IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of December, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilége
and authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors; admors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton; my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others;
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES TO BE
WORKED BY STEAM OR OTHER POWER," being a communication from abroad;
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said William Edward Newton, by an Instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same; reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
The object of this Invention, which has been communicated to me from
abroad, is to regulate or limit, in a more effectual manner than is now done,
the variations in the speed of an engine when subject, during working, to
alterations in the load or work to be done. Another object is, to keep the
rate of speed at all times within safe limits, without the necessity of employing
the engineer to open and close a stop valve when more or less of the machinery
to be driven is thrown on and off. And as subsidiary to these purposes, a
further object is to diminish the friction and other resistances to which the old
construction of valve is subjected, and to proportion the area of the valve
openings to the amount of work to be done, and also to proportion the rate of
enlargement or diminution of the valve opening by any small motion of the
valve, at any instant of time, to the total amount of opening required by the
work at the same moment of time. It is also intended to avoid those trouble-
some vibrations or alternate accelerations and retardations of motion in an
engine, even when running under the same load, to which engines with the
ordinary construction of valve are liable. With this view, the Inventor has
endeavoured to make the governing apparatus in such a manner as to combine
steadiness with sensibility, and a limited range with a prompt exertion of its
moving power upon the valve. For want of some means of governing the
speed of engines, beyond what is afforded by the governor valves and machinery
in common use for that purpose, it not unfrequently happens that the engine,
when either released from a part of its load, or charged suddenly with an
additional resistance, will have its velocity of revolution varied from the normal
or required rate from ten to thirty per cent. or more, thereby subjecting the
work to damage, and the machinery to danger of destruction. The improved
valves hereafter described will keep this variation as low as from two to eight
per cent.,. dependant in some measure upon the more or less perfect manner in
which the engine is constructed, but never allowing the speed to vary so far
from the established rate as to damage the engine, or interfere with its useful
working.
The improvements embraced by the present Invention relate,-
First, to the form of the openings through which the steam passes.
Second, the freedom with which the governing valve moves.

page_text: Third, the range of the movements allowed to the governing balls of the
revolving, pendulum or governor.
Fourth, the means of regulating the total range which the valve can take
over the opening between the extreme positions allowed to the governing balls,
according as the whole, or a part only, of the power of the engine is to be
brought into use, or as a higher or lower pressure of steam is to be carried in
the boiler.
Fifth, the employment of a spring set screw, by which a greater amount of
steam is admitted when the tension becomes less or as the valve opens, thereby
preventing a too great draught of the balls or reduction of speed.
The valve openings are formed in such a manner that, while the spaces
left open by the valve at any two moments shall bear to each other an arith-
metical ratio, the lengths of line along the edge of the valve, where it comes
to the opening, have at the same two moments a ratio increasing more
rapidly than the valve retires. This is done upon the principle that the greater
or less is the amount of machinery or of work to be regulated, the greater or
less is the addition or diminution in the quantity of steam which in any
indefinitely short space of time ought to flow through the governor valve, in
order to effect that regulation. As an example of this, it may be stated that,
to give an additional revolution per minute to one hundred tons of machinery,
will require more increase of valve opening during the time that the speed is
increasing than would be required to give the same increase of speed
to twenty tons of machinery driven by the same engine; but if the valve
opening were of uniform breadth, and the valve moved over it at a uniform
rate, that is, if it uncovered the same space in the same time, whether the
engine were running light or fully loaded, the control which would be exerted
over the work under the lighter load might be sufficiently prompt, while over
the heavier it might be too sluggish and inefficient; or if rapid enough for the
larger load, it might be found to give a violent jump to the smaller. The
form and proportion of opening which the inventor proposes to employ for
steam at a pressure of fifty pounds per square inch, are given in the Drawings
at Fig. 4, Sheet I.; and for pressures below these, a corresponding increase of
opening, or a large disc in which similar openings shall be made, shall
be employed. This form of opening will maintain the necessary degree of
steadiness of action; that is, it will prevent, when combined with the freedom
of motion which is given to the valve, those injurious alterations of speed in the
machinery that take place with the governor valves in common use, and this
it will do, however small may be the amount of machinery driven by the
engine. In cases where a certain proportion of the machinery is never detached,

