IMPROVEMENTS IN MARINE ENGINE GOVERNORS.
Year: 1874

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 MARINE ENGINE GOVERNORS.".
A communication from abroad by Edward Thomas Jenkins, of
Williamsburg, in the City of Brooklyn, and State of New York,
United States of America.
Sealed the 16th April 1875, and dated the 19th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th October 1874.
I, 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 MARINE ENGINE
GOVERNORS," to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to that class of marine engine governors in
which a pendent weight or pendulum having its action controlled by the
motion of the vessel is made to regulate the supply of steam to the

page_text: engine in accordance with the varied immersion of the propeller or
resistance required to operate it. The Invention has not only this
general object in view in a more perfect manner than has heretofore
been attained, but it is made by the motion of the vessel to anticipate
the requirements of the engine to the varied immersion or exposure of
the propeller. To these ends the Invention consists in a combination
with the pendent weight or pendulum and levers or devices for actuating
the throttle or other valve by which the supply of steam is regulated to
the engine of a trip mechanism, which is controlled by the pendulum,
and not only insures a gradual action of the valve to increase or
diminish the supply of steam in accordance with the varying immersion
of the propeller, but so that the valve has an abrupt closing action at
intervals to shut off steam in advance of the propellers leaving the water
as the vessel is about to pass over the crest of a wave, and so that there
is an adequate supply of steam when the vessel is rising from the trough 1
of the sea.
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 19th April 1875.
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 Nineteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth 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 executors, adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 MARINE ENGINE GOVERNORS," being a communication to
me from abroad by Edward Thomas Jenkins, of Williamsburg, in the
Oity of Brooklyn, and State of New York, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William 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 following statement, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say) :—
This Invention relates to that class of marine engine governors in
which a pendent weight or pendulum, having its action controlled by the
motion of the vessel, is made to regulate the supply of steam to the
engine in accordance with the varied immersion of the propeler or
resistance required to operate it. The Invention has not only this
general object in view in a more perfect manner than has heretofore
been attained, but it is made (by the motion of the vessel) to anticipate
the requirements of the engine to the varied immersion or exposure of
the propeller. To these ends the Invention consists in a combination
with the pendent weight or pendulum and levers or dovices for actuating
the throttle or other valve by which the supply of steam is regulated to
the engine of a trip mechanism, which is controlled by the pendulum,
and not only insures a gradual action of the valve so as to increase or
diminish the supply of steam in accordance with the varying immersion
of the propeller, but so that the valve has an abrupt closing action at
intervals to shut off steam in advance of the propellers leaving the water
as the vessel is about to pass over the crest of a wave, and so that there
is an adequate supply of steam when the vessel is rising from the trough
of the sea.

page_text: The same governor, or an independent governor of similar con-
struction, may also be made to control the supply of injection water to
the engine when the latter is a condensing one.
In the accompanying Drawing Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent side
elevations of the governor in different working positions, the arrows a
indicating the forward motion of the vessel, and Figures 2, 3, and 4
showing one of the guide plates carried by the pendulum removed;
Fig. 5 is a central transverse vertical section, with the parts in the
position represented in Fig. 2.
A is the pendent weight or pendulum having its centre of motion at 6
in a fixed portion B of the frame of the vessel. Attached to the bar of
the pendulum, at any desired distance below the centre of motion b, is
an inclined guide consisting of plates C, C, the upper edges c, c, of
which form the inclined guiding surfaces to gradually open the
valve D in the steam pipe S (when the vessel is crossing and descending
a wave) by the action of the inclined guide C, C, (as shewn by dotted
lines in Fig. 3, and by full lincs in Fig. 1) on a roller d carried by a
lever E having its fulcrum at e. This lever E is connected by a rod f
with the lever g, by which the valve D in the steam pipe is actuated.
Arranged within the plates of the guides C, C, and pivotted thereto
at h, is a cam G, forming when thrown or held up at its forward end (as
shewn in Figures 2 and 4) an upper guide to gradually open the valve D
(as the vessel is rising on a wave) by the action of the cam when raised
on the roller d. The cam G is raised during the dip of the vessel as it
completes its descent of the wave by a hooked rear end of the cam !
striking the roller d, as represented in Fig. 4. This action allows of a
weighted detent or catch H falling into position, as shewn in Figures 2
and 4, so as to lock or hold the cam G, so that the latter becomes the
acting surface or incline on the roller d when the vessel is rising on the
wave, and until the roller d is struck by coming in contact with an upper
or hooked end of the catch H, as shewn in Fig. 3, and which imme-
diately allows of the cam G dropping on to a spring cushion i, and into
the position represented by dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby causing
the valve, by the weight of the lever E or other self-acting means, to
close, and so that when the vessel dips again the roller d by its outside
flanges runs on the inclined guide C, C, or rather the latter by means of
the pendulum then acts on the roller to gradually open the valve until
the cam G is again raised by the roller & coming in contact with the

page_text: hooked rear end of the pivotted cam G. By this combination and
arrangement of parts while the vessel is rising from the trough of the
sea to the crest of a wave the valve D continues opening by the action
of the cam G on the roller d from, say, more than one half to a full
head of steam, and just before the vessel begins to turn from a rising to
a dipping motion and to cross the wave, the roller d, by striking the
upper end of the catch H, trips the governor by releasing the cam G,
thereby allowing the latter to drop and shut off the steam in advance of
the propellers coming out of the water. This brings the roller d down
on to the guide C, C, and as the vessel crosses the wave the valve opens
gradually to about half a head of steam (more or less) by the action of
the guide C, C, due to the changed relative position of the pendulum on
the roller d, and continues to open as the vessel dips or passes to and
ascends the next wave, the cam G acting on the wave during the rising
1 of the vessel, as herein-before described, and till she is about to again
cross over the crest of the next wave. When or immediately before
this happens the governor is again tripped and the valve closed. The
gradual opening of the valve is regulated by the curvature or inclination
of the guide C, C, and the cam G. This description of parts applies to
1 vessels having screw propellers at the stern.
1
The same combination or arrangement of devices when suitably
modified or arranged may be applied to side wheel steamers, the parts
being so timed, shaped, or pitched as to give a full supply of steam
when the vessel is rising and crossing a wave, and to partially shut off
the steam when she is descending and passing through the trough of the
sea, opening the valve again as she rises, and continuing to open it as
she crosses the wave, but tripping and closing the valve as she commences
to descend.
To prevent any undue restraint on the governor by the rolling action
of the vessel friction rollers or guides may be applied to the pendulum.
The same governor may also be made to control the injection cock
or valve of the engine when the latter is a condensing one, or an
independent governor of similar construction may be used for such
purpose.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to

page_text: carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid,-
First. The combination with the pendulum or pendent weight and
valve (by which the supply of steam to the engine is controlled) of a
tripping attachment applied to the pendulum for operating on the valve
mechanism, as herein set forth, so that the valve is gradually opened and
suddenly closed in anticipation of the requirements of the engine due to
the varied immersion or exposure of the propeller.
Second. The combination with the pendulum A of the attached
incline C, O, the pivotted cam G, the catch H, and the valve lever E
with its attachment or roller d, essentially as and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 1
five.