor core. The bearing surface is provided by a central bore 16 terminating at tapered ends of a self-aligning, sleeve-type bearing material formed from aluminum. As used herein, aluminum is intended to include those compositions in which aluminum is present in an amount equal to at least fifty percent of the total weight of the composition, as for example, the type of compositions referred to in one or the other of U.S. Patents No. 3,208,940 and No. 3,208,941, previously fully identified. The stationary bearing element 11, prior to its assembly, is fabricated with apparatus shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 wherein the central bore 16 is formed by a combination of sizing and cleaning operations effected by a sizing unit 20 which reciprocates in the manner indicated by the double arrowheaded line 22 and comprised of a reamer 24 having a central through passage 26 and radial outlets 27 connecting through line 29 with a pump 28 which passes a coolant fluid from a heat exchanger and fluid reservoir 30. A doughnut shaped shield 32 having a central opening 34 is vertically aligned with bearing element 11 (shown as constructed integrally with the support). The reamer produces a smooth central bearing surface 12 which terminates in its opposite ends at

end faces

36 and 37. The excess fluid coolant is collected vertically below the workpiece within a receptacle 38, the collected fiuid being indicated by reference numeral 40.

As indicated in FIGURE 3, the `bearing construction is indicated as being manufactured in the form of an integral aluminum bearing although it should be understood that the present invention is in no way limited to its manufacture as an integral bearing within the hub area 42 of aluminum end shield 44. In fact, as indicated by FIGURES lA-lD, the bearing element can =be a separate element.

The end shield 44 can be supported on a turn table 46 which can index the work pieces through a `schedule of fabricating operations, these additional operations not being shown in their entirety but including a subsequent olefinic spray coating over the bearing surface 12. As the various fabricating operations are per-formed, the end shield 44 is clamped fixedly in position by combination locating-and-elamping

members

66, 62 which pass through coacting openings at the o-uter periphery of the shield 44, thus holding it in its proper vertical and angular position relative to the reamer which reciprocates in the manner before described while at the same time discharging cooling iiuid through the radial openings 27 in the reamer.

After the bearing surface is suitably sized, it is next indexed to a station wherein a preferred alpha oleflnic composition is applied to the fresh bearing surface after the aluminum oxide film has been broken through but prior to assembly of the bearing to the other machine components. In this arrangement, the resultant thin protective coating on the surface 12 will provide a thin protective lamination preventing oxidation before the machine components have been assembled together and will further act as a lubricant between the bearing and its coacting'journal surface at the very first relative movement ibetween these parts, thereby improving the breaking in of the bearing surfaces at the initial operation of the electromagnetic machine. While it should be appreciated that a great variety of olefinic compositions are usable, those preferred are of the type described in Owens 3,288,- 715 issued Nov. 29, 1966, entitled Fabricating Aluminum Products With Olefin Lubricant. For best overall operating characteristics, I prefer to use as the olefinic composition an unsaturated alpha olefin of straight chain configuration having a chain length of 15 to 20 carbon atoms. The exact chain length of mixture of chain length within the 15 to 20 range is a matter of design preference.

The manner in which I apply the olefinic material is indicated in FIGURE 4 wherein there is illustrated a heat exchanger and iiuid reservoir 64 having a supply line connection 66 with a pump 68 which delivers olefinic material through line 7i) to an applicator nozzle 71 which discharges the material as indicated by the arrows 72 onto the end surface 36 of the bearing element 11 and through the newly formed -central opening 16 which provides the bearing surface that now becomes coated with a lamination 74 of the olefinic lubricant material. Excess olefinic lubricant material passes through the bearing as indicated by reference numeral 76 and is collected in receptacle 78, passed through a filter 80 and returned to a heat exchanger and fiuid reservoir 64 for recirculation. A shield 32 is provided to confine the olefinic spray to the bearing and as indicated, the bearing is shown as formed integrally with an aluminum end shield 44 being the same end shield as noted in FIGURE 3, reference numerals indicating like parts indicated in FIGURE 3.

After undergoing the processing steps indicated in FIG- URES 3 and 4 which respectively designate the reaming and alpha olefin rinse stations, the structure is then assembled with the lubrication system as indicated in FIGURE 1C and then combined with the relatively movable components of the small fractional horsepower dynamoelectrie machine indicated in FIGURE 1D.

