IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS, APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND OTHER ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Harold Wilhelm Widmark, of 13, Tamworth
Place, in the City and County of Bristol, Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS, APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND OTHER
ENGINES."
Sealed the 17th October 1868, and dated the 18th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Harold Wilhelm
Widmark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 18th April 1868.
I, HAROLD WILHELM WIDMARK, of 13, Tamworth Place, in the City
and County of Bristol, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS, APPLICABLE TO STEAM
AND OTHER ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to get a more correct action on the
throttle valve and expansion valve by making the balls travel nearly in a
parabolic curve. It is known that if the balls were guided to travel
exactly in a parabolic curve they would remain in equilibrium at any

page_text: point on that curve if the revolutions were the same as those for which
the curve was constructed, and that the balls would only move when
the speed of the engine increased or decreased over or below that
number, and would only stop when the valve had decreased or increased
the admission of steam to the piston until the original number of
revolutions had been attained; by my governor this advantage is
obtained or nearly so without any complication whatever, and without
in any way increasing the cost. To the upright axis of the governor
I joint arms corresponding with those which in an ordinary governor
carry the balls at their outer ends, and to these arms I joint links
which at their other ends are connected with the sliding ring on the
axis from which the valve takes its motion. So far the arrangement
is that of an ordinary governor, but in place of mounting the balls on
the arms I mount them on the links which connect these arms with the
slider. The balls are situate intermediate of the points of connection
of the link and the arm and slider respectively, and the centre of
the ball may either be in a straight line joining these points of con-
nection or otherwise. The common governor cannot be constructed for
high speed because the height of the pendulum would be too small;
but by my design one may construct the governor with as good results
for any speed, and instead of decreasing the speed as is now sometimes
done (giving the governor a less number of revolutions than the
engine) one can increase it, and thereby get this advantage that the
governor will alter much when the engine alters little, that is, one
increases the sensitiveness of the governor instead of decreasing it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Harold Wilhelm Widmark in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HAROLD
WILHELM WIDMARK, of Tamworth Place, in the City and County of 3
Bristol, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give

page_text: and grant unto me, the said Harold Wilhelm Widmark, Her special
licence that I, the said Harold Wilhelm Widmark, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Harold Wilhelm
Widmark, 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 thercin 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 GOVERNORS, APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND OTHER ENGINES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Harold Wilhelm
Widmark, 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 months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Harold Wilhelm Widmark, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to get a more correct action on the
throttle valve and expansion valve by making the balls travel nearly in
a parabolic curve. It is known that if the balls were guided to travel
exactly in a parabolic curve they would remain in equilibrium at any
point on that curve if the revolutions were the same as those for which
the curve was constructed, and that the balls would only move when
the speed of the engine increased or decreased over or below that
number, and would only stop when the valve had decreased or increased
the admission of steam to the piston until the original number of
revolutions had been attained; by my governor this advantage is
obtained or nearly so without any complication whatever, and without
in any way increasing the cost. To the upright axis of the governor I
joint arms corresponding with those which in an ordinary governor carry
the balls at their outer ends, and to these arms I joint links which at
their other ends are connected with the sliding ring on the axis from
which the valve takes its motion. So far the arrangement is that of
an ordinary governor, but in place of mounting the balls on the arms I
mount them on the links which connect these arms with the slider.

page_text: The balls are situate intermediate of the points of connection of the link
and the arm and slider respectively, and the centre of the ball may
either be in a straight line joining these points of connection or other-
wise. The common governor cannot be constructed for high speed
because the height of the pendulum would be too small; but by my
design one may construct the governor with as good results for any
speed, and instead of decreasing the speed as is now sometimes done
(giving the governor a less number of revolutions than the engine), one
can increase it and thereby get this advantage, that the governor will
alter much when the engine alters little, that is, one increases the
sensitiveness of the governor instead of decreasing it.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood
and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings
Figure 1 shows full size a side view, partly in section, of a governor
constructed according to my Invention and adapted to work at 120
revolutions per minute; Figure 1 shows the pedestal and driving gear
of the same.
The cast-iron stand or pedestal a carries the upright axis b, with a
bevilled wheel 6 upon it driven by another similar wheel c¹ on an axis c,
with a belt pulley upon it receiving a driving belt; d, d, are
arms jointed to the upper end of the axis b, this joint is shown at
Figure 1b, and portions of the arms are shewn separately at Figure 1°,
and Figure 1d; e is a sliding ring on the axis b, it is prevented from
turning on the axis by a key e¹ fixed in it, and which passes through
the slot 6' in the axis. The outer ends of the arms d and the slider e
are coupled together with links, intermediate of the length of which are
the governor balls. As represented in the Drawing the governor
balls ff, form portions of the links which are completed by means of
eyes g, g, and h, h, screwed into the balls; in some cases however the
links are each made in one piece and receive the balls f, f, upon them,
this however is a detail in the construction immaterial to the principle
of the Invention. Figure 1° shows one of the eyes h partly in section,
and Figure 1' shows a section of the joints connecting the sliding ring e
and the eyes h. The motion of the slider e is conveyed to the valve

