IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY REGULATION OF SPEED 1N MACHINERY DRIVEN BY ELECTRICITY APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH THE "
Year: 1882

page_text: FOR
LETTERS PATENT to Fleeming Jenkin Civil Engineer of 3 Great Stuart
Street Edinburgh for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
REGULATION OF SPEED 1N MACHINERY DRIVEN BY ELECTRICITY
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
THE
""
AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Fleeming Jenkin at the
Office of the Cominissioners of Patents on the 24th June 1882.
FLEEMING JENKIN Civil Engineer of 3 Great Stuart Street Edinburgh
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE REGULATION OF SPEED IN MACHINERY
DRIVEN BY ELECTRICITY AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITI!
"
The object of the present invention is to provide means by which the speed of
any machine or part of a machine driven by an electrical current may be maintained
constant or adjusted independently of variations in the resistance to be overcome
or in the source from which the electrical energy is derived or in the circuit or in
the number of machines to be driven by that circuit.
The simplest mode of effecting this object is to provide power in excess of that
required to drive the machine if this power were continuously made use of-then
by means of a centrifugal governor to disconnect the machine from the source of
power for a greater or less percentage of the whole time during which the machine
runs. The percentage of time during which the power is applied is regulated by
the governor so as to produce the speed required.
I will call the source of the electric current the transmitter-this may be
a dynamo or magneto electric engine or in certain cases a Voltaic battery. I
will call the mechanism by which the current moves the driven machine, the
receiver.
An excess of power is provided whenever the receiver would run at an excessive
speed if the electrical current by which it is driven flowed through it continuously.
When the power to be transmitted is small and consequently the current required

page_text: in the receiver is also small a simple form of governor is admissible in which an
arm connected with the diverging mass of the governor moves between two
stops A and B a short distance apart.
When the speed falls below the required amount contact made between the arm
and stop A sends the current through the receiver-when the speed is excessive
the arm breaks this contact and at once makes contact with B.
If the current is required for no other machine in series with the first. B is
insulated and the driving current is interrupted-but if this current is required for
other machines in series with the first the stop B completes the required circuit
leaving the one machine temporarily cut out. So soon as the driven machine
requires power that is to say as soon as it falls below the limiting speed contact
is again made with A and the machine is again driven by electricity.
This simple method is inapplicable where powerful currents are employed because
of the sparks or are which would occur if A and B were placed close to the
moveable arm-it has also, when any other machines are joined in series with the
first a further defect of cutting off the current while the arm is in the intermediate
position between A and B.
If a Jockey were employed as it may be to prevent sparking a larger divergence
from the standard speed must occur in order to move the arm of the governor
through a larger space-For the purpose of overcoming these difficulties employ
a governing relay-the arm and stops A and B are retained but the effect of
breaking contact between the arm and A is to send a weak current through the
electro magnet of what ] term the governing relay-the armature of this
relay moves an arm through a considerable distance breaking a contact which I
will call C and making a contact D if required these contacts C and D act in a
manner similar to those called A and B in the first plan when C is made the
current passes through the receiver-when C is broken the receiver is cut out-
When required the contact D reestablishes the circuit for other machines joined in
series with the first-It is obvious that the smallest variation of speed leading to a
break of contact as delicate as that of a telegraphic relay may by this plan be made
to work contacts suitable for powerful currents-when this plan is adopted the
relay is intended to be in continual action making and breaking the contacts many
times in each minute. It will in my opinion usually be better to arrange the leads
from the Dynamo so that the making and breaking of these contacts shall not
necessarily interrupt the whole circuit-this condition will be realised if single
machines or groups of machines are placed in parallel are between two main leads
it may also be realised by the use of Jockies at the contacts.
For still more powerful currents where switches might be necessary requiring
more force to move them than could be supplied by the direct action of the
armature of a relay I cause the Contacts C and D to send currents through what
I will call a relay motor-This is a snail electromotor which is employed to work
the switch when in contact C is made the electromotor runs in one direction-
when D is made it runs in the other direction when the relay is in an inter-
mediate position the electromotor is stationary-the intermediate position between
two strips is then the position corresponding to the speed required-a similar
arrangement of the strips C and D might be used with the simple relay.
The Relay electromotor may be used for several other purposes
For instance instead of controlling the speed of the receiver by the percentage
of time for which interruptions occur it may be used to control the speed in any
other known way as by putting on a mechanical break-by diminishing or
increasing the work done by the Machine-as for instance increasing the rate of
feed or depth of cut or rate at which material to be ground is supplied-or by
changing the leverage at which the resistance acts or by electrical means such as
shifting the brushes on Dynamo commutators or throwing in resistance into some
part of the circuit
In certain cases 1 provide for the record of the working of every machine driven
by electricity -each time the relay breaks contact it (besides the duty alreay