page_text: the narrower end of the opening may be closed (as indicated by the dotted
line y, y, Fig. 4) without very serious detriment to the action of the valve,
but this change is not recommended. In larger engines the narrower end of
the openings needs not to be drawn so near to a point, as in small ones.
Where long lines of shafting, or other permanent machinery involving much
friction, is attached to the engine, the plain line a, a, Fig. 4, may be replaced
by a line giving a larger opening, which may vary as far from a, a, as the
dotted line f, f; and in cases of extraordinary lightness and ease of running,
the line a, a, may, on the other hand, vary so as to narrow the opening to the
limit of the dotted line 9, 9', and the line may run from f¹ to g¹. Although
the disc is the best form for the valve seat, yet sometimes valves may be con-
structed so that their seats shall be in the curved sides of a cylinder or cone, as
seen at Fig. 6 or Fig. 7; but the principle on which they open will still be the
same, and the same law will be observed when the valves are made to slide,
instead of rotate or move on a centre. The principle of the present improve-
ments is applicable to a valve moving over an opening of uniform breadth;
but in this case the valve will be made to move with greater rapidity when
nearly open than when nearly closed, whereby greater amount of opening will
be uncovered in the same time near the full open end than near the fully closed
end of the passage. A cam motion instead of a lever, with equable movement,
applied to the valve rod, would effect such a variable motion of the valve; but
the inventor prefers the manner herein represented, to any of the numerous
others which may be devised for effecting the purpose of admitting steam in
proportion to the momentum to be regulated, or of inertia to be overcome..
Besides the irregular, and dangerous action of the engines arising from a too
rapid opening of the governor valve at one time and too slow an opening at
another, there is, with the valves in common use, another source of disturbance
or of sluggishness in action requiring to be corrected, and demanding, for the
prevention of sudden alterations in speed, a combination of the form of opening
with adequate means to render the correction prompt, in order to make the
movements of the valve over its openings coincide in time with the demands
of the work. The resistances created by the friction of a valve upon its seat
or bearing, and on the packings by which it is secured, and by its adhesion to
the sides of the tube or box within which it is made to work, require ordinarily
a considerable force to overcome them. They will require a decided increase of
speed in the governor balls before their tendency to expand will begin to open
them, and an equal diminution of speed to allow them to descend, when
resisted by the causes just pointed out. These causes render all engines, which
rely on governor valves of this imperfect construction, liable to a jumping or

page_text: jerking action when the quantity of.machinery to be driven is suddenly varied;
and the best form of valve opening will not wholly obviate that alteration of
speed which results from these impediments, and which prevent the valve
from coming promptly over the right part of the opening to conform to the
quantity of work to be done, or of machinery to be regulated.
The manner in which the inventor. prefers to diminish the friction of the
valve on its seat is seen at Fig.1, Sheet I., in which A, A, represents the spindle
and valve cover; B, B, the valve seat, drawn against the shoulders o, o, by the'
nut C, C; D, D, D, D, are the flanches to which the steam pipe is attached ;
P, P, is the side pipe; E, the cap, which is to be taken off when the valve is
to be examined or taken out; R is the arch that holds the spring set screw e, e.
The openings in the valve seat are marked O, O. The valve is worked by a
rod attached at C*, and connected with the governor; d is a steel pivot at the*
end of the spindle A, and rests against the hardened surface of a piston or
plug K. The valve cover is now pushed back, and a leak takes place between.
it and the seat; in this position of the valve cover the steam is low, or if not,'
the valve is nearly open, and the engine working up to full power; and when
the machinery is detached the open space 9 will become narrower as the balls
rise and close up the apertures, causing a greater pressure against the piston K.
When the piston K is pushed back against the cross pin n, the valve cover!
should not touch the valve seat, but be near enough to prevent a leak between'
them, the whole pressure always resting on the piston K. In order to provide
against a contact of surfaces by reason of any springing of the valve under the
pressure of steam, and in order to insure its free action whether more or less'
closed, the shaft of the screw is made hollow, and the follower E placed within
it and made to act on a spring S, which in turn acts on the piston K; this.
piston has a short slit u, through which passes the pin n, allowing a very
limited movement of the piston. When pressed fully out by the spring, the
piston K projects a short distance beyond the end of the screw e.
The adjust-
ing screw e forces forward the follower E, compresses the spring S to such a
degree of tension as will enable it barely to yield to the pressure of steam, and
brings the valve nearly in contact with its seat when it covers the whole-
opening, but which will raise it slightly away from the seat as the valve opens,
and when the effective pressure tending to keep it to its seat is no longer felt.-
In order to make the range of motion of the governor balls most advantageous -
for the prompt and effective opening and closing of the valve, these movements.
are confined to the higher parts of the arcs through which they are capable of
rising. It being well known that the time in which a conical pendulum, will
revolve is determined by the vertical distance of the balls below their point of

