IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND INDICATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES. AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Standfield, of Stratford, in the County of
Essex; Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING AND INDICATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES. AND OTHER
MACHINERY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Standfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
November 1861.
I, JOHN STANDFIELD, of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer; do
hereby declare, the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND INDICATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES AND
OTHER MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention consists in apparatus for indicating the
number of revolutions or speed of the machinery to which it is attached, and
at the same time giving motion to or regulating the valve or apparatus, which
constitutes the second part of my Invention, the said valve or apparatus being
that through which the steam or other fluid is supplied to the cylinder of
machine to be regulated...
The apparatus for indicating the speed of 'the inachinery consists of a
-cylindrical or otherwise conveniently shaped vessel, wholly or partially filled
D1

page_text: with water or other fluid, and in which fluid a fan or screw is caused to revolve
with more or less rapidity, and thus to raise a column of the said finid to a
greater or less height in a tube connected to the said vessel. This tube, if ot
glass, may have numbers engraved upon it corresponding to the speed of the
machinery; or if cf metal, may have a float placed within it, and have a scale
attached as in the case of an ordinary mercurial gauge. In order to com-
pensate, when necessary, for evaporation of the fluid in which the fan rotates,
I attach a float to the lower part of the tube, which is thus supported on the
surface of the fluid, whatever be its level, or a float may be enclosed in a tube
attached to the main vessel. Motion is given to the fan or screw by means
of toothed wheels, a strap or.cat-gut band, driven from any convenient part of
the machine, the toothed wheel or pulley for the strap or band not being fixed
to the spindle of the fan or screw but to a collar which surrounds it, the said
collar carrying the spindle round with it, but allowing of its free motion in a
vertical direction; this may be conveniently done by making the spindle
square, where it passes through the collar. The bearings.of the said.collar
are supported by standards fixed to the main part of the apparatus. The
higher the speed of the fan the higher will be the column of fluid in the tube,
the action being similar to the column of water raised in the delivery pipe of
a centrifugal pump. Motion may be also communicated to the regulating or
throttle valve by the action of the said fan or screw in several ways, the
simplest arrangement being when the rotating apparatus is made in the form
of a screw, in which case its spindle may be immediately attached to a lever
in connection with the throttle valve, and upon which lever a weight may be
allowed to slide, so as to regulate the amount of resistance which it is desired
to oppose to the rotation of the screw. Or, instead of this arrangement, the
fan may be made to revolve between two discs of metal, the lower one solid,
and the upper one perforated so as to allow of the free ingress of the water or
other fluid to the fan. The discs are attached to two vertical guide rods,
which pass through the cover of the vessel, and have a free vertical motion=;
to these rods is attached the weighted lever before described. In this case
the fan does not directly operate upon the weighted lever through its spindle,
but the fan first gives motion to the discs which enclose it, and these give
motion to the guide rods attached. to the weighted lever. The higher the
speed of the fan, the higher will it rise carrying with it the two discs, and
with them the rods to which they are attached. The weighted lever vibrates
upon central pivots or a stud at one end; supported by a standard attached to
the main part of the apparatus; by means of the adjustable weight on this lever
the resistance to the motion of the fan or screw can be regulated at pleasure.

page_text: A third mode of communicating the action of the fan to the weighted leveris
by employing a pair of mitre wheels, the spindle of one of them being made
to serve as a barrel round which a cord attached to the end of the weighted
lever is made to coil itself more or less as the speed of the fan varies. In
this arrangement an engine would be regulated or governed when in back
motion as well as in forward motion. Or a modification may be made by
employing two trundles working on two inclined planes, the said trundles
rising higher up the inclined planes the higher the speed of the fan.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Supposing an engine or other
machine be required to move with a velocity of 60 revolutions per minute,
the speed given to the fan would cause the column of water to be raised in
the tube to the point marked' 60, and any increase or diminution of work
in the engine would immediately be seen by a depression or rise in the
height of the column of fluid' in the tube corresponding to the decrease or
increase respectively in the speed of the engine or machine, at the same time
the rise or fall of the fan or screw from increased or diminished speed would
act upon
the weighted lever, and so upon the throttle valve so as to close or
open it, and thus regulate the speed while indicating the same..
The second part of my Invention consists in substituting for the ordinary
throttle valve a double or equilibrium valve for regulating the admission of
steam or other fluid to the engine or machinery, the advantage of which is
that such valve would be perfectly closed in the event of the engine or
machine attaining a very high speed, whereas an ordinary throttle valve can
never be made thoroughly steam-tight, on this account a stop valve is always
employed in addition to an 'ordinary throttle valve, but with the equilbrium
valve a second- or stop valve is not required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by, the said John Standfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th May 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOм
TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN.
SfStratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer, send' greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year' of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and 'successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Standfield; Her-special licence that I; the said
「

