Grease‐lubricated spiral groove bearing for a straight‐through shaft

THE SPIRAL GROOVE BEARING is a new and very promising form of “self‐acting bearing”, i.e. one in which the running surfaces are completely separated from each other by a thin layer of lubricant and in which the rotation itself forces the lubricant between the running surfaces. This latter action is achieved in the present case by the pumping action of the spiral grooves. Oil may be used as a lubricant, but grease is also suitable, especially for small bearings (shaft diameters of a few millimetres). The great advantage of grease is that it does not leak away from the bearing so readily when the shaft is stationary.