IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETO- ELECTRIC MACHINES AND IN ELECTRO-MOTIVE ENGINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Powley Alexander, of 14, Southampton
Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETO-
ELECTRIC MACHINES AND IN ELECTRO-MOTIVE ENGINES.”—A communication
from abroad by Emile Bürgin, of Paris, in the Republic of France,
Engineer.
Sealed the 29th February 1876, and dated the 16th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Powley
Alexander at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 16th September 1875.
•
I, EDWIN POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in
the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINES AND IN ELECTRO-MOTIVE ENGINES," a communi-.
cation to me from abroad by Emile Bürgin, of Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, to be as follows :—
-
This Invention relates to magneto-electric machines, which improved.

page_text: particularly of improvements in the construction and arrangement of
the generative cylinders employed in magneto-electric machines.
The improved cylinder consists of four or more elements of soft iron
provided with two coils, the wire of which is wound in different ways
according to the results to be obtained.
According to one arrangement each element is composed of wrought
iron, malleable cast iron, or simply of cast iron, or, with a view to avoid
-induced-currents, of a number of insulated-sheet iron plates. Each
element is provided with two covered copper wire coils wound in the
same direction, and so joined as to represent but one coil. The com-
mencement of the first coil and the termination of the second remain
free. All the elements are perforated in the centre and placed in any
number (12 for example) upon a shaft, to which they are securely
fastened, and on which they are so disposed as to form one complete
thread of a helix, and that the several pairs of elements, namely, 1 and 7,
2 and 8, 3 and 9, 4 and 10, 5 and 11, 6 and 12, shall be placed in the
same direction, but with their coils reversed. All the coils are con-
nected one to another in the same direction, so that the end of the first
is joined to the beginning of the second, the end of the second to the
beginning of the third, and lastly, the end of the last coil to the
beginning of the first, these several points of junction meeting in turn
their corresponding sections of the commutator. The commutator con-
sists of a cylinder composed of as many insulated metal segments as
there are elements in the generating cylinder, the lines of separation in
the commutator being disposed obliquely to the generating line of such
cylinder in order to obtain a continual contact of the segments with the

page_text: to the beginning of the corresponding coil of the 3rd element, and so
on; the end of the corresponding coil of the 12th element is joined to
the beginning of the second coil of the first element, and so on; and.
lastly, the end of the second coil of the 12th element is joined to the
beginning of the first-mentioned coil of the 1st element. There exist
consequently 24 junctions, each of which meets a corresponding segment
of the commutator. By this second arrangement currents of high
tension are obtained.
'
According to a third mode of construction a special form of clement
is employed, consisting of two of the previously described elements
crossed at right angles to each other forming a cross. To avoid induced
currents in the solid metal cores these may be slit or cut to the centre.
Each arm of the cross is provided with a coil, all of which are wound'in
the same direction, and as each coil has two free ends every element
will have four beginnings and four endings. With any number (say six
for example) of these elements a cylinder may be formed by placing
them on a shaft so that their branches will produce a quarter turn of a
helix, each branch forming the same angle with its neighbour. The
whole of these coils are connected the one to the other, as in the two.
first arrangements, forming in themselves a closed circle, and their
junctions meet the corresponding segments of the commutator, which
is composed of as many segments as there are branches or arms.
The fourth arrangement, which is analogous to the first, enables a
generating cylinder to be constructed from the elements in the form of a
cross, which will generate currents of great quantity. With this object
the coils of the opposite branches in the same direction are joined the
one to the other so that they form one coil. Each element. thus repre-
sents two coils, which cross each other. The elements are placed on a
shaft as before, so that the coils occupy all the directions of the circle.
The coils are joined together to form a closed circle, and their points of
junction are in communication with the commutator, which is divided
into as many insulated segments as there are coils, that is to say, into
twice as many segments as there are cross-shaped elements. In lieu of
four branches the elements may contain six or eight united in the same
way.

