Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1886.
Complete Left, 17th Feb., 1887.
Complete Accepted, 18th Mar., 1887,
We, GOTTLIEB FECKER and HEINRICH BOECKER, partners in the firm of Fecker
and Co., of Wetzlar, kingdom of Prussia, mathematical instrument-makers, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:―
Our invention relates to regulators serving to produce uniformity of speed of the
driving mechanisms of certain astronomical and meteorological instruments, of mag-
nesium-lamps and of other similar apparatuses, the operation of the said regulators
resting upon the continuous bending of a spring or on bendings repeated in rapid
succession.
The regulators of the first kind as hitherto constructed, consist in a straight spring
fixed as its upper end, and engaging with its lower end, which is provided with a
weight, in a rotating slitted arm adapted to carry around the weight in a circle and
the spring in a conoïdal surface of rotation, and thus to cause a continuous bending
of the spring in the direction of its motion, the said bending consuming an amount of
mechanical work which becomes greater as the speed increases and the weight flies
further out. In the regulators of the second kind the spring is vibrated by the teeth
of a wheel striking on the end of the spring, while the spring reacts by its vibrations
on the wheel, this reaction increasing as, from increase of speed the teeth of the wheel
strike more forcibly on the spring.
The said regulators, although very efficient in their operation, are defective
inasmuch as the springs always break within a short time. This imperfection we have
obviated by replacing the straight springs by spiral ones, the windings whereof may
be arranged in a cylindrical, conical, plane or other surface. With this improvement
the required durability of the regulators is insured.
מת זB C
2

page_text: We, GOTTLIEB FECKER and HEINRICH BOECKER, partners in the firm of Fecker
& Co., of Wetzlar, kingdom of Prussia, makers of mathematical instruments, 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 regulators serving to produce uniformity of speed of the
driving-mechanisms of certain astronomical and meteorological instruments, of mag-
nesium-lamps, and of other similar apparatuses; the operation of the said regulators
resting upon the continuous bending of a spring, or on bendings repeated in rapid
succession.
Fig. 1 of the annexed sheet of drawings shows a regulator of the first kind, provided
with a spring a, such as has heretofore already been employed, and which in normal
state is straight. This spring, fixed at the top, and loaded near its lower end with a
weight b, engages with the said end in a slitted arm'c, fixed to an axle of the driving-
mechanism, so that the arm, on being put in rotation, carries around the weight in a
circle and causes it to recede from its axis of rotation. The spring, after having
thereby been bent in the plane of the said axis, is impelled to circumrotate in a
conoïdal surface of rotation, in consequence whereof it undergoes at every moment a
bending in the direction of its motion, as is shown by the different positions a¹ a³ a³
of the spring in Fig. 1. The resistance of the spring against this continuous bending,
requires, in order to be overcome, an amount of mechanical work which becomes
greator in proportion to the distance travelled over by any point of the spring.
Supposing, now, the speed to increase, for instance from a diminution of resistance of
the driven mechanism, the increase of the centrifugal force acting on the weight b,
will cause the weight and the spring to recede further from the axis of rotation. The
mechanical work required for the continuous bending of the spring consequently also
increases, and by this increase is compensated the diminution of work resulting from
the diminution of resistance of the driven mechanism.
The said regulators, although very efficient in their operation, are defective inas-
much as the springs always break within a short time. For the purpose of obviating
this deficiency and imparting to the regulators greater durability, we replace the
straight springs by spiral ones, the windings whereof may be arranged in a cylindrical,
conical, plane, or other surface. Fig. 2 shows, for instance, a regulator provided with
a cylindrical spring a, Fig. 3 a spring forming a double cone, and Fig. 4 a spring the
windings whereof lie in a plane.
In the regulators of the second kind the spring is vibrated by the teeth of a wheel
striking on the end of a spring, while the spring reacts by its vibrations on the
wheel. If, in any mechanism, provided with a regulator of this description, there is a
diminution of resistance, the wheel rotates quicker and, in striking more forcibly on
the spring, puts the same into oscillations of greater amplitude; on the other hand
the spring then hits with greater force on each tooth of the wheel as it passes, and

page_text: thus moderates the speed. In these regulators, which have heretofore also been con-
structed with straight springs, the spiral springs present the same advantages as in
the regulators of the first kind.
Fig. 5 shows a regulator of the second kind having a spiral spring a of cylindrical
form, operated upon by the wheel d. The windings of the spring may, however, be
arranged, in this case also, in any suitable surface.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :
In regulators serving to control the speed of the driving-mechanisms of astronomical,
meteorological and other like instruments, and of magnesium-lamps, and in which a
variable resistance is produced by the continuous bending of a spring or by bendings
repeated in rapid succession, the employment of spiral springs in place of the straight
springs heretofore used, for the purpose of. imparting to the said regulators greater
durability.
GOTTLIEB FECKER &
HEINRICH BOECKER.