IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE SPEED OF RAILWAY TRAINS AND OF MACHINERY IN GENERAL
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Simon, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in
"s
the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
INDICATING THE SPEED OF RAILWAY TRAINS AND OF MACHINERY IN GENERAL."
A communication from abroad by Adolf Klose, of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Sealed the 11th February 1879, and dated the 21st August 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Simon at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st August 1878.
HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE SPEED OF RAILWAY TRAINS AND OF
MACHINERY, IN GENERAL." [A communication from abroad by Adolf Klose, of
St. Gallen, Switzerland.]
According to the present Invention the centrifugal action produced by the rotation
of an astatically suspended body or system of bodies causes such body or bodies to
assume different positions corresponding with different speeds of rotation in oppo-
sition to the action of a spring, the movement of the body or bodies being imparted
to the index of a registering mechanism, so that the latter is made to indicate upon
a dial or to register upon paper the speed of the engine or machinery corresponding
with a certain position of the said body or bodies receiving motion therefrom.
For this purpose a disc is suspended by horizontal pivots to a vertical axis, to
which rotary motion is imparted by the locomotive engine or other machinery.
The one end of the disc is slotted, and within the slot is pivotted a link, the other
end of which is connected to a vertical rod in line with the before-mentioned
vertical axis of rotation. The pivots of the disc are so placed that the weight of
that part of the disc on the one side thereof balances the weight of the part on the
other side, plus the weight of the link. The rod to which the link is connected is
acted on by a spring so as to be drawn in an upward direction thereby in opposition
to the action of the centrifugal force, which tends to bring the disc in a horizontal
position, and so by means of the link to draw the rod downwards. The weight of

page_text: the link is so distributed that the pivot by which it is connected to the disc is in its
centre of gravity, and thus whatever position the disc with its link may assume
relatively to the axis of suspension the parts will always be in equilibrio. The
lower part of the vertical rod to which the link is connected is attached to the
upper part by a swivel joint, so that while the lower part is made to rotate with
the vertical axis at the same time that it is moved up and down by the disc and
spring, according as the parts revolve slower or faster, the upper part only partakes
of such up-and-down motion, which it imparts by a rack and pinion to a pointer
on a dial, or by a bell-crank lever to a style, which is made to move backwards and
forwards over a travelling strip of paper.
The before-mentioned link is connected. to one end of a radius rod, the other end
of which is connected to the vertical axis, the said radius rod being arranged in
such a position that it causes the end of the link which is connected to the vertical
rod always to move up and down in the line of the vertical axis. This axis is
formed as a frame or hollow casing to receive the above-described parts, below which
it has a toothed bevil wheel in gear with another wheel on an axis to which rotary
motion is imparted by the engine or machinery.
When the apparatus is applied to a locomotive engine this axis may conveniently
receive its motion by a slotted arm embracing an extension of the crank pin of the
driving wheel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Simon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th February
1879.
HENRY SIMON, of No. 7, St. Peter's Square, Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE SPEED OF RAILWAY TRAINS
AND OF MACHINERY IN GENERAL.” A communication from abroad by Adolf. Klose,
of St. Gallen, Switzerland.
According to the present Invention the centrifugal action produced by the rotation
of an astatically suspended body or system of bodies causes such body or bodies to
assume different positions corresponding with different speeds of rotation in oppo-
sition to the action of a spring, the movement of the body or bodies being imparted
to the index of a registering mechanism, so that the latter is made to indicate upon
a dial or to register upon paper the speed of the engine or machinery corresponding
with a certain position of the said body or bodies receiving motion therefrom.
For this purpose a disc is suspended by horizontal pivots to a vertical axis, to
which rotary motion is imparted by the locomotive engine or other machinery.