page_text: described) works an ordinary Morse instrument or other recorder when the
machine is being driven a continuous mark is made-when the machine is cut out
a space occurs in the record, the controlling engineer can in this way perceive the
behaviour of each machine and regulate the circuit and sender accordingly if
necessary-I also use the relay electro motor to regulate automatically the sender in
certain cases.
It is obvious that where a number of machines are driven by one sender and
many of these are liable to be cut out the excess of power required for the whole
of the machines will be very different from the excess of power which is sufficient
for a fraction of those.
I arrange my Governor by preference so that the centrifugal force acts against..
springs and not against gravitation-I further when necessary use arrangements
analogous to those employed in marine Governors so that the independent and
irregular motion of the receiver to which it is fixed shall not disturb its action
The controlling spring of the Governor is by preference so arranged that it can be
set while the machine is in motion so that the exact speed required can be adjusted
and varied at will.
By the devices described in the present Specification the machines of a whole
factory can be driven with the aid of electric power far more conveniently than by
rigid shafting
The speed of any machine can be varied continuously and without speed pullies
or change wheels-The position of machines can also he easily altered without
changing their speed

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Fleeming Jenkin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd December 1882.
FLEEMING JENKIN Civil Engineer of 3 Great Stuart Street Edinburgh
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE REGULATION OF SPEED IN MACHINERY
DRIVEN BY ELECTRICITY AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWTFIL."
The object of the present Invention is to provide means by which the speed of
any machine or part of a machine driven by an electrical current may be maintained
constant or adjusted independently of variations in the resistance to be overcome
or in the source from which the electrical energy is derived or in the circuit or
in the number of machines to be driven by that circuit.
The simplest mode of effecting this object is to provide power in excess of that
required to drive the machine if this power were continuously made use of, then
by means of a centrifugal governor to disconnect the machine from the source of
power for a greater or less percentage of the whole time during which the machine
runs. The percentage of time during which the power is applied is regulated by
the governor so as to produce the speed required.
I will call the source of the electric current the transmiter-this may be a
dynamo or magneto electric engine or in certain cases a voltaic battery. "I will
call the mechanism by which the current moves the driven machine the receiver.
When the power to be transmitted is small and consequently the current.
required in the receiver is also small a simple form of governor is admissible in
which an arm connected with diverging mass of the governor moves between
two stops A and B a short distance apart.
When the speed falls below the required amount contact made between the arm
and stop A sends the current through the receiver when the speed is excessive the
arm breaks this contact and at once makes contact with B.
If the current is required for no other machine in series with the first B is
insulated and the driving current is interrupted-but if this current is required
for other machines in series with the first the stop B completes the required circuit
leaving the one machine temporarily cut out.
So soon as the driven machine
requires power that is to say as soon as it falls below the limiting speed contact
is again made with A and the machine is again driven by electricity.
To this simple method I make no claim it is inapplicable where powerful
currents are employed because of the sparks or are which would occur if A and B
were placed close to the moveable arm. It has also when any other machines are
joined in series with the first a further defect of cutting off the current while the
arm is in the intermediate position between A and B.
If a Jockey were employed as it may be to prevent sparking a larger divergence
from the standard speed must occur in order to move the arm of the governor
through a larger space.
For the purpose of overcoming these difficulties employ a governing relay.
The governor sends a weak current through the electro magnet of what I term the
governing relay the armature of this relay moves an arin through a considerable
distance breaking a contact which I will call C and making a contact D). If
required these contacts C and D act in a manner similar to those called A and B
in the first plan when C is made the current passes through the receiver when C
is broken the receiver is cut out. When required the contact D reestablishes the
circuit for other machines joined in series with the first. It is obvious that the
smallest variation of speed leading to a break of contact as delicate as that of a

