US527503A - nichols - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. C.- NICHOLS.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR. 'No. 527,503. Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

{No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. HO. NICHOLS.

STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR. No. 527,503. Patented Oct. 16, 1894.

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HENRY C. NICHOLS, OF HOIQ KINTON, RHODE ISLAND.

STEAM-ENGINE. GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,503, dated October 16, 1894.

Application filed February 9, 1894. Serial No. 499,628- (No model.)

To all whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY O. NICHOLS, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident Y of I-lopkinton, county of Washington, and

State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Engine Governors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has reference more particularly to that class of steam engine governors which involve in their construction a radially movable eccentric, and effect the equalization of the speed of the engine by changing the amount of throw of such eccentric and thereby the point in the stroke of the piston at which the how of steam to the cylinder shall be out OK; its object being to provide agovernor of this class which, while simplein construction and efficient in operation, shall, at the same time, be extremely sensitive to variations in the speed of the engine. r

To the ends thus specified, "the invention consists, first, in the means made use of for mounting the movable eccentric whereby, in its movements to vary the throw of the cut off valve, such eccentric is guided in a direct line across the shaft carrying the governor,

while yet left free to move around the same as the requirements of the governor mechanism may demand; second, inthe means whereby the movable eccentric is guided in its movements across the shaft carrying the governor, while yet left free to move around the same asthe exigencies of the governor mechanism may require, and is rotated, and third, in various other constructions and combinations of parts, all as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, Figure 1, is a side elevation and transverse section respectively of a pulley and shaft, with i a governor constructed in accordance with my invention applied in connection therewith; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of such parts, taken in the plane as a: in Fig. 1 and lookingdownward; Fig. .3, a side elevation of a slightly modified construction of movable eccentric and carrier, showing also in dotted lines the guide block upon which the eccentric and carrier are guided and the end of the shaft upon which they are mounted; Fig. 4.,

an edge view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, looking from the left in that figure; Figs. 5 and 6, a side and edge elevation, respectively, of the guide block upon which the movable eccentric is guided, detached, and Fig. 7, a side elevation of the end of, the shaft upon in Figs. 4 and 5 are mounted. i In the several figures of the drawings, like corresponding parts.

Aindicates a shaft which is or maybe the main crank shaft of a steam engine, and B a pulley secured thereon. shaft A, in close relationship to the pulley B, is the radially movable eccentric O, which ispreferably though not necessarily formed upon the side of a plate like carrier, D,near the lower end thereof, and is provided with an elongated aperture, a, where it encircles the shaft, the dimensions of which aperture are such as to prevent the walls thereof from they are moved back and forth over the same in the adjustment of the eccentric to the requirements of the engine. .In the construction of this eccentric,I sometimes find it convenient to provide it with a circumferential formed in the interior of the eccentric strap,

tric when the engine is. in operation,but this is not essential, and such flange and groove may be reversed and the flange appear upon the periphery of the pulley, or both may be omitted and other arrangements adopted for accomplishing that result without in any way adecting the scope of my invention.

bell crank lever E E through which the radially shifting movement of the eccentric is oted to the pulley B on opposite sides of the eccentric carrier D, by pivots b, and carry on their longer arms weights F F, which are or may be held in adjusted position thereonby screws b or other equivalent means, the object and purpose of such weights being to move the eccentric in one direction as they letters of reference are employed to designate Mounted on the coming into contact with the said shaft as whereby to hold such strap upon the eccenthe interior of the strap and the groove in effected. These bell crank levers are piv-- which the form of plate and eccentric shown flange, at, around its periphery for engage ment with a correspondingly shaped groove Jointed directly to the outer end of the ec: centric carrier D are the shorter arms of the are thrown outward under -'the influences of and weights, they are preferably though not necessarily so proportioned as to make them approximately balance the eccentric G and carrier D, when such levers and weights are thrown outward into the positions shown in Fig. 1; and as theyare arranged on opposite sides of the carrier, it is obvious that this balancing of the parts is maintained in all. the positions to which theymay be carried by the rotation of the pulley B.

