Who invented the Zerk fitting?
The patent for the Zerk fitting was granted to Oscar U. Zerk in January 1929, and the assignee was the Alemite Manufacturing Corporation.
What are grease fittings made of?
Grease fittings are commonly made from zinc - plated steel, stainless steel, or brass . Alemite Lubricator Company advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post, 1921. At the time of this advertisement, the fittings were of the flat-top type, but Zerk fittings would soon appear.
Why are grease gun fittings convex in shape?
The common convex shape of the fitting allows the simple concave tip of the grease gun to seal against the fitting easily from many angles, yet with a sufficiently tight seal to force the pressured grease to move the ball and enter the fitting, rather than simply oozing past this temporary annular (ring-shaped) seal.
What happened to Zerk in WW1?
The start of the Great War found Zerk visiting his home in Austria and he was compelled to join the fighting, mustering out in 1918 as a decorated army captain. He married a local girl and the pair returned to the United States, where he became involved in the Allyne-Zerk Company.
What is grease fitting?
A grease fitting, grease nipple, Zerk fitting, grease zerk, or Alemite fitting is a metal fitting used in mechanical systems to feed lubricants, usually lubricating grease, into a bearing under moderate to high pressure using a grease gun .
What is the purpose of a grease hole?
The oil hole or grease hole was usually covered with a cap of some kind to keep dirt out, from a simple plug or screw to a spring-loaded hinged cap. Sometimes a cup was mounted, acting as a small reservoir, which could be turned at regular intervals to inject grease into the fitting.
How do grease fittings work?
Grease fittings are permanently installed by either a (taper) thread or straight push-fit ('hammer in') arrangement, leaving a nipple connection that a grease gun attaches to. The pressure supplied by the grease gun forces a small captive bearing ball in the fitting to move back against the force of its retaining spring.
Why is grease fitting important?
The grease fitting improved this penetration , yielding more effective lubrication.
What year was Alemite Lubricator Company advertised?
Alemite Lubricator Company advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post, 1921. At the time of this advertisement, the fittings were of the flat-top type, but Zerk fittings would soon appear.
What angle is grease gun hose?
The grease gun hose is usually at a sharp angle (e.g. 70-90°) to the axis of the nipple but can be approached from any azimuthal angle. It is not possible for grease pressure to force this type of connector away from the nipple. Grease fittings are commonly made from zinc - plated steel, stainless steel, or brass .
What is the convex shape of a grease gun?
The common convex shape of the fitting allows the simple concave tip of the grease gun to seal against the fitting easily from many angles, yet with a sufficiently tight seal to force the pressured grease to move the ball and enter the fitting, rather than simply oozing past this temporary annular (ring-shaped) seal.
What was Oskar Zerkowitz's invention?
He was also known as "Oscar V. Zerk". He became a world-famous inventor and one of his most prominent creations was a grease fitting known as "the zerk". This was a lubrication system which became the basis for those used on nearly every car, truck, plane, and other mechanized vehicle. At the time of his death in 1968, it was estimated that 20 billion of these fittings had been manufactured.
Why did Oscar Zerk go to Washington?
He also went to Washington during the war years in response to a request by the United States government to redesign his earlier gyroscopic movie tripod for use in aerial combat motion picture photography. Oscar Zerk was brilliant and eccentric. He loved art and music, science and natural history.
How tall is Oskar Zerkowitz?
He is listed as "Oskar Zerkowitz", born in Vienna, "motor car engineer", single, and 5'8" in height. On a later voyage, while mid-ocean as a passenger on the "Lusitania", he got the idea for a new, and vastly improved, system of auto lubrication. [Ellis Island records show that "Oscar Zerk" arrived on the "Lusitania" on 31 October 1913.]
