IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM-ENGINES.
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Durham, of Station Road, New Barnet,
in the County of Herts, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS
FOR STEAM-ENGINES.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William Durham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th July 1881.
FREDERICK WILLIAM DURHAM, of Station Road, New Barnet, in the County of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES."
Herts.
In the Specification to Letters Patent granted to J. E. C. Koch and myself, the
said F. W. Durham, No. 788, of 1877, was described a steam engine governor of
the following description-A shaft worked from the engine drives through a
differential coupling a paddle wheel revolving in a liquid, and, according as the
resistance to the paddle is varied by variations of speed the differential coupling
is moved, and this movement is imparted, to the slide of a subsidiary cylinder, so
as to admit steam or fluid under pressure to act on the one side.or the other of a
piston which is connected to the regulating valve of the main engine. The
regulating valve is thus more or less closed when the speed of the main engine
increases and is more or less opened when the speed diminishes. In a later
Specification to Letters Patent granted to me, No. 911 of 1880, was described
a modified construction of governor of the kind above mentioned, the principal
inodification being that the paddle is held stationary within a vessel containing
liquid which is caused to revolve by power transmitted through a differential
coupling of novel form. Governors of the kinds stated are of advantage when
applied to marine engines, particularly in stormy weather, as they have the effect
of rapidly and completely varying the steam supply to meet sudden changes of
resistance to the engines resulting from wave action on the vessel. When applied
to land engines or to marine engines in calin weather such governors are apt to
make unnecessarily great variations in the steam supply unless they are provided
with differential gear such as is referred to in the said Specification, No. 788 of
1877, this differential gear having the effect of limiting the movement of the
subsidiary piston and of retaining it in such a position in its cylinder as is suited
rD...li

page_text: to the resistance encountered by the main engine. My present Invention relates
to means of adapting governors of the kind described so that they can at will
have either the full and rapid action required in a steamer in stormy weather or
an action moderated by differential gear in calm weather, or when they are applied
to stationary engines.
For this purpose, instead of connecting the slide rod of the subsidiary cylinder
directly to the lever moved by the differential coupling, I connect it to an
adjustable link, the one end of which is connected to the coupling lever, and the
other end of which is connected to a lever which is linked to and moves with the
subsidiary piston. The link or the connection of the slide thereto can be shifted
and secured by a set screw or nut in either of two extreme positions, or in any
intermediate position. When it is in one extreme position the slide receives a
large amount of motion from the coupling lever, and little or no motion from the
lever that is linked to the subsidiary piston. In this condition the governor is
suited for marine engines in stormy weather, the movement of the subsidiary slide
being that due to the action of the governor alone. When the link or its connection
to the slide is shifted to its other extreme position, the slide receives a certain
amount of motion from the governor, and the subsidiary piston is thus caused to
move; but the piston by thus moving gives to the slide a backward movement,
which undoes that which the governor had done, so restoring the slide to its
middle position, whereupon the subsidiary piston comes to rest. In this condition
the governor is suited for delicately regulating the main engine when the variations
of resistance to its working are moderate in amount, such as occur with stationary
engines or with marine engines in calm weather. By the arrangement above
described the marine engineer has it in his power at once to change the action of
the governor from its one condition to its other condition, employing it either for
the more delicate regulation suited for calm; or for the more full and rapid
regulation required in storm.
Although I have described my Invention as applied to governors of the kind set
forth in the Specifications above referred to, it is obvious that the arrangement
which I have described for alternative action can be applied to governors generally
in which a change of speed of the main engine causes movement of the slide of a
subsidiary cylinder, the piston whereof is connected to the regulating valve of the
main engine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frederick William Durham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th January 1882.
FREDERICK WILLIAM DURHAM, of Station Road, New Barnet, in the County of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES."
Herts.
In the Specification to Letters Patent, granted to J. E. C. Koch and myself, the
said F. W. Durham, No. 788 of 1877, was described a steam engine governor of
the following description: -A shaft worked from the engine drives through a
differential coupling a paddle wheel revolving in a liquid, and according as the
resistance to the paddle is varied by variations.of speed the differential coupling is
moved, and this movement is imparted to the slide of a subsidiary cylinder, so as
to admit steam or fluid under pressure to act on the one side or the other of a
piston which is connected to the regulating valve of the main engine. The
regulating valve is thus. more or less closed when the speed of the main engine
increases, and is more or less opened when the speed diminishes. In a later
Specification to Letters Patent granted to me, No. 911 of 1880, was described a
modified construction of governor of the kind above mentioned, the principal modi-
fication being that the paddle is held stationary within a vessel containing liquid
which is caused to revolve by power transmitted through a differential coupling of
novel form. Governors of the kind stated are of advantage when applied to marine
engines, particularly in stormy weather, as they have the effect of rapidly and
completely varying the steam supply to meet sudden changes of resistance to the
engines resulting from wave action on the vessel. When applied to land engines
or to marine engines in calm weather such governors are apt to make unnecessarily
great variations in the steam supply unless they are provided with differential
gear such as is referred to in the said Specification, No. 788 of 1877, this differential
gear having the effect of limiting the movement of the subsidiary piston, and of
retaining it in such a position in its cylinder as is suited to the resistance
encountered by the main engine. My present Invention relates. to means of
adapting governors of the kind described, so that they can at will have either the
full and rapid action required in a steamer in stormy weather, or an action
moderated by differential gear in calm weather, or when they are applied to stationary.
engines.
ย
For this purpose, instead of connecting the slide rod of the subsidiary cylinder
directly to the lever moved by the differential coupling, I connect it to an adjustable
link, the one end of which is connected to the coupling lever, and the other end of
which is connected to a lever which is linked to and moves with the subsidiary
piston. The link or the connection of the slide thereto can be shifted and secured
by a set screw or nut in either of two extreme positions, or in any intermediate
position. When it is in one extreme position the slide receives a large amount of
motion from the coupling lever, and little or no motion from the lever that is
Jinked to the subsidiary piston. In this condition the governor is suited for marine.
engines in stormy weather, the movement of the subsidiary slide being that due to
the action of the governor alone. When the link or its connection to the slide is
shifted to its other extreme position, the slide receives a certain amount of motion
from the governor, and the subsidiary piston is thus caused to move; but the
piston by thus moving gives to the slide a backward movement, which undoes that
which the governor had done, so restoring the slide to its middle position, where-
upon the subsidiary piston comes to rest. In this condition the governor is suited.
for delicately regulating the main engine when the variations of resistance to its