To overcome the centrifugal force engendered in the bell crank levers and weights by the rotation of such parts with the pulley B, when their speed of rotation is reduced below a certain limit,'and thereby move the eccentric and its carrier ina direction opposite to that imparted to them by that force, the spring H is employed, which extends across from one bell crank lever to the other and has its ends connected thereto by suitable clips. These clips may be constructed in various forms. In the preferred form of construction however, they are made with a sleeve-like member, 0, which is adapted to be adjusted along the lever and secured thereto at the desired point by a binding screw, 0', and also with a second member, 0 which, pivoted to the outer edge of the first, is pro- 'vided with a suitable opening through it for the passage and movement of the lever,

and receives in a suitable threaded orifice.

formed in its inner face, a'screw rod (1, t0

,whichis fixedly secured one end of said spring. By these means provision is made for adjusting not only the points where the spring connects with the levers, but the tension of the spring as well. As the parts are thus constructed and arranged, the move-.

force to near their outermost limit and the eccentric with its carrier, moved into substantially the positions illustrated in Fig. 1. In these positions, such parts will remain so long as the engine is operating at the required speed, but the moment that the speed increases or diminishes the bell crank levers with their weights will be either thrown outward under the influences of the increased centrifugal force, or drawn inward under the stress of the spring H, moving the. eccentric and its carrier in one or the other direction across the shaft A, and thereby hastening or deferring the cut off of the steam to the cylinder to an earlier or later period in the stroke of the piston, as the requirements of the engine demand a diminution or increase in the other of such parts.

speed thereof. When the engine is at rest the bell crank levers, with the weights F F carried thereon, will be drawn inward until they are in contact with, or nearly in contact with, the hub of the pulley B, but when it is operating at its full speed they will be carried outward until the levers nearly contactwith the stops 6 secured to the arms of the pulley B, in which position they will remain so long as the engine is operated at that speed.

The inner ends of the short arms of the bell crank levers being both jointed to the outer end of the eccentric carrier D, it is obvious that, as those ends describe arcs of circles in their movements that curve outwardly from each other, they could not co-operate with such carrier to move it back and forth over the shaft, if provisions were not made for allowing of a slight lateral translation of one of these arms with respect to the carrier as the former moves around the axis of pivot b. In order therefore to allow of this movement, the bell crank lever E, while jointed to the eccentric carrier bya pivot f that is fitted to work closely in a hole formedin such carrier, the pivot f of the bell crank lever E works in an elongated orifice formed therein. As a result of this construction and arrangement of parts, the-eccentric carrier D, and with it the eccentric G, are not only moved laterally of the'shaft A, by the lovers E E, but they also partake of the curvilinear movement of the inner end ofthe lever E, and thereby re ceive a slight oscillatory movement around said shaft, the pivot f in the joint of the lever E sliding in the elongated orifice formed in the carrier D permitting of this movement taking place.

To properly hold and guide the eccentric with respect to the shaft A when the movements above explained take place, I provide the eccentric carrier D with a guide way, h,

on its back, which receives and slides upon a guide block, I, (see Figs. 5 and 6) that is loosely mounted upon the said shaft, in such a manner as to permit of its easy oscillation thereon, and the rotation of the latter therein.

In the construction of this guide block it may, in some cases, be made in one piece, as shown in said figures, in which case its dimensions will be such that the sides thereof will accurately fit within the guide way h. In other cases it may be made in a plurality of parts, and the guide way in which it slides provided with a gib, the adjustment of which in the guide way to take up any wear that may have been occasioned between those. parts being eifected by setting out one or the Either of these constructions of block may be adopted as may be desired or as the exigencies of the particular service of the engine may demand. I prefer however to make it of a single piece as greater simplicity of parts are attained and the lia- I bility of derangement thereby obviated. By this arrangement of parts, as will be seen, not only are the eccentric and its carrier are required, but, in consequence of the ca-.

pability of the block I to oscillate upon such shaft, the oscillatory movements of the cocentric and its carrier occasioned by the movements of the short arm of the bell crank lever E, permitted "as well, and this too around Q the axis of the shaft A, which remains a permanent center of oscillation no matter in what positions the eccentric and its carrier aremoved by the bell crank levers E E.

The eccentric with its carrier and the guide block I, being loosely mounted on the shaft A, might in some cases move along such shaft if no provisions were made for preventing it and the parts thus mentioned, with the valve 1 rod and connection, thrown out of alignment.

