IMPROVE- MENTS IN WINDMILLS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thaddeus Hyatt, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WINDMILLS."-A communication from abroad by Addison
Prescott Brown, of the City and State of New York, in the United
States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thaddeus Hyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th September 1873.
I, THADDEUS HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDMILLS," a communication to me from abroad
by Addison Prescott Brown, of the City and State of New York, in the
United States of America, to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to a peculiar self-acting centrifugal governor or
regulator for windmills, and consists essentially of a pair of weighted
revolving arms a, a, (represented in the Drawing annexed, which illus.

page_text: trates a windmill provided with the said self-acting centrifugal governor
or regulator), such arms being so arranged or adjusted that when the
velocity of the wheel containing the blades b, b, is unduly increased the
action of the governor swings the entire wheel to one side, so that the
wheel itself is presented more or less edgewise to the wind, and its
velocity is correspondingly diminished, or vice versa.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thaddeus Hyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THADDEUS
HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, Her
special license that I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thaddeus Wyatt,
my executors, administrators, or 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 WINDMILLS," a communication to me from abroad by
Addison Prescott Brown, of the City and State of New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 performed, 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 Thaddeus Hyatt, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertamen
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom- .
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is
to say:
-
This Invention relates to a peculiar self-acting centrifugal governor
or regulator for windmills, and consists essentially of a pair of weighted
revolving arms a, a, (represented in the Drawing annexed, which illus-
trades a windmill provided with the said self-acting centrifugal governor
or regulator), such arms being so arranged or adjusted that when the
velocity of the wheel containing the blades b, b, is unduly increased the
action of the governor swings the entire wheel to one side so that the
wheel itself is presented more or less edgewise to the wind, and its
velocity is correspondingly diminished, or vice versa.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 on the Drawing represents a side elevation of one form of
my Invention; Figure 2, a plan of same; Figure 3, an enlarged section
on the line 1, 2, in Figure 2; and Figures 4 and 5 enlarged detailed
views of portions of Figure 1.
A represents a wind wheel of any ordinary or desired construction
furnished with blades b, b, and secured to a horizontal shaft B having a
longitudinal reciprocating motion in bearings 1, 2, fixed to the turn-
table C. D is a crank pin fixed in and carried by the bevilled crank
disc or wheel E fixed to the shaft B, and communicating a reciprocating
motion to the pitman F in the usual manner. In front of and at a short
distance from the bevilled crank disc or wheel E but not in contact
therewith (except as hereafter described) a wheel or casting G is placed
loosely on the shaft B having an internal circular bevilled chamber
corresponding with and in proximity to the circular bevilled edge of the
crank disc or wheel E, and having a groove H formed on its cir-
cumference encircled by a chain I, to which a weight J is suspended,
tending by its gravity to hold the wheel or casting G at rest.
a circular ring or frame pivotted at its centre x to the turntable C,
and secured at its outer end to the vane or weathercock L, as
K is

