US2445321A

US2445321A - Governor

Info

Publication number: US2445321A
Application number: US631764A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jr William T Fox
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-11-29
Filing date: 1945-11-29
Publication date: 1948-07-20
Anticipated expiration: 1965-07-20

Description

July 20, 1948.

W. T. FOX, JR

GOVERNOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1945' WILLIAM T. FOX,JR.

W. FOX, JR

GOVERNOR 2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Nov. 29, 1945 WILLIAM 1". Fox,

Patented July 20, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GOVERNOR William T. Fox, In, United States Navy Application November 29, 1945 Serial No. 631,764 1 Claim. (orz a jos) U (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

v draulic servo-system, to control the fuel 'is dispensed with and in lieu thereof there'is provided "a biased piston, or equivalent, whose position is determined by'th'e rate of flow of a liquid, preferably the engine fuel, delivered at a rate varying as a function of the englne'speed. I v

Further in accordance with my invention, the speed may be held constant at any magnitude within asubstantial range by provision of avariable orifice in the discharge line from the chamber-in which the piston,lor equivalent, is movable.

Myinvention further resides in the features of construction, combination and arrangement hereinafter' described and claimed.

For an understanding of my invention and for illustration of an embodiment thereof, reference is madetothe accompanying drawing in which: .Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a speed-control system.

. Fig. 2 partlyin section, illustrates the governor and pump shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the pump shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of valve structure shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. '7 is aplan View vof the governor shown in F -Z. i.

Fig; 8 is a plan view of the governor-cylinder shown in Fig.2.

I Internal combustion engines of the Diesel type require, and of the gasoline type are often provided with, fuel control governors to maintain a substantiall constant speed despite fluctuations in load. i For smaller engines where the force required to move the injector'racks, or equivalent fuel valve structure, is small and the permissible cost is low, a centrifugal governor with its flyweights directly supplying the valve-actuating power or injector rack-actuating power is most commonly used. v

When a centrifugal governor is so used directly to actuate the fuel valve or valves, it has several inherent disadvantages: it must be large and cumbersome to derive sufficient powerfrom the fly-weights and it has inferior regulating charamended April 30, 1928; 370 O. G. 757) Y 2 acteristic which further deteriorates with wear of the parts.

For larger engines, the movement of the flyballs of aoentrifugal governor is utilized to operate the pilot valve of a servo-system-including a hydraulic motor for adjusting the fuel valve. This'so-called hydraulicgovernor is anexpensive precision apparatus requiring skilled maintenance and repair service. I In both of these types of governors, the flyball frame-isdriven from the engine which involves considerable mechanical complication or expensive engineering in providing for transmission of rotary motion from the engine to the flyballs and of valve-actuating motion from the flyballs to the fuel-valve structure.

The governor hereinafter described has none of the above disadvantages: it is inexpensive to manufacture, simple to adjust and repair, and may be located at any desired location without introduction of difficulties or complications in transmission of motion.

Referring to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the governor comprises a cylinder 1 having inlet port 2 and outlet port 3 adjacent one end thereof; The

piston 4 is biased by spring 5, whose opposite,

ends engage the piston 4 and cylinder head 6 respectively, toward the ported end of the cylinder and in its extreme position, as shown in Fig. 2, leaves a chamber 1 through which passes the discharge of a pump 8 driven by engine 9.

Essentially'the governor consists of a spring loaded piston opposin the delivery of liquid by the pump 8. With a fixed outlet 3 from cylinder l, the position of the piston is determined bythe volume of liquid delivered in unit time; the liquid in seeking escape through orifice 3 builds up pressure in chamber 1 and effects movement of piston 4 until balance exists between the pressure exerted by the spring and the pressure of the fluid. The higher the engine speed, the greater the rate of delivery of liquid to chamber 1 and the further piston 4 is forced to the left, Fig. 2, against the expansive force of the spring: conversely, as the engine speed falls, the fluid pressure falls and the piston is moved to the right by the spring until balance is restored.

The motion of the piston is transmitted externally of cylinder l by piston rod I0 which passes through a guide formed in cylinder head 6. As by suitable linkage I I, motion of the piston is transmitted to the injector rack, or other valve structure, for reducing the delivery of fuel as the engine speed increases and for increasing the delivery of fuel as the engine speed decreases.

Consequently, the governor serves to maintain the engine speed constant despite fluctuations of load upon the engine.