During relative movement between surface 7S and `surface 77 of shaft 80, occasioned by operation of machine 82, a second lubricant is transferred from a lubricant reservoir 83 by capillary action to a location between these two interacting

surfaces

75, 77. The lubricant reservoir may take any form, but as illustrated in FIGURES 1C and 1D, it includes a pair of communicating chambers of the kind described in the Shaffer et al. Patent No. 3,164,422, issued Ian. 5, 1965, and entitled Bearing Lubricating and Support Assemblies for Dynamoelectric Machines, and wherein cover members or caps 84 are attached to a central hub section of a metal end frame member 92. In each chamber is a ring or annulus 94, respectively, fabricated of lubricant absorbent packing material `for retaining a second lubricant in the form of a combination of hydrocarbon oil and methyl stearate. The exact composition of the lubricant in the reservoir can vary one being indicated in its variable compositional form with a selected viscosity in, FIGURE 2. This composition is fed to

surfaces

75, 77 by a pair of wick elements 98, each having two

radial fingers

102, 104 which are disposed in openings or

slots

106, 108 provided at each end of the bore and engage the shaft journaled surface 77 (FIGURE 1D), the fingers pass through a'thrustreceiving bearing surface 107 and engage a thrusttransmitting bearing surface 109 and engage a thrusttransmitting bearing surface of a rotatable thrust member 1-11 secured to shaft 80 to lubricate these surfaces in a manner more fully described in copending application Ser. No. 753,001 Motor Lubricant System Having Aluminum Components invented by `Charles W. Otto and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.

Turning next to FIGURE 1D, the present invention is illustrated as being incorporated in a small or fractional horsepower dynamoelectric machine designated generally by reference numeral 82, for instance, a single phase alternating current induction type electric motor. In the exemplification, the stationary assembly has a pair of end frames 113 (one being shown in FIGURE 1D) attached to a stator 114 at each end thereof by any convenient manner. The stator is of common construction, having a laminated magnetic core, accommodating an excitation winding 115. A rotatable assembly is supported for relative rotation with respect to the stationary assembly and includes a laminated magnetic rotor core 117 suitably secured to rotate with shaft 80 which has an output end projecting axially through and beyond the end frame 113 for connection with a driven member (not shown). Disposed in the rotor core is a cast squirrel cage secondary winding 119 having fan blades integrally joined to the end rings of the windings to circulate Ventilating air through the motor for the usual cooling and heat dissipating purposes.

The lubricating material supplied by the lubrication system is comprised of a combination of methyl stearate and a hydrocarbon second lubricant in the preferred exemplication.

Referring to FIGURE 2, the ternary compositional diagram indicates lubricants containing methyl stearate and provides a viscosity of 300 Saybolt Universal Seconds. The composition diagram is used to make up lubricants which uniformly provide a satisfactory viscosity and no alpha olefin is required to be added to the lubricant or oil so long as the alpha olefin is furnished as an initial coating in the manner described in connection With FIGURE 1B and the processing steps of FIGURES 3 and 4. The alpha olefin lubricant will secure good initial bearing and the lubricant of FIGURE 2 will provide an unusually long bearing life when used in the manner described with the alpha olefin. The purpose of the stearate is to reduce potential friction caused `by aluminum wear particles during motor operation. As a consequence of my discovery, I can substantiate that alpha olefin is needed only during the initial break-in period of the bearing, and a proper treatment of the bearing with alpha olefin prior to its assembly within the motor configuration will provide all of its desired affect without supplying any further alpha olefin with the lubricating oil. Moreover, the methyl stearate can be reduced substantially in concentration without producing any detrimental effects and is necessary only to the extent of rendering harmless wear particles which are generated during the operation of the bearing. As a consequence, the bearing system will show only little wear in spite of a small amount of methyl stearate. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that stearates other than methyl may be employed in similar amounts, such as vinyl stearate disclosed in the St. Pierre et al. Patent 3,280,027.

Referring next to FIGURE 5, which directly compares machines incorporating the present invention with the same size machine not using the present invention, the line or curve B1 indicates the coefficient of friction during initial break-in using an aluminum bearing but without an alpha olefin coating and this can be compared with the line or curve A1 indicating yusage of the same machine during break-in but with an alpha olefin coating. As can be seen, there is a substantial decrease in the coefficient of friction during the run-in period, i.e. the period of first ten minutes of use.

