Kelly and Lamb’s Patent Model of a Steam Engine Governor – ca 1865
date: label: date made
content: 1865
label: patent date
content: 1865-01-31
name: label: inventor
content: Kelly, Oliver A.
label: inventor
content: Lamb, Estus
notes: label: Description
content: This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 46,111 issued to Oliver A. Kelly and Estus Lamb of Slatersville, Rhode Island on January 31, 1865. The patent was for an improvement in controlling the speed of a steam engine by use of a fly ball governor.
label: Description
content: Kelly and Lamb claimed their design reduced violent fluctuations in the amount of steam admitted to the cylinder due to sudden, large increases or decreases in the load on the engine. The design was based on a standard fly-ball governor which was used to sense if the engine's speed deviated from its desired speed. However, instead of using the motion of the fly-balls themselves to adjust the steam valve, they used an escapement that rotated a screw-thread which was linked to the steam valve. The escapement was rotated by a rocker arm attached to a crank operated from the main shaft of the governor. When the escapement was activated, each rotation of the governor shaft would cause a small increase or decrease in the travel of the screw-thread and thus a small adjustment to the steam valve. The escapement would continue to adjust the engine's speed until the fly-balls once again attained their preset speed at which time the escapement would be neutralized. A search of available literature did not reveal any practical use of the Kelly Lamb governor.
label: Description
content: The patent model is constructed of cast iron and steel. All of the key elements of the patent are illustrated by the model to include the escarpment mechanism. Diagrams showing the complete design of the patent can be found in the patent document online at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website, www.uspto.gov.
place: label: place made
content: United States: Rhode Island
label: associated place
content: United States: Rhode Island, Slatersville
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
label: Subject
content: Steam Engines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Mechanical and Civil Engineering
label: See more items in
content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Patent Models
label: Exhibition
content: Power Machinery
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Frank A. Taylor. Catalog of the Mechanical Collections of the Division of Engineering United States National Museum, Bulletin 173
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MC.308667
label: catalog number
content: 308667
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: patent number
content: 46,111
objectType: label: Object Name
content: governor, steam, indirect, model
label: Object Name
content: patent model, governor, steam engine
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: governor: 12 in x 6 in x 6 in; 30.48 cm x 15.24 cm x 15.24 cm