IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE
SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES."—A communication from abroad by Kellogg
Hubbard Loomis, of the City and State of New York, United States
of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lako
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st April 1874.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING
THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES," a communication, to be as follows:-
-
The said Invention rclates to apparatus chiefly designed to be applied
to the engines of steam ships for regulating their speed, and consists

page_text: partly in the combination of a governor with valves in the steam supply
pipe, and also in the exhaust pipe of the engine. By throttling the
exhaust of the engines of side whicel steamers I prevent the racing of
the engines when either of the wheels is partially out of the water.
The said apparatus is very simple, and will be found to perfectly
control the speed of the engines under all circumstances.
The said Invention is carried into practise as follows:-In the steam
pipe and also in the exhaust pipe of the engine I place a balanced valve
or other suitable valve, these valves being constructed and arranged to
open and close the said pipes by their adjustment.
I construct an improved governor, and arrango the same in combina-
tion with the said valves as follows:--In any convenient position near
the said pipes I arrange a chamber or vessel, which is filled with water
or other liquid. In this liquid a small propellor constructed with a
series of spiral blades is placed. The shaft of this propeller is connected
by suitable gearing with a friction wheel which has motion imparted to
it from the engine shaft. The chamber in which the propeller is enclosed
is square, and constructed with internal ribs to prevent the churning of
the liquid or its revolving in a body with the propeller, which would
then be ineffectivo.
The aforesaid valves have levers jointed to a rod, which has a fork
fitted to embrace a neck or double collar on the propeller shaft, or is
otherwise so connected with the said shaft as to move endwise with the
same without obstructing its rotativo movement. A spring is arranged
in combination with the said propeller shaft to depress the same against
the action of the propeller.
On tho
When the propeller shaft rises, as it will do, immediately there is tho
slightest acceleration of the speed of the engine, and consequently of
that of the propeller, the said valves will diminish the size of the
apertures or passages of the steam and exhaust pipes which they govern,
and will therefore prevent any injurious acceleration of speed.
other hand any diminution of the propeller's motion will give the pressure
of the spring a preponderance whereby the said valves are moved to
increase the opening of their apertures, and therefore permit the free
passage of the steam through the supply and exhaust pipes, and consc-
quently the proper speed of the engines is maintained.

page_text: Instead of using the above described propeller governor I may employ.
any suitable governor in combination with the aforesaid valves arranged
to control the steam supply and exhaust of the engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME; I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, 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,
uso, 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 THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES,"
a communication to me from abroad by Kellogg Hubbard Loomis,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake,
my exccutors 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 William Robert Lake, 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

page_text: construct an improved governor, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3,
Figure 2 being a vertical section of the same, and Figure 3 a plan of a
portion of the mechanism. In any convenient position I arrange a box
or vessel f, which is filled with water or other liquid. In this vessel I
place a small propeller g constructed with a series of spiral blades as
shown. The shaft h of this propeller is driven from the main shaft ▲ or
other working part of the engine. In the vessel fin which the propeller
is enclosed I form ribs i spirally or otherwise arranged to prevent the
churning of the liquid or its revolving in a body with the propeller in
the said chamber. A spring weight or other device is arranged in com-
bination with the said propeller shaft to depress the same against the
action of the propeller.
In the illustration of my improved governor given in the Drawing the
propeller g is fixed on a hollow or tubular shaft j, which surmounts the
shaft h within the chamber f. This tubular shaft has a long slot j', in
which works a feather on the inner shaft h, so that the said tubular
shaft, while rotating with the shaft h, is free to slide up and down
thereon. This tubular shaft is attached to the cross head k, which is
connected with the valve levers c¹, d', through the medium of the
rods l, m.
The shaft passes through this tubular shaft and cross head,
and through a tube n, which encloses a spiral spring o forming the
counteracting force to the propeller. This spring acts against a collar p
on the cross head, and against another collar q on the upper part of the
rod h, as shewn in Figure 2. The tension or pressure of the said spring
is regulated by the screw r on the end of the rod h, or by other suitable
means; but the construction and arrangement of the parts of this
improved governor may be greatly modified, if necessary, to adapt it, to
any particular circumstances connected with the engines or machinery
to be controlled or regulated.
When the propeller shaft rises, as it will do, immediately there is any
tendency to acceleration of the speed of the engine, and consequently
that of the propeller, the said valves will partially close and diminish the
size of the apertures or passage j of the steam and exhaust pipes in
which they are located, and will therefore prevent any injurious accele-
ration of speed. On the other hand any diminution of the propeller's
motion will give the pressure of the spring a preponderance whereby the
said valves are moved to increase the opening of their apertures, and
thereby permit the free passage of the steam through the supply and

page_text: exhaust pipes, and consequently the maintenance of the proper speed of
the engines will be insured.
Instead of using the above described propeller governor I may employ
any suitable governor which can be properly actuated by or from the
shaft or other working part of the engine to be controlled, and which is
connected with the aforesaid valves arranged in- the steam supply and
exhaust pipes of the engine, or with a valve in the said exhaust pipe
alone, as above specified.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to mo
by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same,
I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. In a marine or other steam engine a valve placed in the exhaust
pipe or passage, and controlled or operated by a governor whose action is
derived from the shaft or other working part of the same engine.
Second. In a marine or other engine a valve in the exhaust pipe con-
nected with a valve in the steam supply pipe, both of which valves are
controlled and operated by a governor, whose action is derived from the
shaft or other working part of the same engine.
Third. A governor or speed regulator, which has a screw or spiral
bladed propeller immersed and rotating in liquid, and so arranged in
relation to the other parts of the said governor that its rotation tends
always to raise it in the said liquid against the action of a spring or other
counteracting force.
Fourth. The propeller governor with the propeller enclosed in a box
or vessel containing liquid, and fixed on a hollow or tubular shaft which
rotates with and slides upon the propeller driving shaft, and which is
raised by the action of the said propeller when its speed increases, and
depressed by the action of the spring placed at the upper end of the said
shaft when the speed of the said propeller diminishes, as herein set forth
and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. Providing the said propeller governor with a screw or other
suitable means for adjusting or regulating the tension or pressure of the
said counteracting spring, as herein set forth.
Sixth. The combination of the said propeller governer with a valve in
the exhaust pipe of a steam engine, as herein set forth and for the purpose
specified.

page_text: Seventh. The combination of the said propeller governor with a valve
in the exhaust pipe, and another valve in the steam supply pipe of a
steam engine, as herein set forth and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)