Year: 1886

page_text: We, OTWAY EDWARD WOODHOUSE, and FREDERICK LAWRENCE RAWSON, both
of No. 11 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, Electrical Engineera, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in the governing apparatus of steam, gas,
or other engines, or prime movers, and consists in the application thereto and com-
bination therewith of au electrical device, operated by variations in the electro
motive force or strength of an electrical current, which shall control the mechanical
action of the governor; either by increasing or decreasing the pressure of a spring
or weight acting against the rise of the governor balls, or by altering the relative
positions of the governor sleeve and the throttle valve, or of the governor sleeve
and such device as may be used from the governor to vary the expansion gear.
To carry out our invention, we use any suitable known mechanical governor,
such as a centrifugal governor which is provided with a central spring or weight,
or other similar resistance, reacting against the tendency to rise of the governor
balls, and we automatically lighten or increase the reacting pressure of such spring,
weight, or other resistance, acting against the tendency to rise of the said governor
balls, caused by centrifugal force, as hereinafter more fully described. The effect
of thus altering the reacting pressure of the said spring or weight on a centrifugal
governor, is to cause a change in the height of the plane of revolution of the balls
of the governor and therefore in the position of the throttle valve or expansion
gear of the engine without change of speed.
Or we may alter the length of the connecting rod or lever between the governor
sleeve and the throttle valve or expansion gear of the engine, so changing the
position of the latter, with regard to the governor sleeve, without altering the
plane of revolution of the governor balls.
In all of these arrangements the amount of motive fluid supplied to the engine
can be regulated; without the change of speed that is necessary when the engine is
only controlled by the ordinary centrifugal governor. This regulation is effected
by our electrical control (operated by a change in the electro-motive force or current
in a working circuit, supplied from a generator driven by the engine to be con-
trolled and formed in any known manner hereinafter more fully specified) and it is
evident that our arrangement will operate a throttle valve or vary the cut off of
the motive Huid by an expansion valve, in any of the known methods of such

page_text: devices where controlled by a governor just as if the engine itself had decreased or
accelerated its speed.
A decreased or increased supply of the motive fluid will be therefore admitted
to the cylinder of the steam, or gas engine, or other prime mover, and the speed of
the said prime mover will be correspondingly increased or decreased, so as to
counteract and annul the, rise or fall of electro motive force or strength of the
current in the working circuit.
During such variations in the pressure of the central spring or weight or in the
relative position of the valves and the centrifugal governor, the latter will still
continue to control the speed of the prime mover, rendering it uniform for the time
being, to suit the modification in the adjustment of the governor or attachments
produced by the electrical controlling device.
1
It is evident that a variety of equivalent electrical devices may be employed, to
produce the hereinbefore described regulation which shall be operated by variations
in the electro-motive force or strength of current in a circuit, without departing
from the principle of our invention; but we will herewith describe a known form
of electrical device, which will answer the purpose in combination with and applied
to, a centrifugal or other mechanical governor, according to our invention.
We may place a solenoid in the electrical circuit or in a shunt from it, the core
of the said solenoid being held against the attraction of the solenoid, by a spiral
spring capable of adjustment. To the core of the solenoid may be attached an arın,
which, moving with the said core, may make electrical contact in either of two
alternative directions, thus causing an auxiliary or shunt current to travel in either
one of two alternative circuits, so as to operate or set in action mechanical gear,
capable of altering the pressure of the spring or weight upon the centrifugal
governor or making other equivalent change in the attachments of the governor.
This mechanical gear may be conveniently of the following known type.