page_text: shewn. The arc of the ring or frame K gears with the reduced neck 4
of the wheel or casting G, either by frictional contact as shown, or
by ordinary toothed gear, so that any movement of the wheel or
casting G upon the shaft B is communicated to the ring or frame K,
and causes the vane or weathercock L to swing partly round its centre
of rotation x. M is a washer placed on the shaft B against the outside
face of the bearing 1. N is a centrifugal governor or regulator (formed
with two weighted arms, as shewn, or in any other suitable manner)
placed on the shaft B between the washer M and the wind wheel A, and
revolving with the latter. The inner hub of the wind wheel A is
flattened into a rectangular form, and projects into a corresponding
opening in the centre portion of the centrifugal governor or regulator N
(seen more clearly in detail in Figures 4 and 5) until the triangular
teeth or projections y, y (formed on the sides of the flattened hub of the
wind wheel A as shewn) fit into corresponding notches in the face of
the centrifugal governor or regulator N. The back or curved surface of
the latter (or that surface resting against the washer M) is formed in
the shape of a cam or eccentric for the purpose hereafter described. The
whole of the above apparatus is pivoted and free to rotate on a suitable
bracket or support fixed to the upright post or framework of the mill.
The manner in which the velocity of the wind wheel A. is regulated
automatically by the apparatus here described is as follows:-At certain
velocities the wind wheel A (if of proper size and construction) is
subject to a forward thrust or tendency to screw itself forward towards
the wind that drives it, and this tendency is still further increased by
the action of the centrifugal governor or regulator N, which tends by its
accelerating velocity to leave the position shewn in Figure 1, and to
assume that indicated by dotted lines. In doing this its cam or eccentric
surface turns round against the washer M, and there being no play
between the latter and the teeth or projections y, y, on the flattened hub
of the windmill A, the continued pressure of the cam or eccentric
surface of the centrifugal governor or regulator N against the washer M
will push forward the windmill A, and with it the shaft B longi-
tudinally in the bearings 1, 2, until the levilled edge of the crank disc
or wheel E comes in contact with the internal corresponding surface of
the wheel or casting G, and by the friction produced causes the latter to
revolve on the shaft B; in so doing the ring or frame K (being in
frictional contact with the reduced neck 4 of the wheel or casting G)

page_text: will be turned on its centre x, and with it the vane or weathercock L
into the position shown by dotted lines, or any other position relatively
to the centre line of the wind wheel A and the shaft B according to the
varying movement of the wheel or casting G, at the same time the
weight J is pulled up by the chain I, encircling the wheel or casting G;
the combined effect being to present the entire wind wheel A. more or
less edgwise to the wind, and thereby to reduce its velocity. On the
reduction of the velocity of the wind wheel A, and the centrifugal
governor or regulator N beyond a desirable extent, the latter will return
to its normal position on the shaft B, and its cam or eccentric surface being
thereby gradually released from the washer M the shaft B will move back
longitudinally in its bearings 1, 2; in so doing the crank disc or wheel E
attached to the shaft B will be moved out of contact with the wheel or
casting G, and the weight J pulling upon the chain I in the groove H
will bring the wheel or casting G, and by it the ring or frame K and
weathercock. L back towards their original position relatively to the
wind wheel A, thereby presenting the entire wind wheel A more or less
fully to the action of the wind, and consequently increasing its velocity.
Figure 6 represents a side elevation of another form or modification of
the Invention; and Figure 7 a plan of same. In these Figures the
windmill A and the centrifugal governor or regulator N are omitted
(but understood). G¹ is a block or casting rigidly fixed to the turn-
table C, and having an internal circular bevilled chamber similar to that
of the wheel or casting G (Figure 1). K' is a circular ring or frame
swinging on its centre x¹ fixed to the turntable C, which carries on it
mounted in suitable bearings a worm O gearing into the arc of the ring
or frame K', and driven by the action of the hand on an endless cord
passing round a grooved pulley fixed to the spindle of the worm O, as
shewn. P is a circular ring or disc formed in halves and connected
with the lower end of the pitman F, where it slides freely over the
upright post of the mill and is attached to the notched rod of the piston
or sucker of the pump Q, as shewn. On the forward movement of the
shaft B by the action of the centrifugal governor or regulator N (as in
Figure 1), the bevilled crank disc or wheel E is brought in contact with
the rigidly fixed block or casting G¹, and the amount of friction pro-
duced is sufficient to reduce or regulate the velocity of the windmill A
even while the latter is fully exposed to the varying action of the wind.
If found desirable, by turning the worm O the ring or frame K¹ with

