Improvements in Speed Governing Apparatus.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 15th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 24th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Speed Governing Apparatus.
I SETH DAWSON of Rycroft Iron Works, Grosvenor Street, Ashton-under-
Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :-
My said invention relates to apparatus for governing or regulating the speed of
prime movers and other classes of machinery to which such governors may be
applied. I shall however describe the invention as applicable to the regulation of
the supply of steam or other fluid pressure to prime movers.
In an invention
relating to governors for which I have obtained Letters Patent No. 5451 of the
year 1886 in conjunction with James Dawson, a governor was described consisting
of a vertical sliding load carried on a spindle and connected by jointed links and
weights to a cross foot bar carrying adjustable confining centres.
Modifications of this governor were also indicated in the Specification of an
invention for which the present Applicant obtained Letters Patent No. 17496
of 1887.
In the said latter Specification I also described a compensating arrangement for
reducing the limits within which variation of speed was necessary to effect the
required regulation of steam supply.
According to my present invention I make important changes in the construction
of the governor and thereby reduce the number of working parts and make a more
compact, light and effective apparatus. I replace the former rising and falling
load by a hollow cylindrical sleeve, furnished at or near the foot with arms or
with a disc. The central shaft which carries the sleeve is solid and is furnished
with a cross bar or with cross bars the limbs of which project through slots in the
sleeve. These bars or arms come opposite to the bars or the disc at the foot
of the sleeve, a sufficient distance extending between them. Chains extend between
the top bar and the bottom disc, and there may be two or more of such chains.
The top links of the chains rest in notches formed to receive them in the top bar
and the bottom links engage with notched holdfasts bolted to the bottom disc or
bars. The sleeve is at liberty to rise and fall to some extent on the shaft. When
the central shaft revolves, the chain by which the sleeve is suspended from the top
bars, belly out by centrifugal force so that their length is practically shortened
and the sleeve is lifted upwards. The greater the speed the more the chains belly
out and the higher the sleeve is lifted. The less the speed the straighter do the
chains become and the lower drops the sleeve. This being so, it will be evident
that by connecting the sleeve in any suitable manner to the steam regulating valve,
variations in speed would result in checking or increasing the supply of steam to
the required extent.
Each upper bar and each lower holdfast should have a series of corresponding
notches or other means might be adopted so that the chains could be hung at
distances from the centre of the shaft which would correspond to the required
normal speed of the engine.
The diameter of the notches and of the links of the chain should be considerably
less than the diameter of the ends of the links so that only the proud parts of the
curves should be in contact, thus greatly reducing friction. Instead of chains 1
might use any other flexible arrangement of links either alone or in combination
with weights.
The hereinbefore described governor might be used by itself or it might be
used in conjunction with my aforesaid compensating arrangement referred to in

page_text: Patent No. 1749687 or any modification thereof. When so used I cast the double
cone for operating the compensator, in one with the aforesaid sleeve, or it might
be separate, and I also make the lower chain attachment always as a disc so as to
catch any oil and prevent it from reaching the double cone. Instead of a worm
and wheel with rack and pinion to raise and lower the rod for communicating with
the valve as described in my said former Specification 17496, I use bevel wheels and
a screw and nut whereby the rod is operated. The upper end of the rod is centred
to a lever the inner forked end of which engages with a groove in the upper end of
the sleeve. A rod extending towards the valve is centred on the lever between the
fork and the rising and falling screwed rod.
As the lever is raised and lowered so the valve rod is operated to increase or
diminish the supply of steam.
For example if the speed should unduly increase, the double cone will rise and
operate the frictional disc so as to revolve the bevel gearing and raise the lever.
The supply of steam is thereby decreased the speed diminishes and the sleeve falls.
If the speed should drop the sleeve and double cone also drop and the steam
governing rod is again operated so as to increase the steam supply. The details of
the compensator and also those of the governor might be slightly varied without
departing from the spirit of my invention.
Dated this 14th day of March 1893.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Speed Governing Apparatus.
I SETHI DAWSON of Rycroft Iron Works, Grosvenor Street, Ashton-under-
Lyne, in the County of Lancaster, 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 and accompanying
<drawings:-
My said invention relates to apparatus for governing or regulating the speed of
prime movers and other classes of machinery to which such governors may be
applied. I shall however describe the invention as applicable to the regulation of
the supply of steam or other fluid pressure to prime movers.
In an invention relating to governors for which I have obtained Letters Patent
No. 5451 of the year 1886 in conjunction with James Dawson, and to the Specifi-
cation of which the reader is referred, a governor was described consisting of a
vertical sliding load carried on a spindle and connected by jointed links and weights
to a cross foot bar carrying adjustable confining centres.
Modifications of this governor were also indicated in the Specification of an
invention for which the present Applicant obtained Letters Patent No. 17496 of
1887.
In the said latter Specification (to which the reader is also referred for a more
clear view of certain parts than can be had from the accompanying drawing) I also
described a compensating arrangement for reducing the limits within which
variation of speed was necessary to effect the required regulation of steam supply.
According to my present invention I make important changes in the construction
of the governor and thereby reduce the number of working parts and make a more
compact, light and effective apparatus.
To make my invention more clear I have appended hereunto a sheet of
illustrative drawings to which I shall now refer.
Fig. 1 is a view of my improved governor as it appears when at rest.
Fig. 2 is a similar view of the governor as it appears when at work.