page_text: On
as the same direction and the same mode of joining be maintained. The
generating cylinder is situate between the north and south poles of one
or more electro-magnets, the poles partially encircling the same as
closely as possible without being in actual contact therewith.
rotating the cylinder the elements successively form as it were interties
between the magnetic poles, to which arrangement are due the powerful
effects of induction. From the cylinder of the commutator the current
passes by two rubbers, each composed of a number of metal wires dis-
posed side by side over a range equivalent to the length of the com-
mutator. The-wire.of.the.magnetizing coils communicates through the
rubbers and commutator with the wire which is wound on the cylinder,
· so that on rotating the cylinder the generated current successively
reinforces the electro-magnets. The remaining magnetism of the
electro-magnets, which derives its origin from a previous magnetization,
suffices to produce an induced current in the cylinder so soon as a rotary
motion is imparted thereto. In circulating round the electro-magnets it
is successively re-enforced until it attains a maximum strength corre
sponding to the speed of rotation and the resistance of the interposed
external circuit. The external circuits which are traversed by the
generated current are introduced between tho rubbers and the
imagnetizing coil, or in the centre itself of the coil.
The electro-magnets may be excited by a battery or by one or more
generating cylinders, or they may be replaced by permanent magnets.
Machines of one or more cylinders may thus be constructed and the
cylinders coupled so as to produce either quantity or tension. The
currents obtained vary in their character according to the thickness of
the wires and the number of turns on the cylinder. The greater the
wire the greater the quantity and the thinner the wire, id est, the greater
the number of turns the higher the tension. For obtaining currents
of great quantity the wires may be replaced by insulated sheet copper

page_text: typing, the production of the electric light, and the magnetizing of the
axles and wheels of locomotive engines, or used as a transmitter of force
to any desired distance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin Powley Alexander in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
POWLEY ALEXANDER, of 14, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, Her
special license, that I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edwin
Powley Alexander, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINES AND IN
ELECTRO-MOTIVE ENGINES," a communication to me from abroad by Emile
Bürgin, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineer, upon the con-
clition (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander; my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say :-
The said Invention has for its object improvements in magneto-electric
machines, which improved machines are also applicable as electro-
motive engines, and relates more particularly to the construction and
arrangement of the generative cylinder of this class of machines, which
is represented in detail and complete views at Figures 1 to 13 of the
annexed Sheet of explanatory Drawings.
The improved cylinder is composed of four or more elements of soft
iron provided with two coils, the wire of which is differently wound
according to the results to be obtained.
.
First Method.-Figures 1 and 2 represent one of these elements.
They are composed cither of wrought iron, malleable cast iron, or simply
of cast iron, or with a view to avoid induced currents of a number of
insulated sheet iron plates, or at the interior of metal furnished with
envelopes of wrought iron. Each element is provided with two covered
copper wire coils wound in the same direction, and so joined as to repre-
sent but one coil. The commencement of the coil I and the termination
of the coil II remain free. All these elements are perforated in the
centre and placed in any number (12 for example) upon a shaft or axis,
to which they are securely fastened, and on which they are arranged or
disposed as shown by the Figures 3 and 4, so that they form one com-
plete thread of a helix, and that the several pairs of elements, namely,
1 and 7, 2 and 8, 3 and 9, 4 and 10, 5 and 11, 6 and 12, shall be placed
in the same direction, but with their coils reversed. All the coils are
connected one to another in the same direction, so that the end of the
first is joined to the beginning of the second; the end of the second to
the beginning of the third; and lastly, the end of the last coil to the
beginning of the first, these several points of junction meeting in turn
-their-corresponding sections of the commutator. The commutator C,
Figures 4 and 5, is a cylinder composed of as many completely insulated
metal-segments as there are elements in the generative cylinder. In the
Drawing the-segments or sections of the commutator are marked--with-
the numbers of the corresponding elements. The lines of separation or
division in the commutator are disposed obliquely to the generating lines
of the cylinder in order to obtain a continual contact of the segments

page_text: Second Method.-Figures 6, 7, and 8 represent another arrangement.
The wrought-iron elements remain the same as above described, but they
are furnished with two coils wound in opposite directions, thus leaving
four free ends for each element. Any desired number of these elements
is mounted so as to form a cylinder, and so disposed as to produce a half
turn of a helix, each element forming the same angle with its neigh-
bour. The number of segments in the commutator is double that of.
the elements. Figures 6 and 7 represent a generative cylinder composed
of 12 elements, its commutator having consequently 24 segments or
sections. The several coils are connected one to the other according to
the numbers on the Figure. Thus the end f¹ of the first element is
joined to the beginning C¹ of the second; the end of the second to the
beginning of the third element, and so on; the end f¹ of the twelfth is
joined to the beginning O³ of the first element, and so on; and lastly,
f of the twelfth element is joined to C¹ of the first, so that all the
coils are connected the one to the other by 24 junctions, each of which
meets a corresponding segment of the commutator. By this second
method currents of high tension are obtained.
cross.
Third Method.-The third and fourth modes of constructing the
cylinder differ essentially from the two first in the particular form of
the elements of which the cylinder is composed. Figure 9 represents
one of these elements, which may be considered as composed of two of
the first elements placed at right angles to each other so as to form a
To avoid induced currents in the solid metal cores these may be
slit or cut to the centre. Each arm of this cross is provided with a coil,
which coils are all wound in the same direction, and as each coil has
two free ends it follows that each element will have four beginnings C
and four endings F. With any number (say 6 for example) of these
elements a cylinder may be formed by placing them on a shaft so that
their arms or branches will produce a quarter turn of a helix, as shown
at Figures 10 and 11. By this arrangement a continuous series of arms
is obtained, producing four quarter turns of a helix, each arm forming
the same angle with its neighbour. The whole of these coils are con-
nected the one to the other, as in the two first methods, after their
numbers, forming in themselves a closed circle, whilst their junctions
meet the corresponding segments of the commutator, which is composed
of as many segments as there are branches or arms.

