IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND UTILIZING ELECTRICITY
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Murray Newton of Pakenham Place, Belfast,
Ireland for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING
AND UTILIZING ELECTRICITY
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Murray Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th February 1883.
FRANCIS MURRAY NEWTON of Pakenham Place, Belfast, Ireland. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND UTILISING ELECTRICITY "
This invention has for object improvements in apparatus for generating and
utilising electricity When I employ a generator of that class in which the two
ends of each section of wire on the armature are connected to two diametrically
opposite segments of the commutator, I form the commutator for each pair of
sections thus. A copper tube is fixed to a suitable insulating material by screws
or other means and this tube is then cut into four parts by diagonal slits at such
angle to the axis that each section of the said tube shall embrace about three
eighths of the circumference more or less.
One end of each section of wire on the armature is then connected to one of the
parts or segments of the tube. On this commutator ordinary brushes bear, whose
width is equal to the length of the copper tube, the effect of this arrangement
being that each pair of segments is in contact with the brushes during three
quarters of each half revolution of the armature more or less; During the
remaining quarter revolution one coil is cut out of the circuit.
By this arrangement the amount of commutator surface in contact with the
brushes becomes approximately proportional to the amount of current given off by
each section at any moment; in other words, when either section is in the strongest
part of the magnetic field, or in that part which induces most current in it, its.
commutator segment has the whole of its width in contact with the brushes.
Again, during the time when the amount of current in each section is diminishing
the amount of commutator surface belonging to that section in contact with the
brusbes is also diminishing. In this manner a sensibly constant current may be'
[Price 6d 1

page_text: Where there are
more than two sections an additional commutator ring similar to the one herein-
above described must be placed adjacent to the first on the same axis for each
additional pair of sections, and each commutator ring may have an independent
pair of brushes. These may be connected either for quantity or high tension by
connecting them in multiple arc or in series. If the commutator have three coils
or any multiple of three coils each commutator ring is divided into six parts
instead of four, and the cuts are made sufficiently oblique to allow each segment to
embrace the requisite proportion of the circumference.
produced in a machine having but two sections on its armature.
To diminish or modify the intensity of the sparking that occurs at the moment
when the contact of the brush with a given segment of the commutator of an
electric generator or motor is broken and made with the succeeding segment,
I form the edges of such segments of such a shape or configuration as shall ensure
that the contact between the segment and the brush shall be broken simultaneously
at more than one point or place.
This I do by making each edge of the segment with an outline formed by two
or more lines, either straight or curved, lying at an angle or angles to each other,
so that their meeting or intersection forms angles more or less acate, and produces
a broken, zig-zag or vandyked edge which breaks contact with the brush at two
or more points simultaneously.
In an electric generator having an armature of the cylindrical or drum type the
said armature is, according to my invention, wound by leading a conductor
longitudinally along its surface, or along a groove cut in its surface, then across the
end as a chord of the circle, and back along the cylinder, parallel to the first part
of the conductor. It is then led across the other end of the cylinder, again_as_a
chord to the circle but the chord is not coincident with the chord at the opposite
end of the circle, but at an angle to it. The conductor is then led back along the
cylinder, and the process is continued until the point is again reached from whence
it started. This may occur in four or any greater even number of longitudinal
wraps.
I sometimes start a second winding intermediate between the first and second
longitudinal wraps of the first, and again a third between the first and second, and
a fourth between the second and the second longitudinal wraps of the first.
By this method of winding four or more poles are formed in the cylinder or core
of the armature if it be of magnetic material, and a corresponding number of poles
In some cases the
must be provided in the magnetic field within which it rotates.
core of the armature might be dispensed with, magnets being placed within and
without the drum the Ň poles of the internal magnets facing the S poles of the
other or external magnets It is sometimes convenient to use bars of copper for
the conductors in this form of armature, and also to make the drum stationary,
and the magnets to revolve inside it.
The drum may be surrounded with an iron ring to intensify the magnetic field.
