IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, TURBINES, AND OTHER MOTORS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Pieper, Civil Engineer, of Dresden, Kingdom of
Saxony, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM
ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, TURBINES, AND OTHER MOTORS." A communication
from abroad by Dr. Rudolf Pröll, C.E., of Görlitz, Prussia.
Sealed the 9th September 1876, and dated the 10th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Pieper at the Office
"IMPROVEMENTS
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th March 1876.
CARL PIEPER, Civil Engineer, of Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony.
IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, TURBINES, AND
MOTORS." A communication.
The objects of my Invention are,-
OTHER
First. To cause the governor in case it is designed on the indirect acting
principle to operate the closing or opening of the sluice or throttle valve and the
like, at a decreasing speed in either sense.
Second. To provide for simple means for raising the governor to its highest
position by hand, and thereby to effect a closing of the sluice or throttle valve and
the like, so as to stop the engine.
Third. In case of an indirect acting governor to disengage the same from the
communicator automatically as soon as the sluice and the like is on the point of
being fully closed or opened.
Fourth. To improve the mode of suspension of the governor balls.
With regard to the first of these points I have to premise the following:-If
the resistance which a motor, as for instance a water wheel, has to overcome is
decreased the speed of the same will increase; the governor balls will ascond and
the communicator will be put into operation for closing the sluice. If this closing
is carried out slowly the amount of water running on the wheel will for some time
exceed the amount necessary for supplying the power required at the moment, and
the consequence is that the speed increases even whilst the sluice is being closed.
If however the action of the communicator is very quick the sluice may be closed
too far, so that an undue decrease of speed will follow. For obviating these incon-
veniences I have designed the communicator of my governor so as to operate quick
in the beginning, and to decrease in the speed of its action as the sluice is being
moved either up or down. The mechanical arrangement which I have invented for

page_text: this purpose is the following:-The governor designed on the indirect acting
principle and of any known system causes a worm to rotate in one sense or the
other. This worm gears into a toothed sector, on the shaft of which are fixed two
cranks, the one to operate the closing the other for the opening of the sluice. These
cranks are separately connected by rods to two levers turning loosely on a second 5
shaft. But the crank and the lever connected together by a rod are not parallel ;
they are placed at an angle to each other, and so that the crank having a uniform
speed will cause the lever to move at a decreasing speed in the direction in which
it has to operate on the sluice. Each of the levers has a horizontal arm, to the
end of which is jointed a common pawl or a frictional driver (in the style of the
silent feed motion of sawing machines acting on a ratchet or a friction wheel.
To the shaft which carries these wheels and in which oscillate the above levers
another lever is keyed which is in direct connection with the sluice and the
like. The aforesaid worm revolving in one sense, the one part of the described
arrangement lowers the sluice, whilst the other is inactive, as the pawl or frictional]
driver of the same recedes without operating. The worm turning in the other sense,
the second part of the mechanism will come into action, and the sluice will be
raised.
The second part of my Invention may be adapted as well to direct acting as to
indirect acting governors. In the case of the former I prefer to cut a screw thread 2
on the top end of the standard in which the governor spindle revolves. On this
thread is screwed the boss of a hand wheel having a corresponding interior thread,
and the boss extends upwards in such a shape that its upper end nearly fits the
spindle, and that it just remains clear of the sliding collar of the governor when
both are in the lowest position. If it is now desired to stop the engine the hand 2
wheel is turned so as to raise the boss and with it the sliding collar, whereby the
throttle valve or other valve or slide serving for the same purpose is closed.
If the governor is indirect acting I prefer to have the following arrangement:-
The rotative motion of the spindle is transmitted by a coupling clutch sliding on a
feather to either one or the other of two bovil wheels placed loosely on the spindle.
These wheels both gearing with a third wheel connected to the aforesaid worm, the
latter will be turned in one sense or the other according as the clutch drives the
upper or the lower one of the wheels on the spindle. A hand lever now being so
arranged that by means of the same this clutch can be raised, the communicator
may be put into operation at will for the closing of the sluice, namely, the stopping
of the motor.
For carrying out the third point in practice it is but necessary to provide the
lever acting on the sluice, as stated in point 1, with an arm on the other side of its
fulcrum, and to connect the same to the hand lever described by means of a rod
with two collars, the one collar serving to raise the other to depress the hand lever
at the desired moment. The clutch for instance being raised and the outer end of
the hand lever thereby depressed, and the vis viva of the rotating masses yet
causing a speed above the mean velocity, although the sluice is on the point of
being closed a breakage of some part of the mechanism might occur in case the
communicator were not stopped. At this point however the lower collar of the
aforesaid rod pushes the hand lever upwards and disengages the communicator.
The fourth point relates to the arrangement of the arms by which the balls are
suspended, and especially to those governors in which the balls are fixed to the
lower rods. The main object to be attained by my arrangement is to make the
balls travel in a parabolic line, and for this purpose the upper rods have to be
attached to the lower ones at points lying outside of the line from the centre of the
ball to the centre of the lower joint. Formerly I have bent the rod in question,
but having found this objectionable in practice, I now make the same rod straight
with an arm or branch towards the point of attachment of the upper rod.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Carl Pieper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th September
1876.