The one end of the disc is slotted, and within the slot is pivotted a link, the other
end of which is connected to a vertical rod in line with the before-mentioned
vertical axis of rotation. The pivots of the disc are so placed that the weight of
that part of the disc on the one side thereof balances the weight of the part on the
other side, plus the weight of the link. The rod to which the link is connected is
acted on by a spring so as to be drawn in an upward direction thereby in opposition
to the action of the centrifugal force, which tends to bring the disc in a horizontal
position, and so by means of the link to draw the rod downwards. The weight of
the link is so distributed that the pivot by which it is connected to the disc is in its
centre of gravity, and thus whatever position the disc with its link may assume
relatively to the axis of suspension the parts will always be in equilibrio. The
lower part of the vertical rod to which the link is connected is attached to the
upper part by a swivel joint, so that while the lower part is made to rotate with
the vertical axis at the same time that it is moved up and down by the disc and
spring, according as the parts revolve slower or faster, the upper part only partakes
of such up-and-down motion, which it imparts by a rack and pinion to a pointer on
a dial, or by a bell-crank lever to a style, which is made to move backwards and
forwards over a travelling strip of paper.
The before-mentioned link is connected to one end of a radius rod, the other end
of which is connected to the vertical axis, the said radius rod being arranged in
such a position that it causes the end of the link which is connected to the vertical
rod always to move up and down in the line of the vertical axis. This axis is
formed as a frame or hollow casing to receive the above-described parts, below which
it has a toothed bevil wheel in gear with another wheel on an axis to which rotary
motion is imparted by the engine or machinery.
When the apparatus is applied to a locomotive engine this axis may conveniently
receive its motion by a slotted arm embracing an extension of the crank pin of the
Fig. 1 shews a diagram of the above-described apparatus by which its action will
be readily understood.
The apparatus consists of a rotating axis x, x¹; an astatically suspended system
of bodies 8, 8, and 1, l'; and a spring f. 8, 8', is a disc or an annulus mounted on
centres at o¹, which are carried by the axis x, xl. It is slotted in a vertical plane
passing through the axis of rotation, and in the slot is mounted on an axis & the
bar or link 1,1, the end of which extends to the axis x, x¹, and is caused by a

page_text: radius rod g, e, attached thereto to move up and down in a line corresponding with
such axis. At a point m in the said axis x, x¹, the link is connected to a helical
spring surrounding the axis, so that this spring rotating with the bodies 1, 1, 8, 8¹,
round the axis x, x', maintains an equilibrium with the centrifugal forces acting on
the said bodies, at whatever speed they may revolve, by virtue of its becoming
more and more extended as the speed increases and the positions of the bodies
approximate to those shewn in the dotted lines.
It is essential for the proper working of the apparatus that the system of bodies
shall be perfectly astatical, so that no motion of the axis x, x¹, except its rotation,
shall have any influence on the same. This is obtained if the link l, l', is so formed
that the centres d on which is mounted coincide with its centre of gravity, and
by making the mass removed by slotting the disc such that its centrifugal mo-
mentum is exactly equal to the centrifugal momentum of the rod 1, l, substituted
for it.
In practical application the distances o¹, d, and d, l¹, are made equal, and the
angle formed by the disc 8, 8', with the vertical line when in a state of rest is made
such that in consequence of the forces acting thereon when the apparatus is in
motion the extension of the spring will be approximately uniform for and propor-
tional to equal increments in speed of revolution after a speed of about 50 revolutions
per minute has been attained, and consequently the point ', to which the rod
carrying the index or recording instrument is connected, will move through distances
approximately proportional to the speed of revolution, as indicated in the Figure.
Figs. 2 to 4 shew the construction of the above-described apparatus arranged to
rotate round a vertical axis, and Figs. 5 and 6 shew the apparatus arranged to
rotate round a horizontal axis.
Figs. 7 and 8 indicate the mode of adapting each description of apparatus to a
locomotive engine.
Figs. 2 and 4 shew vertical sections taken at right angles to each other, and Fig. 3
shews an elevation of the one apparatus; Fig. 5 shews a vertical section, and Fig. 6
an elevation at right angles thereto of the other apparatus.
