3 ms·

Sort of related, but old Seagrave firetrucks with 2 cycle, 2 gear engines would use an inertial type governor to lock-out the fuel from the carburetor to preve

Sort of related, but old Seagrave firetrucks with 2 cycle, 2 gear engines would use an inertial type governor to lock-out the fuel from the carburetor to prevent overspeed. If you ever see an old engine with a set of weird spinning balls connected to a couple of rods at the top, thats an inertial check. They were also pretty popular with steam engines in factories and saved a lot of lives controlling automatic blow-off valve for over-pressure. https://me-mechanicalengineering.com/governor-types-centrifugal-governor-and-inertia-governor/ https://me-mechanicalengineering.com/governor-types-centrifu...

jamesakirk 7y ago
Norbert Wiener discussed this in Cybernetics: "Another example of a purely mechanical feedback system — the one originally treated by Clerk Maxwell — is that of the governor of a steam engine, which serves to regulate its velocity under varying conditions of load. In the original form designed by Watt, it consists of two balls attached to pendulum rods and swinging on opposite sides of a rotating shaft. They are kept down by their own weight or by a spring, and they are swung upward by a centrifugal action dependent on the angular velocity of the shaft. They thus assume a compromise position likewise dependent on the angular velocity. This position is transmitted by other rods to a collar about the shaft, which actuates a member which serves to open the intake valves of the cylinder when the engine slows down and the balls fall, and to close them when the engine speeds up and the balls rise. Notice that the feedback tends to oppose what the system is already doing, and is thus negative. " (https://archive.org/details/CyberneticsOrCommunicationAndControlInTheAnimalAndTheMachineNorbertWiener https://archive.org/details/CyberneticsOrCommunicationAndCon...)
- jhayward 7y ago
  > consists of two balls attached to pendulum rods and swinging on opposite sides of a rotating shaft Random aside: This is the origin of the phrase "balls out" to mean going full-blast. When the locomotive was putting out maximum power the spinning balls on the governor would be furthest out, inscribing their largest circle.

jamesakirk 7y ago

Norbert Wiener discussed this in Cybernetics: "Another example of a purely mechanical feedback system — the one originally treated by Clerk Maxwell — is that of the governor of a steam engine, which serves to regulate its velocity under varying conditions of load. In the original form designed by Watt, it consists of two balls attached to pendulum rods and swinging on opposite sides of a rotating shaft. They are kept down by their own weight or by a spring, and they are swung upward by a centrifugal action dependent on the angular velocity of the shaft. They thus assume a compromise position likewise dependent on the angular velocity. This position is transmitted by other rods to a collar about the shaft, which actuates a member which serves to open the intake valves of the cylinder when the engine slows down and the balls fall, and to close them when the engine speeds up and the balls rise. Notice that the feedback tends to oppose what the system is already doing, and is thus negative. " (https://archive.org/details/CyberneticsOrCommunicationAndControlInTheAnimalAndTheMachineNorbertWiener https://archive.org/details/CyberneticsOrCommunicationAndCon...)

jhayward 7y ago
> consists of two balls attached to pendulum rods and swinging on opposite sides of a rotating shaft Random aside: This is the origin of the phrase "balls out" to mean going full-blast. When the locomotive was putting out maximum power the spinning balls on the governor would be furthest out, inscribing their largest circle.