IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN DISTRIBUTING CURRENTS OF ELECTRICITY
Year: 1885

page_text: APPL
Electricity.
I ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON of Mansion House Buildings Queen Victoria
Street in the City of London Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my inven-
tion for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN DISTRIBUTING CURRENTS OF
ELECTRICITY, to be as follows:-
:-
My improvements relate to such parts of apparatus used in controlling the supply.
of currents of electricity as are usually called collecting and dividing switch boards
or commutator boards. They consist more particularly in the arrangement and
construction of these boards in such manner that all the commutations and con-
nections can be made by comparatively nonsparking and easily renewable switches
in place of the plugs or connections of like nature which have hitherto been
necessarily used in all the more complicated forms of commutator boards.
In one form of my apparatus I use a switch board, the frame work of which
may consist of slate, porcelain glass or other suitable insulating incombustible
material to which the requisite strength and rigidity may be given by mounting it
in a frame of cast iron or other suitable material. When I wish to distribute the
current from one or more sources in such manner that I can couple any one of these
sources readily and conveniently to any one of several independent terminals to which
can be attached various independent distributing conductors I usually arrange in a
line nearly central on the board as many switches which I hereafter refer to as
generator switches, as there are generating sources of supply and I so contrive and
arrange these switches that whereas one part of them is permanently connected to
one pole of the dynamo machine, accumulator or other source of electricity, another
moveable part can be so turned as to
1st Either entirely disconnect the source of supply or
2nd To connect it to a system of blocks which I hereafter for simplicity shall
call the A block system or
3rd To a second system of blocks which I hereafter call the B block system.
When it is desired as is very commonly the case to so arrange a switch board that
several generators can be so coupled up to it and that one or more of them can be
coupled parallel to feed a system of parallel main distribution, or any one of them
can be connected up to feed singly, a separate system which may be either for the

page_text: 3rd Connected to B blocks only.
Therefore from the construction of this switch, it is possible to connect any
generator with either the A or the B blocks, but it is impossible to connect it to
both of them at the same time.
The A block dividing switches are also formed with a rotating spindle; but
instead of having a curved arm projecting from one side only, the lamince or thin
copper plates are formed of twice the length, and are secured in the rectangular
slot in the spindle, as above described at the middle of their length, their free ends
being suitably bent to the required curve, form 2 curved arms on the 2 opposite
sides of the spindle. In this case, the spindle itself instead of being connected as
in the case of the generator switches to the source of supply, is carried in insulated
bearings. The pairs of curved surfaces which it is desired to connect by these
A block dividing switches are arranged conveniently by forming one of each pair
on the back of the A block, and the other one on a terminal block fixed at the
required distance opposite to it.
When the spindles of these switches are so turned that the curved arms bridge
across the pairs of are shaped surfaces, then the current is free to flow to any of
the terminal blocks so bridged. When any switch is turned to a transverse
position this terminal block is disconnected from the A block.
The independent or moveable switches for connecting the B blocks with the
independent terminals, I form so far as the spindle and curved arms are concerned,
in a similar manner to the A block dividing switches; but instead of mounting
them to revolve on the board in fixed centres of motion I mount them to revolve
on moveable centres of motion, that is to say on centres so formed that they can
slide on suitably formed bars, the full length of the board itself so that any move-
able switch may be moved sideways, and thus brought opposite to any pair of
curved surfaces which it is desirable to connect to any of the above described
curved arms.
The number of these switches, and the number of bars on which
they slide, will depend on the number of generators, and the number of independent
terminals to which it is desired to connect them. For instance, if there are
3 generators and 2 independent terminals, then each of the generators must have
'its own B block; there must be 2 moveable switches sliding on 2 bars, and there

