US794154A - Conical bearing -box. - Google Patents

Description

No. 794.154. i PATBNTED JULY 11, 1905.` J. D. ALsUP.

GONIGAL BEARING BOX.

APPLIOATION FILED un 2o. 1901.

W Mw l? MQW@ illnirnn 'raras Patented July 11, 1905.

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JEFFERSON D. ALSUI, OF MIDDLETOWN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING AXLE COMPANY, `A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CONICAL BEARING-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of' Letters Patent No. 794,154, dated July 11, 1905.

Application filed May 20, 1901. Serial No. 61,053.

To all whom, t may cm2/cern:

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON D. ALsUr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Middletown, county of Butler, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conical Bearing- Boxes and Similar Articles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to conical bearingboXes and similar articles, and particularly to bearing-boxes adapted for use in rollerbearings for vehicles of the kind described in Letters Patent issued June 2S, 1898, to Timken and HeinzelmainNos. 606,635 and 606,636. Bearing-boxes of this type Vary in thickness and are too heavy to shape by the more economical processes commonly used in making lighter articles or articles of uniform thickness. So, too, when made in a single piece the bearing-surface is liable to be warped or distorted by the process of case-hardening.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide bearing-boxes capable of beingmade and case-hardened by a simple and economical process.

My invention consists principally in making the bearing-box of two shells of uniform thickness shaped to conform, respectively, to the inner and outer surfaces of the desired boX and filling the space between them when properly assembled with an alloy adapted to braze them together into a solid mass.

It also consists in finishing and case-hardening the bearing-surface, all as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and wherein like symbols refer to like parts wherever they occur, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of two shells shaped and assembled according to my invention to constitute a bearing-box. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the boX finished. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views showing a modified form of parts.

In the construction shown in Figs. l and 2 the principal member is a conical shell 1 whose inner surface constitutes the bearingsurface of the box of the roller-bearing. This conical shell l is formed at the end of a cylindrical sleeve or thimble 2, designed to eX- tend through the hub of the wheel. The conical shell is connected to the sleeve by an offset or reducing-shoulder 3, and the outer end of the conical shell is continued as a cylindrical shell. The thickness of the conical shell is substantially uniform at all points. A cylindrical shell Il, of even diameter with the cylindrical extension of the conical shell, has its outer end flared to conform tothe outer surface of the conical shell I. The inner end of this cylindrical shell 4 is flanged on the inner side, leaving a central opening to allow it to slide over the cylindrical thimble 2, the arrange ment being such that the flaring end bears against the conical shell, while the inner end flange bears against the shoulder or offset of the conical shell. The flange of said cylindrical shell has one or more holes 5 formed therethrough. The cylindrical shell being mounted on the conical shell as labove described,tlie parts are dipped into a bath of brass or bronze. The molten alloy thereupon passes through the holes in the flange and completely fills the space between the two shells. The device is then removed from the bath and the alloy allowed to cool and harden, whereby the two shells are braYIed together. The inner surface of the conical shell is then finished as a bearing-surface, and the projecting edges of the outer shell and other parts are removed to finish the bearing. The bearing then appears as shown in Fig. 2. The inner bearingsurface is then case-hardened in the ordinary manner. By reason of the thickness of the inner shell being uniform throughout its surface and the combining of a plurality of metals or thicknesses, the process of case-hardening causes very little,if any,distortion of such surface, and the same can be used as a bearingsurface with practically no further finishing. When the boX after being dipped into the alloy is withdrawn, its surface is covered with a thin layer of the alloy. This layer is allowed to remain over the reducingshoulder 3, which is liable to be weakened during the process of case-hardening, until after the bear* ing-box is case-hardened and constitutes a protective casing therefor, thereby minimizing the ill effects of the case-hardening process. The principal advantage of this construction is that it admits of a bearing being made by any of the usual economical processes of metal shaping, such as drawing, notwithstanding the fact that its necessary thickness is too great or too uneven to be treated by such process in a single piece and that it admits of case-hardening with negligible distortion.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the axle thimble or shell 2 is formed in the same piece with the outer cylindrical shell it, while the inner end of the bearing-cone l is flared outwardly to iit said cylindrical shell. In other respects the constructions are substantially the same as well as the process of assembling them.

It is obvious that other changes may be made in the structural design of the parts without departing from my invention-as,for instance, making the two shells of even length-and I do not wish to limit myself to the particular design of such parts hereinbefore described.

While my invention is particularly valuable for the manufacture of vehicle bearingboXes, it is obviously applicable to the manufacture of other articles, and I do not wish to restrict myself to vehicle bearing-boxes.

What I claim is- 1. A bearing-box comprising an inner shell of substantially uniform thickness having its interior surface case-hardened and having a frusto-conical section, a concentric outer shell surrounding said frusto-conical section, terminating at least substantially at the larger end thereof, and at least a portion of its interior surface conforming to the exterior of said frusto-conical surface, and an alloy interposed between said shells and securing them together.

2. Abearing-box comprisingaconical shell, and a cylindrical shell, said cylindrical shell being iiared at one end to conform to the surface of the conical shell, and one of said shells having a ange to iuclose the space between said shells, said space being filled with an alloy adapted to braze them together, substan-` tially as described.

3. A bearing-box comprising a conical shell having its smaller end reduced and extended, and a cylindrical shell having an inner iiange at one end and fitting over said conical shell, the space between said shells being filled with an alloy, whereby they are brazed together, substantially as described.

4. An article of uneven thickness comprising a case-hardened shell of substantially uniform thickness and a second shell closely fitting said case-hardened shell and secured thereto by a metal fusing at a lower temperature than the temperature of fusion of said shells, one of said shells conforming to the inner surface of the article and the other of said shells conforming to the outer surface.

5. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantially uniform thickness and an outer concentric shell fitting over said inner shell and secured thereto by metal fusing at a lower temperature than the temperature of fusion of said shells.

6. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantiallyT uniform thickness case-hardened on its inner surface and an outer shell fitting over said inner shell and secured thereto by an alloy.

7. A bearing-box comprising an inner conical shell of substantially uniform thickness, an outer concentric cylindrical shell fitting over said inner shell and a metal filling the space between said shells and brazing them together, said metal having lower temperature of fusion than the temperature of fusion of said shells.

Signed in the city of St. Louis this 17 th day of May, 1901.

JEFFERSON D. ALSUP.

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