page_text: working are moderate in amount, such as occur with stationary engines or with
marine engines in calm weather. By the arrangement above described the marine
engineer has it in his power at once to change the action of the governor from its
one condition to its other condition, employing it either for the more delicate
regulation suited for calm, or for the more full and rapid regulation required in
storm.
Although I have described my Invention as applied to governors of the kind set
forth in the Specifications above referred to, it is obvious that the arrangement
which I have described for alternative action can be applied to governors generally
in which a change of speed of the main engine causes movement of the slide of a
subsidiary cylinder, the piston whereof is connected to the regulating valve of the
main engine.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an elevation of a governor of the kind
above referred to, with means, according to the present Invention, applied to it,
whereby it can be adapted for use at sea in stormy weather, or can be adapted for
use in calm weather, or on land, by bringing into play differential gear to moderate
the action of the governor. Fig. 2 is a plan to an enlarged scale of the hand lever
and gear by which the governor can be made to act in either of the ways mentioned
above. Referring to Fig. 1, A is the pulley driven from the main engine, and B is
the vessel containing liquid which is made to revolve round a stationary paddle
within it by power transmitted from A to B through the differential coupling C,
which coupling acts in opposition to the adjustable spring D so as to move the
lever E according as the speed of the engine varies, and consequently the resistance
of the vessel B to rotation varies also. The lever E works the slide of the subsidiary
cylinder F, the piston rod G of which is connected to the throttle or regulating
valve of the main engine. So far the construction and action of the governor are
the same as were described in the Specifications above referred to. Instead
however of jointing the lever E to the slide rod H as in the governors previously
employed, in such a manner that the slide must completely and under all cir-
cumstances follow the movements of the lever, I according to my present Invention
joint the lever E to a crosshead I on the slide rod, on which crosshead is jointed
the hand lever J. One arm of this, lever has a stud K which can be made to enter
a slot in the lever E, in which position it is shewn in Fig. 2; in this case the
governor acts precisely as formerly, that is to say, the slide rod follows implicitly
the movement of the lever E, so that sudden changes of speed of the engine
by giving motion to the coupling C cause the slide of the cylinder F to be imme-
diately shifted, and thereupon-the-piston-of-this-cylinder-moves-the-regulating
valve of the main engine so as to retard or accelerate it, as the case may be. The
other arm of the lever J has an adjustable stud L projecting from it, so that by
turning the lever J partly round on its fulcrum this stud can be made to enter a
slot M formed in the arm of a bent lever N which is connected by a link O to the
piston rod G; in this case the slide rod F has a differential motion due partly to
the movement of the lever E effected by that of the coupling C, and partly to the
movement of the lever N resulting from that of the piston rod G. Thus, for example,
if the main engine begins to move too quickly, the coupling C moving towards the
left causes the slide rod H to ascend, and thereupon the piston rod G moves
outwards towards the right; but this movement of the piston rod by causing the
slot M to descend causes the slide rod H also to descend, and thus when the piston
rod G has moved a certain distance outwards, the slide, of which H is the rod, is
brought back to its middle position, the piston rod G being thus stopped in its
movement, and the regulating valve of the main engine to which G is connected
being thus kept in a position suited to the work performed by the engine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,―
In combination with a governor and subsidiary cylinder and its slide, of the
kind herein before referred to, the differential lever N linked to the piston rod of
the subsidiary cylinder, and the hand lever J with its studs K and L mounted on

page_text: the slide rod, whereby the slide of the subsidiary cylinder can be subjected to
differential action when desired, substantially as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick William Durham, have hercunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
FRED
W. DURHAM. (L.S.)