IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRICAL APPARATUS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Apps, Optician, of .433, Strand, London, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELECTRICAL APPARATUS."
Sealed the 11th June 1867, and dated the 24th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Apps at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
January 1867.
I, ALFRED APPS, Optician, of 433, Strand, London, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ELECTRICAL APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
The object of the first part of this Invention is to increase the facility with
which the vibrator or contact breaker of an electro-magnetic coil may be
adjusted; this I accomplish by coutinuing the shaft carrying the straining
screw of the spring through the upright carrying the platina-pointed screw,
& fixing on the screwed shaft a milled head outside the last-mentioned
upright, so as to form a ready means of straining the spring without
incurring the usual risk of shocks from the condenser of the apparatus.
The object of another part of this Invention is to obtain a simultaneous
break in the transfer of an electrical current or currents through two or more
wires or conductors at the same time, and to effect this I make use of one or
more vibrators fitted with studs of metal in such a manner that the faces of.

page_text: the studs strike simultaneously against their respective facings, studs, or
conductors. This method of breaking contact I use with clockwork as a
self-acting break, or in connection with an electrical engine or machine.
Another part of this Invention is for improving the rate or succession of
making and breaking contact; this I accomplish by making the contact
breaker or vibrator double, and it may be automatic or otherwise, and the
current or currents are reversed or not at will. By means of a screw or
other projection pressing against the one end of the vibrating bar or bars
or springs the contact is made on one side any required number of times,
the same of the other side, the contact breaker being in connection with
one or more batteries as may be required.
The object of another part of my Invention is to obtain more efficient action
in the emitting and absorbing powers of conductors, or the currents carried
by them about electro or permanent magnets or otherwise. I place the
conductor, consisting of one or more strand of copper slip or strip or wire,
upon the electro or permanent magnet, allowing a small space between, in
several layers or series of layers, the first commencing near to one end of the
electro or permanent magnet, and the others adjacent, in such a manner that
the currents or discharges of electricity used may pass the whole or part of the
layers in regular progression or in series, as may be required, or may be made
to return through some or any of them, in all cases the electro-magnetic
or magneto-electric effects being proportionate to the quality and length
of the conductor & the currents employed. The conductor used may be
partly or entirely insulated, and the insulation, if any, is thin where the
current is low in tension, and where it is high in tension the insulation is
somewhat stronger if necessary, and consists of two pieces of glass or some
other insulator, and of such shape as to fit in the series or nearly so on two
sides respectively, and the series are similar and dissimilar alternately or other-
wise. The two sides of the series or layers are, first, that next their axis, and,
secondly, that next one end of the electro or permanent magnet or helix, or of
the combined series. This method of placing the conductor differs from the
method now in use in this respect, viz., that the current or discharge
cannot pass directly by convolutions or revolutions from end to end of the
electro or permanent magnet, but must pass through some or all of the
intermediate parts of the conductor before reaching the other end of the
electro or permanent magnet or of the series.
The object of another part of this Invention is to insulate more perfectly
the wire or conductor used as a primary or secondary wire in a resistance or
other coil, especially at the ends of such conductors; this I accomplish by

