AN IMPROVED GOVERNOR FOR CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES AND WATER WHEELS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edgar Simonds, of Hartford, Connec-
ticut, United States of America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
GOVERNOR FOR CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES AND WATER
WHEELS." A communication from Horatio Bulkley Weaver, residing
at Hartford.
Sealed the 17th November 1871, and dated the 13th June 1871.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edgar Simonds
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 13th June 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDGAR SIMONDS, of Hartford, Connecticut, United States of America,
send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
GOVERNOR FOR CONTROLLING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES AND WATER WHEELS,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that it is a communication from
Horatio Bulkley Weaver, a person resident at said Hartford.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edgar Simonds, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing making a
part of this Specification :―
In the Drawing, Figure 1 is a side clevation of the device; Figure 2
is a central vertical longitudinal section.
This governor is designed to control the supply of steam or water
to the engine or wheel driven thereby in such a manner that the same
speed of revolution will be maintained at all times, although the pressure
of the motive power or the load to be driven may vary, provided always
that there is sufficient motive power to maintain the desired speed.
of the device; b, the main shaft on
The latter of these is the frustum
The letter a indicates the frame
which are the two pulleys c and d.
of a conc whose diameter at the center of its length is the same as
the diameter of the pulley c. Both these pulleys are driven by belts c¹
and d from the drum e, which is of equal diameter throughout its whole
length. Neither of the pulleys.c, d, arc fast on the shaft b, but the
shaft is made to revolve synchronously with the pulley c by means of
a pin ƒ driven through from the circumference, its inner end projecting
into a slot made lengthwise in the surface of the shaft from 6¹ to the
end 6º, which while it serves to propel the shaft yet allows it to move
back and forth lengthwise. From the side of the pulley c a sleeve g
fitting around the shaft b, and serving as a bearing for the shaft, extends
through the frame a. Upon the end of this sleeve is the bevel pinion
meshing into the bevel gear i, which is fast on the shaft j, to the
upper end of which is attached a common ball governor actuating the
sleeve k, which in turn actuates the arm m attached to the shaft n, to
the opposite end of which is attached the arm o, bearing at its lower
end the shipper s, which controls the sidewise movements of the belt a³,
so that when the arms of the governor rise from the customary position
the belt ď¹ will be shifted from the centre of the pulley d, where it
appears to be in Figure 1, towards that end of the pulley where the
diameter is the smallest, and when the balls fall the opposite effect is

page_text: produced. The pulley d has a sleeve d³ upon one end extending through
the frame a upon that side and turning in it. Within this sleeve ďa
female screw thread is cut fitting to a corresponding male thread upon
the shaft b. The effect of this arrangement is this:-The ball governor
is so adjusted that at the speed which it is desired to observe the
sleeve / will be in the center of its vertical play, and the belt & will
run in the center of the length of the pulley d, so that the two pulleys c
and d will revolve synchronously. Now if the pressure of the motive
power is decreased, or a greater load is thrown on the engine or wheel
to be driven, the balls of the governor will fall, and the belt d' will be
shifted out toward the large end of the pulley d which will cause the
pulley d to revolve more slowly than the pulley c, which will cause
the shaft b to move lengthwise in the direction indicated by the
arrow a², which movement (by means of any proper connection made
from the collar u to the valve or other apparatus which immediately
controls the inlet of motive power to the engine or wheel) will allow
more steam or water to have access to the motor, and this movement
will continue till enough of the motive power is admitted to obtain the
desired speed (supposing, as before stated, that the motive power is
equal to the task), when the belt & will move back to the center of
the pulley d, but, and this is the important feature of the Invention, the
shaft 6 will not move back toward its first position unless the balls rise
beyond their first position and move the belt & past the center of the
pulley d and toward the smallest diameter thereof. When the speed
of the ball governor rises above the desired rate the belt d³ moves from
the center of the pulley toward the smaller end, and the motive power
will be shut off till the desired speed is again reached; but as before
the shaft will not move back toward its first position till the belt ď
moves beyond the center of the pulley d and toward the large end,
so that however much the power or the load may vary the governor
immediately adapts itself thereto and still maintains the same rate
of speed.
In using the common ball governor the balls must be either above
or below the customary height in order to vary the amount of steam
or water admitted to the motor, and the governor cannot adapt itself to
either an increase of load or variation in pressure of motive power;
this governor does both. When the port for the admission of motive
power is fully open the male screw on the shaft 6 will have moved so

page_text: far out as to clear the female screw in the sleeve d² and the motion of
the shaft in that direction will cease, but the spiral spring wo will hold
the male screw up against the end of the sleeve, so that the screws will
'again engage when opportunity offers. Of course the pulley d instead
of being the frustum of a cone might be of equal diameter throughout,
and the drum which drives it might be the frustum of a cone, and the
same purpose would be served. An equal tightness of the belt d'at
all times is attained by means of a small "idler" pulley.
It is not deemed necessary to show how the shaft 6 is connected with
the valve or gate which immediately controls the supply of motive
power to the motor, that being a very simple matter. It can be con-
'nected directly with that kind of cut-off which is the valve itself in a
'steam engine, or be made to control a cut-off in the nature of a throttle,
'or be made to control the position of the "block" in a link, or to control
any of the valves in use, so far as known to the Inventor.
:
I claim as my Invention,―
The shaft made to revolve synchronously with the pulley c, but
free to move with reference thereto in the direction of its length, and
engaging with the conical pulley d by means of a male and a female
screw, substantially as described for the purposes set forth.
Also the combination of the shaft b, pulleys c and d, pinion h, gear i,
shaft j, with a common ball governor attached thereto, arm m, shaft n,
arm o, and shipper s; these constructed, arranged, and operated sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edgar Simonds, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
.