US110703A - Improvement in governors for steam-engines - Google Patents

Description

PETERS. PHOTO-LITMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON,

PATENT OFFICE. l i

CHARLES VATERS, -OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. l 10,703, dated January 3, l1&571.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, CHARLES WATEEs, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented Improvements in Governing Mechanism for Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare thatthe following, taken in connection'withxthe drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

This invention has two parts-one relating to an improvement in the centrifugal regulator, and the other relating to improvements by which the valve Worked by the regulator may be set or adjusted to conform to great changes in the amount of work to be done or in the pressure of the steam` or other motive fluid;

`In the ordinary pendulum-regulator two pivoted arms are commonly used, upon which are suspended weights inthe form of balls, which cause considerable -friction upon the pivots and joints of said arms, which friction renders the regulator less sensible to slight changes of speed of the engine than is desirable. In other words, it requires quite a perceptible change in the speed of the engine to overcome. the friction on the pivots and joints of the weighted'arms before the .change in the centrifugal force of the weights causes them to change their position or plane of rotation; and

-one part of my invention consists in so connecting .the weights to the arms that they are no longer supported by the pivots of the arms, but are sustained and rotated by othermeans, though connected with the pendulum-arms and moving them as the weights change their position.

Another part of my invention consists in provision for altering the relation of the governing-valve with reference to the steam passage or passages which it controls, so that the normal area of the steam-passage past the valve may be enlarged or diminished. For example, if the amount of work to be performed by the engine is very large, it is desirable to have the area of the steam-passage controlled by the valve larger than is required for a smaller amount of work, and it is desirable to change such area by mere adjustment instead of by actual change in the construction of the parts.

The drawings show, in Figure-1, a sectional elevation of my improved governing mechanregulator moves a valve vertically, there being between the sleeve and the case apassage,

e, which admits steam above the valve, and thus prevents it from having an unbalanced condition. The top of the case a is closed by a casting, f, which serves to sustain the regulator, the upper part of said casting being made as a stud, on which theregulator-sleeve g fits and turns, said casting being centrally vbored for the valve-stem h, which is packed where it passes to the case a. Th e valve shown is made in two parts, secured on stem h. The

part i is that which operates to control the flow of steam from nozzle b to nozzle c, and is ahollow cylinder closed at its upper end andopen at its lower end, and having opposite portions of its periphery removed to form ports through which the stem may pass. The other part, j, is similar to the part t', and both might be formed as one casting. y

. In the drawings the regulator isrepresented as at rest, and consequently the regulatorvalve is wide open. The pulley k, which gives rotation to the regulator, is secured to the sleeve g, which carries at its upper end two brackets, Z, to which are pivoted the arms m, which are bent levers, the short arms of which are connected through piece a to the valve-rod h, and the long arms to the weights or balls o by means of links p. The piece a is compound in its structure, the center part, with which the pendulum-arms m are geared, being loose and free to revolve about the other part, which is secured to the valve-stcm by the setscrew t. The balls, instead of being hung upon arms m, as is usual, so as to bring their weight upon pivots q, are 'supported upon the free ends of springs r, the other ends of said springs being fixed to the rotating sleeve g. Though I prefer lthe springs for the purpose of supporting the balls, a system of jointed arms` might be employed in place of the springs. The sleeveg is prevented from rising while left free to rotate by means of the screw s, so

that it will now be seen that if sleeve q is caused to rotate the balls will move outward,

`whicl1, by the connections described, will lower the valve and will check the flow of steam, and also that, if the rotation of the balls slackens, they will move inward, which will open the valve more or less in proportion to such movements of the balls.

I provide either or both of two means for changing the area of the steam-passage past the valve. In the non-rotating part of piece u, I locate a set-screw, t, by means of which I can raise or lower the valve, and thus change the area of the passages through which the steam passes; but as it is desirable to be able to change said area with facility while the parts are in motion, I provide a means -for changing the angular position of the valve, so as to vary the width of the steam-passages,

' which means are as follows:

A quadrant-piece, u, is centered upon the valve-stem h, and connected by a long pin, o, with the casting f, so that while the quadrant can rise and fall with the valve-stem it can position by connecting the arm w to the quadrant a by means of the clamp-screw a2.

Vhile in the drawing the axis of rotation oi' the governing-weights is shown as vertical, it may be arranged horizontally, and if the weights are mounted on and are rotated by jointed arms taking the place of the spring fr, then the preferable arrangement of the axis of rotation is horizontal. i

Vith the jointed arms, which may be made to take the place of the springs o', there must be some ar angement of a spring or springs to act against centrifugal force to retract `the weights toward the axis of rotation whenever the rotations of the governor lessen.

I claim- 1. A regulator or governor, substantially such as described, in which the weights or` balls are supported independently of the pendulumarms which operate the val ve, when said balls are connected to said arms so asto control th eir p ositi on without loading the arms with the weight of the balls.

2. In combination with a regulator, a valve arranged to be adjusted in the direction of its axis of rotation, when arranged, also, so that it may be adj usted angularly upon or with reference to such axis, l Y

CHARLES VATERS. lVvi tn esses:

J. B. Cnosnv,

C. XVAR'REN BROWN.

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