Year: 1886

page_text: I, ROBERT MATTHEWS of Green Bank, Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of governors for steam
engines and other motor engines, whereby a practically constant speed is maintained
irrespective of variations either in the load on the engine or in the pressure of the
steam or other working fluid.
For this purpose I pivot to the moveable sleeve of a governor of ordinary
construction the end of an arm on a spindle carried in fixed bearings and having
fixed on it a long lever that carries a screwed spindle parallel with the lever and
rotatable in bearings thereon. This screw spindle carries, firstly, a sleeve screwed
upon it which is hinge-jointed to the rod that works the throttle valve or cut-off
gear; and secondly it has a worm wheel on its upper end by which it is geared to
the following mechanism. Between two flanges on the governor-sleeve is situated
a friction roller which, when the sleeve is moved downwards, is rotated in one
direction by coming in contact with the upper flange while when the sleeve moves
upwards it is rotated in the contrary direction by coming in contact with the
lower flange. The axis of the friction roller is carried by an arm pivotted loose on
the spindle of the beforementioned lever that works the throttle valve, which arm
also carries a spindle, having on its one end a worm wheel in gear with a worm on
the axis of the friction roller, and at the other end a worm in gear with the worm
wheel on the beforementioned screw spindle. Thus the rotation in one direction
or the other of the friction roller is imparted through the worm and worm wheel
gear to the screw spindle, the rotation of which causes the screwed sleeve thereon
to travel upon it in one direction or the other so that when, in consequence of a
decrease of the load on the engine or an increase of steam pressure, the speed of
the governor is slightly increased, it not only directly causes the valve lever to
move so as to more or less close the throttle valve, but at the same time the rotation
of the screwed spindle causes the sleeve thereon, to which the valve rod is con-
nected, to shift in such a direction as to considerably increase the movement of
the valve, thus effecting a very rapid regulation of the steam supply with only a
very slight movement of the governor sleeve. The reverse action will take place
when the load on the engine increases. When the engine is running at the normal

page_text: speed, the relative positions of the flanges on the governor sleeve and the friction
roller are such that the latter is not in contact with either of them, and con-
sequently no rotary motion is imparted to the screw spindle. The friction roller is
held in this normal position by supporting the arm carrying it by means of one or
more springs, and also if necessary by balancing it by a weight.
The arrangement of the lever and screw spindle relatively to the governor and
to the supply valve is such that when the governor sleeve is brought to the highest
position owing to an increase of speed of the engine, the supply valve is always
brought to the closed position thereby.
The thread of the screw spindle does not extend to the end thereof, so that if its
sleeve is screwed beyond a certain point, it will run quite off the screw thread, and
then remain stationary, until by the reversed motion of the screwed spindle it is
screwed back again, this action being assisted if necessary by means of a spring
pressing the sleeve against the screw thread.
The screw spindle may be arranged to receive its motion from the roller when
placed in any relative position to the lever, by means of a system of spur and
bevil wheels or by friction gear instead of by the worm and worm wheel gear
described.

page_text: I, ROBERT MATTHEWS, of Green Bank, Hyde in the County of Chester, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to an improved construction of governors for steam engines
whereby a practically constant speed is maintained, notwithstanding considerable
variation either in the load on the engine or in the pressure of the steam.
The invention consists mainly in actuating by means of the sliding sleeve of an
ordinary centrifugal governor a lever carrying a screw spindle on which is a screw
nut that is connected either to the throttle valve or to the trip gear or other
expansion gear of the engine, which screw spindle by means of suitable gear
receives rotary motion in one direction or the other from the rotation of the
governor sleeve, whenever the speed of the engine falls below or rises above the
normal, so that at the same time that the said lever is directly moved by
the vertical motion of the governor sleeve so as to actuate the throttle valve or
expansion gear, the nut on the screw spindle is shifted relatively to the lever so as
to considerably increase its action.
The above described mechanism may be variously arranged for carrying out the
object of my invention, I will proceed to describe several arrangements with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 shews a front elevation of one arrangement, Fig. 2 shews a side view and
Fig. 3 a sectional plan. On the spindle A carried by the bracket B of the governor
pedestal is fixed firstly the forked lever C that is pivotted to the governor sleeve,
and secondly the lever D carrying the screwed spindle E, capable of revolving in
bearings thereon. The screwed spindle has upon it a screwed nut F to which is
pivotted the rod G that actuates the throttle valve or trip gear or other expansion
gear, and on its upper end is fixed a worm wheel H gearing with a worm I on a
spindle J carried by a lever K. This lever is mounted loose on the spindle A and
carries at one end a roller L situated between the flanges M on the governor sleeve,
there being a small amount of play between the roller and flanges. The axis of
the roller L has a worm N gearing with a worm wheel O on the other end of the
spindle J. The lever K has a counterweight P at its other end to balance the
weight of the roller L, and it is held in the middle position shewn by means of a
spring attached to the bracket B and bearing on its underside.
Assuming the position of the governor sleeve shewn on the drawing to be that
corresponding to the normal speed of the engine, it will be seen that when in that
position its flanges are not in contact with the roller L and consequently, the latter
not being rotated thereby, no motion is imparted to the screw spindle E. When,
however, the speed of the engine drops, the governor sleeve, in dropping, will
bring its upper flange into frictional contact with the disc, and will cause this to
revolve, so that at the same time that the lever D is moved towards or into the