This iron ring may be either solid or built up preferably of a number of narrow
rings side by side insulated from each other by air spaces or otherwise to prevent
the circulation in its mass of the currents which would be generated in it by the
rotation of the magneta.
According to another part of my invention I form the cores of armatures of
dynamo electric machines of a compound of iron filings or iron in a comminuted
condition mixed with other non conducting material such as sand and cemented
together with any suitable cement. Or the mixture may in the case of armatures
for machines of the Siemens continuous current type, be contained in a drum of
nonconducting or badly conducting material.
In this manner a very cheap armature core may be formed which owing to its
bad conductivity offers great resistance to the circulation of local currents, while it
contains sufficient iron to intensify or reinforce the magnetic field.
In an electric lamp according to my invention I effect or control the feed of one
or more of the electrodes by causing it or them to pass through a guide or guides

page_text: or tube or tubes of refractory material, such as porcelain. Each guide or tube is of
such diameter or size that it will allow of the easy passage of the electrode but at
one end it has a finger projection "lip" or
<< break which while it prevents the
passage of the carbon beyond that point, until its diameter has become reduced by
the wasting action of the arc and the atmospheric air is so constructed that it
allows the free passage of the air round the point of the carbon whereby it is
constantly wasted to a conical point. The electrode is impelled towards the arc by
the action of a weight or spring, and moves at a rate proportional to its rate of
consumption. The guide or tube may be pivotted or otherwise attached to an arm
or bracket in such way that it may be swung or rotated to admit of the easy
insertion of a fresh carbon.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Francis Murray Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th August 1883.
FRANCIS MURRAY NEWTON of Pakenham Place, Belfast, Ireland " IMPROVE
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND UTILISING ELECTRICITY
This invention has for object improvements in apparatus for generating and
utilising electricity. When I employ a generator of that class in which the two
ends of each section of wire on the armature are connected to two diametrically
opposite segments of the commutator, I form the commutator for each pair of
sections thus: A copper tube is fixed to a suitable insulating material by screws
or other means, and this tube is then cut into four parts by diagonal slits at such
angle to the axis that each section of the said tube shall embrace about three-eighths
of the circumference more or less. One end of each section of wire on the armature
is then connected to one of the parts or segments of the tube. On this commutator
ordinary brushes bear, whose width is equal to the length of the copper tube, the
effect of this arrangement being that each pair of segments is in contact with the
_brushes during three quarters of each half revolution of the armature more or less,—
during the remaining quarter revolution one coil is cut out of the circuit.
=
By this arrangement the amount of commutator surface in contact with the
brushes becomes approximately proportioned to the amount of current given off by
_each_section at any moment; in other words, when either section is in the strongest
part of the magnetic field, or in that part which induces most current in it, its-
commutator segment has the whole of its width in contact with the brushes.
Again, during the time when the amount of current in each bobbin is diminishing
the amount of commutator surface belonging to that section in contact with the
brushes is also diminishing. In this manner a sensibly constant current may be
produced in a machine having but two sections on its armature. Where there are
more than two sections an additional commutator ring similar to the one herein-
above described must be placed adjacent to the first on the same axis for each
additional pair of sections, and each commutator ring may have an independent
pair of brushes. These may be connected either for quantity or high tension by
connecting them in multiple arc or in series.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings,―
Fig 1 is an end elevation looking towards the armature, and Fig 2 a side
elevation of a commutator according to this part of my invention suitable for
collecting the current from a generator having an armature with four sections of
wire upon it.