After run-in, i.e. after the machine has been operating approximately 10 minutes, the machine not having an olefin coating exhibited a coefficient of friction in accordance with the line B2 and this line should be compared with the line A2 which is the same machine after the same period of run-in and differing from the first machine only by the use of an original alpha olefin coating. From these two curves, it can be seen that there is not only a substantial reduction in coefficient of friction during the run-in period, but also a substantial reduction in coefficient of friction after run-in and the two values become comparable only where there are amounts of methyl stearate in the order of 12%. Since it is economically detrimental to have that amount of methyl stearate, it should be understood that the present invention is significant in that it can substantially reduce the coeicient of friction both during run-in and after run-in while greatly reducing the amount of methyl stearate required in the lubricant stored in the serervoir.

Referring next to FIGURES 6, 7, and 8, there is illustrated a further embodiment of bearing construction which can incorporate the present invention. A rotor 121 is mounted for rotation relatively to a stator core of magnetic material. The rotor 121 is secured to a shaft 123 by any suitable means.

The lubricating and support assembly which is carried by the support assembly i125 may be duplicated at the right and left hand sides of the motor respectively. As indicated in FIGURE 6, the shaft 123 extends outwardly through end shield member 113 for connection to a driven member which is not shown. The shield member 113 has a central hub 12.4 with a central opening 126 adapted to receive and mount therein a cover member or a

cap

12,8 to form a lubricant chamber. The cap may be sealingly bonded to the hub portion 124 by a thermosetting resin additive as for example an epoxy resin. The end shield l113 provides the necessary vertical support for the cover member or cap 128. A ring of lubricant absorbent packing material in the form of 'a semi-annular ring 132 is received between the cap 128 and a conical absorbent packing material 134 containing

longitudinal extensions

136, 138, 139 which project axially through the hub of end shield member l113. The

extensions

136, 138, 139 pass through companion detents 140 of a series of crest and detents formed integrally with the hub 124, the center passage 143 of the hub serving as the bearing support 141 for rotatable journal shaft 123. The bearing support surface 141 may be coated with alpha olefin material the same as in the previous invention, and a further lubricant comprised of methyl stearate and oil is supplied from a lubricant reservoir which pr-ovides additional lubricant through a wick element 142 by means of capillary action from a combination of absorbent paclging materials i132 and 134.

The rotatable shaft carries an oil fiinger 144 which includes a radially outwardly annular surface with a knife edge which tends to throw oil outwardly against the inner surface of the reservoir mem-ber 134 which, by reason of its absorbency, becomes available for resupply of lubricant to the bearing. The support bearing 141 is slotted -as indicated at i so that the Wick element 142 can directly supply the bearing surface between the surface of bearing 141 and the shaft 123. In this way, at both start up and regular running, there will be optimum lubricating conditions which insure both hydrodynamic and boundary lubricating conditions.

The conically shaped shield member E128 is slightly enlarged at one end 162 so that it will fit by an interference fit with the large diameter end 164 of a central opening 161 of the end frame I113. The

projections

136, 138, i139 of the reservoir packing member 134 are substantially coextensive with the cylindrical extension 168 of the hub 169 which receives an end plug 170 which closes the reservoir chamber 172 and has an opening 174 through which extends the shaft journal 123. The extensions y136, 138, 139 can distribute oil through the detents 140 of the hub 124. The bearing 141 is integral with the frame member 113 as clearly indicated in FIGURE 7.

The arrangement described has the advantage of combining high as well as low pressure zones together with a fiinger element so that lubricant is distributed around the periphery of the bearing surface i141 and is constructed by reason of the wick element 142 such that lubricant from the reservoir is constantly and adequately supplied to the bearing surface between the journal shaft and its opposed relatively fixed bearing support surface.

This embodiment will illustrate the use of the present invention with bearing configurations of many different characteristics and configurations. All that is required is a dual lubricant system, the one being an alpha olefin which insures adequate lubricity during start up and the other being a reservoir containing a second lubricant which is provided fromr a mass of lubricant absorbent material from which lubricant is fed to the bearing during motor operation by capillary action and is circulated and dispensed as needed.