page_text: Fourth Method. Figures 12 and 13.-This method, which is analogous
to the first, enables a generating cylinder to be constructed from the
elements in the form of a cross, which will generate currents of great
quantity. With this object it is proposed to unite the coils of the
opposite branches in the same direction the one after the other, so that
they shall form one single coil. Thus each element represents two coils,
which cross each other. The elements are placed on a shaft or axis, as
before described, so that the coils shall occupy all the directions of the
circle (see Figures 12 and 13). The coils are joined together one after
-the-other-so-as-to-form-a-closed-circle, and their points of junction are
in communication with the commutator, which is divided into as many
insulated segments as there are coils, that is to say, into twice as many
segments as there are cross-shaped elements. In lieu of these crossed
elements of four branches elements containing six or eight arms or
branches united in the same way.may be employed.
These crosses may
also be made (as shown at X, X) of metal, the arms of which are
provided with cnvelopes or coverings of sheet iron, upon which is wound
the copper wire.
The formation of a helix is not essential, but it is the most simple; if
desired some of the elements may be displaced (for example, No. 2. with
No. 4), so long as the same direction and the same mode of joining to
obtain the same effect be maintained. The generative cylinder is situate
between the north and south poles of one or more electro-magnets
(Figures 14 to 17), the poles partially encircling the same as closely as
possible without being in actual contact therewith; on causing the
cylinder to rotate the elements successively form, as it were, interties
between the two magnetic poles, and it is due more particularly to this
arrangement that the powerful effects of induction are obtained. From.
the cylinder of the commutator the current passes by two rubbers C
and D (Figures 14 and 15), each composed of a number of metal wires a
disposed side by side over a range equal to the length of the commutator.
These rubbers touch the commutator in the direction Ẹ, F, (Figure 14).
The-wire-of-the-magnetizing-coils-communicates-through-the-rubbers-and-
Ecommutator with the wire that-is-wound. on. the cylinder, so that
on rotating the cylinder the generated current successively reinforces;
the electro-magnets. The remanent magnetism of the electro-magnets
which derives its origin from a previous magnetization suffices to

page_text: produce an induced current in the cylinder so soon as a rotary motion
is imparted thereto in circulating round the electro-magnets, it is
successively re-enforced until it attains a maximum corresponding to
the speed of rotation and the resistance of the interposed external
circuit. The external circuits which should be traversed by the
generated current are introduced between the rubbers and the
magnetizing helix or in the centre itself of the helix.
The electro-magnets may be excited by a battery or by one or more
generating cylinders, or they may be wholly replaced by permanent
magnets. Machines of one or more cylinders may thus be constructed,
and the cylinders coupled so as to produce either quantity or tension.
The currents obtained vary in their character according to the thickness
of the wires and the number of turns or coils on the cylinder. The
thicker the wire the greater the quantity, and the thinner the wire, id est,
the greater the number of turns, the higher the tension. In order to
obtain currents of very great quantity the wires may be replaced by
insulated sheet copper ribbons.
-
The herein-before described machine generates clectric currents when
the cylinder is rotated by any external force, and on the other hand the
cylinder rotates and transmits force when the machine is excited by an
electric current obtained from a battery or from another magneto-
electric machine; hence it may be employed either as a generator of
electricity or as an electro-motive engine, and applied advantageously
to the purposes of electrotyping, the production of the electric light, and
the magnetizing of the axles and driving wheels of locomotive engines,
or used as a transmitter of force to any desired distance.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner, in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The peculiar constructions and arrangements of the generative
cylinders of magneto-electric machines and electro-motive engines, as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
Second. The application and use of the herein-before described

page_text: improved magneto-electric machines and electro-motive engines, as and
for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Powley Alexander, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.