CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN 'GOVERNORS' OR REGULATORS FOR STEAM OR OTHER MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Smith and John
William Jackson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th December 1866.
We, SAMUEL SMITH and JOHN WILLIAM JACKSON, both of Keighley, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN 'GOVERNORS' OR REGULATORS FOR STEAM OR OTHER
MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates more particularly to further improvements upon
Letters Patent previously granted to us dated the Seventh day of April,
A.D. 1865, No. 991, for certain improvements in governors or regulators
for steam or other motive-power engines, and our present improvements
are designed for the purpose of preventing the too sudden rise or fall of
the balls upon the parabolic arms of the governor when any variation
of the speed of the engine takes place; for example, in the previous arrange-
ment when any reduction of power for driving became necessary the
[Price 8d.]

page_text: "governor" balls ascended the parabolic curve so quickly as nearly to close
the throttle valve, at which time the power of the engine became too much
reduced, the balls gradually assuming their proper position.
Our improvements consist in an arrangement of apparatus which will
allow the balls to rise and fall so long as their action is uniform and regular,
but should any acceleration of speed suddenly take place such balls will be
retarded and prevented from ascending the curve too quickly; the retarding
of the balls is effected in the following manner:-The long rod or lever con-
necting the sleeve of the governor with the throttle valve is provided with a
rod and piston, the said piston fitting loosely and being immersed in a
cylinder filled with oil or other liquid that will not readily evaporate, so that
any sudden descent of the piston and rod at the time the balls are ascending
the curve will be checked by the resistance of the fluid under the piston, but
when no sudden action takes place, and the balls have a regular and easy
motion, the fluid not being suddenly acted upon will pass between the inner
surface of the cylinder and the piston; or ducts may be provided that will allow
of the passage of the fluid between the spaces above and below the piston.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Smith and John William Jackson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
SMITH and JOHN WILLIAM JACKSON, both of Keighley, in the County of
York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Samuel Smith and John William Jackson, Her special license that we, the said
Samuel Smith and John William Jackson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Smith and John William Jackson,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
GOVERNORS OR REGULATORS FOR STEAM OR OTHER MOTIVE-POWER ENGINES," upon

page_text: the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Smith and John
William Jackson our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Samuel Smith and John William
Jackson, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner .the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings
(that is to say):-
Our Invention relates more particularly to further improvements upon
certain Letters Patent previously granted to us, dated April 7th, A.D. 1865,
No. 991, for "Certain Improvements in Governors or Regulators for Steam
or other Motive-power Engines," and our present improvements are designed
for the purpose of preventing the too sudden rise or fall of the balls upon the
parabolic arms of the governor when any variation of the speed of the engine
takes place; for example, in the previous arrangement when any reduction
of power for driving becomes necessary the governor balls" ascend the
parabolic curve so quickly as nearly to close the throttle valve, at which time
the power of the engine becomes too much reduced until the action of the
balls becomes excessive in the contrary way."
"
Our present improvements consist in an arrangement of apparatus which
will allow the balls to rise and fall so long as their action is uniform and
regular, but should any acceleration of speed suddenly take place such
balls will be retarded and prevented from ascending the curve too quickly;
this retarding of the balls is effected in the following manner:-The long rod
or lever connecting the sleeve of the governor with the throttle valve is pro-
vided with a rod and piston, the said piston fitting loosely and being immersed
in a cylinder filled with oil or other liquid that will not readily evaporate, so
that any sudden descent of the piston and rod at the times the balls are
ascending the curve will be checked by the resistance of the fluid under the
piston, but when no sudden action takes place, and the balls have a regular
and easy motion, the fluid not being suddenly acted upon will pass between
the inner surface of the cylinder and the piston; or ducts may be provided
that will allow of the passage of the fluid between the spaces above and below
the piston.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in

page_text: detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made about the full
size, similar letters of reference being marked thereupon.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of one arrangement of our improved
apparatus shewn about full size, and as applied to a parabolic governor suitable
for an engine of about ten horse-power.
The following arrangement of apparatus for preventing the too sudden rise
and fall of the balls upon the parabole of the governor when any acceleration
or diminution of speed takes place, consists in confining in the cylinder a a
quantity of oil or other liquid that will not readily evaporate, in which the
piston b is immersed, the piston rod c being connected outside the cylinder to
a helical spring d enclosed or contained within the tube'e; the lower end of
the spring d is connected to the bottom cover or base of the tube a little
above the "gland" of the cylinder a; the opposite extremity or top of the
spring d is connected to the top end or termination of the piston rod, the said
rod and spring being contained and free to move within the tube e, the top of
which is surmounted and covered in by the lid or cap g, which is in direct
connection through the medium of the rod h with the rod or lever i which
connects the governor with the steam "throttle valve;" thus when any.
variation of speed in the engine takes place, the sudden rise and fall or
oscillatory motion of the balls upon the parabolic arms of the governor is pre-
vented by reason of the oil in the cylinder a having to exude between the
outer surface of the piston and internal surface of the cylinder, so that at
each motion of the piston the oil passes from one side of the piston to the
other; but in order that such resistance to the balls may not be excessive on
the impulse of their first accelerated motion the compensating helical spring d
collapses so as to offer a slight yielding resistance, which is taken up and con-
tinued by the piston b until an equilibrium is effected; by this arrangement it
will be evident that little or no resistance will be offered to a slow movement
of the piston when actuated by a gradually diminished or increased speed of
the engine, but in all sudden or quick changes of the governor the oscillatory
motion of the balls between the two extremes of the parabolic arms will be
checked or prevented by the united resistance, first of the helical spring, and
then the oil when exuding between the surfaces of the piston b and cylinder a
as it is displaced and passed from one side of the piston to the other. Instead
of the oil passing between the piston and cylinder a perforation in the piston
may be formed for its passage, or a tube from the upper to the lower ends of
the cylinder, and the passage of liquid may be regulated by a tap in the tube.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it to be distinctly

page_text: understood that we claim the combination and arrangement of apparatus con-
sisting of a cylinder, piston, piston rod, and spring applied to governors in
which the balls move in a parabolic curve for the purpose of regulating the
motion of such balls and preventing the too rapid action thereof, or mechanical
equivalents of such apparatus, as herein-before described, set forth, and
illustrated in the Drawings attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Smith and John William
Jackson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-sixth
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-seven.
Vitness,
WM. HUMPHREY.
SAMUEL SMITH. (L.S.)
J. W. JACKSON.
(L.S.)