In the case of Diesel engines, the liquid utilized for speed control of the engine may be the engine fuel itself and pump 8 may be the usual fuel pump of the positive displacement, vane :or rotary type pump, with which all such engines are provided. As shown in Fig. 2, the governor may be attached directly to the pump 8 or it may be located wherever convenient to accommodate or simplify mechanical linkage to the fuel valves and the necessary flow connections provided by lines l2,

l3 and I4.

As thus far described, the governor has only one speed setting determined by the fixed orifice 3. To provide for constancy of any selected speed variable at will of the operator, a manual,- ly adjustable valve if: is introduced in the discharge line M of the governor. Preferably, as shown :in Fig. 2, this speed-setting valve is attached to or forms part of the governor I.

The casing l5 of this valve is provided with a port I which overlies a slot 25 at the end of a channel, Figs. 2 and 8, in the upper face of governor cylinder l and-extending from the discharge port .3. The rotatable valve member 53, Figs. 2, 4, v5 and 6, is provided with a wedge-shaped opening l9 which cooperateswith port ll variably to restrict discharge from the governor. in accordance with the angularposition-of member It.

The port or-opening l9 extends to the central passage '20 extending axially'of member 18 and :in fiowcommunication through openings 2| with the circumferential groove 22 which is in line with outlet port 23 in casing It.

Whenhandle 24 is moved to-position for which the triangular slot l9 coincides with the match- :ing port N, there is a minimum restriction to discharge and consequently minimum back pressureis developed within chamber 1. Accordingly, the piston 4 moves inwardly to the position corresponding with maximum rate of fuel injection. As handle 24 is moved in reverse direction topositions closer and closer to the off position,

ithB slot .l-B more and more restricts .the .flow through port 1] :and the increased pressure .in chamber 1 forces the piston 4 .to .lefticausing the fuel ivalve V successively to .assume positions corresponding with the lower and lower speed settings of handle 24,. Slot [.9 is preferably wedge shaped to afford more flexible operation at light loads.

.After the engine has .beenstopped, leakage allows the piston 4 to move inwardly to full throttleposition in readiness for re-starting. When flow of .fuel is completely restricted by misalignment of ports H .and it, .as .in the .case or shutting down the engine, the usual spring-loaded bypass valve in the pump 8 prevents excessive pressure rise while the engine is coasting to a full stop.

iItgis pointed .out that in system :shown in Fig. 1, all fuel to the injectors first passes through the governor thus avoiding possibility of inoperativeness of the governor, for lack of its operating medium, while fuel is being supplied to the engine. In brief, as long as fuel is supplied for operation of the engine it is effective for control of speed of the engine and moreover the rate at which fuel is supplied to the injectors is not "affected by the fact that same medium is used for operation of the governor.

The governor has an inherently drooping characteristic which affords the stability essential to practicall all uses of prime movers.

While I have disclosed an embodiment of my invention for purpose of illustration, it is to be understood it is not limited thereto but is coex- "ten'sive in scope with the appended claim.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States .of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

.For brevity in the appended claim, the term fuel valve is used generically to include injector control rod 'or rack, metering mechanism, fuel pump rack and equivalent devices for controlling the admission of fuel to an internal combustion engine.

What ,I claim is:

A speed-governor for an internal-combustion engine comprising a cylinder having inlet and. outlet port-s adjacent one end thereof for flow connection respectively with the fuel pump and fuel valve of the-engine, a piston movable in said cylinder, a manually adjustable valve for variably restricting the flow through said outlet port, :a piston movable in said cylinder, spring means biasing said piston to position adjacent said one :end of the cylinder, and structure for transmission of movement 10f said "piston to said fuel walvesai'd manually adjustable valve including a cylindrical valve chamber in the discharge line, .a valve sleeve within said cylindrical valve chamber, an inlet port dnthe valve chamber, said cylinder :outlet portabeingconn'ected to said valve chamber inlet :port, a V shaped port in said valve sleeve adapted to be rotated into and out of coincidence with said valve chamber inlet port, and a throttle handle for rotating :said'valve sleeve.

WM. T. :FOX, JR.

:REEERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,136,959 Winfield Nov. 15, 1938 2,147,196 Fox Feb. 14, 1939 2,177,120 Scha'eren Oct. 24, 1939 2,253,454 Voit Aug. 19,1941 2,369,397 K'ostenick Feb. 13, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 198,793 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1938 5083805 England July 5,1939