US339826A - tengvall - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1. A. O. TENGVALL.

ELECTRIC GOVERNOR POR STEAM ENGINES. No. 339,826. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

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ELECTRIC GOVERNOR POR STEAM ENGINES.

No. 339,826. Patented Apr. 13, 1886.

INT/'EJV'TR Jy Y AttrneyJ.

WITWESSES .7T o6,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AXEL O. TENGVALL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELECTRIC GOVERNOR FOR STEAM-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,826, dated April 13, 1886.

Application filed April 22, 18P5. Renewed January 13, 1886. Serial No. 158.459. (No model.)

To @ZZ wwnt it may concern.:

Be it known that I, AXEL O. TENGVALL, a subject of the King of Sweden and Norway, residing in the city of New York. in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Governors for Steam-Engines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings, which :form a partof this specification, and in which- Figure l is a sectional view of the stop-valve and throttle-valve ot' a steam-engine equipped with my electric governor or regulator. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe electric switch mechanism, which is actuated by the hydrostatic pressn re at the stern ofthe vessel. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the electric switch mechanism, which is attached to one of the shafts (preferably the main shaft) of the engine. Fig. 4L is a view ot' the same at right anglesto the view shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the method of attaching the said switch mechanism to the shaft. Fig. 6 is a similar diagram looking sidewise at the shaft, and Fig. 7 is a view illustrating amoditication of the device shown in Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspending parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation more particularly to electric governors for marine engines. In this class of engines there are at present two distinct classes of governors-viz.,those whose action is intluenced by the variation of motion or speed of the engine itself, and those whose action is due to the motion of the sea only. The former class, if properly designed and constructed,will check racing7 from any and every cause, but is necessarily slow in its action; nor does it always prevent the engine from acquiring adangerous change of velocity, and the latter, while it anticipates a change in Velocity, and, if properly designed and constructed, prevents it, dots not check racing from every cause-as, for instance, if the racing is caused by the breaking of the propellor or propeller-shaft.

In marine engines, as is well known, the engine will rnn,or should run,at its normal speed as long as the propeller is fully immersed,but the moment a part ofthe propeller gets out of the water the engine or engines will commence to race. Vvvhen this happens, it becomes necessary to partially close the throttlevalve so as to regulate the steam supply to correspond to the hydrostatic pressure at the stern of the vessel, and, if possible, this should be effected by the said hydrostatic pressure. In all governors hitherto designed and founded on this principle with which l am acquainted the area through the throttle-valve has been made to vary in direct proportion to the hydrostatic pressure at the stern of the ship; but, inasmuch as the speed of the engine does not vary directly either with the area through the throttle-valve or with the head of water at the stern, it will readily be seen that such governors cannot effectively control the speed of the engine, except under certain limited conditions.

The object of my invention is to overcome all these diliiculties by constructing a governor which will at all times prevent a dangerous change of velocity from whatever canse and absolutely control the speed of the engine under all conditions and circumstances. I attain this object by the mechanism which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings, the figures of which have been already explained.

Commencing with Fig. 1, which, as we have seen, represents a sectional view of the stopvalve'and throttle-valve, A denotes the main stop-valve, which, in opening and closing, is guided by the cylindrical projection of the valve-seat B, which is provided with parallel grated openings of ample area. The throttle-valve C is provided with corresponding openings, so that by pulling down or raising the latter, the area through the valve may be decreased or increased. The spindle D of the throttle-valve passes through a stuifing-box, E, and is provided with a disk, F, at its projecting end, to which is attached one or more springs, G, in such a manner as to take up or compensate for the weight of the throttleyalve and its spindle, so as to keep the valve open under normal conditions. A series of electro magnets, two of which are shown at H and H, are suitably fastened toA and press against the top or face of the disk F at the projecting end of the valve-spindle D, and it will be seen that by moving the sliding pieces K and K2 forward or back upon their respective levers J' and J2 the stroke or limit of motion of levers L and L may be regulated in such a manner as to regulate the stroke of the spindle D and throttle-valve C. In other words, it will be seen that the area through the throttle-valve C may be more or less throttled without increasing the distance between the electro-magnets and their respective armatures simply by changing the position of the sliding pieces K and Kl:

Having in the foregoing described the construction and arrangement of the stop-valve and throttle-valve and its adjuncts, I shall now proceed to describe the mechanism for governing the valve by the hydrostatic pressure which obtains at any given time at the stern of theshp. This device is illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, on which M denotes a pipe which communicates with the sea by means of a suitable cock, or valve. -This pipe opens up into a cylinder, P, in which works a piston, N, the rod N of `which is provided at its upper end with contact-pieces b and b2. A coiled spring-O, bears with one end against the piston, N, and with its other end against a collar, e', which may be adjusted by means of a nut, e, so that the tension or pressure of 'the spring O against the piston N may be increased or decreased by lowering or raising the screw or nut, e. -This nut having been properly adjusted. to exercise the required pressure against the piston, it will be seen that the latter will be affected on-its opposite side, where it faces the pipe M, by the pressure due to the head of water at the stern of the ship, so that the piston will be worked up or down Within its cylinder P, according to the varying hydrostatic pressure at the ,stern of the vessel. The contact-pieces b and b2 are fastened to the upper end of the piston-rod by means of an insulating-piecaf, with which they are connected by the springs d and d", soas to bear against insulated metal strips a, a. and a2, arranged in a series one below another on the inner side of the box or casing, in which the upper en d of the piston-rod plays, and fastened properly in the said casing. On the opposite side of this casing is placed an insulated metal strip,c, against which the contact-piece b bears, asclearly shown on the drawings The springs It will be seen that whenV d and d are connectedto each other and fastened upon the insulating-piece f by means 0f narrow. vmetal strips or bauds encircling the insulating-piece, so as to be in metallic con- .switch mechanism, which is actuated by the speed of the main shaft, or any one ofthe other shafts of the engine adapted to be used for the purpose, and which said device is illustratedin Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6. This device is worked by means 'of the-centrifugal force, and

consists of an insulating-piece, Q, which is fastened upon the main engine-shaft, or to some shaft that runs in connection therewith, in such a way that the line marked g g shall coincide with the center line of the shaft. The

insulating-piece Q, which is fastened in this manner to and revolves with the shaft, is extended on one slide to form a frame orboX,U, inside of which slides a weight, T, which is suspended bya spring, W, from the upper part of said box or frame. Another insulating-piece, R, is fastened at the free end of a stationary spring, S, bearing with its inner end against the revolving piece Q. The siationarypart R is provided with contact-pieces h and i and the revolving part Q, which faces and rubs with its face against the stationary part R, is provided with'corresponding contact-pieces h'I and i2. The weight T, which is guided between the sides of the frame or bracket U, in which it slides, has attached to its free end by an insulated piece and springs inthe same manner as the contact-piece described in connection with Fig. 2,two contactpieces, c and @,.one of which, c3, bearstagainstv the metallic stripsj and k on one side, while the other,l c?, bears against a metallic strip, l, on the other side. The tension of the spring W should be so arranged or adj usted that the weight when the engine is running at its normal speed sends the electricv current through the metal strip j, while, when the velocity of the engine-shaft increases, the weight T will be forced outward by the centrifugal force over- Ico coming the tension of spring W in such a manner asto send the current through the met-allie strip or contact-piece k, the contactpieces h h2, and the electro-magnet H.

On Figs. 5 and 6, Sheet 2,0f the drawings, I

vhave shown the manner in which the revolvcoupling the mode of attachment issubstan-v tially the same, the revolving, part being fast-,

ened in that case to the butt-end of the shaft. The operation of the apparatus, 21S, a Whole,

is as follows: Let V, Sheet 1, represent the electric battery, storage-battery, or the electro-dynamo machine by which the electric current is generated. The lines ruiming out from and back to the battery represent in the form ot' a diagram the conducting-wires, and the arrows indicate the direction of the electric current. Vhen the throttle-valve is open to its full capacity and the propeller is fully immersed, the piston N will be at the upper end of its stroke, and the current is then sent through the metal strip a and back to the battery without passing through the coils of any ofthe electro-magnets; but when the stern ot' the vessel is lifted out of the water, exposing part ofthe propeller, and thus decreasing the hydrostatic pressure at the stern, the spring O will overcome the pressure of the head of water,and, movingdowmwill send the current through the contact-piece a', the coils otthe electro-magnet H, and back to the battery. As soon as the current passes through the coils ol' the electro-magnet H its armature I is attracted, and the area through the throttle-valve is so reduced as to keep the engines under control. 0n the propeller emerging still more or becoming still further exposed, the piston N will, by the further reduction of the hydrostatic pressure against. it, move still farther down until its contact-piece b2 is opposite to and in contact with the fixed contact piece a, when the current will flow through b', the metallic springs d and di, which, as we have seen, are in metallic contact with each other, the movable contactpiece Zr', the lixed metallic strip or contactpiece a2, the coils ol' the electromagnet Hi', and back to the battery, and4 when this occurs it will be seen that the armature I42 will be attracted, and thus still further reduce the area ol` the throttle-valve by means ol' the intermediate mechanism consisting ol" the lever J"', with its adjustable Slide K2, the lever L2, the springs, and the valve with its spindle. lt will thus be seen that by introducing a suiiicient number of electro-magnets and properly adjusting their several sliding pieces K K2, tbc., the engine can always be kept under per` l'ect control, no matter how much of the propeller may be out ol' the water. Again, as long as the engine is running at its normal speed the electric current will pass from the battery or generator V through the contactpieces t" and if, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) the metallic contact-stri ps [,and through the contact-piece 7' back to the battery. ll' the propeller or any of the shafts should break, or it, tor any other reason, the engine should acquire a certain increase of speed, the weight T will be forced outwardly by the increased velocity ol' the shaft, thus sending the current through the contact-strip l, the sliding contact-pieces ci and c, connecting the same with the contactpieces j or k, as the case may be, the contactpiece k, the revolving contact-piece if, the stationary contact-piece h, the coils of the electro-magnet H2, and back to the battery or generator V, thereby throttling the area through valve C and keeping the engine under control, so as to prevent any dangerous racing. The number of switches in this device may of course be increased at will to correspond to any number ol' electro-magnets and to suit any requirement.

