US1398539A - Automatic speed control - Google Patents

Description

E. J. CRAWFORD.

AUTOMATIC SPEED CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED Aus.2e. 1919. I 1,398,539. Patented Nov. 29, 1921.

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EDGAR :r. or sEur'rLE; wasnme rox, mason. no :r. EUGENE JORDAN,

. E am-mm, wasmamom' Annemarie stem: cannon a citizen of the United States, and resident gas engine may be run, I

of Seattle, Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Speed Controls, of which thefollowing iis a specification. y inventionrelates to automatic speed control, particularly designed for use upon automobiles. The control,-however, is applicable to all types of gas engines.

The object ofmy invention is to provide a speed control which may be set at certain pro-determined maximum speed and which will shutoff the engine automatically when it exceeds these speeds. Another object of .my invention is to provide means for indicating maximum speeds for which the control is set, in connection with the regulating means.

My invention comprises the novel parts and combinations of parts which are herein described in the specification, defined by the claim terminating the same, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my invention in the form which is now preferred by me: V

Figure 1 is a section through the dash and hood of an automobile, illustrating my device mounted thereon, in side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a detail in sectionof a pair of contact members which I emplo Fig. 3 is an elevation of the indicating dey vice, parts being broken away.

In order to control the speed at which a employ a governor, which is so mounted that it will cut of? the electric current which includes the'sparking system of the engine when the speed of the engine reaches a certain predetermined maximum. Such a device may be so regulated that the device may be set for certain maximum speeds, any one of which may be cut in or employed. Adjustments may also be made to set the device for any speed between two of the set maximum speeds.

The flexible shaft 1 which connects the speed I indicator 10 with the whee (not shown), has a bevel fpinion 11 mounted upon a rigid portion 12 o the shaft. Preferably, this is mounted just inside the hood 2 of the car upon a frame 23 carried 1) the daslf 20, and forms the last link 0 the flexible shaft 1.

Specification of Letters Intent Patented Nov. 29, 1921.

Application filed August 26,1918. Serial'lo. 319,921.

A beveled pinion 31 meshes with the pinion 11 and rotates the governor shaft 32.

- ance of a spring 36. Any other suitable form of ployed.

I A flexible arm l4- mounted in any suitable governor, however, may be em- .way upon the frame 23 carries a plurality of contact points 40 and 41. The contact point or'bar 42 is carried upon the frame 23, and is insulated therefrom. The flexible arm 4 is mounted in such a position as to be movable bythe sleeve 34, acting under the influence of the governor 3.

The contact points 40 and 41 are connect ed to a selective switch 5 mounted upon the dash. switch consists of an arm 50 secured upon a shaft 51 and movable by any suitable means from the drivers seat, as by the arm 52.- The arm 50 forms one terminal of the battery circuit. 'The arm 50 contacts with a plurality of contact points 54 mounted upon the dash and each one connected to its respective-contact point 40 and 41 upon the flexible arm 4' to complete the circuit. The contact point 42 is electrically connected to the battery 6 through the induction coil 61.

I prefer to mount the contact point 40 rigidly in the flexible arm 4, though adjust-j ments may be made by means of nuts 44.

The contact points 41 of which I have shown only one in thedrawings are of a different type from the point 4O.v These consist of a contactm'ember 41 secured upon the end of a conductor stem 43. The stem 43 extends upward through an opening in the insulator 45, which is fixedly secured in the arm 4, and slides in this insulator. A spring 46 tends normally to keep the point 41 in contact with the contact bar 42. Lock nuts 47 limit this projection of the point41 beyond a certain pro-determined point. This may be regulated by adjustment of the lock nuts 47 upward or downward upon the stem. Though I have shown but one contact point of this type, it is evident that any number found 7 nece ary or desirable may be employed, in this way producing a finer regulation of the speed.

Inoperation this part of the device brealis the electric circuit which controls the spark are in. the engine cylinder whenever the speed of the car (or in the case of a stationary engine, the en e speed) exceeds thecontrolling speed or which it has been set. If,

for instance, the speed limit within a certain district is twelve miles per hour, the

contact point i0 is set so that the governor between the points i0 and 4:2, and the en-- gine fails to spark; thus its speed may not exceed twelve miles per hour.