page_text: John Standfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as. I, the said John Standfield, my 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND INDICATING THE SPEED OF
STEAM ENGINES AND OTHER MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Standfield, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, 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 monthis next
and immediately after the date, of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said John Standfield, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention,.and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The first part of my Invention consists in apparatus for indicating the
number of revolutions or speed of the machinery to which it is attached, and
at the same time giving motion to or regulating the valve or apparatus which
constitutes the second part of my Invention, the said valve or apparatus being
that through which the steam or other fluid is supplied to the cylinder or
machine to be regulated.
The apparatus for indicating the speed of the machinery consists of a
cylindrical or otherwise conveniently shaped vessel, wholly or partially filled
with water or other fluid, and in which fluid a fan or series of fans is caused
to revolve with more or less rapidity, and thus to raise a column of the said
fluid to a greater or less height in a tube connected to the said vessel, or the
pressure of water may be exerted against any ordinary pressure gauge, the dial
or tube being marked-with-figures-corresponding to the speeds of the machi-
nery. The tube may be fitted with a float, or have air enclosed at its upper
end in the ordinary manner of such instruments. To compensate for evapo-
ration, when necessary, the said tube may itself be supported on the surface of
the water by means of a float, thus keeping its position in reference to the
level of the fluid...Motion is given to the fan or fans by means of toothed
wheels, a strap or cat-gut, or other band, the wheels or pulley for the strap or
band not being fixed to the spindle upou which the fan or fans are fixed, but
to a collar which surrounds it, the said collar carrying the spindle round with

page_text: it, but allowing of its free motion in a vertical direction. The spindle may be
square, or have a fixed key in it upon which the collar slides, or the collar
may have a set screw working in a key bed cut in the spindle.
Instead of the fan or fans being set in the form of a screw which they
require to be in order to give the spindle upon which they are fixed a vertical
motion, as above described, and in which case the spindle may be immediately
attached to the regulating valve of the engine or machine, the said fan or fans
may be plane discs or arms which are made to rotate in the fluid, the resist-
ance to such rotation increasing with the speed of revolution. In order.
that this speed should not be excessive when the resistance desired must be
sufficient to open a large valve or close the same, I fix intermediate arms
in the cylindrical vessel in which the fluid is placed, which also prevent the
water or fluid from receiving centrifugal motion.
Instead of either of the arrangements above described, I sometimes prefer
to make the cylindrical case.containing the fluid rotate on its axis by means
of toothed wheels a band or cord, and this vessel I fit with arms, as before
explained, and between which the arms on the spindle pass. This spindle
rotates whenever the pressure upon its arms exceeds a given amount, this
amount of pressure being regulated by means of a sliding weight on a lever
or an ordinary spring balance. In this arrangement motion is given to the
fluid contained in the cylindrical vessel by means of the arms fixed in such
vessel and the rotation of the vessel itself, and from the motion of the water,
rotation is given to the fan or fans fixed on the vertical spindle. In the case of
usingeither of the foregoing arrangements for indicating thespeed of machinery
without regulating the same, I prefer to employ air as the fluid in which the
fan or fans rotate, as no resistance is then required for opening or closing any
valve; sometimes I prefer to use mercury.
The second part of my Invention consists in constructing a "throttle" valve
in the form of a double beat or equilibrium valve for regulating the supply of
fluid to an engine or other machine, such a valve when closed being capable
of being steam, air, or water tight.
In order that my Invention maybe better understood, I shall now proceed
to describe the Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings accompanying
this. Specification.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew three modifications of the apparatus, in which A
is the cylindrical case containing the fluid, the said case being stationary in
Figs. 1 and 2, and rotating in Figure 3; B are arms attached directly to the
said case, or cast separately, as in Figures 2 & 3; C is the vertical spindle
with its arms D, E are recepticles for an excess of fluid, which may always be