The improvement of this invention has been substantiated by means of the test apparatus indicated in FIGURE 9 wherein a motor 200 which is a D.C. variable speed drive motor including a tachometer 210 has an output or drive shaft 211 with a V-belt connection 213 connected between

pulleys

214 and 215 to drive a shaft 217 which is adapted to operate a test bearing contained within an end shield member 220. The bearing is supported on two

upright stanchions

222, 224 and the frictional resistance of the bearing is `adapted to act through a load 230 connected with a force gage 232. Signals from the force gage 232 and the tachometer 210 are suitably connected to `an XY recorder which is calibrated to plot the coefiicient of friction versus speed in r.p.m. The bearing performance can be carefully and thoroughly evaluated by means of the described test apparatus and the bearing efficiency compared with other bearings which are similarly tested on the same apparatus. The test apparatus is adapted for determining a wide variation of speed, load, and duration tests, and can carefully simulate actual motor running conditions.

Description of operation Before assemblying the dynamomelectric machine, the bearing element l11 is first sized by means of a reaming operation illustrated in FIGURE 3 wherein the passage 16 is formed and sized by passing the reamer through the central opening of the bearing element 11. The bearing element is then coated with an alpha olefinic material in the manner indicated in FIGURE 4 wherein the alpha olefinic material is circulated through the heat exchanger 64 and pump 68 and applied through the applicator nozzle 71 to produce the coating which both protects the newly formed aluminum surface and provides the lubricity for the bearing during the initial run-in period which though brief in duration is -of substantial importance in effecting a dimensionally precise bearing and one which is of smooth configuration for later operation. It is of critical importance that the alpha olefinic material provide the lubricity during this time of run-in in order that the bearing will achieve proper dimensional configuration and qualities. After application of the olefinic layer, the bearing element is then combined with the journal shaft first by assembling the bearing and lubrication components in the manner indicated in FIGURE 1C wherein the bearing element is surrounded by a lubrication reservoir with wick elements adapted to supply the second lubricant, continuously to the bearing surfaces between the journal shaft and the surface 12 of bearing element 11. The second lubricant is made up of a combination of methyl stearate and `a hydrocarbon oil having a composition indicated in the ternary diagram FIGURE 2 and providing a viscosity range of from about 125 to about 450 Saybolt Universal Seconds at F. After the run-in period, the bearing characteristics are determined by the lubricating qualities obtained from the second lubricant contained in the reservoir chamber surrounding the bearing surfaces but after run-off, I have found that it is possible to rely upon the characteristics of that lubricating material, and it is found, as indicated from FIGURE 5, that after approximately 10 minutes which is sufiicient to effect run-in of the machine, that the olefin coating with the methyl stearate-hydrocarbon lubricant shown in line A2 can be favorably compared with the line B2 which is the same machine after run-in but not having employed an original alpha olen coating. In comparing the two sets of curves in FIGURE 5, the value of an olefin coating both during and after run-in are graphically illustrated.

The values indicated in FIGURE 5 are taken from the test apparatus shown in FIGURE 9 in the manner previously described, and the operation of the bearing utilizing an alpha olenic coating in conjunction with a second lubricant comprised of methyl stearate-hydrocarbon can be utilized with other bearing configurations such as the ones illustrated in FIGURES 6, 7, and 8.

It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular bearing configuration, but it is possible to use any bearing configurations applying aluminum or aluminum-like materials which are required to be supported by hydrodynamic bearing conditions and the chief benefits of the invention may be employed in those cases where there are problems of gall-prone materials which are subjected to high pressure and are required to sustain high frequency and high pressure applications.

While the invention has been explained by describing various embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is, therefore, intended to cover all such equivalent variations.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A dynamoelectric machine comprising a rotatable assembly including a journal surface; a frame having a bearing surface rotatably supporting the journal surface of the rotatable assembly, with one of the surfaces being formed of aluminum material, said one surface having a first lubricant including an olefinic composition interacted with the one surface to form a protective coating thereon prior to initial break-in rotation between the bearing and journal surfaces thereby tending to reduce oxidation of the one surface; a lubricating system for initially storing a second lubricant and for feeding the second lubricant to said one surface, said second lubricant being generally free of an olefinic composition as initially stored and including a selected stearate additive and a lubricating oil; whereby the first lubricant is effective to reduce friction between the bearing and journal surfaces during the start of rotation of the rotatable assembly and the first and second lubricants together enhance sustained rotation during continued operation of the dynamoelectric machine.

2. The dynamoelectric machine of claim 1 in which the frame has a stationary thrust-receiving surface disposed in the vicinity of the bearing surface and the rotatable assembly mounts a thrust bearing member having a thrusttransmitting surface facing the thrust-receiving surface arranged for relative rotation therewith, one of the thrust surfaces being formed by aluminum material having a coating of olefinic composition interacted with the one thrust surface prior to the initial relative rotation between the associated thrust surfaces.