page_text: I replace the former rising and falling load which is shown in Specification
No. 1749687 by a hollow cylindrical sleeve a furnished at or near the foot with arms
or with a disc b. The central shaft c which carries the sleeve a is solid, and is
furnished with a cross bar d, or with cross bars, the limbs of which project through
slots in the sleeve a as clearly shown in the drawings. These bars or arms d come
opposite to the bars, or the disc b at the foot of the sleeve a, a sufficient distance
extending between them.
Chains e extend between the top bars d and the bottom disc b and there may be
two or more of such chains, two only being shown in the drawing.
The top linkse of the chains e rest in notches d¹ formed to receive them in the
top bar and the bottom links e² engage with notched holdfasts bolted to the
bottom disc b. The sleeve a is at liberty to rise and fall to some extent on
the shaft c.
C
So long as the governor is at rest, the chains e hang plumb and straight as in
Fig. 1, but when the central shaft c revolves, the chains, by which the sleeve is
suspended from the top bars d, belly out by centrifugal force as clearly shown in
Fig. 2, so that their length is practically shortened and the sleeve a and disc bare
lifted upwards.
The greater the speed the more the chains e belly out and the higher the sleeve a
is lifted. The less the speed, the straighter do the chains become and the lower
drops the sleeve.
This being so it will be evident that by connecting the sleeve a or disc b in any
suitable manner to the steam regulating valve or cut-off, variations in speed would
result in checking or increasing the supply of steam to the required extent.
Each upper bar d and each lower holdfast b₁ has as already said a series of
corresponding notches; or other means might be adopted so that the chains e could
be hung at distances from the centre of the shaft e which would correspond to the
required normal speed of the engine.
The notches d¹ in the bars d are of an internal diameter greater than the diameter
of the iron composing the chain link, as more clearly shown at Fig. 4, and the curve
at the end of the link is also of greater radius than the thickness of the bar das
shown at Fig. 5.
The edges of the notches d' are also rounded off as shown in Fig. 5 so that by
this arrangement the proud parts only of the curves of the links and of the notches,
come into contact, thus greatly reducing friction.
The method of forming the hold fast is shown at Fig. 1.
The screwed tails 62 pass through holes in the disc b and are secured by nuts on
the lower side of the disc.
Instead of chains of the illustrated nature I might use any other flexible
arrangement of links either alone or in combination with weights. For example
thin steel wires carrying weights might be used..
The hereinbefore described governor might be used by itself, or it might be used
in conjunction with my aforesaid compensating arrangement referred to in Patent
No. 1749687 or any modification thereof.
When so used with a compensator I cast the double cone (which is marked in
the accompanying drawings) for operating the compensator, in one with the afore-
said sleeve a or it might be separate, and in such a case I always make the lower
chain attachment in the form of a disc b as shown and described, so as to catch any
oil and prevent it from reaching the double conc j
Instead of a worm and wheel with rack and pinion to raise and lower the rod k
for communicating with the valve or cut-off as described in my said former Specifi-
cation No. 17496", I use in the present arrangement bevel wheels 9 and a screw h
and revolvable nut i whereby the rod k, upon the lower end of which the screw / is
cut, can be raised and lowered.
The upper end of the rod is centred at to a lever the inner forked end l'
of which engages with a clutch groove in the upper end of the sleeve a. A rod m
extending towards the throttle valve or cut-off is centred on the lever / between

page_text: the fork and the head of the rising and falling screwed rod k. As the lever l is
raised and lowered, so the valve rod m is operated to increase and diminish the
supply of stean.
The operation of the present improved governor is similar to the operation of my
governor already described on page 4 in the Specification of Patent No. 174967.
On the rising of the sleeve a due to the bellying of the chains e under increased
speed, the forked end of the lever is raised together with the rod m so as to
decrease the supply of steam.
If the rise is sufficient to bring the double cone finto contact with the upper
edge of the frictional disc n, the disc is rotated and the rod k is raised thus raising
the fulcrum and correspondingly lowering the sleeve a, the parts thus resuming
their normal position although the reduced supply of steam continues.
Should the speed diminish, the sleeve a falls, opening the steam supply a little
further and if it falls sufficiently far the cone frotates the auxiliary apparatus in
the opposite direction, thereby lowering the fulcrum. A stop k² on the rod k
prevents the rod from descending past a given point, and a frictional slip plate
with notched periphery on the back of the bevel wheel y allows the said wheel to
-continue its rotation without turning the nut i which moves the rod k.
0
To neutralise the effect of the jambing down of the screwed rod k by the nut i
a spring clicker p on the wheel see Fig. 3 starts the nut i in the reverse direc-
tion when the apparatus is reversed by a fresh access of speed.
The details of the compensator and also those of the governor might be slightly
varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.
My improved governor is free from the defect of "hunting
so common in the
ease of the usual governors, and does not require a dash pot to steady it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In speed governors the employment of chains or other flexible suspending
drivers e for suspending and driving the body, the rise and fall of which governs the
supply of actuating fluid to the motor, substantially as described and shown.
2. The combination of parts comprising the improved auxiliary apparatus and
consisting of a spindle adapted to be rotated in one direction or the other according
to the increase or decrease of speed of the motor and frictionally connected by
bevel gearing to a nut and screwed rod by means of which the fulcrum A¹ of
the steam valve lever is automatically adjusted to the requirements, substantially
as described and shown.
3. The complete governing apparatus formed by the combination of the chain
or other suspending flexible governor, forming the subject matter of Claim 1, with
the improved auxiliary apparatus forming the subject matter of Claim 2,
substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 14th day of December 1893.
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5, John Dalton Street, Manchester, Agents.