Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by JOHN SCOTT HALL, of the City, County, and State
of New York, United States of America.]
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 323 High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E. 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:
The object of this invention is to provide a means for locking a valve in a certain
position without stopping each time to make that nice adjustment which is always
required when running machinery and in many instances in guaging the amount of
fluid passing through pipes.
Another object is to provide a locking device for valves which is not liable to be
accidently displaced or broken.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is an elevation of a lubricator or oil cup the valve spindle of which is
provided with this improved governor or locking device.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of this improved valve governor and
Fig. 3 is a plan thereof.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the upper portion of a valve showing another form of
governor and locking disc, detail of which is shown in Fig. 4a. Fig. 5 is section
of figure 4.
Figs. 6 and 7 show another modification with a slight difference in the method of
applying the same, figure 8 being a detail view of the governor.
In each of the figures A designates the valve rod or spindle which controls the
valve. This spindle is screw threaded and passes through a correspondingly internally
screw threaded pipe B sce figs. 4 and 5. By this construction the turning of
the thumb nut or wheel C turns the spindle A and raises or lowers the valve.
The pipe B is also internally screw threaded and is provided with a set nut D.
The locking device which I prefer (see figs. 1, 2, and 3 consists of a piece of
tempered steel E bent double and perforated on each side so as to slip over the pipe B

page_text: and rest against the shoulders B' thereon. When properly set it is retained in
position by means of the set nut D. On the upper edge of the locking device is a
projection e and on the other side of the thumb nut or wheel C is a corresponding
recess. The operation of this device is as follows:-
Having determined the amount of flow required by working the thumb nut back
and forth until the proper quantity of oil steam or water is allowed to flow through the
pipe from the valve seat, the locking spring E is turned around until it registers with
the recess on the knob disc or wheel C and the spring is then locked in that position
on the shoulder B₁ of the projecting pipe B where it is held rigidly by the lock
nut D. When the machinery is stopped or when it is desired to close the valve
for any purpose whatever the spindle A is simply turned around until the valve is
firmly seated when it may be left. When it is desired to open the valve to the
predetermined extent which has been found to permit of the desired flow the
spindle is simply turned around until the projection e on the locking spring E
registers with the recess in the knob or disc C which is rigidly secured to the rod A.
From the foregoing it will be observed that this device is admirably adapted for use
in houses which are heated by steam and where the regularity of the flow is not easily
secured by depending upon servants to open and close the valve governors, but by
having the locking spring set at any desired position as hereinbefore described, the
most ignorant servant or almost any child could be trusted to open and close the steam
valve by simply having instructed him to open it until the spring registered with the
recess in the disc, and when he desired to close it to simply go and turn it up as far as
it will go. The same advantages apply where the device is employed in inachinery
which is managed and handled by people who are careless or who are hardly competent
to regulate these things as they should be regulated without some mechanical device
which will save them the trouble of studying to get these nice adjustments, all of which
will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art to which this
invention appertains and by all who use these devices in any capacity whatever.
As previously stated the form of device shown in figures 1, 2 and 3 is that which is
most preferable but modification thereof may be devised to give a similar result. In
figs. 4 and 5 the spring E (detail of which is shown in figure 4a) only passes once over
the pipe B and the projection e instead of locking in the recess formed in the wheel_
enters into a similar recess formed on a separate disc F fixed to the spindle A. In
figure 6 the lock spring is bent up at a right angle so as to engage with a notch c formed
on the periphery of the wheel C and in figure 7 the same form of spring (detail of
which is shown in figure 8) engages with a notch y formed in a separate disc G which
is fast to the valve spindle A.
C
Various other modifications may also be devised without departing from the
spirit of this invention. For instance the spring E might be attached to the
spindle A so as to revolve therewith the projection engaging with a notch formed in
the casing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A device or apparatus for governing or indicating the position of a valve
consisting of the combination with a knob wheel disc or equivalent such as CF or G
revolving with the spindle A and having a notch or recess formed thereon of a
locking device or spring K such as E capable of being adjusted and fixed at any point
around the spindle A and having a projection e to engage with the notch in the knob
wheel or disc when the tap or valve is opened to the desired extent substantially as
specified.