If myimproved governor is used for stationary engines or land engines, I dispense of course with that portion ot' the apparatus which relates to the regulation of the throttlevalve by hydrostatic pressure.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings I have illustrated a modification ot' the device shown in Fig. l, which consists, mainly, in extending the stem vor spindle D ot' the throttlevalve G in an upward instead ot' a downward direction through the stuffing-box E. The projecting end ofthe stem D is here, as before, provided with a disk, F, between which and the frame is interposed a coiled spring, G', serving to balance the weight ofthe valve and stem.

H H2 designate the electro-magnets, the armatures ot' which, l l, are mounted upon or attached to levers J J2, having adjustable sliding pieces K K2, which in turn bear against the free ends of levers L L, which rest upon a collar, C, upon the projecting end of the stem D. The operation ot' this modification will be readily understood when reference is had to the foregoing description, and does not require to be further enlarged upon.

lt will be readilyseen that many other modilicatious and changes in the arrangement, as well as in the mechanical construction of the operating parts ot' my invention7 might be made without in the least altering the principle thereoll orchanging its spirit, and the above described modification has been selected merely as an example. Iwould theretore have it distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts herein described, but reserve to myself the right to all modilcations which may `be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, I

ICO

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of i 15 the United Statesl. A n engine-governor consisting ot a throttle-valve, or a valve adapted to control the quantity or pressure of the liuid or gas from which power is derived, which valve is operated automatically by a number ofindependeut electro-magnets, whose armatures are attached to adjustable levers connected with the valve-rod, and t-o which currents of electricity are communicated through a series of switches which are worked automatically, substantially as set lorth.

2. In a marine engine, a governor consisting ot the following essential elements in combination, viz: a throttlevalve, or a Valve adapted to control the quantity or pressure of the tluid or gas from which power 1s derived, provided with a number oiindependent electro-magnets adapted to be excited consecu- /iets of the valve and adapted to be worked automatically by the varying speed of the engine, and a second set or series of'switches connecting the generator with the electromagnets ofthe valve, and adapted to be worked automatically by the varying hydrostatic press ure at the stern of the vessel, substantially as n set forth.

3. The combination, in a throttle-valve for engines, of the main .stop-valve, the fixed valve-seat having parallel grated openings, the movable throttle-valve having corresponding openings, the valverod having a disk or plate at its projecting end, the springs adapted to take up or compensate for the weight of the valve and valve stem or spindle, and a series of independently-operating electromagnets provided with armatures connected to the plate ordisk at the projecting end of the valve stem or spindle, so as to actuate the valve consecutively, thereby increasing or decreasingr the area of the valve as the said electro magnets are consecutively excited by an electric current, substantially as set forth.

4.. The combination, in a throttle-valve for engines, of the main stop-valve, the xed valve-seat having parallel grate-openings. the movable throttle-valve having corresponding openings, the vaIve-rodhavinga disk or plate at its projecting end, the springs adapted to take up or compensate for the weight of the valve and valve stem or spindle, a series of independently-operatingelectro-magnets,each

as set forth.

consecutive contact wit-h the sliding contacts `said fixed switches or contact-pieces with a having its appropriate Aarmature fixed to one end of a vibrating lever, lthe sliding pieces attached adj ustably upon the long arm of said lever, and the intermediate levers actuated by l the said sliding pieces and bearing with their free ends against the disk or plate at lthe projecting end of the valve-spindle, substantially' lor 5. In` an electric governor for marine engines, the automaticallyoperating switch apparatus for controlling the electroinagnets of the throttle-valve by the hydrostatic pressure at the stern of the vessel, consisting of a closed cylinder communicating with the sea by a pipe through the stern of the vessel, a piston and piston-rod slidingwithin said cylinder,aspring bearing against the piston with a tension or pressure adapted to be varied to-conformv to the normal pressure of the water entering the cylinder, a pair of contact-pieces in metallic contact with each other, fixed upon but insulated from the pisrorrrod, a series of fixed switches or contact-pieces adapted to comeinto on the piston-rod, and a circuit connecting the AXEL o. TENGVALL.L

Witnesses:

A. MAcKrNTosH, J. P. MCM'AHON.

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