CARL PIEPER, Civil Engineer, of Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, TURBINES, AND OTHER
MOTORS." A communication by Dr. Rudolph Pröll, C.E., of Görlitz, Prussia.
The object of my Invention is,-
1. To cause the governor in case it is designed on the indirect acting principle to
operate the closing as well as the opening of the sluice or throttle valve, &c., at a
decreasing speed.
2. To provide for simple means for raising the governor to its highest position by
hand, and thereby to effect a closing of the sluice or throttle valve, &c., so as to stop
the engine.
3. In case of an indirect-acting governor, to disengage the same from the com-
municator automatically as soon as the sluice, &c., is on the point of being fully
closed or opened.
4. To improve the mode of suspension of the governor balls.
With regard to the first of these points I have to premise the following:-If the
resistance which a motor, as for instance a water wheel, has to overcome is
decreased, the speed of the same will increase, the governor balls will ascend, and
the communicator is put into operation for closing the sluice. If this closing is
carried out slowly the amount of water running on the wheel will for some time
exceed the amount necessary for supplying the power required at the moment, and
the consequence is that the speed increases even whilst the sluice is being closed. If,
however, the action of the communicator is very quick the sluice may be closed too
far, so that an undue decrease of speed will follow. For obviating these incon-
veniencies I have designed the communicator of my governor so as to operate quickly
in the beginning, and to decrease in the speed of its action as the sluice is being
moved either up or down. The mechanical arrangement which I have invented for
this purpose is represented on the accompanying Sheets of Drawings in the
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, and is to be described in the following:-The governor
designed on the indirect-acting principle, and according to any known system,
causes a worm S to rotate in one sense or the other. In the Drawing the sliding
collar a of the governor is connected to a rod r in the interior of the hollow
spindle b by a pin s; this pin passing through vertical slots in the spindle allows
the sliding collar a to move up and down with the rod r. A second pin 8¹ connects
a sliding coupling part c to the rod r, so that the collar a and the coupling part c
move together. e and el are two bevil wheels turning loosely on the hollow
spindle b, and gearing into the bevil wheel e 2. According as the governor balls are
in a high or a low position the coupling part c drives by its teeth either the bevil
wheele or the wheel e 1, and consequently causes the wheel e 2, as also the worm S
fixed on the shaft W of e 2, to rotate either in one direction or the other. This
worm gears into a toothed sector T, on the shaft A of which are fixed two cranks C
and D, the one to operate the closing, the other for the opening of the sluice. The
worm S and the sector T may however be replaced by any suitable combination of
spur or bevil wheels. The cranks C and D are separately connected to the levers E
and F, turning loosely on the second shaft B, which is parallel to A. The crank C
and the lever E however, which are connected together by the rod L, are not
parallel; they are placed at an angle to each other, and so that the crank having a
uniform speed will cause the lever to move at a decreasing speed in the direction in
which it has to operate on the sluice. The same is the case with regard to the
crank D connected to the lever F by the rod L 1. Each of the levers E and F has
an arm, respectively E1 and F 1, which is horizontal in its centre position, and to the
end of which is jointed a common pawl or a frictional driver (in the style of the
Bilent feed motion of sawing machines, &c.,) acting on a ratchet or friction wheel,
1

page_text: The arrangement however which I prefer to both is that shown in the Drawings,
where the pawls p and q act each on a single projection on the discs p 1 and q 1, to
which they belong. To the shaft B, on which these wheels or discs p 1 and q 1 are
fixed, and on which the above levers E and F oscillate, another lover G is keyed,
which is in direct connection with the sluice, &c. The aforesaid worm S revolving
in one direction, the one part of the described arrangement, i.e., in the present case
the crank C, rod L, lever E, E 1, and pawl q lowers the sluice, whilst the other part
is inactive, as the pawl (or frictional driver) of the same recedes without operating.
The worm turning in the other sense the second part of the mechanism, i.c., the
crank D, rod L', lever F, F, and pawl p comes into action, and the sluice is raised.
The speed of the acting pawl however is different from that of the receding pawl, as
the former gradually decreases whilst the latter increases, the cranks C and D
meanwhile moving at a constant speed.
The diagram of Fig. 5 shows the motion of the lever G with regard to that
of the crank C. The distances of the consecutive positions 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the
crank C have been made equal; the distances of the corresponding positions of the
levers E and G however decrease in the direction of their active motion shown by
the arrows. The ordinates of the curve a*, 6*, represent the opening of the sluice
with regard to the corresponding abcissoe, which are to be considered as representing
the periods of time during the closing.