3. A dynamoelectric machine of claim 1 in which the olefinic composition is a long straight chain alpha olen wherein a majority of the chains have from to 20r carbon atoms.

4. The dynamoelectric machine of claim 1 in which the second lubricating material includes, by weight, at least l% methyl stearate and the remainder being a hydrocarbon lubricating oil.

5. The dynamoelectric machine of claim 1 in which the second lubricant has a viscosity in the range of not substantially less than 125 to not substantially more than 450 Saybolt Universal Seconds at 100 F. to provide the desired viscosity for starting and sustained rotating conditions.

6. A machine having relatively movable components comprising a first assembly including a selected surface; a second assembly having a bearing surface arranged neXt to the selected surface, with the associated surfaces being relatively movable with respect to each other and with one of the surfaces being formed by metal; said one surface having a first lubricant of olefinic composition thereon prior to initial relative movement between the two surfaces; a second lubricant comprising ingredients of (l) an organic compound containing a polar group, a linear long chain aliphatic radical and a straight chain lower alkyl group separated from the long chain radical by the polar group, and the remainder of (2) a non-olefinic lubricating fluid; and means for directing the second lubricant to the associated surfaces as the surfaces move relative to one another, whereby at least the first lubricant reduces friction between the two surfaces during the initial relative movement and the rst and second lubricants enhance sustained relative movement between the associated surfaces.

7. The machine of claim 6 in which the second lubricant ingredients include at least 2% but not substantially more than ll% by weight of methyl stearate and the non-olefinic lubricating uid being a hydrocarbon lubricating oil.

8. The machine of claim 6 in which the olenic composition is a long chain alpha olefin wherein a majority of the chains have from 15 to 20 carbon atoms.

9. The machine of claim 6 in which the first assembly has a thrust transmitting surface relatively moveable to a thrust receiving surface of the second assembly, one of the thrust surfaces being formed by metal having a coating of olenic composition applied thereon prior to initial relative movement between the thrust surfaces.

10. A method of forming a metal bearing surface into a desired finished shape for a machine having a rotatable assembly including a journal surface; the method comprising the steps of: sizing the metal bearing surface by removing metal material to provide a fresh surface as the fresh surface is being cooled by fluid including an olefinic composition for reacting therewith to form a protective coating thereon; cleaning the metal bearing surface and introducing additional olefinic composition to the metal bearing surface; providing an end frame including a lubricant reservoir in communication with the metal bearing surface, and mounting the end frame in the machine, with the journal surface being rotatably supported by the metal bearing surface; and imparting relative rotation between the associated surfaces and feeding lubricant from the reservoir to a location between the metal bearing and journal surfaces for shaping the metal bearing surface with a smooth finish.

11. The method of claim 10 in which the lubricant being fed from the reservoir to a location between the metal bearing and journal surfaces includes a mixture of methyl stearate and hydrocarbon oil having a viscosity at 100 F. in the range of 12S-450 Saybolt Universal Seconds.

12. A method of forming a metal bearing surface with the desired nish of a machine having a rotatable assembly including a selected surface of a stationary assembly of the machine, with one of the selected surfaces being the metal bearing surface; the method comprising the steps of: furnishing a fresh interface for the one selected surface and applying an olefinic composition to the fresh interface for protection against oxidation thereof; mounting the selected surfaces in rotatable relation in a dynamoelectric machine, with a lubricant reservoir for retaining lubricant being disposed in communication to the selected surfaces; and imparting relative rotation to the selected surfaces as lubricant, in the form of a non-olefinic mixture, having a major part by weight of lubricating oil and an organic compound containing a polar group, a linear long chain saturated aliphatic radical, and a straight chain lower alkyl vgroup separated from the long chain radical by the polar group, is supplied to the selected surfaces for the lubricant reservoir whereby the selected surfaces are lubricated at the start of relative rotation and the metal bearing surface is formed with the desired nish.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the olefinic composition is a cooled alpha olen when it is applied to the fresh interface.