Upon the axis of a screw, revolving in a fixed tapped nut or bearing, are fitted
two ratchet wheels, with their teeth arranged for opposite directions of feed, and
upon the face of these ratchet wheels may lie two pawls at opposite extremities of
a T lever, capable of rocking round the centre of the said wheels. This T lever
may be caused to constantly reciprocate by an eccentric from the crank shaft of
the engine, or prime mover, and would thus, when the pawls are in gear upon their
respective ratchet wheels, cause a feed in opposite directions, backwards and
forwards. The pawls however at the extremities of this T lever are kept normally
out of gear with the ratchet wheels, by suitable springs, and at the same time the
said pawls form, or are connected to, armatures of electro magnets on the extre-
mities of the said T lever; each of the said electro magnets being operated by one
of the aforesaid alternative currents, set in operation by the movement of the core
of the aforesaid solenoid, consequent upon variations in the electro motive force or
strength of the electrical current in the main circuit.
The action of the electro maguets is to draw one of the pawls into gear upon its
respective ratchet wheel, and thus to cause the reciprocating movement of the
Tlever to give a feed and consequent rotation of the screwed spindle in one
direction or the other.
The rotation thus produced of the screwed spindle, causes itself to advance or
retire if working in the fixed nut; or, vice versa, a fixed nut to retire or advance
upon the screw, if the latter is carried in fixed smooth bearings. The traverse
thus produced either of the nut or the screw spindle may be utilised by a simple
system of levers, to increase or decrease the pressure of the spring or weight,
reacting against the rise of the balls of a centrifugal governor or to produce other
similar change in a centrifugal governor.
The alteration herein before described in the length of the connecting rods or
- levers between the governor and the valves may conveniently be effected by
dividing the rod and threading the ends so produced with a right-hand and a left
hand screw thread respectively. This divided rod is joined by a long nut tapped
at one end with a right hand, and at the other with a left hand thread; the result

page_text: being that when the nut is turned in one direction, the divided ends of the rod are
pushed further apart, and in the other direction drawn closer together, so producing
the desired changes in length. The two ratchet wheels driven by the magnetically
actuated pawls on the rocking T lever, would in this case turn on smooth bearings,
and have a pulley attached to them, which can be connected in any suitable
manner to a pulley on the nut joining the divided ends of the connecting rod.
Another method of effecting the same object is to cause the solenoid, which is a
measurer of the electro motive force, or of the current, to actuate by means of
a relay.
A clutch alternately engages one or the other of a pair of bevil, or mitre wheels,
or the equivalents, both of which wheels gear into another wheel fitted on the
screw which controls the governor spring; thus when the electro motive force, or
current rises too high, the clutch engages with one wheel, and slackens the spring;
when on the other hand it falls too low, the clutch engages with the other wheel,
and the spring is tightened up, the other arrangement hereinbefore described being
similarly actuated.
While the electro motive force or current remains at the determined point, the
clutch remains out of gear with either of the wheels, and the springs remain
stationary.
Instead of bevil or mitre wheels, a sleeve with two discs on it may be employed,
and the action of the relay is to bring the discs alternately into gear with a friction
wheel on the screw.
Or the solenoid, which is a measurer of the electro motive force may be used to
directly cause either the clutch to engage the wheel, or the discs to gear with the
friction wheel.
It is to be observed that by such an electrical control, the actual work or force,
required to relieve the pressure of the weight or spring upon the governor balls or
to produce other equivalent change in the attachments of the governing arrange-
ment, is effected by the mechanical action of the engine itself, and is merely put
into operation by the variations in the electrical current, operating upon the pawl
armatures or equivalent device. Thus an infinitely small variation in the current
may be utilised, to produce a considerable change of the reacting pressure in the
spring or weight upon the centrifugal governor or to produce other equivalent
change in the attachments thereto and thus to very perfectly modify the speed of
the prime mover to adjust itself to small variations in the current of an electrical
circuit.
FELL & WILDING,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: We OTWAY EDWARD WOODHOUSE and FREDERICK LAWRENCE RAWSON, both of
No. 11 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London, Electrical Engineers, do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement-
Our Invention relates to improvements in the Governing Apparatus of Steam,
Gas, or other Engines, or prime movers, and consists in the application thereto and
combination therewith of an electrical device, operated by variations in the electro-
motive force or strength of an electrical current, which shall control the mechanical
action of the Governor either by increasing or decreasing the pressure of a spring
or weight, acting against the rise of the governor balls, or by altering the relative
positions of the governor sleeve and such device as may be used from the governor
to vary the expansion, or tripping, or other regulating valve gears.
