Improvements relating to Mechanism for Communicating Motion to Engine-indicators, and to Means for Facilitating the Connection and Disconnection of such Mechanism.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Mechanism for Communicating Motion to
Engine-indicators, and to Means for Facilitating the Connection
and Disconnection of such Mechanism.
We, FREDERICK GROVER, of Yorkshire College, Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, and GEORGE AUGUSTUS MOWER, of 75 Queen Victoria
Street, in the City of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to mechanism for communicating motion from a moving
part of an engine to the card-carrier or cylinder of an engine-indicator, and to
means for facilitating the connection and disconnection of such mechanism.
Our said invention is chiefly designed to obviate the difficulties and inconveniences
which have heretofore been experienced with engine-indicators, in the operations
of connecting the cord thereof to, and disconnecting it from the cross-head or
other part of the engine from which motion is to be communicated to the card-
cylinder, while the engine is in motion, and to provide means whereby such
operations can be easily and conveniently performed even while the engine is
running at a very high velocity.
An important feature of our said invention is the employment, in conjunction
with a link (or a hook or the like) which is pivoted or otherwise suitably attached
to the cross-head or other moving part of the engine, of a suitable device com-
prising a hook (or a link or the like) connected to the driving-cord of the indicator
and adapted to engage with the link on the engine, and means whereby the said
hook will be normally held out of the path of the said link, and whereby it can be
very easily brought into or moved out of the path thereof to effect the connection
of the said cord with the engine, or its disconnection therefrom.
We sometimes combine the device above mentioned with reducing-gear whereby
the requisite motion will be imparted to the card-cylinder of the indicator from
a moving part of the engine having a much greater travel or range of movement.
In applying our improvements to a horizontal engine, we find it advantageous to
proceed as follows, viz. :-We make our connecting and disconnecting device with
a rocking lever which is pivoted to a suitable support and is free to move between
stops thereon; a sliding tube is fitted in and extends through a boss upon this
lever and is provided with a suitable handle. This tube is pressed outward by
a spiral or other spring, and a catch is provided whereby, when the said spring is
compressed, the said tube will be held in its innermost position against the effort of
the compressed spring. This catch comprises oppositely-inclined planes or surfaces
with a shoulder at the end of each, and a spring bolt in the said handle adapted
to engage therewith. The driving-cord of the indicator is passed through the
said tube, and a hook with a stem or shank of suitable length is attached to the
said cord. A link is pivoted upon a vertical rod or bar attached to the cross-head
or other suitable moving part of the engine to be indicated, which rod or bar moves
backwards and forwards through the entire length of the engine's stroke. In the
rapid motion of the said vertical bar, the said link will, by reason of its inertia,
assume a horizontal position, and come up against a stop provided for the purpose,
at the end of each inward stroke. The said link is allowed to swing down when
the said vertical bar is coming towards the hook, but it immediately rises into the

page_text: horizontal position at the end of each "instroke." The tension of the driving-cord
of the indicator, acting upon the said hook, tends to hold the said rocking lever
against one of the aforesaid stops. A swinging distance-piece is pivoted to the
said sliding tube and is adapted to hold the hook out at such a distance that, when
the said rocking lever is pushed against the other of the aforesaid stops, the hook
will engage with the said link on the latter rising into its horizontal position.
When the pressure of the hook is removed from the said distance-piece (by the
former being drawn forward with the link) the said distance-piece will drop down,
therefore the hook will remain attached to the link. When it is desired to dis-
connect the hook from the link, the aforesaid tube is released from the catch that
holds it and is thus permitted to be moved outward by its spring. As soon as the
hook collides with the end of the aforesaid tube, the rocking lever will be turned
about its pivot by the tension of the cord of the indicator until it comes against the
first stop. Thus the hook is lifted from the link and the disconnection is effected.
To again couple the hook to the link, it is only necessary to push the sliding tube
in as far as practicable, thus compressing the said spring, and then to pull forward
the hook and lift up the distance-piece; the tension on the cord will then press the
hook against the face of the distance-piece, which will thus be prevented from falling.
By then turning the rocking lever about its pivot, the hook can be turned down
into position to engage with the said link.
We sometimes attach our connecting and disconnecting device above mentioned
to a pillar or other support, upon which we mount reducing-gear comprising a
spring drum or pulley around which is wound the cord attached to the aforesaid
hook, and to which is fixed a smaller pulley having wound around it the cord from
the card-cylinder of the indicator. The spring in the large drum or roller may be
much stronger than that in the said card-cylinder.
It is obvious that the construction of our apparatus can be modified to adapt it
for other kinds of engines.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements relating to Mechanism for Communicating Motion to
Engine-indicators, and to Means for Facilitating the Connection
and Disconnection of such Mechanism.
We, FREDERICK GROVER, of Yorkshire College, Leeds, in the County of
York, Engineer, and GEORGE AUGUSTUS MOWER, of 75 Queen Victoria Street,
in the City of London, Engineer, 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 mechanism for communicating motion from a moving
part of an engine to the card-carrier or cylinder of an engine-indicator, and to
means for facilitating the connection and disconnection of such mechanism.
Our said invention is chiefly designed to obviate the difficulties and inconveniences
which have heretofore been experienced with engine-indicators, in the operations
of connecting the cord thereof to, and disconnecting it from the cross-head or
other moving part of the engine while the engine is in motion, and to provide
means whereby such operations cau be easily and conveniently performed even
while the engine is running at a very high velocity.

