US1936993A - Speed control device - Google Patents

Description

NOV. 28, D H D SPEED CONTROL DEVICE Filed May 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l q 4 Z A TO .5 TAR TER'AND BA T! TO'S TARTER DEMPS 0N H. REED.

INVENTOR BY M BU f ATTORNEYS Nov. 28, 1933. H REED 1,936,993

SPEED CONTROL DEVICE Filed May 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mmpsozv H. REED.

lNVENTOR BY %b.w-

ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 28, 1933 PATENT OFFICE SPEED CONTROL DEVICE Dempson H. Reed, Houston, Tex.

Application May 14, 1931.

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a. device for controlling the speed of operation of vehicles operated by an internal combustion motor.

It is an object of the invention to provide an attachment fora motor driven vehicle which will limit the speed at which the vehicle may be driven. I desire to provide a positive control for the vehicle which will prevent the driver thereof from operating the vehicle at a speed above a desired maximum limit.

I aim to provide a device operated through the rotation of a shaft upon the vehicle which vwillcontrol the fuel supply to the engine in such manner that the speed of rotation of said shaft 16 may be limited.

I further desire to provide additional means which on the failure of the fuel control will operate to prevent proper combustion of the fuel and thus also limit the speed of rotation of said shaft. 7

- In the drawings herewith the upper portion of sheet 1 illustrates a longitudinal section through my control device as attached to the speedometer shaft. The lower part of the drawings indicated at Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the'inlet to the'carburetor showing the manner in which the feeding of fuel to the engine is controlled.

Fig. 3 is a. transverse'section on the plane 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the inner face of the plate secured in the housing in my control member.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the valve shaft of the carburetor showing the valve discs in end elevation. I

In the portion of the drawings indicated as Fig; 2 the casing of the carburetor is shown at lfthe inlet therethrough being indicated at 2. Said inlet has a butterfly valve 3 thereon secured to a shaft 4 extending diametrically across the inlet tube 5. Said shaft has a lever 6 at one end in the usual manner through which an attachment may be made running to the throttle lever connected with the accelerator. On the other end of the shaft is a small electric motor '7. As will .be seen from Fig. 2, there are in fact two valve discs 3. One of them shown at 3 in 0 Fig. 5 is secured directly to the shaft 4. The other disc indicated at 3' is mounted upon a sleeve 8, which is rotatable upon the shaft 4 and is secured to the shaft 9 of the motor. The shaft 4 extends into the sleeve 8 but is not connected directly to the motor shaft 9. This will be unde Serial No. 537,340

stood from Fig. 2. A lever 10 upon the sleeve 8 allows control thereof under normal circumstances which tends to hold the valve in a position in which the desired amount of fuel is allowed to pass to the carburetor. The tension on this lever may be overcome, however, by the operation of the motor so as to throw the valve 3 into a position closing or nearly closing the passage 5 independently of the position of the valve disc 3.

The operation of the motor is controlled by the structure shown in Fig. 1. Said control device includes an outer casing A, which includes a tubular housing member 11 closed at its open end by means of a plate or cap 12, the two parts of the housing being held together by screws 13. Said housing is cylindrical and has longitudinal projections 14 and 16 at the opposite ends thereof, said projections furnishing a support for an axial shaft 15.

The extension 14 has an interior threaded socket which receives a gland 1'7 bearing against the packing 18 to make a fluid tight closure about the reduced extension 19 on the shaft 15. Said extension projects from the casing within a socket 20 in the shaft 21 which operates the speedometer. This shaft is ordinarily connected with the transmission and in this instance the said shaft has a bearing within a nipple 22 on the transmission housing 23. Said nipple 22 is connected with the outer end of the gland 17 by means within or coupling 24. -As will be seen from the drawings, the shaft 19 is keyed within the socket 20 of the transmission shaft 21 by the key 25.

Within the housing and adjacent the transmission end thereof is a disc 26 which fits within the cylindrical housing and is connected therewith by screws 27, the upper one of which also serves as a binding post. The outer end of said post is connected within a circuit 29 by means of the clamping nuts 30. Said screw is insulated from the housing by means of a thimble 31 fitting about the bolt within the opening in the housing. As will be seen from Fig. 4, there are two screws 27 on opposite sides of the disc 26. Each of the screws projects into a groove or recess 32 extending across the disc in a line parallel with a similar opposite groove 32. They serve to secure within said grooves 32 and 32' spring arms 33 and 33' respectively. Said spring arms have contact points 34 at their free ends, said contact points extending outwardly beyond the face of the plate 26 for contact with the end plates of a rotating 9 0 35.

There is a plate identical with plate 26 at the opposite end of the housing 11, this plate being indicated by the numer 36. It has a pair of opposite screws 3'7 therethrough, the outer end of one of which is connected to the circuit 29 as will be obvious from the drawings. The other of the screws 37 is connected in a circuit shown at 38. On the opposite disc 26 the lower of the screws 27' is connected in a circuit indicated at 39. The spring arms 33 upon the plate 36 are also curved so that the contact point 34 thereon projects into the casing so as to contact with a plate 39 upon the spool 35.

The spool 35 is rotatable within the housing with the shaft 15 upon which it is mounted. It has a central sleeve with radial flanges 40 at each end to which are connected the contact plates 39 and 39. The said plates 39 and 39 are circular in shape and are of the same diameter as the end flanges of the spool 35. They are secured one on each end of the spool and on the outer sides of the flanges 40. They are insulated electrically from the spool by means of layers of mica 41 or other similar insulating material. They are held to the ends of the spool by means of screws 42 which are also insulated from the spool by thin layers of insulating material 43 beneath the heads of the screws. The spool has a projection 44 at one end which contacts with the plate 36 and limits its movement in that direction.

