Albert Kingsbury - Success of The Kingsbury Bearing

Success of The Kingsbury Bearing

Kingsbury would eventually run his own business with the Westinghouse Machine Co. building his bearings. This allowed him to actively pursue applications for his newly patented thrust bearing. His first chance came when the Pennsylvania Water and Power Co. gave him the opportunity to demonstrate his bearing on their power generator at the Susquehanna River.

His first bearing was a failure as it was immediately destroyed by Babbitt wiping. Fortunately for Kingsbury, the Pennsylvania Water and Power Co. gave him a second chance. His bearing succeeded this time, and worked flawlessly for the next 25 years. When it was inspected after 25 years, there was so little evidence of wear that it was calculated that the bearing would last 1,300 to 1,700 years. The same bearing is still operating smoothly today. By World War I, the Kingsbury thrust bearing was used extensively in the navy especially to transmit thrust from propeller shafts to ships' hulls (i.e., the propeller pushes water in one direction, and the Kingsbury thrust bearing, attached to the shaft and mounted to the ship, pushes the ship in the opposite direction). In 1921, the Kingsbury thrust bearing had become so popular that Westinghouse could no longer keep up with the demand, thus prompting Kingsbury to set up his own manufacturing plant.