IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL GOVERNORS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL GOVERNORS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Thomas Richard Pickering, of the City
and State of New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 20th March 1866, and dated the 12th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th October 1865.
1, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL GOVERNORS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to centrifugal governors in which the balls are
connected with the central spindle by means of springs connected at one
end with a head or collar which has no movement lengthwise of the spindle,
and at the other end with the sliding sleeve of the governor. It consists,.
firstly, in a novel construction of and mode of applying the springs,
whereby the requisite force to counteract in a desirable degree the centri-..
fugal force of the balls is combined with the requisite degree of flexibility;;
secondly, in an improved method of attaching the balls to the springs ;
and thirdly, in an improved construction of and mode of applying the guards.
by which the balls are prevented from flying out further than is desirable
from the axis of revolution. The springs which carry the balls are each,
composed of two or more leaves rigidly connected at their ends and

page_text: centres, and combined with sleeves through which the central shaft passes.
The centrifugal balls are centrally divided into two parts, one of which is
grooved to fit the spring, and the two parts are secured together and made
to clamp the several leaves of the spring by means of a central screw.
The guards attached to the balls consist of forked-shaped rods, which pass
round the central spindle and thereby prevent the balls from expanding
beyond the proper point.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th April 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex; Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that
I, the said William Edward Newton, my exécutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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
CENTRIFUGAL GOVERNORS," being a communication to me from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Willliam Edward Newton,
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 William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): -
This Invention relates to centrifugal governors in which the balls are
connected with the central spindle by means of springs connected at- one
end with a head or collar which has no movement lengthwise of the
spindle, and at the other end with the sliding sleeve of the governor. It
consists, firstly, in a novel construction of and mode of applying the springs,
whereby the requisite force to counteract in a desirable degree the centri-
fugal force of the balls is combined with the requisite degree of flexibility;
secondly, in an improved method of attaching the balls to the springs; and
thirdly, in an improved construction of and mode of applying the guards by
which the balls are prevented from flying out further than is desirable from
the axis of revolution.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an axial section of a governor
embodying the improvements above mentioned; Fig. 2 is a transverse
section of the same in the plane indicated by the line x, x, in Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same in the plane indicated by the
Y, Y, in Fig. 1.
line
A is the central spindle of the governor; S, S, are the springs, and I, I,
the balls. The central spindle A is hollow and rigidly secured in a base
B, which is fastened to any suitable fixed support; D is a sleeve fitted to
the lower part of the spindle A in such manner as to be free to revolve
upon it, but confined in a direction lengthwise of the spindle between the
bottom of an oil cup a formed in the base B, and the bottom of a collar b,
which is secured to the spindle by a set screw c; C is a sleeve fitted to the
upper part of the spindle A in such manner as to be capable of revolving
freely and moving lengthwise upon the said spindle; E is a collar screwed
on to a screw thread d cut on the exterior of the lower sleeve D and up
against a shoulder e on the sleeve, and secured firmly against the shoulder.
by means of the bevel wheel F, which gears with a bevel wheel F on the
driving shaft F. The bevel wheel Fis also screwed on to the thread d and
serves as a jam nut. To the collar E the lower ends of the springs S, S,
are attached; G is a collar screwed on to a screw thread f on the exterior
of the upper sleeve C and against a shoulder g on the sleeve, and firmly
secured against the shoulder by a cap nut h screwed on to the thread f
To this collar G the upper ends of the springs S, S, are attached. The
springs and balls are supported by the collar E, and the springs support
the upper collar G and sleeve C and connect them with the lower collar
and sleeve so that the two collars and the springs and balls all revolve

page_text: together. The sleeve C is to be connected with the rod v, which operates
the regulating valve by means of the nut or otherwise. The rod v is:
represented as passing through the hollow spindle A. The movement
of the balls from and toward the spindle A or axis of revolution of the
governor, and consequent flexure and extension of the springs produced
by the variations of centrifugal force consequent upon variations in:
the speed of the governor, produce a longitudinal movement of the sleeve
C upon the spindle, and so effect the necessary movements of the regulating
valve. The springs S, S, are composed of strips of steel plate, each spring
consisting of two or more strips or leaves placed close together and firmly
connected both at their ends where they are attached to the collars E.
and G, and at their connection with the balls I, I. The terminal portions'
of the springs are fitted snugly into grooves i, i (Fig 3), cut in the
peripheries of the collars E and G, parallel with the axis thereof, and
secured by screws j, j, inserted. through holes in the springs and
screwed into tapped holes in the collars. Rings J, J, of brass or iron are
then driven tightly on over the peripheries of the collars E and G, the
rings having recesses k, k, in their interiors opposite to the heads of the
screws j, j, and lead, solder or other soft metal or alloy p is forced into
the grooves i, i, and this filling up of the grooves and recesses k, k, serves
both to prevent the screws from working loose, and to secure the rings
J, J, firmly in place. The balls I, I, are each divided in a central plane
into two equal parts l, m, the inner parts being grooved vertically, as
parts
shown at n, n, in Fig. 2, for the reception of the springs. These
have firmly secured in them central screw studs o which pass through
holes drilled through the springs at the middle of their length, and the
outer parts m, which are drilled and tapped to fit these screw studs, are
screwed thereon close up to the springs, which are thereby clamped firmly
between the two parts and m of the balls. The springs S, S, being thus
clamped at their ends and at the middle of their length, have their terminal
and central portions always kept straight and parallel with the axis of the
governor, whatever their degree of flexure, and in their flexure two curves
are formed between their straight central and terminal portions, the inward
curvature next the straight terminal portion of the outer leaf of each spring
being of less radius than the corresponding curvature of the corresponding
portion of the inner leaf, and the outward curvature next the central
straight portion of the outer leaf being of greater radius than the corres-
ponding portion of the inner leaf, and the differences of the curvatures
of the leaves of each spring thus compensating for each other and obviating

page_text: the buckling of the leaves, which remain in close contact with each other
through their whole length under all circumstances, notwithstanding that
no play is left at the ends of the leaves, as in elliptic and other springs
composed of two or more leaves. By thus making the springs of two or
more leaves. they can be made of the requisite strength without impairing
the flexibility or rendering them so liable to break as a spring with a single
leaf of the requisite thickness; for, while the strength of the several leaves
is combined, each will bend as easily as if it were used singly. L, L, are
the guards by which the balls are prevented from flying out beyond the
position necessary to produce the extreme closing movement of the valve
and so straining the springs unnecessarily. These guards, which are
attached to the balls themselves, are composed each of a loop of stout wire
of suitable length and width passing around the spindle A, as shown in
Fig. 2, and having its ends inserted into and rivetted in holes in the inner
halves of the balls.
Having now described the Invention, which has been communicated to
me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,
First, the use of the springs S, S, composed each of two or more leaves
rigidly connected at their_ends_and_centres,-and-combined-with-the-sleeves
E and G, as herein specified.
Second, the use of the balls I, I, centrally divided into two parts, one
of which is grooved to fit the spring, and the two parts being secured
together and made to clamp the several leaves of the spring by means of a
central screw o, as herein specified.
Third, I claim the guards L, L, constructed and attached to the balls,
and operating in combination with the central spindle, as herein
described.
In witness whereof I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the 11th day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)