A NEW OR IMPROVED SPRING REGULATOR APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A PRESSURE GAUGE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julien François Belleville, Engineer, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED SPRING
REGULATOR APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES, ALSO APPLICABLE
AS A PRESSURE GAUGE."
Sealed the 3rd May 1867, and dated the 14th November 1866.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Julien François Belleville
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition and.
Declaration, on the 14th November 1866, pursuant to the 9th Sectioni
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIEN
FRANÇOIS BELLEVILLE, Engineer, of Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED SPRING
REGULATOR APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL PURPOSES, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A
PRESSURE GAUGE," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon, that is to say :—
My Invention has for its object the construction of an apparatus composed
of discs of a truncated, conical, or concave form (similar to those described in
the Specification to certain Letters Patent granted to me and bearing date

page_text: the 14 March 1866, No. 763,) connected together in pairs, of which
successively the inner and outer edges are in contact with each other, so as to
form between them an enclosed compressible and water-tight space or
chamber capable of bearing very considerable pressure, so that the exterior
and interior surfaces of such chamber or hollow spring can at the same time 5
be exposed to very different pressures. Such apparatus is applicable in all
cases where it is required to transmit by the agency of fluids or gases a con-
stant or intermittent force of very regular action and without loss by friction,
and also where it is requisite after having transmitted the force that the
agent by which it was transmitted should return automatically into its 1
original position.
This apparatus is particularly applicable as a bydraulic or gaseous regulator
to all prime movers actuated by fluids or gases, such as steam engines, water
wheels, turbines, and other prime movers. It has a very regular and powerful
action as a hydraulic or gaseous brake; also it possesses considerable power 1
and can be made to act rapidly through considerable distances.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a section of a number of the discs detached from the
apparatus; Figure 2 shows a plan of the same; Figure 3 shows a vertical
section of the apparatus, and Figure 4 shows a plan of the same with the a
cover of the casing removed. Similar letters of reference indicate similar
parts in each of the Figures.
A, A, are metallic discs of a conical or concave form (but by preference
conical) placed together in pairs, one above the other; these discs have a
hole through the centre, and may in certain cases simply be placed upon 2
each other so that the inher and outer edges touch, washers B of textile
fabric, india-rubber, leather, or any other substance capable of forming a
fluid or gas tight joint being interposed between the meeting surfaces. Such
mode of connection by simple contact.is only applicable when the apparatus,
being.compressed by the application of an external weight, is only required to a
produce an effect by reaction, such as for instance in regulating a chimney
valve or damper. In cases where the apparatus experiences a resistance to
compression, as, for instance, when applied as the regulator of a steam or
hydraulic engine, it is necessary that the discs should be rivetted or bolted
together at their inner circumferences, as shown at Figures 1 and 2, and even s
at their outer circumferences when the resistance of the power to be regulated
may exceptionally become greater than the total effort of the pressure
exerted upon the surface of one disc. In such cases also washers of a suitable

page_text: material, as before described, are placed between the surfaces that are rivetted
together.
The discs A, of which the number, diameter, and thickness may be
varied according to the total power or resistance required to be obtained
from the apparatus, have a spindle. or rod. C passing through them, which rod
is fixed at one end, either. to the end disc or to a plate C. which takes the
place of the end disc. The other end disc presses against the cover D of the
casing F, with which it is made to form the requisite.fluid or gas tight joint
by the pressure exerted by the screw nut E upon the rod C, which nut is
screwed I up just sufficiently for all the discs. to be compressed slightly one
against the other, so as to obtain hermetic joints. The rod C passes through
the cover D, sufficiently easy so prevent all friction, so that the inner surface
of the spring is in constant communication with the external atmosphere, and
is therefore only subjected to atmospheric pressure; this spring with its fluid
or gas-tight space having been thus fixed to the cover D, either simply by
compression or by the aid of bolts, as may be required, the cover D is bolted
on to the cylindrical casing F, with which it is made to form a perfectly fluid
or gas tight joint..
:
Operation of the Apparatus.-The apparatus having been fixed together as
just described, the end C of the rod C is first put in communication, either
directly or, by means of links; levers, rods, wheels, or chains, according to the
nature and requirements of the case, with the engine or apparatus requiring to
be regulated, controlled, or compressed.
Secondly, the pipe at G or at any other part of the casing F is put in
communication with the apparatus, whether this be a pump, a steam boiler,
or a reservoir of any description which is destined to transmit by the agency
of a fluid a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere. Such pressure.in
acting in the cylinder F, and upon the external surfaces of the discs of the
spring A; will compress the latter, and will cause the rod C to move out through
the cover D to an extent corresponding with the degree to which the spring
has been compressed by the action of the said pressure.
When the spring
with fluid or gas tight space is employed as a regulator of the power and
speed of motive-power engines, the pipe G of the casing F. or any other
internal points of the casing is put in communication with a separate bydraulic
or air pump worked by the engine itself. To the outside of the casing. Fis
fixed a discharge cock or valve N for regulating purposes, which is more or
less opened or closed, so as to let a greater or less quantity of the fluid or
gas pumped in escape, according as the speed of the engine requires to be
diminished or increased. If from any circumstance the speed of the engine
.
.

