Improvements in Governors.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Governors.
1, PHILIP EDWARD RIPLEY, a Director of the Firm of Ransomes, Sims and
Jefferies Limited, of Orwell Works, Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to governors in which there is a fly wheel or wheel like
casting on the engine shaft carrying weights jointed to it at one end and free at
the other end to move in a plane at right angles to the shaft and in a more or less
radial direction. The said weights move outwards when the apparatus revolves
owing to centrifugal force and in doing so by means of suitable mechanism, they
vary the position of the centre of the working eccentric in such a manner as to
adjust the cut off of the valve in accordance with the load on the engine. The
weights in moving outwards do so against the resistance of springs to which they
are connected and these springs are so adjusted that a given and determined speed
of revolution of the engine shaft is required to produce sufficient centrifugal force
in the weights to overcome the resistance of the springs and thus cut off the steam
when this speed is exceeded.
In such governors as now usually or generally constructed the springs can only
be adjusted when the engine is at rest, and the determined speed of the engine
cannot therefore be varied without stopping.
Attempts have been made to remedy this defect by providing means whereby
the initial tension or compression of the springs and with it the resistance of the
springs to the centrifugal force can be varied whilst the engine is running but
this method has the disadvantage that the sensitiveness of the governor is simul-
taneously altered so that if the springs are suitable for the original speed the
governor is either too sluggish or too sensitive at the altered speed.
According to this invention the resistance of the springs to the centrifugal force
of the rotating weights is varied not by compressing or elongating them but by
shifting their points of attachment to the weights and thus altering their leverage
upon them.
For this purpose the ends of the springs are attached to pins free to move in
longitudinal slots in the weights.
The pins are fixed to nuts working on screw threads on sleeves upon radial arms
fixed to a boss free to turn on a suitably supported central shaft so that the arms
can follow the motions of the weights. The sleeves have fixed to their inner ends
bevelled pinions gearing on one side with a bevelled pinion fixed to the central
shaft and on the other side to a similar pinion on a sleeve free to turn on the shaft.
Hand wheels are fixed to the shaft and to the sleeve on it. When the engine is
running the whole mechanism turns together about the axis of the central shaft
and the screw threaded sleeves do not rotate on the radial arms but if one or other
of the hand wheels is retarded the sleeves are rotated in one direction or the other
by the bevelled pinions and the nuts and pins are screwed in or out upon them

page_text: as the case may be thus altering the points at which the springs are attached to the
weights.
The screw threaded sleeves and their nuts may be replaced by shafts having
fixed to their worms gearing with worm wheels on the same spindles as eccentrics
whose rods carry the pins working in the slots in the weights.
Dated this 30th day of July 1897.
Improvements in Governors.
זי
;
I, PHILIP EDWARD RIPLEY, a Director of the Firm of Ransomes, Sims and
Jefferies Limited, of Orwell Works; Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, do hereby
declare the nature of this, invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
.
This invention relates to governors in which there is a fly wheel or wheel like
casting on the engine shaft carrying weights jointed to it at one end and free at
the other end to move in a plane at right angles to the shaft and in a more or less
radial direction. The said weights move outwards when the apparatus revolves
owing to centrifugal force and in doing so by means of suitable mechanism, they
vary the position of the centre of the working eccentric in such a manner as to
adjust the cut off of the valve in accordance with the load on the engine. The
weights in moving outwards do so against the resistance of springs to which they
are connected and these springs are so adjusted that a given and determined speed
of revolution of the engine shaft is required to produce sufficient centrifugal force
in the weights to overcome the resistance of the springs and thus cut off the steam
when this speed is exceeded.
In such governors as now usually or generally constructed the springs can only
be adjusted when the engine is at rest and the determined speed of the engine
can not therefore be varied without stopping.
Attempts have been made to remedy this defect by providing means whereby
the initial tension or compression of the springs and with it the resistance of the
springs to the centrifugal force can be varied whilst the engine is running but
this method has the disadvantage that the sensitiveness of the governor is simul-
taneously altered so that if the springs are suitable for the original speed the
governor is either too sluggish or too sensitive at the altered speed.
According to this invention the resistance of the springs to the centrifugal force
of the rotating weights is varied not by compressing or elongating them but by
shifting their points of attachment to the weights and thus altering their leverage
upon them.
Figure 1 is a transverse section and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of an appa-
ratus constructed according to this invention.
a is a fly wheel and.b.b are weights pirotted to it at bb. C C are springs
pivotted at one end to the wheel a at c c and having their other ends attached
to pins & free to move in longitudinal slots bs in the weights b.
The pins dare fixed to nuts e working on screw threads on sleeves f upon
radial arms g fixed to a jointed boss gl free to turn on a suitably supported central
shaft so that the arms g can follow the motions of the weights b. The sleeves f
have fixed to their inner ends bevelled pinions f¹ gearing on one side with a
bevelled pinion h¹ fixed to the central shaft and on the, other side to a similar
pinion on a sleeve j free to turn on the shaft. Hand wheels h² ² are fixed to

page_text: the shaft and to the sleeve on it. When the engine is running the whole mechanism
turns together about the axis of the central shaft and the screw threaded sleeves f
do not rotate on the radial arms but if one or other of the hand wheels his
retarded the sleeves are rotated in one direction or the other by the bevelled
pinions and the nuts e and pins d are screwed in or out upon them as the case may
be thus altering the points at which the springs c are attached to the weights b.
The screw threaded sleeves and their nuts e may be replaced as shown in
Figures 3 and 4 by sleeves having fixed to them worms gearing with worm
wheels on the same spindles as eccentrics m whose rods m³ carry the pins d
working in the slots in the weights b.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination with a governor of the class referred to of means whereby
the points of attachment of the springs to the weights can be varied whilst the
engine is running.
2. The combination of the fly wheel, the weights pivotted to it, radial guides
on the weights, slides free to move along the guides, springs having their ends
attached to the fly wheel and to the slides and means for moving the slides in
and out whilst the engine is running.
3. The combination with the subject matter of the preceding claims of a central
shaft a sleeve on the shaft and means whereby the retardation of the shaft rela-
tively to the sleeve moves the ends of the springs in one direction and the retarda-
tion of the sleeve relatively to the shaft moves them in the other direction.
4. Governors substantially as described and shown at Figures 1 and 2 of the
drawings.
5. Governors substantially as described and shown at Figures 3 and 4 of the
drawings.