page_text: position D1 by the lever C, thereby actuating the throttle valve or expansion gear
so as to admit more steam, the screw spindle is also rotated so as to cause the
nut F to travel towards its lower end, and by thus effecting a greater backward
motion of the nut F and rod G than would be the case if the rod were pivotted to
a fixed point on the lever, a corresponding increased action of the governor on the
throttle valve or expansion gear will be effected.
2
On the speed of the engine increasing again, the motion imparted to the screw
spindle will still continue in the same direction, although the lever D will be
moved back towards its middle position by the rise of the governor sleeve, and
consequently the downward motion of the nut F will continue until the governor
sleeve has again arrived at its normal position shewn, whereupon the contact of
the flange M with the roller L will cease, and the nut F will then remain in the
position into which it has been moved until it is again shifted by a change of
speed of the engine. When the speed of the engine rises above the normal, the
governor sleeve, in rising above the middle position will effect the rotation of the
spindle E in the direction last described so that at the same time that the lever D
is moved towards the position D² the nut F will be screwed upward, and con-
sequently will also to a small extent increase the forward motion of rod G and
therefore also its action on the valve gear.
When the speed of the engine has risen to such an extent as to bring the lever
into the position D in which it stands at right angles to the rod G it will be seen
that the upward movement of the nut will have no material effect in varying the
position of the valve gear. The screw thread is stopped short at some distance
from each end of the spindle E so that the continued rotation thereof, when the
nut has reached its extreme position in either direction, will only cause the nut to
run off the screw, and thus prevent any damage to the mechanism. On the
spindle being rotated in the contrary direction owing to a change of speed, the nut
will re-enter the screw thread of the spindle, being aided in this, when in the
bottom position, by a spring R pressing it upward.
The rod G is generally of such a length between the governor and the valve
gear that the angling thereof in the extreme positions of the nut will practically
not affect the above described action, but in cases where the rod would have to be
of comparatively short length, any effects of its angular position may be avoided
by forming the lever D' with a curved slot in which the nut F would slide, and by
leaving the lower end of the screw spindle free, with its upper end carried in a
pivotted or ball and socket bearing. Thus the curvature of the slot would cause
the nut when being screwed up or down to have its position varied so as to
compensate for the angular position of the rod G. Fig. 10 shews such an arrange-
ment, the curvature of the slot D¹ in which the nut F works being made as an arc
having a radius equal to the length of the connecting rod G. The position of the
friction roller L upon its axis may be made adjustable by means of a screw or
other device so that by shifting it nearer to or farther from the axis of the governor
spindle the relation between the speed of rotation of the governor and that of the
screw, spindle may be varied.
Figs. 4 and 5 shew an elevation and plan of a modification in which the lever D
and screw spindle E are arranged horizontally, the rod G for actuating the valve
gear being directed upward. The rotary motion is imparted to the screw spindle E
from the roller L through spindle J worm I worm wheel H on spindle A and worm
and worm wheel H' and 11, the lever C being mounted with its boss loose on the
spindle A, and being connected rigidly with lever D.
.
The several parts are otherwise of the same construction as above described and
are indicated by the same letters of reference. In the modification shewn at
Figs. 6 and 7, the lever K carrying the friction roller L is cranked so as to bring
the axis of the rollers into a position with its worm N in gear with a worm
wheel O on the spindle A which in this case is rotatable in its bearings on the
bracket B and carries a bevil pinion S, gearing with a bevil wheel T on the screw
spindle E. The lever connected to the governor sleeve in this case works loose

page_text: on the spindle A and has its one limb fixed to or formed in one with the boss of
the lever D which also works loose on A.
Figs. 8 and 9 shew a modification of this arrangement in which the friction
roller L is carried by a bracket K in place of a lever, the bracket having a stem K¹
sliding in a socket B¹ in the bracket B in which is a spring Q holding the roller in
the middle position. The axis of the roller imparts motion by bevil gearing U V
to an axis W also carried by the bracket K, and which imparts motion by bevil
gearing X Y to the spindle A, baving a worm Z in gear with the worm wheel H
on the screw spindle E. Fig. 11 shews the first described arrangement of the
apparatus as applied to the trip gear of known construction for expansion valves,
and Fig. 12 shews the arrangement at Fig. 6 as applied to a throttle valve.
Fig. 13 shews an elevation and Fig. 14 a plan of an arrangement in which the
lever D and screw spindle E are arranged as an intermediate gear separate from
the governor, which in this case is made to actuate the lever D through the levers
and rods e el e²es while the screw spindle is actuated by a separate sleeve with
flanges M M on the lower end of the governor spindle, the friction roller L being
carried by a lever K with balance weight P as before, but the motion of the roller
is imparted to the screw spindle through a pulley a on the axis of the roller L and
endless cord b passing over a pulley c, the axis of which drives the screw spindle
by bevil gear d.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it to be
understood that I do not claim generally the use, for governing the motions of
slides or valves, of a friction roller rotated in one direction or the other by means
of flanges on the governor sleeve, according as this rises or falls, as I am aware that
this has been proposed before, but what I claim is :-
1. The use in combination with the sliding sleeve of a governor, of a lever
carrying a screw spindle which is rotated in one direction or the other by a friction
roller situated between two flanges on the governor sleeve, so that a screw nut
upon the said spindle connected to the valve gear of the steam engine, in being
moved up or down upon the screw spindle at the same time that the lever is
moved by the governor, effects an increased action upon the valve gear, substantially
as berein described.
2. The combination with the governor sleeve provided with flanges M M, of the
friction roller L carried by lever or bracket K, the lever D moved by the governor
sleeve and carrying the screwed spindle E, which receives rotary motion in one
direction or the other from the friction roller L, and which carries a nut F connected
to the valve gear, substantially as and for the purposes herein described with
reference to Figs. 1 to 12 of the drawings.
3. Arranging the lever D and screw spindle E as an intermediate gear between
the governor and the valve gear, substantially as herein described with reference to
Figs. 13 and 14 of the drawings.