page_text: should increase when it is at work the quantity of fluid forced in by the pump
during a given time will be increased beyond that which is capable of being
discharged by the cock or valve N during the same time at the normal speed
of the engine, and in consequence a compression of the spring will be effected,
whereby the rod C will be made to act in a corresponding manner, either
upon the throttle valve or the expansion gear if the engine is worked by
steam, or upon the sluice valve if it is worked by hydraulic power. By this
means it will be seen that the speed of the engine can be regulated by opening
the cock or valve N more or less. When the said spring is intended to
regulate the pressure of steam in a steam boiler the interior of the case F is
put in communication with the boiler and the rod C with the damper or
chimney valve by means of levers and chains, if necessary to increase the
motion. The motion of the spring is transmitted in such a manner that
according as the pressure of the steam increases in the boiler the spring in
being compressed closes the damper more and more, while if the pressure in
the boiler decreases the reaction of the spring opens the damper in a cor-
responding manner. The powerful action of the spring with fluid or gas-
tight space cannot be irregular or variable, as there is no friction to be over-
come in the apparatus. The said spring should for most purposes be made
of metal, but in certain applications it can be made of various animal or
vegetable substances, either alone or in combination with metal or with metal
springs; thus, for example, a spring with fluid or gas-tight compartment
could be formed of discs of india-rubber arranged similarly to those of buffer
springs for railway carriages.
The form, arrangement, and proportions, as also the modes of attachment
or connection of the various parts of such before-described springs with fluid
or gas tight space may be variously modified, as also the action of the
apparatus; thus, for instance, the spring could be so arranged that contrary to
what has been described above the external surface of the spring is in contact
with the atmosphere and the interior thereof in communication with the fluid
and
Igas under pressure, in which case the spring would be composed of more
or less flat discs rivetted together as described, and of which the extent of
motion would be limited by a stop, so as not to be extended by the pressure
beyond the elastic limits of the spring.
It will be evident that the said spring may also be readily employed as a
pressure gauge or indicator; by connecting the end of the rod C to the pointer
of a graduated scale or dial, or by attaching thereto an instrument for
marking upon paper or other material the motion of the spring as the
pressure increases or decreases.

page_text: Having now described the nature of this Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I claim,―
First, the construction and employment of the before-described regulating
spring with fluid or gas tight space formed by a series of concave or conical
discs..
Second, I claim the application of the said spring as a transmitter of power,
as, for instance, as a hydraulic brake.
Third, I claim the application of the said spring as a regulator of power, as,
for instance, for regulating the power and speed of steam engines, hydraulic
engines, and other prime movers.
Fourth, I claim the application of the said spring as a regulator by power,
as, for instance, for controlling the dampers of chimneys, the escape pipes of
locomotives, so as to regulate the draught according to the pressure and for
other similar purposes.
Fifth, I claim the application of the said spring as a pressure gauge or
indicator.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julien François Belleville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
Boulev. de Strasbourg, 23,
Paris.
J. F. BELLEVILLE. (L.S.)