To carry out our invention, we use any suitable known mechanical governor,
such as a centrifugal governor, which is provided with a central spring or weight
or other similar resistance, reacting against the tendency to rise of the Governor
balls, and we automatically lighten or increase the reacting pressure of such spring,
weight, or other resistance, acting against the tendency to rise of the said Governor
balls, caused by centrifugal force, as hereinafter more fully described. The effect
of thus altering the reacting pressure of the said spring or weight on a centrifugal
governor, is to cause a change in the height of the plane of revolution of the balls
of the governor, and therefore in the position of the throttle valve, or expansion, or
other gear of the engine, without change of speed.
Or we may alter the length of the connecting rod or lever between the governor
sleeve and the throttle valve or expansion or other regulating gear of the engine, so
changing the position of the latter, with regard to the Governor sleeve, without
altering the plane of revolution of the governor balls.
In all of these arrangements the amount of motive fluid supplied to the engine
can be regulated without the change of speed that is necessary when the engine is
only controlled by the ordinary centrifugal governor. This regulation is effected
by our electrical control (operated by a change in the electro-motive force or
current in a working circuit, supplied from a generator driven by the engine, to be
controlled and formed in any known manner hereinafter more fully specified); and
it is evident that our arrangement will operate a throttle valve or vary the cut off
of the motive fluid by an expansion valve, in any of the known methods of such
devices, where controlled by a governor, just as if the engine itself had decreased or
accelerated its speed.
A decreased or increased supply of the motive fluid will be therefore admitted to
the Cylinder of the steam, or gas engine, or other prime mover, and the speed of the
said prime mover will be correspondingly increased or decreased, so as to counteract
and annul the rise or fall of electro-motive force or strength of the current in the
working circuit.
During such variations in the pressure of the central spring or weight, or in
the relative position of the valves and the centrifugal governor, the latter will still

page_text: continue to control the speed of the prime mover, rendering it uniform for the time
being to suit the modification in the adjustment of the governor or attachments,
produced by the electrical controlling device.
It is evident that a variety of equivalent electrical devices may be employed to
produce the herein before described regulation, which shall be operated by variations
in the electro-motive force or strength of current in a circuit, without departing
from the principle of our invention; but we will herewith describe a known form
of electrical device, which will answer the purpose in combination with and applied
to a centrifugal or other mecanical governor, according to our invention.
We may place a solenoid in the electrical circuit or in a shunt from it, the core of
the said solenoid being held against the attraction of the solenoid, by a spiral spring
capable of adjustinent. To the core of the solenoid may be attached an arin, which,
moving with the said core, may make electrical contact in either of two alternative
directions, thus causing an auxiliary or shunt current to travel in either one of two
alternative circuits, so as to operate or set in action mechanical gear, capable
of altering the pressure of the spring or weight upon the centrifugal governor,
or making other equivalent change in the attachments of the governor. This
mechanical gear may be conveniently of the following known type-Upon the axis
of a screw, revolving in a fixed tapped nut or bearing, are fitted two ratchet wheels,
with their teeth arranged for opposite directions of feed, and upon the face of these
ratchet wheels may be two pawls at opposite extremities of a T lever, capable of
rocking round the centre of the said wheels. This T lever may be caused to con-
stantly reciprocate by an eccentric from the crank shaft of the engine or prime
mover or from other convenient point, and would thus, when the pawls are in gear
upon their respective ratchet wheels, cause a feed in opposite directions, backwards
and forwards.