page_text: placing a tube from end to end of the series, and extending beyond to the
extent of not less than one-tenth the total length of the combined series, or
more than one-half the length. This method differs from that in ordinary
use in this respect, namely, that the conductor placed on or about the tube
is entirely independant of the interior parts, if any, and that the insulating
material is carried beyond or is longer than the distance between the glass
or other ends of the combined series; the usual mode being to fit the
exterior on to the interior.
Another part of my Invention consists in placing the discharging or
receiving dies, or rubbers, or rollers, or parts of the contact breaker of an
electro-magnetic engine oblique to their axis of motion, so that before the
current or currents cease passing round one magnet or system of magnets part
of it begins to pass through the next or another, so that at the moment of
breaking contact with the first only a portion of the current remains to be
broken.
The object of another part of my Invention is to improve the connections
of galvanic batteries and in constructing a single cell. I connect the negative
plate with a central rod, and the positive plates with a tube placed over the
rod, the tube and rod together being the means of raising and depressing
the plates into the fluid, the connections to the binding screws being
preserved in whatever position the plates are placed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Apps in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
APPS, Optician, of 433, Strand, London, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Apps, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Apps,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alfred Apps, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time aud at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN ELECTRICAL APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Apps, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should para
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inventiou, 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 immediately
after the dato of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Apps, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shows a vertical section of the apparatus arranged according to the
first part of my Invention. The upright A I construct of metal with the
platina-pointed screw D passing screwed through near the top, and the dog
nut B for clamping D at any required adjustment. The part C is constructed
of solid platina or gold, and has the same axis as C¹, its corresponding stud
in E, which latter clamps the hammer or vibrator H to the spring S. The
shaft N is constructed of strong metal, and passes through a plane fitting
in m, which insulates it from A, and thence through an easy cylindrical fitting
in S, and finally the part of N, N¹, is screwed and fits in K, so that when N
is turned towards the left the shoulder at N1 advances to the half-ball fitting
in L, and pushing L in the direction of N brings the studs C, C1, closer
together. The milled head o is fixed on the shaft N, and being insulated is
safe of manipulation. The screw P fixes S to K, and the other parts shewn
are similar to those usually employed for such purposes. The maximum
magnetic force I obtain by turning o to the left until the attraction exerted
on H be hardly sufficient to overcome the tension of S, and by consequence
to separate C, C, and so to break contact.
The second part of my Invention consists in a modification of the first part.
In Fig. 2, which is a vertical section, the same letters are used for the same
parts as mentioned under Fig. 1, and the parts corresponding to those in
Fig. 1 have the same uses, except that the upright A does not form a part of
the conductors; the same of P, S, and E. The thick discs and of ivory
or other suitable insulator forming insulation of the parts C, C, C, and
C', C, C, from Daud E, and at the same time serving as means by the bolts

page_text: Z, Z, Z, and Z, Z, Z, with their respective nuts to keep in position C, C, C,
and C, C', C, true to their common axis. I do not place a limit to the
number of C, C, C, and C, C¹, C, the object being by the means shown to
obtain simultaneous breaks of contact for one or more electrical currents. The
connections between Cand Y' are made by the bolt Z, and a suitable spiral
or other shaped spring, the same of the connections from C¹ to Y, so that the
currents do not pass at all through A or S, but have separate conductors.
Another part of my Invention consists in reversing electric currents by
means of an automatic contact breaker in the manner shown in the Drawing,
and by the addition of the former parts already described by Drawings.
Fig. 3 is a vertical view of the apparatus, part in section, in its simplest form.
a, a¹, are electro-magnets of the horse-shoe form, and I sometimes use bar
magnets instead thereof, C, C', being their armatures respectively, which are
fixed to the slips of metal 1), D', which are screwed to the insulating block B,
which turns upon the centre pin E. The ends of D, D', are fitted with studs
of platina F, F, and F, F, and they are so arranged that when F strikes or
leaves L, F strikes or leaves n. The same of the reverse action, R, S, T,
and V are the binding screws, and the current passes in the direction shown
by the arrow heads when F and L are in contact, and the reverse when F
and H are in contact. The springs Y, Y, serve both as conductors and as
means for sufficient reaction after breaking the current to establish it again
by bringing the other platina studs in contact. The platina studs n, m, H, L,
are supported on stout springs of metal, and the connections are arranged
under the base of the instrument, as shown by the dotted lines.
Having shewn the methods and apparatus of my Invention for establishing
contacts and breaking the same I now proceed to show the manner in which
the conductors used are placed about electro or permanent magnets or used
as helices or otherwise.
Fig. 4 shows the direction taken by any primary, secondary, or other
current or discharge, the dots representing cross section of the conductor.
If the current enters at A it will pass by and A round till it reach the
point E, when quitting A and A' it will enter B, B'; at its smallest diameter
and
pass
round until it reaches the greatest diameter of B, B', and the point B;
if the current pass in regular progression it will now enter at C by the union
of B and C, as shown by the direction of the arrow heads and pass through
C to D as it passed from A to B, and so on to the last of the combined series;
if so connected as to pass from A to D in regular progression the amount of
electricity collected or induced or magnetism imparted will be in direct
proportion to the length and size of the conductor and the same of any other

