A NEW AND IMPROVED GOVERNOR TO PREVENT RACING IN MARINE ENGINES
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Nevile Kempthorne at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th September 1878.
NEVILE KEMPTHORNE, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Civil
Engineer. "A NEW AND IMPROVED GOVERNOR TO PREVENT RACING IN MARINE
ENGINES."
This Invention has for its object the construction of an anticipating governor to
prevent the engines of steam vessels from racing when the screw propeller is out or
partially out of the water, that is to say, a governor which shall be dependent for
its action upon the relative level of the screw propeller and that of the water.
To effect this object a spindle or shaft is made to project through the side of the
vessel, and in any convenient position near the stern and forward of the screw
propeller. To the outer end of the said spindle is attached a hanging lever, and to
the extremity of the lever is fixed a cup or plate of any suitable shape, having the
plane of its periphery at or about at right angles to the side of the vessel. The end
of the spindle within the vessel is connected by suitable levers and rods or by any
suitable mechanism to the throttle valve lever. The cup or plate aforesaid is placed
preferably at about the level of the highest part of the circle described by the
periphery of the screw propeller, or at a distance considerably above the propeller
shaft. A weighted lever or a spring, or a combination of the two, is used in connec-
tion with the apparatus described for a purpose to be presently explained.
The action of the governor is as follows:-When the cup or plate aforesaid is
immersed, and the vessel is going "ahead," the pressure of the water (due to the
speed of the vessel) against the cup or plate forces back the hanging lever, and thus
through the medium of suitable gearing, as aforesaid, keeps open the throttle valve.
As the screw propeller is raised partially out of the water the cup or plate aforesaid
is also drawn up out of the water, and the pressure against it ceases, whereupon
the said hanging lever is forced forwards again by means of the weighted lever
aforesaid fixed upon the said spindle, or in any convenient position, or by means of
the spring aforesaid, or by a combination of the two, and closes or nearly closes the
throttle valve before the resistance to the screw propeller is sufficiently reduced to
cause the engines to race. Upon the cup or plate being again immersed as the

page_text: propeller falls the pressure of the water (while the vessel is going " ahead") again
forces back the hanging lever, and the throttle valve is opened.
The gearing is arranged to enable the governor to be thrown out of gear with the
throttle valve when the engines are being started.
The said governor may of course be connected to a throttle valve in the steam
pipes from the boiler, or to any other valve or valves to which governors are
connected.
Two hanging levers and cups or plates, namely, one set on each side of the vessel,
and both connected to the same throttle valve, may be used if desired to provide
against either of them failing through the vessel heeling over very much.
The weighted lever or spring as aforesaid may be made adjustable if desired.
A guard or shield may if desired be placed in position to protect the cup or plate
from the action of small waves before it is immersed.'
This Invention does not supersede the necessity of using a governor worked by
the engines for the purpose of keeping them at a regular speed.