The pawis however at the extremities of this T lever are kept normally out of
gear with the ratchet wheels by suitable springs, and at the same time the said
pawls form, or are connected to armatures of electro magnets on the extremities of
the said T lever, each of the said electro magnets being operated by one of the
aforesaid alternative currents, set in operation by the movement of the core of
the aforesaid solenoid, consequent upon variations in the electro-motive force or
strength of the electrical current in the main circuit.
The action of the electro magnets is to draw one of the pawls into gear upon its
respective ratchet wheel, and thus to cause the reciprocating movement of the
T lever to give feed and consequent rotation of the screwed spindle in one direction
or the other.
The rotation thus produced of the screwed spindle, causes its lf to advance or
retire if working in the fixed nut; or vice versa, a fixed nut to retire or advance
upon the screw, if the latter is carried in fixed smooth bearings. The traverse thus
produced either of the nut or the screw spindle may be utilised by a simple system
of levers, to increase or decrease the pressure of the spring or weight, reacting against
the rise of the balls of a centrifugal governor, or to produce other similar change in
a centrifugal governor. The alteration herein before described in the length of the
connecting rods or levers between the governor and the valves, may conveniently
be effected by dividing the rod, and threading the ends so produced, with a right
hand and a left hand screw thread respectively. This divided rod is joined by a
long nut tapped at one end with a right hand and at the other with a left hand
thread, the result being that when the nut is turned in one direction, the divided
ends of the rod are pushed further apart, and in the other direction drawn closer
together, so producing the desired changes in length. The two ratchet wheels,
driven by the magnetically actuated pawls on the rocking T lever, would in this
case turn on smooth bearings, and have a pulley attached to them, which can be
connected in any suitable manner to a pulley on the nut joining the divided ends
of the connecting rod.
In order that our Invention may be the better understood, we now proceed to
describe the same in relation to the drawings hereunto annexed, reference being

page_text: had to the letters and figures marked thereon. Like letters refer to similar parts
throughout the drawings.
Figure 1. is a general elevation of our combined electro-mechanical governor, in
which the tension of the spring reacting against the use of the governor balls is
controlled by the electrical device.
Figure 2 is a general elevation of our improved electro-mechanical governor, in
which the length of the connection between the centrifugal governor and the
throttle or other steam valve is controlled by the electrical device.
A is any suitable known centrifugal governor, provided with either a central
weight B or spring, or with an auxiliary spring C which operates in the same
manner as if on the central spindle of the Governor; D is a known electro-
mechanical device operated by variations in the E. M. F or strength of the currents
of the main working electrical circuit, by means of a solenoid placed in that
electrical circuit or in a shunt from it, by which electrical contacts are made in
either of two alternative directions, as the current rises or falls above a fixed
average strength. This is a known electrical appliance. By the operation of this
appliance an auxiliary or shunt current is caused to travel in either one of two
alternative circuits. Such circuits are represented by the electro magnets or
solenoids E and F, one of which becomes active according as the strength of the
main current increases or decreases respectively The said electro magnets or
solenoids E and F are mounted on a rocking T lever G, which is pivotted on the
centre g, and is caused constantly to oscillate by means of a crank pin H on the
spindle of the Governor or other convenient rotating shaft The motion is commu-
nicated by the rod h On the extremities of this T lever are pivotted two
pawls e. f. corresponding to the two electro magnets, and resting on the faces of
two reverse toothed ratchet wheels K, mounted on the axis g. When the electro
magnets E and F are not excited by an electrical current, the pawl levers c f are
tilted out of gear from the ratchet wheels, by means of a little spiral spring at
their tails. When one or other of these electro magnets is excited, the corre-
sponding pawl being either an armature to the electro magnet or connected to the
core of the solenoid, is drawn down and thus engages in its respective ratchet
wheel K. The mechanical oscillations of the T lever thus cause the ratchet wheel
to be rotated by the pawl, so long as the exciting current remains unbroken
Rotation is thereby given to the bevel wheel L, and by means of the cord la
rotary movement is communicated to the nut M on the Governor Through this
nut in figure 1 passes a screwed spindle m, attached to one end of the spiral
spring C The other end of the spiral spring C, operating through the lever N,
serves to press down the central weight B of the Governor, and thus to alter the
rise and fall of the Governor for given velocities. The rod P affected by such
regulation of the Governor, communicates with a throttle valve or other valve
gear, determining the supply of steam or other motive fluid to the engine.
