Oldham Fittings | Mechanism of John Oldham (1779-1840)
John Ordham was born in Dublin, Ireland. The beginning of manufacturing is engraving. Later, he turned into a fine painter, and while he was a painter, he had a passion for machine invention and invented a numbering machine. This point is interesting because it is reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci.
The Bank of Ireland bought the machine, and Oldham was hired as chief engineer at the time, but it seems that he was also hired by the Bank of England at one point. In addition to this, there was a time when he was absorbed in the development of ship propulsion and engine, and obtained a series of patents. The first is "paddle wheels". The next patent was in 1820, this "Oldham fitting".
The first patent is said to have come from the need to connect the steam engine to the paddle wheel. An improved version of this paddle wheel is said to have been adopted by the first iron-plated steamship, the Aaron Manby.
Oldham had a versatile side, such as posting articles on building heating in specialized magazines.
His eldest son, Thomas, also contributed to the improvement of the printing press.
Now, this Oldham joint is a mechanism used to transmit power between axes that are located in parallel and are slightly offset. It is formed from three points, the drive shaft, the driven shaft, and the intermediate parts, and by sliding the groove of each part, it is possible to transmit even large torque even at constant speed rotation.