.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar in parts in each of the Figures, and the
following description refers to both arrangements.
A pin Z is attached in any convenient manner to any rotating part of the engine
(such as the coupling rod of the wheels, as indicated) and the axis y, y¹, of the
apparatus is made to coincide with the centre, round which the pin Z rotates, the
axis being placed parallel with the driving axis of the engine. Rotary motion is
imparted to the axis y, y', by means of a slotted crank arm attached thereto and
embracing the pin Z. It carries a bevil toothed wheel Z¹ gearing with another
toothed wheel Z³ fixed on the axis of rotation x, x¹, of the apparatus. This axis is
mounted in a step bearing at its lower end, and is formed hollow, constituting a
chamber, within which the annular disc 8, 8², is pivotted at o¹, 0%. In the slot of the
disc is pivotted at d the link 1, P, which is also connected to the radius rod e
pivotted at g to the chamber, so that the end l' moves in the axial line I, x. To a
pin at is attached, firstly, the light rod P, h, and, secondly, the free end m of the
helical spring ff', the other end n of which is fixed in the hollow rotating axis x, x¹.
Thus the rotating parts consist of the disc 8, 81, the axis x, x¹, the rods 1, 1¹, and e, g,
the spring ff, and the rod l', h. The rod 1, h, is connected at h to an exten-
sion h, i, in such manner that the latter partakes of the up-and-down motion of the
former but not of the rotary motion thereof. The rod h, i, has a fork P which has
internal teeth on one side gearing with a wheel q, on the axis of which is an index r
moving round a transparent dial, which can be illuminated by a lamp, as shewn.
The dial may have divisions indicating both the number of revolutions and the
corresponding speed of the engine in miles per hour, or it may have any other
suitable divisions.
'
The recording of the speed is effected by the marking apparatus at N, which can
be readily removed from the other part of the apparatus. It consists mainly of a
clockwork mechanism a, which causes a cylinder 38 to revolve once in an hour. An

page_text: endless paper strip travels over the cylinders B1 and B2, and over the paper a
pencil is moved by the rod 1, h, in the following manner:-In the horizontal
arrangement of the apparatus the motion is effected directly by the rod I, h, and in
the vertical arrangement it is effected by the levers t¹, t², t³.
With the apparatus now in use the paper travels 1 millimetre (0-039 inches) per
minute, so that stoppages and the duration of the journeys can be measured directly
with a scale.
The only attention required by the apparatus is that the axes y, y¹, and x, x', should
be lubricated from time to time, and that the recording apparatus should be sup-
plied with paper.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which
it is to be performed, as cominunicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim,
First. The use for measuring the speed of railway trains or machinery of an
astatically suspended rotating body or system of bodies so arranged that whatever
position such body or system of.bodies is made to assume it is always in equilibrio,
while the motion resulting from its change of position due to the centrifugal
action is utilised for moving an index or recording style, substantially as herein.
described.
Second. The use for indicating the speed of railway trains or machinery of appa-
ratus wherein a disc suspended on centres in and revolving with an axis driven by
the engine is connected by a link pivotted in a slot in its periphery to a rod
actuating an index and also to a spring, in such manner that by the centrifugal
action upon the disc and its link the rod is made to actuate the index or recording
instrument, while the spring by its extension holds the forces acting on the disc and
its rod in balance, substantially as herein described with reference to the accom-
panying Drawings.
Third. In combination with apparatus constructed and operating as set forth in
the preceding claims, the use of a radius rod for guiding the free end of the rod
actuating the index in a straight line, so as to avoid the friction of fixed guides,
substantially as herein described.
Fourth. In combination with the apparatus constructed and operating as set forth
in the preceding claims, the use of a slotted crank arm for transmitting the motion
of a crank pin rotated by the engine or machine to the axis of the indicating
apparatus.
Fifth. The construction of speed indicating and recording apparatus herein
described, and shewn on the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Simon, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-nine.
HENRY SIMON. (L.S.)