Lubricating system for an antifriction bearing

Abstract

A lubricating system for an antifriction bearing comprises a supporting member fixed to the outer race ring of the bearing and provided with a plurality of passageways, a filling of porous material soaked with a liquid lubricant mounted in said passageways and in spaces located laterally of the antifriction bearing and surrounding the shaft journalled by the antifriction bearing in the supporting element, a disc fixed to the shaft in one of such spaces for hurling lubricant seeping through the bearing onto the filling to be absorbed thereby and means for mounting a wick in the other one of said spaces in frictional contact with the shaft and in contact with the porous material, said wick transferring lubricant from the porous material to a peripheral surface of the shaft wherefrom the lubricant passes through the antifriction bearing and into contact with said disc. As a result, the lubricant is circulated through the antifriction bearing without escaping therefrom. The peripheral surface of the shaft contacted by the wick is preferably provided with a helical groove feeding the lubricant towards the inner race of the antifriction bearing. Preferably one of the passageways extending through the supporting member is kept free of the porous material and serves as an air conduit conducting air impelled by the rotating disc from the space containing the disc to the space containing the wick and from there through the bearing. This circulation of air through the bearing promotes a circulation of the lubricant.