page_text: or instrument to be operated upon as when ordinary governors are
used.
Figure 2 is a side view full size of a similar governor adapted to work
at 200 revolutions per minute; in this form hemispheres are employed in
place of balls; a is the pedestal up through which the vertical axis b
passes, it is driven in any convenient manner; d, d, are the arms, and e
the sliding ring as before; 9, 9, are eyes jointed to the arms d, and
forming part of the links between the arms and sliding ring, and the
hemispherical weights f,f, themselves serve to complete the links, being
jointed to the slider e by joints which are shown in section at Figure 2.
The points marked in the weights are their centres of gravity and
of the centrifugal forces; j is a lever which in any usual way conveys
the motion of the sliding ring e to the valve or instrument to be
acted on.
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 shew other forms which may be given to the
instrument.
Figure 3 shows a governor, the spindle is partly made hollow so that
it is kept up by an internal standard instead of a casting grasping it
externally.
Figure 4 shews a governor with the links or connections from the ball
to the arm and the slider cast in one piece with the ball.
Figure 5 shews a governor with a curved link connecting the arm and
the slider and the ball fixed on that link.
Figure 6 shews a governor where the connection between the arm and
the slider is made by a straight link and where the ball is fixed on the
straight line connecting the arm and the slider. This sort of governor
may also be made by screwing eyes into the ball.
The diagram Figure 7 illustrates the principle on which these
governors are constructed. The red line in this Figure and in some of
the other Figures going through the centre of the ball from a point c
where the centre line of the arm meets the horizontal line from the
point of connection on the slider, and intersecting the spindle in the
point a, shews the direction of a force that would have the same effect
on the ball as the arm and the slider with its connections have. The
point a must then be considered as the theoretical point of suspension
of the ball, and the vertical height a, f, between that point a and the
horizontal linc b, f, going through the ball is then the actual height of

page_text: pendulum for which the governor has been constructed, and the parts
should be so proportioned that this height shall remain the same at any
position of the ball. Then in such a governor the point of suspension
of the ball is raised exactly the same distance as the centre of the ball
is raised. When the weight instead of being a ball is a hemisphere or
of some other shape, then must the centre of the centrifugal forces be
substituted for the centre of gravity when the governor is designed.
In designing a governor to run at any speed which may be required
the engineer will construct a diagram such as that shewn at Figure 7,
drawing the spindle d, f, with at its upper end the joint d connecting
the spindle with the arm. He will then mark in any convenient place
(say at h) the lowest position of the joint connecting the slider and the
link, and he will also assume a convenient position for the point b
indicating the centre of gravity of the weight. The horizontal line b, f,
is then drawn and a, f, is made equal to the height of the pendulum
required for the governor which is being designed; the line a, b, is
drawn and is continued to c to meet the horizontal line h, c. A length
of arm d, e, is then assumed, and the line b, e, is drawn to complete the
link, the ball is now drawn in at its highest position and the figure is
completed to ascertain the height of pendulum; when the ball is thus
raised if it is equal to a, f, the assumed length of arm is correct, if not,
other positions of the point e as at e¹, e², &c., must be similarly tried.
Then the height will also be the same in all the points lying between,
and the centre of the ball will travel in a parabola. When the ball is
fixed on a straight link with the centre of the ball in the same centre line
as the points of connection with the arms and the slider, then the centre
of a ball will only travel approximately in a parabolic curve, and the
height of pendulum will differ at different points.
In witness whereof, I, the said Harold Wilhelm Widmark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this (15th) Fifteenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
H. WILH. WIDMARK (L.S.)