IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Walker, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES."
Sealed the 31st May 1853, and dated the 30th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Walker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th December 1852.
I, THOMAS WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SPEED OF STEAM ENGINES" to be
as follows:
The Invention consists in arranging apparatus to be worked by
the steam engine, whose speed is to be regulated, so that air may be
forced into or withdrawn from another vessel through a pipe or

page_text: tube, such vessel having a moveable part, which is suitably con-
nected to the steam supply or throttle valve of the engine.
The apparatus I employ to force the air into the last mentioned
vessel (or to exhaust it therefrom, according to the arrangement of
parts adopted), I form somewhat as ordinary bellows with flexible
sides and a moveable part dividing it into compartments, there being
suitable inlet and outlet valves.
The vessel in connection with the steam supply or throttle valve,
I form with flexible sides and a moveable end, such moveable end
being connected by suitable gear to the steam supply or throttle
valve, and there is a small regulator valve or tap in this vessel
open to the atmosphere, which regulator is capable of adjustment,
and should be so adjusted that at the desired speed of the engine,
the air forced into this vessel (or withdrawn therefrom, if a vacuum
be adopted), will pass freely through such regulator, valve, or tap,
and the supply or throttle valve will remain open. But when the
speed of the engine becomes increased, the apparatus will work
faster, and the air (whether the parts be arranged for the air to be
forced in or withdrawn therefrom to form a vacuum), will not so
freely pass through the regulator valve or tap, and the moveable
end of that part of the apparatus to which the regulator is attached
will act upon the throttle valve to close it or partially so, and thus
restore uniformity of speed to the engine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Thomas Walker in the Great Seal 2
Patent Office on the 30th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
THOMAS WALKER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her g
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the

page_text: sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Walker, Her special
licence that I, the said Thomas Walker, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Walker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SPEED
OF STEAM ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Thomas Walker, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Walker, do 1. by
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performned, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
My Invention relates to means of arranging and combining appa-
ratus to be worked by the steam engine, by which the excess of
pressure or exhaustion of air above that which may freely pass
through an orifice capable of being regulated, is caused to act upon
the throttle valve, and thus regulate the supply of steam and conse-
quent speed of the engine.
And I would here state that as a general principle this is not new;
it having heretofore been proposed to arrange apparatus in which
the pressure of air was employed to act upon the throttle valve of a
steam engine, but from various causes, to the best of my knowledge,
such has never been worked to advantage; but that the present
improvements may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe
the means pursued by me.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, shows a sectional view of one form of apparatus accord-
ing to my Invention, and it will be seen that the same is divided
into two parts A, B; and each part is formed as a pair of bellows,
with the sides and one end of flexible enclosing material, and I prefer
leather for that purpose; A, is the apparatus which serves to collect
and force the air into the second chamber B, and it is the forming
of chambers A, B, separate from each other, when such are in part
composed of flexible material, which constitutes one peculiarity of
my Invention. The upper portion a, of the chamber A, is moveable
upon a flexible joint a¹, so as by a connecting rod a², worked by the
engine, to be capable of an up and down motion, by which air will be
drawn in through the valve b, and forced out through the pipe c,
into the chamber B, through the valve d; and the second chamber
B, is also furnished with a moveable cover e, which is jointed with
a flexible joint at f, and by means of a connecting rod g, is connected
to the throttle valve of the engine, to close the same as the move-
able cover e, rises; h, is an escape passage for the air from the
chamber B. This passage is capable of being more or less closed by
the conical plug i, which is affixed to the screw stem ", by turning
which in one or the other direction, the conical plug will be moved
to close the opening in the passage h, or to open it; and the open-
ing through the passage h, should be so adjusted, that by the
ordinary regular working of the engine, the air forced into the
chamber B, from the chamber A, may escape there through, after
raising the part e, about midway. But when, from any cause, the
speed of the engine encreases, and by a consequent faster working
of the apparatus A, air is forced into the apparatus B, faster than can
escape by the passage h, then the moveable cover e, will be raised,
and by the connecting rod g, will close or partially close the throttle
valve until uniformity of working is restored; or should the speed
of the engine diminish, then the air forced into the part B, will not.
be sufficient to support the moveable cover e, which by closing will

page_text: act upon the throttle valve to admit more steam, and thus increase
the speed of the engine.
I do not confine myself to the precise forms of the chambers A,
and B, and I have shewn a modification of the chamber A, at
Figure 2, in which case the centre part j; is moveable, and worked
by the engine. The air passes in through the valves k, k, and is
thence forced alternately through the valves 1, 1, and through the
nose m, by a pipe c, to a second apparatus B, as before explained.
In place, however, of the air being forced into apparatus B, such
as shewn and described in respect of Figure 1, it may be forced
into a cylinder such as shewn by Figure 3, which is also to be pro-
vided with a suitable escape cock or valve (and I prefer for that
purpose a conical valve, such as already explained). The air in
this case being forced into the cylinder, acts upon the underside of
a piston n, whose rod n', is by suitable gear in connection with the
throttle valve of the engine, but which, as well as other of the con-
necting parts, I have not thought it needful to show.
Figure 4, shows a modification of my apparatus, in which the
two parts are combined in one, each acting somewhat as the flaps
of a pair of bellows. The part o, is, by means of the rod o¹, or other
suitable means, worked by the engine. The air passes in through
the valve o², into the division A, and is then forced through the
valve p, into the compartment B, to which is affixed the outlet
pipe q, with its regulator valve; and the moveable cover r; is in con-
nection with the throttle valve of the engine, to regulate, as before.
explained, the amount of steam admitted to the engine, when either
by the too quick or the too slow working of the engine, more or
less air is forced into the compartment B, than will maintain uni-
formity in the position of the cover r, as determined by the escape
through the passage q.
Apparatus such as described in respect of Figures 1, 2, and 4,
may, by suitable modifications of the valves, be arranged to work
by means of a vacuum, and I have shewn a mode of arranging the
parts by which a vacuum may be made use of at Figure 5. In this
case the working of the apparatus A, will cause air to be withdrawn

page_text: through the pipe c, from the apparatus B, and a like regulator is
used to regulate the quantity of air drawn into the chamber B. It
will readily be seen that apparatus such as shewn by Figures 1, and
5, where the parts A, and B, are separate, will be found very con-
venient by enabling the one part to be placed near to the engine,
whilst the other part may be at a distance near the throttle valve
and only connected by the pipe c. Weights are to be applied to the
covers e, and r, Figures 1, and 4, and also to the piston n, Figure
3, to give them a tendency to close against the pressure of air
forced into the chamber B, or the cylinder, Figure 3; and also to the
moveable cover of the apparatus B, Figure 5, to give it a tendency
to open against the pressure of the external air.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, I would
have it understood that what I claim is the incans of arranging and
combining apparatus as herein explained, whereby the pressure or
exhaustion of air is employed to regulate the speed of steam engines.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Walker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
Witness,
WILLIAM BROOKES,
73, Chancery Lane.
THO WALKER. (L.S.)