page_text: the vane or weathercock L may be made to swing on the centre x¹, and
the wind wheel A be thereby presented more or less edgewise to the wind
(as in Figure 1).
Figure 8 represents an end elevation of an arrangement for lengthening
or shortening the stroke of the pump worked by the windmill, and
which may be used or not in combination with either of the preceding
forms of the Invention; Figure 9, a sectional plan of same; and
Figure 10, a section of same on line 3, 4, in Figure 9. By this arrange-
ment the crank pin D' instead of being fixed to the bevilled crank disc
or wheel E¹ (as is the case with the crank pin D fixed in the crank disc
or wheel E in Figure 1) slides in a groove formed across the centre of
its inner face by means of a screw R working through the crank pin D',
and mounted in suitable bearings formed on the opposite edges of the
crank disc or wheel E¹. Attached to the outer end of the screw R
beyond and close to one edge of the crank disc or wheel E' is a conical
roller S which turns against either the circular bevilled face' edge formed
on the wheel or casting G³, or against the circular bevilled face edge
formed on the frame or standard T fixed to the turntable C, as shewn.
V is a spiral spring between the crank disc E' and the wheel or
casting G, the tendency of which is to keep them apart or in their
relative normal positions. Z, Z, are projections formed on the crank
pin D' for engaging by frictional contact with the wheel or casting G³,
as hereafter described.
On the forward movement of the shaft B by the action of the cen-
trifugal governor or regulator N (as in Figure 1), the crank disc or
wheel E¹ is drawn towards the wheel or casting G³ (the spring V being
compressed thereby), and the roller S coming in contact with the
circular bevilled face edge of the latter revolves with the screw R, which
working through the crank pin D' forces the latter further from the
centre of the crank disc or wheel E¹, thereby giving a longer stroke to
the piston or sucker of the pump Q (when in combination with Figures 1
or 6), and increasing the load on the wind wheel A which consequently
revolves at a reduced velocity. Simultaneously the projections Z, Z, on
the crank pin D¹ coming in contact with the internal bevilled surface of
the wheel or casting G² cause the latter to revolve on the shaft B for the ;
purpose previously set forth in Figure 1.
As soon as the velocity of the wind wheel A is reduced beyond ȧ
desirable extent, the crank disc or wheel E¹ recedes from the wheel or

page_text: casting G³ (as in Figure 1) until the roller S comes in contact with the
bevilled face edge on the frame or standard T, which causes it with the
screw R to revolve in the opposite direction to that previously described
when the crank pin D' is forced nearer to the centre of the crank disc or
wheel E¹, and the stroke of the piston or sucker of the pump Q being
thereby shortened the effect is to reduce the load on the wind wheel A,
which consequently revolves at an increased velocity.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The application of a centrifugal governor or regulator to the
wind wheel of windmills, and to the wind wheel shaft in combination
with one of the bearings of and with a crank disc or wheel attached to
the said shaft, the crank disc or wheel moving in and out of frictional
contact with a wheel or casting (provided with a chain and balance
weight) placed loosely on the said shaft, actuating a circular ring or
frame attached to the vane or weathercock for the purpose of auto-
matically regulating the velocity of the wind wheel by presenting it
more or less edgewise to the action of the wind, and vice versâ, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Second. The application of a centrifugal governor or regulator to the
wind wheel of windmills and to wind wheel shaft in combination with
one of the bearings of and with a crank disc or wheel attached to the
said shaft, the crank disc or wheel moving in and out of frictional
contact with a rigidly fixed block or casting, and in combination or not
with a worm (or its equivalent) actuating a circular ring or frame
attached to the vane or weathercock for the purpose of automatically
regulating the velocity of the wind wheel by friction only, or by friction
in addition to presenting the wind wheel more or less edgewise to the
action of the wind, and vice versa, substantially as herein-before
described.
Third. The application of an adjustable crank pin to the crank disc
or wheel attached to the revolving shaft carrying the wind wheel of
windmills in combination with the pitman connecting the adjustable
crank pin with a circular disc or ring (or its equivalent) sliding freely

page_text: over a fixed guide post, and attached to the notched rod carrying the
piston or sucker of the pump, and in combination or not with the
apparatus referred to in the preceding claims for the purpose of auto-
matically regulating the velocity of the wind wheel by increasing or
reducing the load thereon, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, have to this my
Specification, set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of March,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
THADDEUS HYATT. (L.S.)