page_text: suspension, the length of the suspending rods is so calculated as to make the
balls begin to rise with the speed which they will have when the engine runs
at the working rate above forty degrees from their perpendicular positions,
and when they are running at the greatest speed they are allowed to rise as
high as seventy or seventy-five degrees. As the centrifugal force of the balls
when they expand forty-five degrees is equal to their gravitating force (and when
they rise above that elevation the centrifugal exceeds the gravitating force), the
higher range at which the balls revolve will give them a steadier action than
the lower, and it is most advantageous to let the whole governing power of
the balls be confined to a range of fifteen or twenty degrees, say from fifty to
seventy degrees, so that when at the former height the valve shall be at its
limit of widest opening, and at the latter shall be at a nearly full closure.
The length of the rods of the governor, and the relation of the arms of the
governing lever, are so arranged that an acceleration of about four per cent.
above the prescribed speed of the engine shall close the governor valve, and,
falling off to the same extent below the prescribed speed, shall leave the
valve wider open. The manner of effecting this adjustment is, to slide the
rest C on the valve lever c (Figures 1 and 2) to such a distance from the
valve stem as will make the prescribed range of motion of the balls move
the valve over the whole range of the valve opening required at the time.
To determine the range which the valve shall take over the opening, the
valve lever c (Figures 1 and 2) is furnished with a set screw F, whereby its
position on the valve stem may be regulated so that, when the governor balls
are perfectly at rest, the valve opening shall be either wholly uncovered, or
but partially so, according as the whole power of the engine, or only a certain
portion of it, is to be brought into operation. For the purpose of adjusting
the lever c so as to give the valve the required set according to the quantity of
work which the engine is intended to perform, the valve stem is furnished
with an indicator f, which shows the amount of opening at every position,
and whether the valve lever be set in one position or another on the stem.
This indicator, in combination with the adjustable valve lever, is likewise
useful in regulating the amount of opening of the valve, according to the
pressure of steam which it is intended to maintain in the boiler while the
amount of work is contant. It is convenient, but not indispensable, that the
number of valve openings in the same disc, as seen in Fig. 4, should be con-
fined to two. The same amount of space, with a like disposition in regard to
the opening of the valve (with increasing rapidity the wider it is opened), may
be preserved into whatever number of parts the open space is distributed. It
will be observed that the ares f. f, a, a', and g, g', are not portions of perfect

page_text: circles, but that the curvatures have a shorter radius near the centre m of the
valve seat than near the periphery P. If the openings be divided into three
parts or any greater number, the rapidity of increase in the rate of opening
may be made greater than when the whole of the space is distributed between
two openings only; but an opening in which the length should be materially
less in proportion to the breadth than is seen in Fig. 4 would be objectionable,
on account of the greater variation which would be occasioned by a slight
looseness in the joints of the lever and connecting rod, or which might result.
from accidental motion or joining of the engine.
Fig. 2 is a view of a balanced valve, with two discs a, a, similar to Fig. 4,
and shewn detached in Fig. 5. .b, b, is the cover of the apertures shewn
detached at Fig. 6*, and is attached to the valve stem c, Fig. 2. This valve.
works ninety degrees (the same as Fig. 1), and in cutting off steam from the
engine the large end of the aperture closes towards the smaller in the direc-
tion of the arrows marked in Figures 4 and 5.
In Fig. 6 is given a modification of valve in which the opening d is formed
in a curved surface; and, to avoid the friction which would be produced on
its seat, two opposite openings may be made in the sides of the cup-shaped.
valve a.
In Fig. 7 two valves V, V, placed on a common valve rod a¹, are made to
slide in a cylinder or box F. The steam enters through I, divides into two
currents, and passes into the steamways S, S, where it escapes whenever the
valve is drawn into the position shewn by dots, whereby an opening is made
between the edge h of the cylinder or box containing the valve and the steam
passage d. It then passes by the opening E into the engine. In this case
the openings may be in a cup-shaped valve, and, to avoid friction, may be
formed in opposite curved sides. The effect is to counteract or compensate
for the friction which would be produced if the valve were not counterpoised.
I lay no claim to the manner of counterpoising a steam valve by the action of
the steam itself, but only the combination of its use with that of a governor
value having the form which is found adapted to prevent injurious alterations
in speed.
In Figure 3 the position of the governor arms, F forty degrees, F seventy
degrees, &c., indicates the range generally found to act most advantageously
on a frictionless valve having openings of the nature of those herein described.
The lines Pg, and forty degrees g', indicate respectively the gravitating force
and the centrifugal force when the balls are on the lowest limit of their range;
and the lines Pg³, and g¹, 5', seventy degrees, shew the relation of the same
forces to each other when the balls are at their highest range.