' It, in another district, the speed limit is thirty miles per hour, the motorist, in passing from the twelve-mile district to the thirty-mile district, throws the switch 5 to the proper point 4-1 into circuit and the point 40 out. The oint t1 will now be held in contact with t e bar 42 by means of the spring 46 until the lock nuts 47 contact with the insulator 45. This can be set to occur when the car speed reaches thirty .miles per hour. At this speed, then, the engins circuit is broken, and the speed is reduced. The deviceis capable of very exact adjustment, and operates perfectly to limit the speed of the car to themaximum for which it is set.

In order to provide an indicator which will show the maximum speed at which the car may travel, I may employ a series of cards 7 having the controlling speeds written thereon, and arranged to move upward in a box 71 to become visible, and. downwardout of sight. These cards 7 may be connected to an arm 72, secured upon the shaft 51, by means of links 7 3. The box 71, I prefer to mount upon the hood of the car, facing forward, to serve as an indicator to traflio officers, pedestrians, and other motorists of the maximum speed at which the car may travel with the adjustment then made.

While I have described this invention herein in connection with its application to an automobile, it is to be understood that this merely typifies the use to which it may be put in connection-with any engine using an electric spark. The flexible shaft 1 is herein described as connecting the speedindicator with the wheel, but it may be connected direct to the engine if desired, and in a stationary engine would be so connected. The electric circuit which is controlled by this device may be the primary or secondary circuit of a gas engine whichever may be found more suitable. Generally it would be connected in the primary.

. it is to be understood that this speed control can be adapted to shut 0d the gas from neeasee 1. A speed control mechanism for gas engines comprising, in combination, an electric clrcult adapted to produce a, spark 1n the engine cylinders, a governor connected to the engine to be regulated by the speed thereof, a plurality of parallel circuitmembars, a selective switch adapted to throw any one of said parallel circuit members into'the circuit and to exclude the remainder,

an arm engageable by and movable by'the governor, a fixed contact member, and a plurality of contact members carried by and movable with said arm out of contact with the fixed contact member, each of said movable contact members being connected with its respective one of said parallel circuit members, and each being movable out of contact with the fixed contact point at a pretact points. p

2. A speed control mechanism for gas engines comprising, in combination, an electric circuit adapted to produce a spark in the engine cylinders, a governor connected to the engine to be regulated by the speed thereof, a plurality of parallel circuit members, a selective switch adapted to throw any one of said parallel circuit members into the circuit and to exclude the remainder,

determined engine speed differing from the controlling speed of the other movable con= an arm engageable by and movable by the governor, a fixed contact member, and a plurality of contact members carried by and movable with said arm out of contact with the fixed contact member, I

each of said movable contact members being connected with its respective one of said parallel circuit members, and each being movable out of contact with the fixed contact point at a predetermined engine speed difi'ering from the controlling speed of the other movable contact points, an inclosingbox, and a movable visible index of the controlling speed movable into view from the box, and controlled by said selective switch.

3. A speed control mechanism for gas engines comprising, in' combination, an electric current including the sparking means in the engine cylinder, a governor connected to the engine to be regulated by the speed thereof, a sleeve axially movable upon the governor shaft, a spr ng arm engageable.

by said. sleeve and movable thereby at a predetermined engine speed, a fixed contact point, a plurality of contact points fixed in said spring arm to move therewith, and normally, contacting with the fixed contact point, said movable contact points being reciprocable in the spring arm in the direction of the fixed contact point, adjustable stopslimiting the movement of these points toward the fixed contact point, the move bers into the circuit and to exclude the re mainder. V

4, A speed control mechanism for gas engines comprising, in combination, an electric current including the sparking means in the engine cylinder, a governor connected to the engine to be regulated by the speed thereof, a sleeve axially movable upon the governor shaft, a spring arm engageable by said sleeve and movable thereby at a predetermined engine speed, a fixed contact point, a plurality of contact points fixed in said spring arm to move therewith, and normally contacting'with the fixed contact point, said movable contact points being reciprocable in the spring. arm in the direction of the fixed contact point, adjustable stops limiting the movement of the arm breakmg'contact be tween said movable points and the fixed point at predetermined speeds, the speed varying for eachpoint, a pluralit of parallel circuit memberseach connects toa movable contact point, and a selective switch adapted to throw any one 'ofsaid parallel circuit members into the circuit and to exclude the remainder, an inclosing box, and a movable visible index of the controllin speed movable into view from the box, an controllable b said selective switch.

Signed at cattle, Washington, U. S. A., this 20th day of August, 1919.

EDGAR J. CRAWFORD.

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