Handbook Of Shaft Alignment Episode 3 Part 7 ppt

1990—Malcolm Murray files U.S. patent for vernier-strobe method used to measure

off-line to running machinery movement data.

1991—Dieter Busch files U.S. patent for laser–detector–prism system used to measure

off-line to running machinery movement data. Paul Saunders files U.S. patent for

electronic shaft alignment system utilizing optical encoder.

There you have it. A brief run through the last 6000 years of human existence, illustrating

the engineering triumphs during periods of unparalleled growth in science and technology

interspersed with periods of dismal ignorance. In many cases, it is not clear who actually

‘‘invented’’ certain methods and devices.

The vast majority of U.S. patents for aligning and leveling machinery filed from 1860 to

1946 fell into the following categories:

24

28

10

22

17

27

30

29

31

11

23

15

20

21

25

14

18

13

12

FIGURE 22.17 Callahan’s shaft alignment device, 1953.

17 Driving

shaft 49 3

47

48

51

34 59

56

57

56

18

Driven

shaft

52 52

43 3 46 58

FIGURE 22.18 Bently’s shaft alignment device, 1974.

Piotrowski / Shaft Alignment Handbook, Third Edition DK4322_C022 Final Proof page 750 26.9.2006 8:51pm

750 Shaft Alignment Handbook, Third Edition

. Use of spirit=dumpy levels to set the positions of shafts in line with each other . Centering devices for work pieces on lathes

. Use of a tight wire for alignment of engine cylinder bores

The technology of shaft alignment as we recognize it today, really did not emerge until the

1940s and 1950s followed by a flurry of patent activity that persists to the present day.

Between 1860 and 1950, only 11 U.S. patents were filed relating to measuring off-line shaft

centerline positions, the majority of which exclusively dealt with aligning and leveling line

shafts typically used in the paper industry. Over 60 years had passed since John Logan

patented the dial indicator before Joseph Christian actually filed a patent using this device

for alignment of rotating machinery shafts.

However, this does not necessarily mean that shaft alignment was not performed on

rotating machinery during the early part of the Industrial Revolution. As we have seen

throughout history, several methods and devices had been in existence for long periods of

time before legal patent documents were filed claiming their originality. Regrettably, the true

inventors of these mechanisms and procedures will probably never be known.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbott, D. (1986) Engineers & Inventors, Peter Bedrick Books Inc., New York.

Amelio, G.F. et al. (1970) Experimental verification of the charge-coupled device concept. Bell Syst.

Tech. J., 49, 593–600.

Brotherton, M. (1964) Masers and Lasers, McGraw Hill Book Co., New York.

Boyle, W.S. and Smith, G.E. (1970) Charge-coupled semiconductor devices. Bell Syst. Tech. J., 49,

587–593.

66 Centuries of Measurement, Sheffield Corporation, Dayton, OH, 1987.

Encyclopedia Britannica, various volumes.

Garrison,E.G.AHistoryofEngineeringandTechnology:ArtfulMethods,CRCPressInc.,BocaRaton,FL.

Grun, B. (1991) The Timetables of History, Simon & Schuster Inc., New York.

Hecht, J. (1992) The Laser Guidebook, McGraw Hill, New York.

Mancuso, J. (1986) Couplings and Joints, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York.

Mills, J.F. (1983) Encyclopedia of Antique Scientific Instruments, Facts on File Inc., New York.

29 3

26

19

25

11

3

13a

49 45 34f

44

48 35

3

40

38

42 34e

32

34d 31 B 18 8

15 12a 21

20

27

28

2

23a

23b

23c

23d

24

10

12

2 50

47

46 43

39

34a 34b 37 41

36

34c

33 9 A 17 30

2216

14

FIGURE 22.19 Murray’s shaft alignment device, 1983.

Piotrowski / Shaft Alignment Handbook, Third Edition DK4322_C022 Final Proof page 751 26.9.2006 8:51pm

The History of Machinery Alignment 751

Piotrowski / Shaft Alignment Handbook, Third Edition DK4322_C022 Final Proof page 752 26.9.2006 8:51pm