page_text: forwards through the entire length of the stroke of the said cross-head or other
part. A link p is pivoted at pl to the said bar n, and is provided with an inclined
shoulder p so that it will normally rest in the position shown by dotted lines in
Figure 1.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows, that is to say:-The tension on the
driving-cord k acting upon the base of the hook 7 normally holds the rocking
lever or frame c against the stop d, as shown in Figure 4. When the distance-
piece m is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 4, it will hold the hook out at
such a distance that, when the said rocking lever or frame is turned by hand in the
direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1 so as to bring it against the other
stop d', as shown in Figure 1, the hook will be in the path of the link p. In the
rapid motion of the vertical bar n, the link p will, by reason of its inertia, assume
a horizontal position at the end of the stroke, as indicated by full lines in Figure 1,
its upward movement being arrested by a stop pa provided for the purpose.
In
other words the said link p rests in its inclined position (shown in dotted lines)
while the vertical bar n is coming towards the hook 1, but the said link immediately
rises into the horizontal position shown in Figure 1, at the end of the stroke, and
engages with the said hook at the commencement of the return stroke.
When, by reason of the link drawing the hook away from the rocking lever or
frame c, the pressure of the said hook is removed from the distance-piece m, the
said distance-piece will drop down, as indicated in Figure 5, and therefore the
hook will remain attached to the link during successive strokes of the engine until
disconnected therefrom as hereinafter described.
When it is desired to disconnect the hook from the link, the spring bolt j is
disengaged from the shoulder g' by turning the tube e about its axis through a
small angle, and the said tube e is thus permitted to be moved by its spring into
the position shown in Figure 6. The base of the hook will then collide with the
end of the said tube before the bar n has terminated its stroke, and the hook will
be released by the movement of the link p to the end of the stroke; the rocking
lever or frame c will therefore be turned about its pivot by the tension of the
driving-cord k until it comes against the stop d, thus lifting the hook out of
engagement with the link as shown in Figure 6 and disconnecting the indicator-
cord from the engine.
To again couple the hook to the link, it is only necessary to push the sliding
tube e in as far as practicable, thus compressing the spring f, until the bolt j again
engages with the shoulder gl and then to pull forward the hook and lift up the
distance-piece m and allow the tension on the cord to press the base of the hook
against the face of the distance-piece, which will thus be prevented from falling.
By then turning the rocking lever or frame c about its pivot in the direction
indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the hook can be turned down into the path
of the link p, so that, when the bar n arrives at the end of its stroke, the said link
will swing upward as shown in Figure 1, and engage with the said hook.
We sometimes attach to the pillar a supporting our connecting and disconnecting
device as above described, reducing-gear comprising a spring drum or pulley q
around which is wound the cord k attached to the hook l, and to which is fixed a
smaller pulley q' having wound around it the cord r from the card-cylinder of the
indicator. The spring in the large drum or roller may be much stronger than that
in the said card-cylinder, thus establishing a more reliable connection between the
hook and link p.
In cases where the link is attached to a part of the engine having a sufficiently
limited stroke or range of movement, the cord k may, if desired, be connected
directly to the card-cylinder of the indicator.
We sometimes rigidly attach one part p of the coupling to the vertical bar n,
Figure 7, and provide the said part with an inclined surface p', and make the other
part of the coupling in the form of a hook or latch 7 with a corresponding inclined
surface, which, at the termination of the stroke of the bar a, will ride up the
incline p when the rocking lever c is pressed forward, so that the two parts of the

page_text: coupling will be automatically connected. This arrangement is advantageous
either for horizontal, vertical or inclined-cylinder engines.
We can, if desired, modify the construction of our apparatus whereby the hook
is automatically moved and held out of the path of the link and can be moved into
the path thereof when desired. For instance, instead of using a rocking lever or
frame as above described, we can, if desired, mount the aforesaid sliding tube and
its adjuncts in a boss formed on or attached to a sliding frame movable between
stops on a suitable support.
It is obvious, moreover, that the construction of our apparatus can be further
modified, if necessary, to adapt it for the particular kind of engine with which it
is to be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
First. Indicator-gear comprising a coupling and means for normally holding one
part of the said coupling out of the path of the other part thereof, and au
adjustable device whereby it can be moved into the said path when desired, to
permit the automatic connection of the parts, and which can be set or adjusted so
as to cause the automatic disconnection of the parts and movement of the one part
out of the path of the other, substantially as herein before described.
Second. A sliding tube supported in a lever or frame movable between suitable
stops, and provided with an adjustable distance-piece, substantially as hereinbefore
described and for the purposes specified.
Third. The employment of a link or the like pivotted to a reciprocating part of
the engine and adapted to be moved upward at the termination of the stroke of
the said reciprocating part so as to engage with a hook or equivalent device,
substantially as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Fourth. The modification of our invention wherein we rigidly secure one part of
the coupling to the moving part of the engine and provide it with an inclined
surface for raising the hook or latch, substantially as and for the purposes, above
specified.
Fifth. The rocking lever or frame pivoted to a suitable support and having fitted
therein the sliding tube acted upon by the spring and provided with the handle
and the adjustable distance-piece, substantially as, and for the purposes, above
specified.
Sixth. The combination, with our connecting and disconnecting device, of the
reducing-gear for transmitting motion from the engine to the card-cylinder of the
indicator, as above described.
Seventh. The improved mechanisın constructed substantially as described with
reference to the accompanying drawings and operated as, and for the purposes,
above specified.
Dated the 27th der of March 1907
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.