Difference Regulator with Friction Wheels and Helical Track according to Siemens (1845)

Structure of mechanism

Function

For the control of the speed of steam engines centrifugal regulator were mostly used, but they are when changing the load on the driven machine is not accurate enough and tend to overshoot.
The Siemens brothers have therefore invented a new controller principle, which is based on the difference of the velocity of the steam engine and of a circular pendulum.
They have implemented the control mechanism in remarkably different ways.
Here is shown the solution through a combination of screw and nut, where the screw is realized by means of two friction wheels and the nut by means of a double helically wound track.
In this variation the moving up and down of the friction wheels is influenced by the rotational speed difference between the steam engine and the circular pendulum and controls steam supply and thus the speed.

Collections

Selected historical patents of the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin

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