.
In figure 2 the out M driven by the cord 2, and that by the electro-mechanical
device D connects two parts of the rod QQ communicating with the throttle valve
or other valve gear of the steam engine. Under this modification then, instead of
the spring pressure reacting against the rise of the Governor balls being altered by
the electro mechanical device, the length of the rod Q Q between the governor
and the throttle or other valve gear is altered from time to time by the electro-
mechanical device D, and the particular regulation of the steam, gas, or other
engine, is thus similarly effected as in the first instance.
It is obvious that another method of effecting the same object is to cause the
solenoid, which is a measurer of the electro-motive force of the current, to actuate
a sliding clutch by means of a relay.
This clutch alternately engages one or the other of a pair of bevil or mitre
wheels or their equivalents, both of which wheels gear into another wheel fitted on
the screw which controls the governor spring; thus, when the electro-motive force
or current rises too high, the clutch engages with one wheel, and slackens the
spring; when on the other hand it falls too low, the clutch engages with the other

page_text: wheel, and the spring is tightened up; the other arrangements herein before
described being similarly actuated.
While the electro-motive force or current remains at the determined point, the
clutch remains out of gear with either of the wheels, and the springs remain
stationary.
Instead of bevil or mitre wheels a sleeve with two discs on it may be employed,
and the action of the relay is to bring the discs alternately into gear with
a friction wheel on the screw.
Or, the solenoid, which is a measurer of the electro-motive force, may be used to
directly cause either the clutch to engage the wheel, or the discs to gear with the
friction wheel.
It is to be observed that by such an electrical control the actual work or force
required to relieve the pressure of the weight or spring upon the Governor balls, or
to produce other equivalent change in the attachments of the governing arrange-
ment, is effected by the mechanical action of the engine itself, and is merely put
into operation by the variations in the electrical current operating upon the pawl
armatures or equivalent device Thus, an infinitely small variation in the current
may be utilised to produce a considerable change of the reacting pressure in the
spring or weight upon the centrifugal governor, or to produce other equivalent
change in the attachments thereto, and thus to very perfectly modify the speed of
the prime mover, to adjust to small variations in the current of an electrical circuit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:
1st. The combination of any known mechanical Governor with an electrical
controlling device to perfectly adjust the speed of the prime motor by small
variations in the current of an electrical circuit, so as to maintain the electro-
motive force or strength of the latter practically constant.
2nd. The combination of an electro-mechanical device, set in operation by
variations in the electro motive force or strength of the electrical current in the
working circuit, with any known mechanical Governor, such as a centrifugal
governor, the electrical device being arranged to alter the pressure of a spring or
weight on the said Governor, substantially as described in reference to Figure 1.
3rd. The combination of an electro-mechanical device, set in operation by
variations in the electro motive force or strength of the electrical current in the
working circuit, with any known mechanical Governor, such as a centrifugal
Governor, the electrical device being arranged to alter the length of the connecting
rod or its equivalent between the governor sleeve and the admission valve gear
operated thereby, substantially as described in reference to figure 2.
4th. An electrical device, in the form of a solenoid, with or without a relay,
actuated by variations in the electro motive force or strength of the working
current, and operating a clutch so as to alternately engage in a pair of bevel or
mitre wheels, or equivalent friction discs, gearing into a nut and screw, controlling
the spring or attachments of any known mechanical Governor, such as a centrifugal
Governor, in combination with the mechanical or centrifugal governor, so controlled
substantially as described.
FELL & WILDING,
Agents for the Applicants,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C.