AN IMPROVED REGULATOR OR GOVERNOR FOR STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbee, of the Firm of E. de
Fontainemoreau & Co., Patent Agents, 4, South Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
REGULATOR OR GOVERNOR FOR STEAM ENGINES."-A communication from
abroad by Henry Bosshard and Louis Martin, both of Vienna, in
the Empire of Austria.
Sealed the 17th December 1872, and dated the 28th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armand Gilbee
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th October 1872.
I, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, of the Firm of L. de Fontainemoreau
& Co., Patent Agents, 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED REGULATOR OR GOVERNOR FOR STEAM ENGINES," to be as follows, that
is to say :-
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved regulator
or governor for steam engines whereby the ordinary throttle valve is
not required, the steam being admitted to the ordinary slide valve of the

page_text: cylinder by means of a second slide valve worked by the engine in such
a manner that at each stroke of the piston the exact quantity of steam
is admitted. The ordinary governor balls and mechanism are however
employed to modify the movement of the said slide valve.
To carry out this Invention a spur wheel is mounted upon the main
shaft and gears with a second spur wheel (having only half the number
of teeth as the first wheel) upon a small shaft suitably placed; on this
small shaft is an eccentric wheel, the rod of which is jointed to the
lower end of a two-armed lever; the fulcrum of this lever is upon the
crank of a suitably placed axle; the upper arm of the lever is jointed to
the rod of a small slide valve placed between the steam pipe and the
ordinary slide valve casing of the engine, suitable openings being made
to allow the steam to pass from the small slide valve to the ordinary
valve.
By this arrangement the small slide valve is opened and closed twice
at each revolution of the main shaft, thereby allowing only the required
quantity of steam to be admitted to the cylinder at each stroke of the
engine.
The ordinary governor balls and mechanism are employed, the sliding
collar of which is connected to a vertical rod; to this rod one end of a
horizontal lever is jointed, the other end being jointed to the herein-
before described crank axle. By this means the action of the small
slide valve will as required be regulated so as to further counteract any
diminution or increase in the speed of the engine.

page_text: thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Armand Gilbee, Her special
licence that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Armand
5 Gilbee, 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
"AN IMPROVED REGULATOR OR GOVERNOR FOR STEAM ENGINES" (a communica-
tion to me from abroad by Henry Bosshard and Louis Martin, both of
Vienna, in the Empire of Austria), upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
5 hands and scals, 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 William Armand Gilbee, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:―
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved regulator or
governor for steam engines whereby the ordinary throttle valve is dispensed
with, the steam being admitted to the ordinary slide valve of the cylinder
by means of a second slide valve worked by the engine in such a
manner that at each stroke of the piston the exact quantity of steam is
admitted. The ordinary pendulum governor balls and mechanism are
however employed to modify the movement of the said slide valve.
To carry out this Invention a spur wheel is mounted upon the main
shaft of the engine and gears with a second spur wheel (having only
half the number of teeth as the first wheel) upon a small shaft suitably
placed on this small shaft is an eccentric, the rod of which is jointed
to the lower end of a two armed lever; the fulcrum of this lever is
upon the crank of a suitably placed axle; the upper arm of the lever

page_text: is jointed to the rod of a small slide valve placed between the steam
pipe and the ordinary slide valve casing of the engine, suitable openings
being made to allow the steam to pass from the small slide valve to the
ordinary valve.
The ordinary pendulum governor and mechanism are employed, the
sliding collar of which is connected to a vertical rod; to this rod one end
of a horizontal lever is jointed, the other end being jointed to the herein-
before described crank axle.
To make the Invention communicated to me better understood I will
proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing,
in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation shewing the improved regu-
lator or governor applied to a steam engine; Figure 2 a transverse
section of same; and Figure 3 is a plan of the slide valve h, shewing the
openings for the passage of the steam.
A is the main shaft of the engine carrying the spur wheel a, gearing
into the smaller spur wheel a¹; upon the small shaft b, c, is the eccentric;
d the rod of same jointed to the lower end of the two armed lever e,
the fulcrum f of which is on the crank of the shaft n; the upper arm
of the lever e is jointed to the rod g of the small slide valve h; o, screw
nut for regulating the lap of the valve by shortening or lengthening
the rod g;j set screw for raising or lowering the end of the rod g
for
regulating the stroke of the valve h; k is the collar of the ordinary
pendulum governor, it is connected to the upper end of the vertical
rod ; m is the horizontal lever, one end of which is jointed to the rod 1,
and the other end to the crank shaft n, as seen in Figure 2.
By this arrangement it will be understood that at each revolution of
the shaft A of the engine the slide valve h will be opened and closed
twice, thereby allowing only the required quantity of steam to be
admitted to the cylinder through the ordinary slide valve at each stroke
of the engine, The action of the small slide valve h (and therefore the
supply of steam) is further regulated by the pendulum ball mechanism,
for if the speed of the engine increases the balls will move asunder and
the collar will raise the rod and lever m, thereby partly turning
the shaft n by which the fulcrum of the lever e will be moved to
the left, and the action of the slide valve g so modified as to diminish the
supply of steam. If the speed of the engine diminishes the reverse
action takes place and the supply of steam is increased, provided the

page_text: slide valve / has been previously set by means of the screw nut o so as to
regulate the normal speed of the engine.
Having thus described the Invention communicated to me, I wish it
to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein laid down, but what I claim is, the improved regulator or governor
for steam engines in which a second slide valve is employed, the motion
of which is regulated by the engine by means of the peculiar arrange-
ment of mechanism herein-before described, the action of such
mechanism being regulated by the ordinary conical pendulum governor
as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbee, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.