The second part of my Invention may be adapted as well to direct acting as to
indirect acting governors. In Fig. 6 an arrangement is shown for closing by hand
the regulating valve connected to a direct acting governor of a steam engine. The
valve v in this design is connected to the sliding collar of the governor by a rod r and
pin s in a similar manner as described above with regard to the coupling part c of
Fig. 1. In this case I prefer to cut a screw-thread on the top end b of the standard
in which the governor spindle revolves. On this thread is screwed the boss of a
handwheel d, having a corresponding interior thread, and the boss extends upwards
in such a shape that its upper end nearly fits the spindle, and that it just remains
clear of the sliding collar a of the governor when both are in their lowest position.
If it is now desired to stop the engine the hand wheel is turned so as to raise the
boss, and with it the sliding collar whereby the regulating valve is closed. Instead
of the valve represented a common throttle valve or other valve or slide serving for
the same purpose may be combined with the arrangement described. Also, instead of
the hand wheel d a lever jointed to the top of the standard may be used for lifting
the sliding collar with the valve.
If the governor is indirect acting, as in Fig. 1, I prefer to have the following
arrangement-The rotative motion of the spindle bis transmitted by a coupling
part or clutch c sliding on a feather to either one or the other of two bevil wheels
e and c 1 placed loosely on the spindle. These wheels both gearing with a third
wheel e 2 connected to the worm S, the latter will be turned in one direction or the
other, according as the clutch c drives the upper or the lower wheel on the spindle,
as has substantially been described before. A hand lever h, Figures 1 and 4, turning
on the fulcrum f is so arranged that by means of the same the clutch c can be raised
so as to cause the wheel e to drive the worm S in the direction for the lowering of
the lever G. The outer end of the lever h, therefore, being pressed down by hand
the communicator is put into operation for the closing of the sluice, i.e, the stopping
of the motor.
For carrying out the third point in practice it is but necessary to provide the
lever G, Figs. 1 and 2, acting on the sluice, as stated in point 1, with an arm X on
the other side of its fulcrum, and to connect the same to the described hand lever h
by means of a rod Y with two collars n and n 1, the collar n serving to raise the
collar 1 to depress the hand lever at the desired moment. The rod Y passes loosely
through an eye in the lever h. The clutch, for instance, being raised, and the outer
end of the hand lever thereby depressed, and the vis viva of the rotating masses
yet causing a speed above the mean velocity although the sluice is on the point of
being closed; a breakage of some part of the mechanism might occur in case the

page_text: communicator were not stopped. At this point, however, the lower collar n of the
aforesaid rod Y pushes the hand lever h upwards and stops the communicator by
disengaging the clutch c from the wheel e. In a similar manner the collar n 1 of the
rod Y stops the communicator if the clutch should continue to drive the worm S
by the wheel e 1 after the sluice has been opened to its full extent.
The fourth point relates to the arrangement of the arms by which the balls are
suspended, and especially to those governors in which the balls are fixed to the
lower rods. The main object to be attained by my arrangement is to cause the balls
to travel in a parabolic line, or nearly so, so as to make the governor more or less
astatic.
The general design of my governor is to be seen from Fig. 1. The balls
t are fastened to the upper ends of the rods i, whilst the lower ends of the latter
are jointed the sliding collar a. The upper rods are attached to the lower ones
i at the points o lying outside of the line from the centre of the ball t to the centro
of the lower joint at a. This arrangement causes the balls to travel in a line which
is nearly coincident with a parabola. The vertical motion of the sliding collar a is
transmitted to the rod r, as has been described above. This rod is weighted by a
ball for the purpose of increasing the energy of action of the governor. For the
purpose of obtaining the joint o outside of the centre line from the ball t to the
joint at a I have formerly bent the rod I, but having found this objectionable in
practice, I now make the same rod straight with an arm or branch towards the
point of attachment o of the upper rod, as shown by Fig. 1. In this Figure the
driving pulley of the governor is placed at the lower end of the vertical spindle b,
whilst in Figs. 3 & 6 it is fixed on a separate horizontal shaft, from which motion
is transmitted to the spindle by a pair of bevil wheels.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention, and the mode
in which the same may be carried out in practice, I would have it understood that
I do not confine myself to the use of all the constructive details herein specified, but
what I do claim as my Invention is the following:
1. The cranks C and D, connecting rods L and L1, levers E, E1 and F, F 1,
pawls p and dises p¹ and q², and lever G, all of Figures 1 to 4, or any equivalents
of these parts in combination together, and with an indirect acting governor, as and
for the purpose described.
2. The hand wheel d, Fig. 6, the boss of which is screwed on to the top of the
standard of a governor, or a lever jointed to the same standard, or any other equi-
valent of such wheel, as and for the purpose specified.
3. The lever h, Fig. 1 and 4, in combination with the coupling clutch c of an
indirect acting governor, as and for the purpose described.
4. The lever X, the rod Y, with the collars n and n 1 acting on the lever h, all of
Figures 1, 2, and 4, or any equivalents of these parts, combined with an indirect
acting governor, substantially as specified.
5. The arms or branches u on the rods i, carrying the ballst of a governor, as
described in the foregoing, and for the purpose stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carl Pieper, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-six.
CARL PIEPER. (LS.)