page_text: parts so employed; when not connected as already explained I pass the
current from A and B, or to A and B, and subsequently through other layers
or series and not those next in proximity. The thickness of the insulator
covering the wire is varied with the tension of the current employed.
Another partof my Invention is my method of insulating the layers or series
of conductors (already shown in the next preceding part of my Invention)
from one another. The two sides of any one layer or series of turns or spires
or volutes of the conductor about a magnet or space as an axis being first
that next the end of the combined series when there are more than one;
and, secondly, that next the axis or the magnet or space in the centre.
In Fig. 5, A, B, represents by vertical section in the plane of its axis a
piece of insulating material, as glass, gutta percha, ebonite, &c., which
corresponds in its general proportions to the insulator used for the first side
of any one layer; C, D, shows by the same section the second insulator used
next the axis of the magnet or internal space.
Fig 6 shows how the pieces A, B, and C, D, Fig. 5, are combined; and
F, F, and H, H, are the spaces for the conductor; F, F¹, are varied in
number according to the length of the whole, the same of the numbers of
m, m, and n, n.
Having shewn how the conductor is placed in relation to itself, and how
the layers or series are insulated the one from the other, how they are variable
and otherwise, I now proceed to show by Fig. 7, which is a vertical section
in the plane of the common axis of tube and the parts placed on it the tube
is the means employed to sustain I, I, I, I, and I, I, I, I, in their proper
positions, and to insulate more perfectly the conductor placed in C, C, C, C,
and similar positions from the space within T, T, T, T; this tube is formed
of glass, gutta percha, ebonite, or some other good insulator (and sometimes
I use several tubes placed one within the other), and continued beyond the
ends I, K, I, K, of the combined series by the distance T, I, T, I, so that the
high tension at I or K of the current cannot on account of the distance and
insulation enter the tube. When the contact breaker or rheotome shown in
the first, second, or third parts of this Invention is not used in connection with
primary and induced currents, for the purposes of an automatic rheotome,
the contact breaker shown in Fig. connected with an electro-magnetic
engine is used to actuate the rheotome, and the action being exceedingly
regular the object is well accomplished. B', B, B, B, and B", B", Fig. 8,
represent bands of metal fixed on an insulating cylinder, the bands being
placed as shown oblique to the axis of rotation; the spaces between are to
insulate one band from another. The thick metal uprights, Fig. 9, L, L,.and

page_text: L',L', are placed each side of the rotating cylinder, so that the current has one
band as the positive and the opposite one as the negative conductor; the
bands being connected with their respective magnets; now before B", B",
Fig. 8, has ceased to be in contact with L, L, the band B, B, will touch
L, L, at the point B, so that no entire break of the current takes place,
but part of it flows into the next system of magnets before the preceding
system has ceased to act by stoppage of the current producing the magnetism.
By the arrangement in Fig. S the currents delivered to the magnets aro
gradually broken, re-established, and reversed, and again broken as the bands
revolve with the insulating cylinder upon which they are placed.
The Fig. 10 shows a vertical section of the last part of my Invention, which
consists of a battery capable of actuating the foregoing parts of this Invention.
A is a tube of brass fixed to the socket S, and forming the exterior conductor
connected with the carbon plates C, C; B is a strong brass wire tapped into
the zinc plate Z and at the other end into the ivory knob K, which insulates
it at the top from the tube A; the rod B thus forms the conductor for the
zinc plate. T, T", are the terminals from which the battery wires are to be
carried; T makes connection with B by the spring S¹ and the screw L, which
has an insulating ferrule where it passes through A and m, and its point presses
constantly against B; T' makes connection with A by means of a strip of
metal gripped under T and passing thence to the base of m, which is the
spring slide tube for A. The disc P, P, is formed of some convenient insulator,
as ebonite or hard wood. In order to insulate perfectly the rod B and the
plate I use an ebonite ferrule Y, Y, and an hollow rectangle of three sides
R, R, fitting over the zinc. By this means connection is maintained, T, T',
to C, C, and Z, whatever position the battery plates may have in regard
to P, P.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what maunor
I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details shewn and described, as these may be
varied; but what I do claim is,―
First, the means of straining the spring of a rheotome by a nut or head
outside the upright carrying the platina-pointed screw.
Second, the use of one shaft or axis carrying the studs for simultaneous
break of several electrical currents.
Third, the use of springs, magnets, and studs, &c., in the manner described
for an automatic commutator.
Fourth, the arrangement of the connections of the series of layers in
regular progression or by pairs or otherwise.

page_text: .. Fifth, the insulation of primary or secondary or other conductors by
separating them with two pieces of insulating material, the one next towards
either end of the series and the other next their common axis.
Sixth, the use of a single tube or of several tubes fitting into one another,
and extending lengthwise of the combined series of layers of conductor beyond
the end of the same for the purpose of insulation.
Seventh, the means described for gradually making, reversing, and breaking
contacts for the development of magnetism, and other purposes.
Eighth, the employment of one conductor within another, as shown, for
maintaining connection while raising and depressing the battery plates.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Apps, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
ALFRED APPS. (L.S.)