page_text: telegraphic relay may by this plan be made to work contacts suitable for powerful
currents. When this plan is adopted the relay is intended to be in continual
action making and breaking the contacts many times in each minute. It will in
iny opinion usually be better to arrange the leads from the dynamo so that the
making and breaking of these contacts shall not necessarily interrupt the whole
circuit this condition will be realised if single machines or groups of machines are
placed in parallel are between two main leads, may also be realized by the use of
Jockeys at the contacts.
In the annexed Drawings Figure 1 represents a suitable and convenient
arrangement of governor and governing relay.
A pair of hevilled wheels R. R. driven by the electro motor which I call the
receiver rotate the balanced centrifugal governor W.
The slider U has a wide
flange which at certain times comes into contact with the springa 1 and 4. The
spring carries a piece of vulcanite or other insulator and this bears constantly
on the spring 2. The spring 2 is separated by a very short interval from the
spring 3 and contact is made between these springs when the slider U deflects the
spring 1.
This takes place whenever the speed of the receiver exceeds slightly the
mean which the governing apparatus is adjusted to maintain. A further increase of
speed causes the slider U to make contact with the spring 4.
His the main binding screw insulated from the frame, to this one of the circuit
wires leading from the transmitter is connected, the other being attached to the
frame.
The lever 5 is centred in a projection from the binding screw H and is in
metallic contact with it. 7 is an insulated spiral spring which under ordinary
conditions holds the lever 5 against the metal bracket 6 From a binding screw
in connection with 6 a wire is led through the receiver and thence continued to
the frame. Under these conditions the receiver is in circuit with the transmitter.
8 is a soft iron armature fastened to the lever 5. 9 is the relay electro magnet, one
end of the wire which forms its coil is in contact with the spring 3 and the other is
in connection with the frame by the wire 10. 16 is a bracket similar to 6 connected
with the frame through a resistance coil 14.
Suppose now that the speed of the receiver has exceeded the prearranged limits;
the spring V has been so adjusted that the slider U will have brought the springs 2
and 3 into contact having pressed them together by the spring which is
prevented from making electrical contact with the other springs by the interposed
piece of insulating material. The spring 2 being electrically connected by the
wire 12 with the binding screw H a current will instantly traverse 12. 2. 3. 9
and 10 exciting the core of the electro magnet 9. The resistance of the electro
nagnet coils is such that only a suitable portion of the main current is diverted
through the magnet. The armature 8 and lever 5 are instantly pulled over
breaking the current through the receiver and making contact at 16. The lever 5
is provided with two springs through which it makes the contacts and it completes
contact at 16 by means of one of these springs before it leaves contact at 6 with
the other spring. The movement of the lever 5 is sufficiently long to permit of
this. A portion of the current arriving at H is now flowing through the electro
magnet 9 to the frame and the other portion through the resistance coil 14 to the
frame. The resistance 14 is adjusted to admit of the current flowing through the
electro magnet 9 being sufficiently great to hold the lever 5 in contact with 16 whilst
the speed of the receiver causes the springs 2 and 3 to remain in contact.
The object of shunting a portion of the current past the electro-magnet is to
avoid sending the whole current through the springs 2 and 3 which as they are
shewn in the Drawing would be liable to become heated but in some cases it
would be advantageous to specially construct the contacts 2 and 3 so as to avoid
this danger and then the shunt through the resistance coil would not be necessary.
If the speed of the receiver should be such as to bring the slider of the governor into
contact with the spring 4 the circuit of the receiver will be closed; for one terminal
of the receiver is connected with the frame and hence with the governor and its