page_text: In Fig. 4 is given the card of an indicator (f, Fig. 1) so divided as to
denote the proportionate part of the space opened by the valve. It is not an
index of the mere movement of the valve, nor is it solely or principally
designed to make that movement, but to mark the openings,. and enable the
engineer to adjust the amount of opening for his several purposes, as above
set forth.
Fig. 8, in Sheet II., represents a governor B, B, adapted to a valve of the
improved form. The governor is connected by a lever C and connecting
rod D to the cam E, E, E, which vibrates back and forth on the centre A.
F is the lever of the oval valves H, H. G is a pin attached to the lever F,
and slides in the cam, slot, or inclined plane j, j.. It will be seen, that as the.
balls of the governor drop, the rod D will be drawn up, thereby drawing the
lever F to the position represented by the dotted lines, and causing the slot to
move round, and open the valve H, H. The motion given to the valve will
then be represented by the circular angle c, c, c. That angle should vary
with the size of the valve, and also with the greater or less angle with which.
it is set with the sides of the pipe. A cam can be graduated according to the
principle laid down, and made to work any valve of any form of aperture.
Another form of cam to effect the same is seen in Fig. 9.
A similar form and arrangement of cam as Fig. 1, and intended to work a
balanced water gate for a water wheel, is shewn in Fig. 10. When the balls
of the governor drop, the lever B descends to C; and the slot j, j, being made
to work the gate by the means of the rod F, the gate will be raised or lowered
so as to admit or stop off the water in the proper proportion, as mentioned.
The gate is balanced so as to act in the following manner:-As the balls drop
the gate D drops, and allows water to flow over, and is consequently relieved
of some of its pressure. The weight E that balances the gate moves towards G,.
decreasing its leverage in the same proportion as the pressure is taken from
the gate by its dropping.
Fig. 11 is an arrangement of the rods and levers of the governor to reduce
the motion of the valve when nearly closed. This arrangement could be
applied to water wheels as well as to steam engines. It will be seen that as
the balls rise high, as represented in the Drawing, the levers of the arms c,.c,
are nearly perpendicular, making the three pivots j, j, j, nearly. on the same
line; and the motion of the slide B on the rod D is thereby greatly dimi-
nished, and when the balls drop the motion of the slide B increases rapidly.
It has been found that that increase of motion, with the old valve, is not suffi-
cient without the combination of another arrangement attached to the rod a.
and valve lever E. b is a long rod attached to the valve lever E and the

page_text: rode at n. It passes through the post d for the purpose of steadying or
holding one end. The rod is attached to the post J at g. It will be seen
that, as the rod a is drawn up, the rod 6 will be moved towards H, and open
the valve, very slowly at first, but more rapidly the farther it opens.
repre-
In Fig: 13 the form of opening of the oval valve shewn in Fig. 11 is
sented as being in a flat or plane surface. The dotted parallelogram represents
the cover, which, when drawn off towards K by a uniform motion, shews the
opening of that kind of valve as it is now attached to governors for steam
engines. A valve, having a uniform aperture, or nearly uniform in width,
should be moved by an accelerated motion (as the balls drop equal distances),
as represented by the spaces between the lines in Fig. 13 (it is opened
towards K); and, if the aperture is of the form shewn in Fig. 14, the
motion of the valve cover should be uniform, as the balls drop equal distances.
The alternate slow and fast motion that takes place when the engine or
water wheel is running with a light load is occasioned by the following
causes, see Fig. 15:-Suppose an engine or water wheel running against a
resistance of fifty-horse power, and you suddenly add on ten-horse power
more, the motion would be checked four times as much in the same time,
say from a to b, as it would if it had been working against a resistance of
forty-horse power. The ball will consequently open the valve four times
more, while there is but one fourth of the resistance or inertia of machinery
in motion to resist that four times more power let on suddenly. The con-
sequence is, the engine or wheel takes a sudden start with the light load, and
a part of that extra power becomes latent in the moving machinery. While
the speed is going up to c that latent power or momentum begins to operate
at the point 1, and carries the speed up to c.
The valve closes nearly or
quite at c; and the extra momentum being expended, and the valve nearly
closed, the motion goes down so suddenly that the opening of the valve cannot
overcome the disposition it has to come to a state of rest until it passes the
line
and goes down to d. At that point the great amount of power let on
by the valve starts the speed up again to as high a point as it arrived at
before, and it continues to oscillate in this manner. The short line a indicates
the average speed when ten-horse power resistance was driven, but adding
ten-horse power more brought the speed down to the line b. The first
depression of speed was greater than the following, occasioned by the steadying
power of twenty-horse being more than ten-horse. Now it is evident, that if
the forty-horse resistance had been thrown upon the engine when the ten-
horse power was added, the motion would not have fallen off but one
fourth as much, or it would only have varied in motion as represented by the
a,