To obviate this, I make use of astud, 'i, which, secured in the hub of the pulley B, extends through a slot, 2', formed through the eccentric carrier D, and receives on its outer end a nut, t length and breadth thereof are made sufficiently great as to permit of it moving radially over the stud 'i asthe eccentric and carrier are moved by the bellcrank leversEfE'; and the nut i instead of binding the eccentric carrier tightly against the hub of the pulley B,will be screwed firmly up against ashoulder formed on thestud, without exerting any pressure on the carrier which will be free to move thereunder.

y ferent mounting ofthe eccentric with its carrier and the guide block upon the shaft.

In Figs. 3 and 4, there is shown a slightly modified form of eccentric and a-slightly dif this construction, the eccentric carrier D providedwith the guide way h, and the guide block I, are or may be the same as those illustrated in the preceding figures, but instead of the eccentric being made of a diameter suf ficiently great to embrace the shaft A,it is constructed in the form of a wrist-pin, O, of

smaller diameter, and, with its carrier and the guide block 1, is mounted upon the end of said shaft which is preferably reduced in diameter for that purpose, as illustrated at Z in Fig. 7. Although made of smaller diamethe wrist-pin with its carrier and the guide block, back on the reduced portion of the shaft A, may be made through the carrierD as in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Itis preferred however with this construction to form it through an ear 2, secured to the side of one of the walls of the guide way h,

as clearly illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4.

With the constructions above set forth, a

In the formation of thisslot, the

governor forhigh speed and other engines is producedin whichthe movable eccentric is not only guided in its movements in a direct line across its supporting shaft, while yet left free to oscillate with its guide block upon said shaft as a permanent center of oscillation, but is also rotated from the pulley B, through the bell crank lever E E, without any strain or binding action upon the guide Way and guiding block, and the use of connecting rods between the bell crank levers andthe eccentric carrier thereby obviated. As a result of this, greater sensitiveness in the operation of the governor is attained, while, in dispensing with the connections between the bell cranklevers and the eccentric carrier, the points of wear are reduced to the minimum. Although in the foregoing thebest means contemplated for carrying theinvention into practice has been described, it is to be understood that the same may bemodified in various ways and still be within the scope of the invention.

Having nowdescribed the invention and specified certain of the ways in which it is or may be carried into effect, whatis claimed as new, and for which Letters Patent of the United States is desired, is-

1. The, combination, with an eccentric adapted to receive an eccentriii strap and provided with guides, a shaft, and devices for moving the eccentric laterally of such shaft, of devices for engaging with said guides whereby to guide said eccentric in a direct line across the shaft while permitting of an oscillatory movement on such shaft, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with an eccentric adapted to receive an eccentric strap and provided with guides, a shaft, and devices for moving the, eccentric laterally of such shaft, of a guide block loosely mounted on said shaft for co-operation with the guide whereby to guide the eccentric in a direct line across the shaft while permitting of an oscillatory movement on such shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with an eccentric provided with guides, a shaft, and levers for moving the eccentric radially of such shaft, of a guide block loosely mounted on the shaft and cooperating with the guides on the cocentric, for guiding such eccentric in a direct IIO oscillate about the same as the exigencies of the levers may require, and weights and a spring for co-operation with the levers, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with an eccentric provided with guides on its back, a shaft upon which it is mounted, bell crank levers provided with weights, and a spring, of a guide block loosely mounted on said shaft and cooperating with the guides on the eccentric whereby to guidesucheccentric in a direct line across the shaft while permitting of its oscillation thereon, as the requirements of one of the bell crank levers in its movements may demand, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with an eccentric, a carrier therefor provided with. guides upon its back, a shaft upon which such eccentric and carrier are mounted, bell crank levers jointed at one of their ends directly to the outer end of said carrier and provided on their other ends with weights, and a spring for co-operating with the bell crank levers, of a guide block loosely mounted on the shaft and engaging with the guides on the carrier whereby the rotation of the eccentric is effected from the bell crank levers, and its lateral movement guided in a direct line across them, of the clips composed of members 'c'c 7. A clip composed of two members 0 0 pivoted together, a binding screw, 0, and means in the inner face of the member 0 whereby to connect it with a rod or bar, substantially as described.

8-. The combination, with an eccentric 0,

land its carrier provided with the guide way it and with the slot 1', of the pulley B, and stud i provided with a nut on its outer end,

(substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of February, 1894:. l HENRY o. NICHOLS.

Witnesses:

S. L. TRIPPE, WM. E. TREFO'ER.

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