IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in
the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES."-A communication
from abroad by Caldwell Colberson Jenkins and Frederick Jumelle, both
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
August 1862.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM ENGINES," (being a
communication. to me from abroad by Caldwell Colberson Jenkins and
Frederick Jumelle, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in combining a spring with a governor spindle and.
rods so arranged as to form a knee joint, substantially in the manner herein-
after described, so that the force applied to overcome the rigidity of the spring

page_text: may be transmitted through a leverage constantly increasing as the resistance
of the spring increases, thereby equalizing the action of the said spring, a
desirable object to be attained under certain circumstances, as herein-after
described.
The weighted arms of the governor are hung to the top of the spindle
in the usual manner. To the weights of the arms are jointed the upper ends
of rods, the lower ends of the latter being connected to a sleeve, which is
fitted snugly to, but arranged to slide freely on the spindle. A spring is con-
nected at a point midway between its opposite ends to the spindle by means
of nuts which are adapted to the screwed portion of the said spindle.
To one end of the spring is jointed a rod, and to the opposite end a similar
rod, each rod being connected to a coupling by means of a nut, one of these
couplings being connected to a lug on one side and the other to a lug on the
opposite side of the upper end of the sleeve; the lower end of the latter has
a recess for receiving the end of the usual governor lever through which the
movement of the sleeve is communicated to the throttle valve of the steam
engine. This recess being formed by two collars, one of which is fast to the
sleeve, the other being screwed on to the same, as is also a nut, the striking
of which against a nut screwed on the spindle limits the downward movement
of the sleeve, and consequently the inward movement of the weights.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George Davies, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Davies, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GOVERNORS FOR
STEAM ENGINES," a communication to me from abroad by Caldwell Col-
berson Jenkins and Frederick Jumelle, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davies, 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 state-
ment in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is to
say:
This Invention consists in combining a spring with a governor spindle and
rods so ȧrranged as to form a knee joint, substantially in the manner herein-
after described, so that the force applied to overcome the rigidity of the spring
may be transmitted through a leverage constantly increasing as the resistance
of the spring increases, thereby equalizing the action of the said spring, a
desirable object to be attained, under certain circumstances, as herein-after
described.
The weighted arms of the governor are hung to the top of the spindle in
the usual manner. To the weights of the arms are jointed the upper ends of
rods, the lower ends of the latter being connected to a sleeve which is fitted
snugly to but arranged to slide freely on the spindle. A spring is connected
at a point midway between its opposite ends to the spindle by means of nuts,
which are adapted to the screwed portion of the said spindle.
To one end of the spring is jointed a rod, and to the opposite end a similar
rod, each rod being connected to a coupling by means of a nut, one of these
couplings being connected to a lug on one side, and the other to a lug on the
opposite side of the upper end of the sleeve. The lower end of the latter has
a recess for receiving the end of the usual governor lever, through which the
movement of the sleeve is communicated to the throttle valve of the steam
engine. This recess being formed by two collars, one of which is fast to the
sleeve, the other being screwed on to the same, as is also a nut, the striking
of which against a nut screwed on the spindle limits the downward movement
of the sleeve, and consequently the inward movement of the weights.

page_text: Such being the nature of the said Invention for "Improvements in Governors
for Steam Engines," I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly understood, I have
annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked
the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in the
following explanation thereof, that is to say, Figures 1 and 2 illustrate this
Invention as applied to a governor for steam engines, and Figure 3 is a
sectional view of parts of Figures 1 and 2.
On reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3, A represents the spindle of the
governor, and B and B', the weighted arms hung to the top of the spindle in the
usual manner. To the weights a, a, of the arms B and B¹ are jointed
the upper ends of the rods C and C³, the lower ends of the latter being con-
nected to the sleeve D, which is fitted snugly to, but arranged to slide freely
on the spindle A; E is a spring connected at a point midway between its
opposite ends to the spindle A by means of nuts b and c, which are adapted to
the screwed portion of the said spindle.
The lower end
governor lever,
To one end of the spring is jointed a rod F, and to the opposite end a
similar rod F¹, each rod being connected to a coupling G by means of a nut d
one of these couplings being connected to a lug on one side, and the other to
a lug on the opposite side of the upper end of the sleeve D.
of the latter has a recess h for receiving the end of the usual
through which the movement of the sleeve is communicated to the throttle
valve of the steam engine. This recess being formed by the collars i and j,
the former of which is fast to the sleeve, the latter being screwed on to the
same, as is also the nut k, the striking of which against the nut m limits the
downward movement of the sleeve, and consequently the inward movement of
the weights, the nut m screwing on to the spindle A.
On reference to Figure 1, the sleeve D is illustrated as depressed to the
limit of its downward movement as regulated by this nut. As the governor
revolves the weighted arms will fly out, and the sleeve will rise to an extent
regulated by the speed of the governor and the rigidity of the spring E.
Now, supposing this spring acted directly on the sleeve without the inter-
vention of the rods F and F, it will be evident that the higher the sleeve
rises, through the centrifugal force of the weights, the greater will be the
opposing force presented by the increased rigidity of the spring as the opposite
ends of the latter are raised, consequently the governor will be irregular in its
movement, the irregularity being in proportion to the difference in the
rigidity of the spring as the ends of the latter are raised. By connecting the

page_text: spring to the sleeve by means of the rods F and F¹, however, the case is
different, as they form with the sleeve and spring the well-known knee joint,
so that as the sleeve is raised it acts on the spring through a constant
leverage, gradually increasing as the sleeve rises, and as the rigidity of the
spring increases. Thus, in Figure 1, where the sleeve is depressed to the limit
of its downward movement, the force applied by the revolving balls tending to
raise the ends of the spring, will be applied through a leverage equivalent to
that represented by the red lines y and y', the former representing the long
arm of the lever acted upon by the sleeve, and the latter the short arm acting
on the spring, and the point a being the fulcrum of the lever. As the sleeve
rises the long arm of the lever becomes gradually longer and the short arm
shorter, so that by the time the sleeve has arrived at the position shown in
Figure 2, the leverage on the spring will have been increased to the pro-
portion represented by the red lines in that Figure.
It will be evident, without further description, that by transmitting the
force imparted to the sleeve by the action of the revolving weights to the
spring E through the medium of a knee joint, the increasing rigidity of
the spring, as its opposite ends are raised, is counteracted by an increased
force applied to raise the said ends, and consequently that the action of the
governor is uniform throughout.
66
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
Improvements in Governors for Steam Engines," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as the Invention commu-
cated to me by the aforesaid Caldwell Colberson Jenkins and Frederick
Jumelle, combining a spring with the governor spindle A and rods F and F¹,
so arranged as to form a knee joint, substantially as and for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)