page_text: waved line 2, 2, when compared with the average line a, a'. In fact, the
vibration would have been less than that, because the steadying power of the
machinery added on increases faster than the regular amounts of machinery
are added. The form of opening in Figures 4 and 14 is a representation of
both. The area included within the dotted lines lengthwise represents the
machinery added, and the area included between the black lines represents
the steadying force of the same. There is but one form of aperture (or of
cam, lever, or other motion which works the valve equivalent to that form)
that will govern an engine or water wheel best; and that form will vary
slightly in each particular case, dependent upon the nature of the resistance,
but a considerable variation from that form would not be noticed in many
cases. The above is an explanation of what should be understood when it is
said that the proportion of the apertures should be in proportion to the
momentum to be regulated or the inertia to be overcome, a difficulty always
troublesome with the old valves in proportion as you change suddenly a greater
amount of resistance, or as you are anxious to work the valve more quickly.
Now the usual practice of engineers is to have holes made in the lever F of
the valve, Fig. 8, and hook the rod at a medium distance from the valve
spindle, changing it from the valve spindle or towards it as less or more
machinery is attached or detached, being careful to draw the valve closed
a little when machinery is thrown off by the right and left hand nut on the
rod, and opening by the same when more is thrown on, which prevents the
engine taking a higher or lower speed. Injurious oscillations with the old
valve are also prevented by closing down the stop valve when machinery is
thrown off. This, however, reduces the power, and it has to be raised again
when more machinery is thrown on. Either remedy requires the constant
attention of the engineer; and the same difficulty exists and can be prevented
in water power by closing the stop gate with an increasing opening or motion
upon the valve. A valve can be worked on as short a leverage when running
lightly as when heavily loaded; consequently, the expansion of the balls can
be reduced so that half of the ordinary expansion will work the valve open
and shut, and hold the engine steady when working with ever so light a
load, and the stop valve or gate wide open. The levers are attached direct
from the sliding collar on the shaft of the governor to the valve or gate, their
action being much quicker than when made to play in and out of gear to work
them open and shut by a separate driving shaft. This is done to prevent a
falling off in speed; but the improved governors act so quickly, with so little
variation of motion, that the falling off in speed is not objectionable, and the
motion is held uniform when changing large amounts of machinery.

page_text: Fig. 13 is a Drawing representing the area of opening made by the oval
valve. In Fig. 8 the perpendicular distance that the valve drops from the
pipe when opened equal distances at the end of the lever F, are nearly equal,
see points 1, 2, 3. Corresponding points, 1, 2, 3, are shewn in Fig. 13. The
lines a, a, b, b, c, c, represent the edge of the valve on one side of the stem
moving away so as to admit steam. The points 4, 4, represent the distance
equal to half the diameter of the valve. The spaces contained between the
lines a, a, b, b, c, c, represent to the eye how fast the valve opens at the
points 1, 2, 3. It will be seen that it is almost a uniform opening, and a very
wide one, the spaces between a, a, b, b, c, c, being almost equal. If those
lines were curved lines it would be nearer the truth, but straight lines shew
the proportion of area opened by equal motion of the balls as well.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
by my correspondent, and the best means with which I am at present ac-
quainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that
I do not intend to confine myself to the precise arrangement or construction
of parts above shewn and described, as they may doubtless be varied without
departing from the nature and object of the present improvements. But that
which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, making the valve openings of governor valves to widen from the
closed towards the fully open end, and also in such a manner that, when the
governor acts upon the valve under low speed, it shall cause the opening or
closing of that part of the steam passage where the widening or narrowing of
the passage is more rapid than at the parts on which the valve acts at high
speeds.
Second, I claim forming valve openings, substantially as described in Fig. 4,
whatever may be the number of openings into which the space or valve seat
is divided, and whether the said openings are made in plain or curved
surfaces.
Third, I also claim the spring set screw reacting against the pressure of
steam on the valve cover, not only for relieving the valve from friction, but
also for causing it to recede slightly from its seat when the valve approaches
its open position, whereby an increased flow of steam is permitted, and the
rate of flow augmented, the more the valve opens or the tension of steam
diminishes, as herein set forth.
Fourth, I also claim, in combination with a valve lever adjustable to the

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.