US553918A

US553918A - Steam-engine governor

Info

Publication number: US553918A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1896-02-04
Anticipated expiration: 1913-02-04

Description

-6N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' H. H. LANE.

, STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR. No. 553,918. C Patented Feb. 4, 1896.-

' ZIVZTNESSES: [NI/E N 703.

MM g w m (No'Mod eL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

4 H. H. LANE.

v STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR.

Patented Feb. 4, 1896.

x IIIIIIIIIIIIIII! Illllll INVENTOR.

A T T ORA/IE VS.

ANDREW EGRRNAM, PHOTDAUTNQWASHINGTONDVC.

H. H. LANE. STEAM ENGINE GOVERNOR.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented Feb. 4, 1 896 (No Model.)

. JNVENTOR, I flaraaeflL alw, BY

A TTORNEYS NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' HORACE H. LANE, on HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-ENGINE GOVERNOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,918, dated February 4, 1896.

Application filed February 9, 1895. fierial No. 537,826. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known thatI, HORACE H. LANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntingdon, in the county of I-Iuntingdon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Steam-Engine Governor, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of steamengine governors in which the slide-valve is actuated to admit more or less steam into the cylinder, accordingly as the speed is retarded from or accelerated beyond a standard rate; and its object is to construct and arrange the valve-reciprocating eccentric and its accessories upon the fly-wheel of the engine, so

. that the throw of the eccentric shall be automatically increased and diminished proportionately to the valve movement required.

To this end my invention consists in the construction and combination of parts forming a steam-engine governor hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fly-wheel for an engine with a governor attached thereto according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a view looking down upon a section of the same at the line 00 w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same parts shown in Fig. 1, with this difference: in Fig. 1 the parts are represented in their initial position, as when the wheel is at rest, while in Fig. 3 the parts are represented extended, as when the wheel is in rapid motion. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view looking to the right of Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, 7 8, 9, and 10 are views of parts in detail.

11 represents the fiy-wheel of an engine, rigidly mounted on a shaft 12 to revolve therewith.

13 is the valve-shifting eccentric, around and upon which any usual form of yoke may be mounted to connectit with the valve-shifting rod. This eccentric is provided with an arm 14, extending to one side of its main plane and pivoted at 15 to the wheel 11, and provided with an aperture 16 to admit the shaft 12. This aperture is elongated in the direction of the arc of a circle around the pivot 15, permitting the eccentric to vibrate upon the pivot to vary the amount of eccentricity relative to the shaft 12, with which the eccentric revolves when the engine is in operation.

17 is a disk provided with a hub 18, extending to one side and fitted to revolve upon the shaft 12. 1

19 is a crank-pin projecting laterally from the disk 17, at the sameside thereof as the hub 18 and parallel with the hub. The eccentric 13 is recessed in one side to receive the hub 18,-which plays freely therein, and it is radially slotted at 20 to admit a box 21, which is bored to serve as a bearing fort-he crank-pin 19.

22 represents the governor balls or weights provided with arms 23, pivoted to the wheel at 24 to swing in the plane of the wheel when actuated by centrifugal or centripetal force.

On each of the arms 23 is mounted abinding-block 25, serving as an attaching-point for a rod 26, which connects each arm 23 with the disk 17. The blocks 25 also serve as attaching-points for rods 27, which connect the arms 23 with springs 28, that are hinged at their outer ends to the rim of the wheel 11 by means of screw-rods 29 engaging internallythreaded nuts 30, which pass through the rim of the wheel, each nut having a flanged head 31 to engage a counterbored shoulder in the wheel-rim.

, 32 is a dash-pot mounted on the inner side of the wheel-rim by means of aspring or flexible bracket 33, and it is connected with one of the arms 23 bya piston-rod 34.

The operation is as follows When the wheel is at rest, the springs 28 draw the arms 23 to their normal position of rest, as near as possible to the shaft 12, and the eccentric 13 is at its extreme limit away from the center of revolution, whereby the slide-valves will be given their full stroke, opening their ports for a full inlet of steam on the start. Now, as the speed increases, the weights 22 will be attended by centrifugal force, rotating the disk by means of the rods 26. The crank 19 on the disk swings the eccentric 13 gradually toward the center, shortening the stroke of the eccentric and valve until the springs 28 counterbalance the centrifugal force acting through the weights. Then the standard speed is reached for which the springs are set. If a sudden load be thrown upon the engine, the slackening of the fly-wheel thereby will in a single turn permit the springs 28 to retract the weights, thus extending the movement of the eccentric and valve and admitting more steam proportionate to the work, or, if a portion of the load be withdrawn from the engine, the increase of speed will quickly extend the weights and shorten the stroke of the eccentric and valve, and thereby lessen the amount of steam admitted until the standard speed is again reached. This governor is so sensitive that it will maintain a regularity of speed whose greatest variations are hardly perceptible under varying loads.

