CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATORS OR GOVERNORS FOR REGULATING OR ADJUSTING THE SPEED OR ROTARY MOTIONS OF STEAM ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
HICK, junior, of Bolton-le-Moors, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Benjamin Hick, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Benjamin Hick, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Benjamin Hick, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN REGULATORS OR GOVERNORS FOR REGULATING OR ADJUSTING THE SPEED OR ROTARY
MOTIONS OF STEAM ENGINES, WATER WHEELS, AND OTHER MACHINERY;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Benjamin Hick, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High.
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the

page_text: date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, refer-
ence being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Hick, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed; is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following
explanation thereof (that is to say):
:-
My Improvements in Regulators or Governors for Regulating or Adjusting
the Speed or Rotary Motion of Steam Engines, Water Wheels, and other
Machinery, consist in a novel.construction and arrangement of. mechanism or
apparatus designed for the purpose of governing.or.regulating the speed of such
rotary motion under any variety of circumstances which may tend to destroy
the requisite and uniform speed of steam engines or other machinery. These
improvements in governors will be best understood by reference to the two
Sheets of Drawings attached to these presents, in which are represented several
views of such improved apparatus marked-with-figures and letters of reference,
and also several modifications in their construction and arrangement, the
effect upon the machinery to which they may be attached still remaining the
same. And I would here remark, that for the sake of illustration, and in order
that my improvements may be readily understood, I have represented in the
Drawings my improved regulator or governor as attached to and operating
upon the throttle valve of a steam engine, in place of the ordinary pendulum
governor.
1
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of my improved governor, and
of the particular construction which I prefer to illustrate the principles of my
Invention, and which is perhaps the most suitable arrangement of the appa-
ratus as applicable to steam engines. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same. In
these Figures a, a, represents an ordinary cast iron standard or frame for the
governor, placed as usual over the crank shaft b of the steam engine, upon
which is keyed the bevel wheel c, driving the bevel pinion d'at the foot of the
upright shaft or spindle é, e, whereby rotary motion is given to the spindle,
which is supported in suitable' bearings in the standard a, a.
The upper part
of the spindle e is formed or cut into a quick threaded screw or worm, having a
square, round, or angular thread formed at about the angle of 45°, and upon
or around which is a bush or nut f, having a corresponding internal screw
fitting and moving easily upon the screw of the spindle e; this bush, which
may be formed of any ornamental figure on the outside, has attached to it two
or more projecting arms g, g, furnished with vanes, leaves, or plates h, h. These
vanes h-are so to be fitted upon their arms g that they may be moved nearer to

page_text: ance a
or further from the spindle, as occasion may require, and then secured by means
of the wrought-iron straps and screws i, i; these straps will also allow the plates
or vanes to be turned' upon the arms g into 'an oblique direction (as drawn in
red in Fig. 2); in order to decrease the atmospheric resistance. The bush or
block fis-connected to the throttle valvem by means of the links k, k, with a
swivel joint, and levers and rods 1, 1, in the ordinary manner, or by any other
convenient means. Now it will be seen from the above description of my
improved governor that when the spindle e, e, is driven in the direction of the
arrow the bushf with its vanes will be carried round with it, and at the same
velocity, until and as long as the resistance of the atmosphere against the vanes
h corresponds with the gravitating power of the bush and its mountings, but when
the velocity of the spindle e; e, is increased beyond that point (by the over-
running of the crank shaft of the engine or otherwise) the atmospheric 'resist-
'against the varies will exceed the gravitating power of the bush and mount-
ings, and cause them to ascend upon the screwed spindle e, and thus, by means of
its connection with the throttle valvem, will diminish the passage for the admis-
sion of steam to the engine, and thereby regulate or govern its speed or rotary
motion accordingly. If, on the other hand, the velocity of the spindle is
reduced below that required by the resistance of the vanes to overcome the
gravitating tendency of the bush, the bush will then descend upon the screwed
spindle e, and by operating upon the throttle valve increase the passage for
the supply of steam. Since, therefore, the resistance of the atmosphere
to the vanes is nearly uniform; and their velocity through it determined by
a given weight in the screwed bush and its mountings, any addition or
diminution therein will require an increased or diminished velocity in the
spindle, and necessarily effect a corresponding change in the speed of the engine,
and, by having an adjustable weight n on that arm of the levers to which
the vertical rod from the links k is attached, this object is fully attained at
pleasure.
:
I would here remark, that the foregoing description of the Figs. 1 and 2 is
applicable in principle to the following Figures, which I have represented for
the sake of illustrating other varieties of modification of my Invention, which
I will now proceed to describe.
:
Fig. 3 is an elevation of my improved governor, slightly varied from the
foregoing. It will be seen that the parts are all nearly the same as in those
before described; the only variation is, that the upper part of the spindle e, e,
is made hollow, and formed into the bush, and the revolving vanes are attached
to the block f, which is fixed on the upper part of the screw, thus merely
reversing the position of the revolving screw and its nut or bush.