page_text: maintained by means of a head of water acting through a tube, if desired;
F are the pulleys for giving motion to the apparatus, which may be done also
by toothed wheels or bands. In Fig. 1 the motion is communicated from the
pulley F to the bevel wheels G, H, and to the frame J and spindle I by means
of the cross bar K. "When revolving at their proper speed, the whole.of
these parts revolve together and at the same speed; but should the pulley F
alter its velocity, the wheel H is not immediately affected so as to carry it and
its attachments at the same or altered speeds of F and G, but tends to revolve
on its axis L, which causes the small pulley upon it to wind up the cord M,
and so raise the cross bar Kand spindle I, and so operate upon the lever Nand
regulating valve lever O. When this action shall take place is determined
by the actual velocity given to the pulley F and the position of the weight P
on the lever N. Q is a glass tube with scale for indicating the number of
revolutions by the pressure or height of water raised in the said tube. Fig. 1
also shews the equilibrium throttle valve, the valve discs being united together
by a spindle, in which is a slot or other arrangement for the lever R.;. this
lever is worked by another lever O outside the casing, the spindle S going
through the said casing, By this arrangement the area of the valve discs are
not rendered unequal by any spindle passing completely through either of
them for the purpose of 'working them.
In Fig. 2, the motion of the pulley F gives motion to the frame containing
the fans or blades B, the spindle C and blades D being stationary so long as
F does not alter its intended speed; when this speed is exceeded or lessened;
however, the blades D and spindle C are forced round and through the spring
balance G, act upon the lever H, and throttle valve attached to it. Pis
a watch spring arrangement with wheel and pawl for bringing the tention of
the spring balance up to any extent required, and J'is a pressure gauge for
shewing the speeds. By the motion of the spindle C, the cord or chain K is
wound round the spindle, or a pulley or barrel attached to it.
In Figure 3 the action is precisely the same as in Fig. 2, only the adjust-
-ment-of-the-apparatus is made by a sliding weight I on the lever J.
Fig. 4 shews the application of the apparatus as an indicator of speed only
to a locomotive engine. A is the driving wheel;. B a friction wheel fixed on
a rod jointed at D, so as to allow for the action of the springs of the wheel A;
C is the cylindrical casing and fans, as before described, shewu in a horizontal
position, the index hand being to the spindle, and the casing having a
face with figures marked thereon for shewing the speeds. Motion is commu-
nicated by the cord E, or by any other convenient means.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine myself to the
precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or refer
to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principle or main features of my Invention, especially as to the mode of com-
municating motion to the throttle valve from the apparatus; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, I claim the general construction of apparatus for regulating, and at
the same time indicating the speed of engines or machinery as described, or by
equivalent arrangements.
2nd, I claim the method of transmitting motion generally from a fan or
series of fans or other apparatus to water or other fluids, and thence to a second
fan, series of fans or apparatus, as described.
3rd, I claim the method of retarding the rotation of fluids in vessels or of
fans or blades in fluids by means of a second set of fans or blades, or equi-
valent apparatus, as described.
4th, I claim the use of part of the apparatus described for indicating the
speed of locomotive or other engines or machinery without regulating the said
speed, as described.
5th, I claim the general construction of equilibrium valves to be worked
as throttle, and in which the equality of pressure on the two valves is
maintained by arranging the working spindles and levers, as described, or by
other equivalent means.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Standfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our
Lord 1862
JOHN STANDFIELD. (L.S.)