The spool is slidable upon the shaft 15 and may be moved longitudinally thereon by means of a governor, the construction of which will now be noted. Each of the flanges of the spool and the plates 39 and 39 are slotted adjacent the shaft as shown at 45 in Fig. 3. This allows the projection therethrough of spring arms 46. Said spring arms are secured at their outer ends to the shaft by means of screws 47. They project inwardly through the openings 45 and along the tubular central portion of the spool 35. As will be seen from Fig. 1, these spring arms are attached at one end to the barrel of the spool by means of screws 49 and carry between their ends semispherical weights 50, said weights being secured to the spring by projections 51 on said weights riveted through the body of the spring. As will be seen from Fig. 3, there are three of these weights secured to three separate springs so that when .saidweights are moved outwardly away from the shaft 15 by centrifugal force of rotation they will bend the spring arms outwardly and shorten their effective length so as to pull the spool toward the right of Fig. 1 and thus vary the position of the contact plates 39 and 39 as compared with the contact points 34 and 34 upon the spring arms 33. v

The electrical connections may now be noted. The circuit 29 which connects the two screws 27 and 37 is joined to a switch member 52. Said switch is shown as having a circular disc with contact points 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 and 58 thereon. Said disc is pivoted to rotate on the central shaft 59. The circuit 29 is connected to the post 27.

; There is a switch member shown in dotted lines at 60 which is triangular in shape and is adapted to connect three of the contact points together. In the position shown in Fig. 1 when the circuit 29 is connected t'o the post 3''! it will connect across with the bolts 54 and 55. The connection is then made with a circuit 61 which leads to the ammeter 62 and from thence to the starter and the battery. Conneciion is also made through the post 55 with the circuit 63 which connects in the lights of the vehicle and includes the forward or head-lights the vehicle will be exerted by my device.

64 and the tail light 65. The switch can be rotated to connect the posts 53, 54 and 56. The post 56 is connected in a circuit 66 which, as will be seen, connects up with the induction coil 67 and the switch 68 upon the dash-board which controls the starter. The induction coil 67 has a connection shown at 69 leading to the distributor by means of which the operation of the ignition to the spark plugs is controlled. The circuit 38 from the control member also is connected with the induction coil 67 and the circuit 69 from the control member leads to the motor 7 which controls the supply of gas to the carburetor.

The operation of the device may now be noted.

When the vehicle to which this device is installed operates at a normal rate of speed no control of It is intended to' prevent the operation of the vehicle beyond a normal and predetermined maximum rate of speed. It may be set so that the valve 3' will be positioned at the proper angle in the intake opening 5 to allow a suflicient supply of gas and air to run the car at a predetermined maximum rate of speed. This valve is not within the control of the operator. The valve 3 which is fixed to the shaft 4 may be controlled by the operator to vary the supply of fuel up to the maximum speed which must not be exceeded.

When the vehicle attains a speed close to the maximum the speedometer shaft 70, which is connected with the transmission by the shaft 19, previously described, will rotate at a speed high enough to throw the governor weights 50 out away from the shaft 19 a distance sufllcient to move the spool 35 to the right and bring the end plate 39 against the contact point 34 at the right hand of the housing. The closing of the circuit at this point will throw in the motor 7 which will throw the butterfly valve 3' into a position to prevent the supply of gas from exceeding the desired amount. When the speed of the car is again reduced, the weights 50 will approach the shaft 19 again and the spool 35 will be moved to the left again breaking the circuit with the motor 7 and allowing operation of the car at a moderate rate.

If by any breakof the circuit the motor is not operated when the circuit is thus closed the speed of the car will move the spool still further to the right and tend to break the contact with the spring arm 33 at the left end of the housing and disconnect the induction coil 67 and the distributer from the circuit including the battery and this failure of the ignition will slow down the car and prevent its attaining a high rate of speed beyond the desired maximum. It is to be understood that the contact with the arm 34 will not be entirely broken but this arm will vibrate when the spool moves away from it so that only occasional contact will be made causing the engine to misfire and slow down its speed.

When the car is running at its normal rate of speed the head-light and the tail light will both be within the circuit and will show that the car is operating within the speed limit.

The switch 60. may be rotated to connect the points 53, 54 and 56 and when thus rotated the li hts will be cut out indicating that the car is no longer under the control of my device. It will be then possible to operate the car in the normal manner with no means to prevent its obtaining a high rate of speed if desired. This fact will be indicated to the observer, however, by the fact that the lights are not visible.

,The use of my device upon the ordinary vehicle will prevent its being operated at a speed above the desired limit. Officers patrolling the highway will be able to note by the fact that the lights are showing that the car is under proper control. If, however, lights are not showing, it will be an indication that there is no control over the speed of the vehicle beyond that of the operator and steps may be taken to bring the car within the proper automatic control. This will prevent speeding and insures greater safety on the highway. The further advantages will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

What'I claim as new is:

l. A device of the character described including a rotating shaft, a spool slidable longitudinsponsive to the speed of rotation of said shaft to move said spool to close said fuel control switch and, by a further movement, to open said ignition switch.

2. A device of the character described including a rotating shaft, a spool slidable longitudinally thereon, weighted arms each secured to said shaft at one end and to said spool at the other, contact members movable with said spool at each end of said spool, stationary contact members at each end of said spool, one of said stationary contact members being normally in contact with said spool and the other being normally out of contact therewith, said arms serving to move said spool when the rotation of said shaft exceeds a predetermined speed, to close said open contact and at a still higher speed to open said closed contact.

DEMPSON H. REED.

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