page_text: slide, and the other terminal is connected with
spring 4. ilence when the slider is in contact with the spring 4 the receiver is in a
closed circuit and in rotating it expends its energy in generating a current.
For still more powerful currents where switches might be necessary requiring
more force to move them than could be supplied by the direct action of the armature
This is a small electro motor
of a relay employ what I will call a relay motor.
which is employed to work the switch.
A is the receiver, B is the relay
Figure 2 is a diagram of this arrangement.
motor of well known construction and such that the direction of its movement
will be changed when the current through it is reversed and 5 is a lever corre-
sponding to the lever marked with the same numeral in Figure and noved
either electrically or by the governor direct. C, is a shunt lever worked by the
relay motor. A pinion driven by the relay motor engages with an arc of teeth
upon the shunting lever. The main circuit may be traced from the transmitter to
the axis of the shunting lever, thence by the lever to one or other of two insulated
metal blocks C¹, and C, As shewn in the figure the end of the lever being in a
From the block C¹ the current
central position is in contact with both blocks.
passes through the receiver and so onwards in the current, to other receivers it may
be; and ultimately back to the transmitter.
From the block C2, the current takes the same course except that the receiver
is not traversed by it. The lever 5 carries two contact blocks 5 and 5" and these
are connected with the main circuit wires. The movement of the lever 5 to one
side or the other will bring the blocks 5 and 5 into contact with other blocks,
those on one side are marked and whilst on the other are y and y" is
connected with the right hand terminal of the relay motor B, and ch is connected
with the left hand terminal of the relay motor; so that when 5* is in contact with "
and 5 is in contact with a current passes through a shunt circuit which includes
the relay motor but not the receiver.
The relay motor B being thus set in motion alters the position of the shunting
lever C on its contacts C¹ and C. Similarly when 5 is in contact with y and 5
is in contact with y a current passes through the relay motor but as will be
So that by the
seen on tracing the connections, it is in the opposite direction.
passage of the lever 5 from one side to the other the motion of the relay motor
is reversed and so long as the lever stands in an intermediate position the relay
motor remains at rest and the shunting lever C retains the position to which it had
previously been brought. To actuate lever 5 electrically springs 1. 2. 3 may be
provided on each side of U Figure 1, V being dispensed with and another relay
magnet 9 taking its place.
The relay electro motor may be used for several other purposes.
For instance instead of controlling the speed of the receiver by the percentage
of time for which interruptions occur it may be used to control the speed in any
other known way as by putting on a mechanical break by diminishing or increasing
the work done by the machine as for instance increasing the rate of feed or depth
of cut or rate at which material to be ground is supplied or by changing the
leverage at which the resistance acts or by electrical means such as shifting the
brushes on dynamo cominutaters or throwing in resistance into some part of the
circuit. Thus in general it is obvious that a relay motor located as the motor B in
Figure 2 may be set to do any mechanical work by which the speed of the receiver
may be controlled.
In certain cases 1 provide for the record of the working of every machine
driven by electricity each time the relay breaks contact it (besides the duty already
When the
described) works an ordinary Morse instrument or other recorder.
machine is being driven a continuous mark is inade--when the machine is cut out
a space occurs in the record, the controlling engineer can in this way perceive the
behaviour of each machine and regulate the machine and its work and the circuit
and sender accordingly as may be necessary. also use the relay electro motor
to regulate automatically the sender in certain cases, as by shifting contacts which

page_text: alter the intensity of the magnetic field or by any of the well known means by
which such machines may be regulated.
It is obvious that where a number of machines are driven by one sender and
many of these are liable to be cut out the excess of power required for the whole
of the machines will be very different from the excess of power which is sufficient
for a fraction of those.
I arrange my governor by preference so that the centrifugal force acts against
springs and not against gravitation - I further when necessary use arrangements
analogous to those employed in marine governors so that the independent and
irregular motion of the receiver to which it is fixed shall not disturb its action.
The controlling spring of the governor is by preference so arranged that it can be
set while the machine is in motion so that the exact speed required can be adjusted
and varied at. will.
By the devices described in the present Specification the machines of a whole
factory can be driven with the aid of electric power far more conveniently than by
rigid shafting.
The speed of any machine can be varied continuously and without speed pullies
or change wheels. The position of machines can also be easily altered without
changing their speed.
Having thus described the nature of my said invention and the manner of
performing the same I would have it understood that I claim :-
First. The combination with a receiver (or electro motor) of a governor and
electric relay; the governor controlling the circuit of the relay, and the relay in
turn that of the receiver.
Second. The combination with a receiver, of a governor, and a relay electro-
motor; the governor controlling the circuit of the relay motor, and the relay motor
in turn performing work to control the speed of the receiver.
'
Third. The combination with a receiver, of a governor controlling the speed of
the receiver by first disconnecting it from the transmitter, and then if the speed
becomes excessive closing the circuit of the receiver in such manner as to cause it
in rotating to generate a current.
Fourth. The combination with a receiver, of a governor controlling the circuit
of a relay or relay motor and of an electrical recorder in the relay circuit.
In witness whereof I the said Fleeming Jenkin have hereunto set iny hand
and seal this twenty first day of December in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty-two.
FLEEMING JENKIN (L.S.)