GB332288A - Improvements in or relating to centrifugal machines - Google Patents

Abstract

332,288. Rushton, J. L. April 18, 1929. Driving, suspending, balancing.-In a drive for a centrifugal spinning pot, the spindle, or the hollow shaft within which the spindle is mounted, is supported against end thrust by a liquid abutment which forms part of the continuous lubrication system. The spindle 10 which supports the pot is reduced in diameter at its central part 15 to render it flexible, and is enclosed bv the hollow shaft 11, a tight fit being obtained at the lower end 12 of the shaft. The two parts are secured together by a pin 14, and sufficient clearance exists between the central parts of the spindle and the shaft to permit lateral movement of the spindle and circulation of the lubricant. The shaft 11 carries the rotor 17 of the driving motor and is supported in ball and roller bearings 19, 21, the former 19 of which is supported in a cylindrical footstep 20. The lower end of the spindle 10 is provided with a helical groove 27 and fits with a small clearance inside a bore 24 in the footstep 20. The lubricant, which is first supplied through the passage 46 passes into a trough 32 in the casing 18, from which it overflows and passes through the bearing 19 into the cavity 23 in the footstep 20. Its passage into the chamber 26 in the bore 24 is assisted by the rotation of the groove 27, and in the chamber it forms an abutment for the shaft and spindle. From the chamber 26 the lubricant passes inside the spindle 10, through the passages 29 to the inside of the shaft 11. When it overflows from the shaft, it passes through the roller bearing 21 and is caught by a sloping shield 36 and led to the passages 44 from which it passes to the trough 32 again. The cap 31 of the casing has a baffle 30 which stops any lubricant thrown out from the top of the shaft 11 by centrifugal force. After the screws 50, 64 and the nut 62 have been released, the cap 31 can be removed and the parts 10, 11, 17, 20, 22 with the bearings 19, 21 can be removed as a unit. Three bosses 53 on the casing rest on rubber bushes 54 held by studs 55 screwed into the bosses and acting as dowel pins resting in holes 59 in bosses 60 on the base plate. The complete apparatus can be raised until the dowel pins are clear of the base plate, turned through a small angle and then lowered through the aperture in the base plate. Recesses 61 are provided in the base plate to permit the passage of the bosses 53 and the bushes 54. Specification 297,011, [Class 12 (i), Bearings &c.], is referred to.