The dash-pot 32 is a mere cylinder in which a piston on the rod 34: is fitted to slide to prevent sudden action of the weight 22 by the resistance of air or any other fluid against the piston. This is not new; but there is an advantage in mountingthe dash-pot on a bracket having a fiat face of sufficient stability to maintain the dash-pot in the plane of the wheel, while the bracket yields sufficiently to permit the piston-rod to vibrate a little to accommodate the arc of motion of the bindingblock 25. The hub 18, projecting from the disk 17 at the same side as the crank 19, serves as a bearing on the shaft 12, whereby the crank is supported directly in its plane of service, thus securing accuracy of movement and avoiding both wear and friction, which would result from the use of a crank not thus directly supported, as the disk would be tipped out of plane thereby. It will be seen that the hub 18 is cutaway at the opposite side from the crank, where no bearing is required. tric the greatest possible throw attainable with this size of eccentric and shaft.

It is evident that this governor is applicable to fly-wheels of any form, either made as a solid disk or with arms, or put together in sections. The nut-heads 31 being slotted for a screwdriver, or made many sided for a socket-wrench, enable the operator to adjust the tension of the springs from the outside of the flywheel, and these nuts being internally threaded enable them to engage common screw-eyes 29, which will connect with common merchantable springs 28 without especial adaptation.

Changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, I claim- 1. In an engine-governor, the combination of a fly-wheel, a disk loosely mounted upon the same shaft with the fly-wheel and having a hub and a crank projecting laterally from the same side thereof, a valve-shifting eccentric mounted upon the said hub and having an arm attached by a stationary pivot to the fly-wheel, the hub-receiving aperture being elongated in the direction of the arc of a circle around the said pivot, said eccentric having a radial slot, a box fitted in the said radial slot and having a bore in which is inserted the said crank, and the usual mechanism between the fiy-wheel and the said disk for controlling the movements of the latter That is done to permit the eccenby centrifugal and centripetal forces, substantially as specified.

:2. In an engine-governor, the combination of a fly-wheel, a disk loosely mounted upon the same shaft with the fly-wheel and having a hub and a crank projecting laterally from the same side thereof, a valve-shifting eccentric mounted upon the said hub and having an arm attached by a stationary pivot to the fly-wheel, and having an aperture for the passage of the said shaft, said aperture being elongated in the direction of the are of a circle around the said pivot, and the said eccentric having a radial slot to receive the afore said crank, and the ordinary mechanism between the fly-wheel and the aforementioned disk for controlling the movements of thelatter by centrifugal and centripetal forces, substantially as set forth.

In an engine-governor, the combination of a fiy-wheel, a disk loosely mounted upon the same shaft with the fly-wheel and having a hub and a crank projecting laterally from the same side thereof, the hub being cut away on the side remote from the crank, a valveshifting eccentric mounted upon the said hub and having an arm attached by a stationary pivot to the fly-wheel, said eccentric having a radial slot to receive the aforesaid crank, and the usual provisions between the flywheel and the said disk for controlling the movements of the latter by centrifugal and centripetal forces, substantially as specified.

l. The herein-specified steam-engine governor, comprising a fly-wheel, a disk loosely mounted upon the same shaft with the flywheel and having a hub and a crank projecting laterally from the same side thereof, the hub being cut away 011 the side remote from the crank, a valve-shifting eccentric mounted upon the said hub and having an arm attached by a stationary pivot to the fly-wheel, and having an aperture for the passage of the said shaft and which is elongated in the direction of the arc of a circle around the said pivot, and which has a radial slot, a box located in the said radial slot and having a bore to receive the aforementioned cranlgweigh'ted arms having connection with the said disk, springs attached at their inner ends to the weighted arms, tensioning devices for connecting the outer ends of the springs with the outer portion of the fly-wheel, a dash-pot having pivotal connection with one of the weighted arms, and a spring-bracket firmly attached at one end to the fiy-wheel and having its opposite end rigidly connected with the dash-pot, substantially as an d for the purpose specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HORACE II. LANE. Witnesses:

WM. P. ORBIsON, R. A. ORBisoN.