IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS POR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE WORKING OF MOTIVE POWER ENGINES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE REGULATION OF THE FLOW OF LIQUID, AIR, OR GAS, THROUGH PIPES OR CONDUITS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS POR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE WORKING OF
MOTIVE POWER ENGINES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE REGULATION OF THE
FLOW OF LIQUID, AIR, OR GAS, THROUGH PIPES OR CONDUITS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Ernest Ulysse Parod, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 10th February 1868, and dated the 1st September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st September 1862.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE
WORKING OF MOTIVE POWER ENGINES; APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE REGULATION OF
THE FLOW OF LIQUID, AIR, OR GAS THROUGH PIPES OR CONDUITS," a commu-
nication from abroad by Ernest Ulysse Parod, of Paris, in the Empire of
France :-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of regulating or controlling the
working of steam, air, or gas engines, or hydraulic prime movers, and consists

page_text: in causing the steam or other medium employed for working the engine to
act upon the regulating apparatus in its passago from the generator or source
of supply to the cylinder or other acting agent, as the case may be.
In carrying out this Invention as applied to a steam engine for example,
the steam as it passes along the steam pipe from the boiler to the cylinder
acts upon a fan or pallet wheel contained in a suitable casing, and by rotating
that wheel at a higher or lower velocity, according to the volume of steam
passing, causes a corresponding rotatory motion to be imparted to a horizontal
disc carrying two sliding weights, which, on the velocity increasing, separate
and act upon a sliding boss through inclines, or by means of jointed links, so
as to elevate the boss or collar on its shaft, or allow it to descend, according as
the speed rises beyond or falls below a proper rate of working. This rising or
falling of the boss causes one or other of two collars or shoulders formed upon
it to come into contact with the upper or under edge of a friction pulloy fast
on a short spindle, which transmits motion by a suitable gearing to a nut
ácting upon the screwed spindle of a regulating slide valve, inside the steam
pipe. According as the upper or under edge of the friction wheel is acted
upon, the motion of the nut will be in one direction or the other, and con-
sequently the valve will be opened or closed.
This valve being placed between
the boiler and the entrance to the casing of the pallet wheel causes the
quantity of steam passing through such casing to the cylinder to be increased
or diminished, and thus the desired regulation is obtained. In some cases the
regulating slide valve may be dispensed with, and the screw spindle connected
directly with a sliding boss or collar on the main shaft of the engine, which
boss or collar is provided with a spiral key or feather, upon which the eccentric
which works the expansion valve is fitted. By moving this boss or collar to
or fro, the spiral feather causes the position of the eccentric to be varied, and
effects the cutting off of the steam at an earlier or later period of the stroke,
as the case may be.
These improvements are also applicable to the regulation of the flow or
passage of liquids, gas, or air through pipes or conduits, the greater or
less quantity being regulated by the flow of the liquid, air, or gas itself.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th February 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,

page_text: and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of September, 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
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE WORKING OF MOTIVE
POWER ENGINES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE REGULATION OF THE FLOW OF LIQUID,
AIR OR GAS THROUGH PIPES OR CONDUITS," a communication from abroad by
Ernest Ulysse Parod, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors cr
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under
the hand and seal of one of them, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to an improved mode of regulating or controlling
the working of steam, air, or gas engines, or hydraulic prime movers, and
consists in causing the steam or other medium employed for working the
engine to act upon the regulating apparatus in its passage from the gene-
rator or source of supply to the cylinder or other acting agent, as the case
may bc.
In carrying out this Invention as applied to a steam engine for example,
the steam as it passes along the steam pipe from the boiler to the cylinder
acts upon a fan or pallet wheel contained in a suitable casing, and by rotating
that wheel at a higher or lower velocity, according to the volume of steam.

page_text: passing, causes a corresponding rotatory motion to be imparted to a horizontal
disc carrying two sliding weights, which, on the velocity increasing, separato
and act upon a sliding boss through inclines, or by means of jointed links, so
as to elevate the boss or collar on its shaft, or allow it to descend, according as
the speed rises beyond or falls below a proper rate of working. This rising
or falling of the boss causes one or other of two collars or shoulders formed
upon it to come into contact with the upper or under edge of a friction
pulley, fast on a short spindle, which transmits motion by suitable gearing
to a nut acting upon the screwed spindle of a regulating slide valve inside
the steam pipe. According as the upper or under edge of the friction wheel
is acted upon the motion of the nut will bo in one direction or the other,
and consequently the valve will be opened or closed. This valve being placed
between the boiler and the entrance to the casing of the pallet wheel
causes the quantity of steam passing through such casing to the cylinder to
be increased or diminished, and thus the desired regulation is obtained. In
some cases the regulating slide valve may be dispensed with, and the screw
spindle connected directly with a sliding boss or collar on the main shaft of the
engine, which boss or collar is provided with a spiral key or feather, upon
which the eccentric which works the expansion valve is fitted. By moving this
boss or collar to or fro, the spiral feather causes the position of the eccentric to
be varied, and effects the cutting off of the steam at an earlier or later period
of the stroke, as the case may be.
These improvements are also applicable to the regulation of the flow or
passage of liquids, gas, or air through pipes or conduits, the greater or less
quantity being regulated by the flow of the liquid, air, or gas itself.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings bereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corre-
sponding Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of tho Drawings represent, in vertical and horizontal
section respectively, a regulator constructed according to this Invention, and
mounted upon the steam pipe of an engine; Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6
are details of the parts herein-after more particularly referred to and
described.
O represents the end of the steam pipe which opens into the steam chest U
from the boiler. This steam chest is fitted to one side of a casing of cast
iron B, the form of which is clearly indicated by Figure 2. This casing is
of a circular shape in plan, and is provided with two flanged branches or