page_text: must be 2 independent terminal bars, each bar having.3 curved surfaces. Again,
if it be desired to connect the above 3 generators to any one of 3 separate
independent terminals, then there must be 3 B blocks as before, 3 longitudinal
bars, 3 moveable switches, and 3 independent terminal bars, each of them having
3 curved surfaces and so on for a larger number of generators, and for a larger
number of independent terminals.
The centres of all these moveable switches must be insulated either by the
longitudinal bars, themselves being mounted on insulated supports, or by the centres
of the moveable switches being insulated from the bars.
It will be seen that the above described improved method of connecting up the
various circuits, offers the advantage hitherto confined to the ordinary plugged
switch board in which the number of plugs so limited that no one generator can
be connected to more than one circuit but without the disadvantage of the plugged
Bystein, in that the latter are burned, and their seats injured; if they happen to be
withdrawn from the seats whilst the current is passing, whilst in my improved
arrangements all the connections being made by the above described curved arm
switches little or no damage occurs to the surface, if any one of the circuits is
opened at the time the current is passing, for all the flashing or sparking is confined
to the last plate or lamince of the curved arm which leaves its curved seat; more-
over these plates or lamince being merely thin strips cut out of sheet copper, by
ordinary shears can be readily renewed or replaced by unskilled workmen, without
any special tools or appliances.
Another advantage is that the electrical contact obtained by the use of these
laminated curved arm switches, is very perfect. There is far less heating at the
point of contact than is the case in the forms of switch heretofore used.
Moreover the whole arrangement is one which lends itself readily to cheap and
simple construction.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Use in Distributing Currents of
Electricity.
I ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON of Mansion House Buildings Queen Victoria
Street in the City of London Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN DISTRIBUTING CURRENTS
OF ELECTRICITY and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
1
My improvements relate, to certain parts of apparatus used in controlling the
supply of currents of electricity usually called switches or commutators and
consist more particularly in the arrangement and construction of generator switches
in such manner that the connections can be made by comparatively non-sparking
and easily renewable switches in place of the plugs or connections of like nature
which have hitherto generally been used.
For my generator switches I use a moveable part consisting of a spindle or
rotating part turning in a journal or bearing, and having a cross handle or T head
or equivalent piece but referred to as the "spindle." This spindle in one form of
switch is connected to one pole of the generator by a frictional contact or rubbing
piece or other suitable part consisting of spring bearing connections a part of the
spindle being made smooth and cylindrical for this purpose in the manner well
known to those accustomed to this class of mechanism. This spindle carries one
curved and laminated arm formed of many pieces of copper secured so as to be
capable of adjustment in a rectangular or other suitably formed frame or slotted
holder formed on or in the body of the spindle or rotating part itself.
The extremities of the plates of this curved arm can be so rotated as to either
touch any other conductor, in which case the generator is entirely disconnected
from the system for the time being or if the curved arm at one part of its are of
rotation can touch and from its springing nature and curved form make good
contact with are shaped or curved metallic surfaces which the terminal block to
which it is desired to connect the generator. In another form I dispense with the
central rubbing contact and mount such curved and laminated arms on my rotating
spindle.
The curvature of the arms being in opposite directions causes the two to take
the form somewhat resembling the shape of the letter S; in this latter case it will
be seen that instead of the generator being brought into contact with the spindle
by the rubbing contact it is permanently connected to one curved terminal block
the circuit with which it is desired to be switched off or on being connected to the
other curved terminal block situated on the opposite side.
In my provisional specification I have described various applications of my
invention which I have not sufficiently developed to enable me to specify and
claim with effect and therefore I have not included them in my present specification
but I have confined myself to the more simple applications of my invention.
In the accompanying drawings I have only shewn any invention applied as a
double armed spindle as I consider it unnecessary to shew it applied with a single

page_text: be readily constructed by any competent mechanician from the accompanying
description and drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews an exterior view and Figure 2 shews a section taken at right
angles to Figure 1 of say a generator switch or commutator having two curved
arms taking the S form arranged according to my invention.
Figure 3 shews a transverse section of Figure 1 at about the line A A of
Figure 2.
In these figures a is the operating handle, b the spindle operated thereby which
spindle is journalled in bearings 61 63 and is formed with a box or frame or slotted
holder of rectangular shape, in which box are secured the copper contact
plates c-d, d, being shield or guard plates pressed on to this series of contact
plates c by the pressure of screws e. el engaged on one side of the box b³.
fare metallic pieces attached to the wooden or other insulating surface g, and
formed so that as the handle b and thereby the contact switch or commutator
plates care rotated in the direction of the arrow they make good and increasingly
tight brushing contact with the eccentric metallic arc or pieces f. fl until in the
further rotation of their holder 63 they are sprung off those metallic pieces f. f¹ on
to the insulating material of the part y and the electrical connection is broken.
The lower part of the spindle 61 is passed through a plate or washer h and keyed
by a key i j. j. are screws for fastening the conducting leads in the openings j¹
of the holders. is a cross bar serving to support and guide the spindle b and
carry its bearing b¹. k¹ are screws securing bar k to g.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is; in apparatus for distributing currents of electricity
1. The arrangement of parts forming the improved commutating arrangements.
as described.
2. The combination of the handle or T piece with laminated double ended
curved arm and curved contacts forming the switch or commutator as shewn and
described.