14. Av method of breaking in two relatively rotatable and interacting surfaces of a dynamoelectric machine, with one surface being an aluminum bearing surface mounted within the machine, the method comprising the steps of:

producing initial relative rotation and interaction betweenk the two surfaces within the dynamoelectric machine while an olenic composition is disposed between the two surfaces for lubricating the relatively rotatable and interacting two surfaces; and continuing relative rotation between the two surfaces as lubricant is supplied to the location having the olenic composition, with the lubricant being a non-olefinic mixture comprising a major part by weight of lubricating oil and the remainder of an organic compound containing a polar group, a linear long chain saturated aliphatic radical having at least l1 carbon atoms and a straight chain lower alkyl group containing from 1 to 3 carbon atoms separated from the long chain radical by the polar group to facilitate breaking in of the two rotatable and interacting surfaces.

15'. The method of claim 14 in which initial and continuing relative rotation between the two surfaces is caused by operation of the dynamoelectric machine and during continuation of the relative rotation, the lubricant is supplied to the location having the olenic composition from a lubricant reservoir mounted within the dynamoelectric machine.

16. A method of lubrication two relatively movable and interacting surfaces, with one surface being a metal bearing surface, the method comprising the steps of: applying an olefinic composition to the one surface when the surface is in a fresh condition; producing relative movement between the two relatively movable and interacting surfaces as the one surface has the olefinic composition thereon for insuring initial lubrication of the two surfaces; and introducing a non-olefinic lubricant, including a major part by weight of (1) lubricating oil and (2) an organic compound containing a polar group, a linear long chain saturated aliphatic radical, and a straight chain lower alkyl group separated from the long chain radical by the polar group, between the relatively movable and interacting surfaces during such relative movement thereby to effect lubrication of the two surfaces as they are being moved relative to one another.

17. The method of rclaim 16 in which during the step of introducing lubricant between the relatively movable and interacting surfaces, the hydrocarbon oil part of the lubricant is in the range of 89-98% of the mixture and the mixture has a viscosity in the neighborhood of 300 Saybolt Universal Seconds at F.

18. The method of claim 16 in which the olefinic composition being applied to the one surface in a fresh condition is a straight chain alpha olen wherein a majority of the chains have from 15 to 20 carbon atoms.

19. A method of forming two relatively movable and interacting surfaces into smoothly lcooperating components with one surface being an aluminum bearing surface mounted within a machine having movable components, the method comprising the steps of: causing initial relative movement between the two surfaces Within the machine while the aluminum bearing surface has an olenic composition thereon to furnish lubrication of the relatively movingsurfaces, and continuing relative movement between the two surfaces, as lubricant, including a non-oletinic mixture having a major part of hydrocarbon oil by weight and methyl stearate, is introduced between the two surfaces to facilitate final forming thereof into smoothly cooperating components.

20, A method of lubricating two solid surfaces between which there is relative motion, at least one of said surfaces being metal selected from the class consisting of surfaces being metal selected from the class consisting of aluminum and alloys of aluminum which comprises coating one of the opposing surfaces with an alpha olefinic material and thereafter supplying between the two surfaces a mixture of a methyl stearate additive and a lubricating oil to provide a lubricating surface initially dominated by the fricti'onal properties of said alpha olefinic material and thereafter by a combination of the alpha olenic material and the method stearate additive lubricating oil as motion is effected between the two surfaces.

21. Process in accordance with claim 20 including the step of initially sizing one of the bearing surfaces and effecting the olefinic coating to reduce oxidation of the sized surface.

22. A process in accordance with claim 21 in Which methyl stearate is not substantially in excess of 15% by weight of the second lubricant.

23. A process in accordance with claim 22 wherein said olenic composition is of a chain length of approximately 15 to 20 carbon atoms.

24. A process in accordance with claim 23 of forming and breaking in a metal bearing surface fabricated from material having an aluminum composition and adapted to produce a smooth and dimensionally accurate nish, comprising the steps of coating one of the bearing surfaces with olenic material and thereafter continuously supplying a combination of methyl stearate and lubricating oil between the relatively rotatable surfaces as they rotate. f

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,164,422 1/1965 Shaffer et al 308-132 3,184,272 5/1965 Ridgway 308-132 3,208,940 9/1965 Owens et al. 252-45 3,208,941 9/1965 Owens 252-45 3,280,027 10/196'6 Pierre et al 252-45 3,288,715 11/1966 Owens et al. 252-59 3,373,485 3/1968 Nelsen 29-458 XR 3,393,025 7/1968 Jenkins 308-132 3,420,335 1/1969 Dochterman 308-132 XR FRED C. MATTERN, JR., Primary Examiner M. A. ANTONAKAS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.