page_text: nozzles o, o, the one serving for the inlet of the steam, and the other for the
outlet of the same. In the circular part A there is a pallet wheel R, mounted
upon a vertical spindle C, which rests upon a foot-step benring, as shown in
Figure 1. The spindle C after passing through a stuffing box in the cover of the
casing B, carries a disc E, having a groove F formed across it (see Figures 3
and 4). In this groove are inserted two moveable weights G (one of which is
shown in detail end elevation at Figure 6) which are pressed inwards by helical or
other springs, as shown in Figures 1, 3, and 4. Each weight is provided with
lugs, carrying antifriction pullies a, a', between which pass the inclined arms
I, I, of the boss M, which boss is formed with two shoulders n, n'. Between
these two shoulders or collars n, n', there is a pulley N, fixed to one end of a
horizontal spindle or shaft, working in a collar or other bearing in the framing
or supporting standard of the apparatus. The opposite end of this shaft
carries a bevel pinion P, which gears into a corresponding bevel pinion P',
formed with an internal screw in its boss, through which works the vertical
screw spindle 1. This screw spindle is provided at its lower end with collars, for
the purpose of connecting it with the slide valve T, working inside the steam
chest U. The apparatus thus constituted, and the number of revolutions of
the pallet wheel R, regulated so as to allow of the entrance of the proper
volume of steam necessary for one stroke of the piston, and the weights G, G³,
being equally adjusted or regulated so as not to move from their places unless
the wheel R should make more or less than, say, four revolutions for each
stroke of the piston, it is evident that if the passage of steam becomes more
rapid, whether owing to the diminished resistance met with by the engine, or
to the augmentation of the pressure of the steam, the weights G, G', will
slide outwards by the centrifugal force generated by the revolving disc or
plate E, and by sliding along the inclined arms I, I, will elevate the boss M
and bring its lower collar or shoulder n' in contact with the pulley N, which
is instantly rotated, and transmits its motion through the pinion P to the
pinion P, the rotation of the latter causing the screwed valve spindle L to
descend and lower the slide valve, which thus contracts the orifice for the
entrance of the steam to the casing B, until it is in exact relation with the
decreased resistance of the engine. If, on the other hand, the supply of the
steam falls below the requirements of the engine, the weights G, G³, will slide
inwards under the pressure of their springs, and will cause the boss M to
descend; this has the effect of bringing the upper shoulder or collar n into
contact with the pulley N, when the motion of the latter is reversed, and
the slide valve T is consequently raised or opened, so as to allow more steam
to pass through the apparatus. When the engine is working at the proper

page_text: regulated speed, the collars n, n', are both held out of contact with the
pulley N, and the slide valve therefore remains at rest.
In Figures 9 and 10 two other means are illustrated for moving the sliding
boss M.
In Figure 9 the boss M is provided at its lower end with two arms, the
outer extremities of which gear into teeth on two levers b, b', carrying sliding
weights d. When the passage or flow of the steam is too rapid, the centri-
fugal force causes the weights d to fly outwards (which weights at the proper
regulated speed should rest in the middle of the levers) and by their weight
cause the levers b, b, to turn over partly on their centres and through
the gearing to elevate the boss M. When the supply of steam is not suffi-
cient, the weights, by sliding inwards down the inclined levers, cause the boss M
to descend.
In Figure 10 the boss M is connected by links with the levers, upon which
the weights slide. In place of the apparatus or governor acting upon the
steam inlet valve T, this valve may be dispensed with, and the regulator made
to op. rate directly upon an expansion gear. In Figure 7 is represented, in
plan, the application of this regulator to a novel form or arrangement of
variable expansion gear acting through an angular or spiral key connecting
the eccentrics to the main shaft. In this case the screw spindle L, in lieu of
terminating in the valve T, acts upon a spiral key D, which slides along a
straight groove, made in the crank shaft, which spiral key works in a slot in
the boss of the expansion eccentric; it makes a half turn round the shaft, so
that according to the position of the key in the eccentric the cut-off is effected
sooner or later in the stroke.
When it is desired to regulate a bydraulic prime mover, a screw is employed
of sufficient power to move the regulating sluice. This screw transmits
motion to a regulator similar to that shewn at Figure 8, and the collar
or boss M, by rising or falling, will act upon the pinion P₁, so as to cause
the sluice to open or close. The screw may be replaced by any other
equivalent contrivance, such as a pallet wheel or turbine, and an intermittant
motion may be used in lieu of the continuous circular movement.
The peculiar regulators herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings may obviously be applied to the regulating or controlling of the
flow of liquids through pipes or conduits, the liquid being made to operate as
it passes upon the pallets of the wheel R.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel

page_text: and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the general constructions, arrangements, and combinations of apparatus
for regulating or controlling the working of motive power engines, and for
regulating the flow of liquids, substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of regulating or controlling the working of
motive power engines by the variation of the flow or passage of the steam,
liquid, or other medium employed in working such engines, as herein-before
described.
Third, the application and use of a spiral feather or key sliding longitudinally
in a straight slut or groove in the crank shaft, and operating upon the eccentric
of the expansion valve in steam engines, substantially in the manner and for
the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of February, One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)