page_text: Fig. 4 represents an elevation of another modification or arrangement of a
similar apparatus, in which the screw is cut or formed upon the lower end of
the spindle, which is made to revolve by means of two grooved wheels or
rollers, between and in geer with which it is placed, one being keyed on to the
crank shaft, and the other revolving freely on a separate axis (an edge view of
one of these rollers b, as fixed upon the crank shaft, is shewn in Fig. 5). It
is evident that in proportion to the speed at which these rollers revolve the
spindle and screw, with its block and vanes, will rise or fall, as previously
described.
Fig. 6 represents another modification of my improvements, particularly
applicable to situations where it may be inconvenient to apply those pre-
viously described, and where water, mercury, or other fluids, instead of atmo-
spheric resistance, may be advantageously employed as a regulating medium.
In this Figure, a represents the crank shaft of the steam engine, upon which is
fixed the bevel wheel b, driving the pinion c upon one end of the cross shaft d, and
by means of the bevelled wheels e and fgiving rotary motion to the upright shaft
g, upon which the wheel fis firmly fixed; this shaft is made hollow (having a
square passage through its centre) through which a square bar h is passed,
connected at its upper end by means of a swivel joint and rod i to the throttle
valve, and having firmly fixed upon its lower end a spiral or oblique vane or
vanes 1, 1, immersed in a vessel or cistern of water or other fluid m, m. The
operation of this arrangement of the governor will be sufficiently evident from
what has already been described, the water or other fluid being the resisting
medium to the spiral or oblique vanes l, 1, and causing the rod / to rise or
fall in proportion to its speed. It will also be evident that a vertical position
of the governor, shaft, or spindle is not absolutely necessary, as a diagonal or
horizontal position may be in some situations preferable, and in such cases, the
power obtained by gravitation of the bush, block, or spindle being lost, it may
be obtained by means of a separate balance weight.
Now I will describe another arrangement, in which the vanes or flyers are
placed in a position at right angles with those described in the foregoing Figures
in Sheet 2. Fig. 7 is a front elevation and Fig. 8. a side view of another modi-
fication. The crank shaft of a steam engine is shewn in section at a, upon
which is fixed a pulley or drum b, giving motion to an endless strap or belt c, c,
passing under it and over two guide or tension pullies d, d, (running freely in
the openings or eyes e, e, of the vertical rods f, f.) and under another pulley g,
revolving freely upon the cross shaft h mounted on the standard i; upon the
projecting boss of this pulley 9 the vanes or flyers k, k, are mounted, and are
caused to rotate with it by means of the endless bell c, c. Two balls l, m, of

page_text: 4
unequal weights are fixed upon the vertical rods f, f. which connect the small
pullies d, d, by means of the levers and rods n, n, to the throttle valve o, as
before described. Thus it will be seen that, as the endless strap or belt
c, c, runs at. the required speed. in the direction of the arrow as it is driven
by the revolution of the crank shaft, it will cause the .vanes or flyers k, k,
to revolve at such a speed that the resistance of the atmosphere to
the vanes or flyers will counterbalance the gravitating tendency of the
larger weight 1, as shewn in Fig. 7; any increased speed of the crank
shaft will cause the belt to draw down the weight m and raise the heavier
one (the vanes or flyers still preserving an uniform velocity), and thus by
means of the levers and rods above mentioned to close the passage of the
throttle valve as required, and vice versa.
Fig. 9 is simply a modification of the above description of governor, drawn
for the purpose of illustrating its peculiar application to machinery wherein the
crank or driving shaft is elevated, or as in a marine or boat engine. I will
now proceed to set forth certain particulars, proportions, dimensions, and
speeds of the various parts of the apparatus which have been found from expe-
rience to answer the proposed end, and by regard to which my Invention may
be applied by others under any reasonable variety of circumstances.
With a
governor constructed upon the plan described in Fig. 1 and 2, Sheet 1, and
applied to a steam engine of thirty horses power, the screw upon the upper
part of the spindle e is one and a half inches diameter, with a square threaded
screw cut at an angle of forty-five degrees, and making 90 revolutions per
minute; the vanes, which measure three fect eight inches extreme diameter, of
the form shewn in Fig. 1, contain together four superficial feet area. The
bush, ball, links, rods, and vanes, which form the gravitating power, weigh
together sixty-four pounds. It is evident that if the angle of the screw be
increased from the horizon the gravitating power will also be increased, to
counteract which the surface of the vanes must be increased, or their diameter
extended, or the weight of the bush, &c. diminished in a corresponding degree.
Should the angle of the screw be decreased, the gravitating power will be
diminished; in consequence, a corresponding diminution of the surface or
diameter of the vanes will be necessary, or an increased weight of. the
bush, &c.
Having now described several modifications of my Invention, shewing how
the resistance of the atmosphere (or other fluid of uniform density) to the
vane or vanes and an uniform gravitating power reciprocally operate, with
every increased and diminished speed of the shaft by which the vanes are
driven, so as thereby to adjust or regulate the speed of the engine or other

page_text: moving power with which it is connected, I must add, that I do not limit
myself to these particular arrangements;; but I have described them as exhibit-
ing the peculiar features of my Invention.
"In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Hick, jun", have hereunto set
>
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of February, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-one.
主
BENJAMIN (L.B.) HICK, Jun'.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-fourth day of
February, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Benjamin Hick came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped.according to the
tenor. of the Statute in that case made and provided...
2.4
Inrolled the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year above written.