A A' are plates segments or pieces of stout copper or other conducting material
fixed to a non conducting hub or core B having a projecting rib of the same
material B' between the pieces A and A' and serving to insulate one set from the
other. The segments or pieces of each set are separated by four equidistant
diagonal slits a a' as a³ at such an angle to the axis that each segment or piece
embraces about three eighths of the circumference more or less. One end of each
section of wire on the armature is connected to one of the pieces or segments by
means of the eight | shaped pieces b b, c c, d d', e e', which are each in connection
with one of the pieces or segments A or A', the opposite ends of each section of wire
being connected to sections diametrically opposite each other, and each succeeding
coil to the succeeding pair of sections. On this commutator four brushes, which
may be of the ordinary description, bear at points diametrically opposite. These
are shewn at x, y Fig 1, but are omitted in Fig 2 for the sake of clearness. These

page_text: brushes may be connected either for a current of large quantity by connecting
together the two brushes bearing on the upper side of A and A' and similarly those
bearing on the lower side of A and A'. Or for a current of higher electro motive
force but less quantity the brush bearing on the upper side of A may be connected
with that on the lower side of A¹ the brushes bearing on the lower side of A and
the upper side of A¹ becoming the terminals of the armature coils in this case.
To diminish or modify the intensity of the sparking that occurs at the moment
when the contact of the brush with a given segment of the commutator of an
electric generator or motor is broken and made with the succeeding segment, I form
the edges of such segments of such a shape or configuration as shall ensure that the
contact between the segment and the brush shall be broken simultaneously at more
than one point or place. This I do by making each edge of the segment with an
outline formed by two or more lines either straight or curved, lying at an angle or
angles to each other, so that their meeting or intersection forms angles more or less
acute and produces a broken zigzag or vandyked edge which breaks contact with
the brush at two or more points simultaneously.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a commutator similar in principle to that described
with reference to Figa 1 and 2 but having the slits between the pieces forming the
sets A A¹ of modified form for the purpose of diminishing sparking by causing the
brushes to leave each segment at more points than one at the same moment. The
direction of rotation being shewn by the arrows, it is evident that in the case of A
the brush will leave the segments at the points G and H at the same moment and
the spark will be divided between those two points and diminished accordingly,
and in the case of A' the brush will leave each segment at the broad end J. K, and
the spark will be divided up into as many small sparks as there are points of
contact with the brush along the line J. K.
In an electric generator having an armature of the cylindrical or drum type the
said armature is, according to my invention, wound by leading a conductor
longitudinally along its surface or along a groove cut in its surface, then across the
end as a chord of the circle, and back along the cylinder parallel to the first part of
the conductor. It is then led across the other end of the cylinder, again as a chord
to the circle, but the chord is not coincident with the cord at the opposite end of
the circle, but at an angle to it. The conductor is then led back along the cylinder,
and the process is continued until the point is again reached from whence it started.
This may occur in four or any greater even number of longitudinal wraps.
I sometimes start a second winding intermediate between the first and second
longitudinal wraps of the first, and again a third between the first and second, and
a fourth between the second and third.
By this method of winding four or more poles are formed in the cylinder or core
of the armature if it be of magnetic material, and a corresponding number of
poles must be provided in the magnetic field within which it rotates.
Fig. 4 illustrates diagrammatically the method of winding armatures of the
drum or cylinder type according to my invention, the Figure represents a drum
armature whose axis is xy. Starting from the point A I lay a wire along the
surface of the drum parallel to its axis xy to the point B thence across the end as
a chord of the circle to C and back along the cylinder parallel to the axis, to D,
then across another chord of the circle to E and again along the cylinder parallel
to the axis to F across another chord F G to G and thence along the cylinder
parallel to the axis, to H, then again across a chord H A to A where I began and
so on till I have laid on the required number of turns to complete one section of
the armature, the next section may then be started at a point intermediate between
A and D and similarly wound and so on.
In some cases the core of the armature might be dispensed with, magnets being
placed within and without the drum the N poles of the internal magnets facing
the S poles of the other or external magnets. It is sometimes convenient to use.
bars of copper for the conductors in this form of armature, and also to make
he drum stationary, and the magnets to revolve inside it. The drum may be-

page_text: =
surrounded with an iron ring to intensify the magnetic field. This iron ring may
be either solid or built up preferably of a number of narrow rings side by side
insulated from each other by air spaces or otherwise to prevent the circulation
in its mass of the currents which would be generated in it by the rotation of the
magnets.
Fig 5 is a plan, Fig 6 an end elevation partly in section, and Fig 7 a side
elevation of a machine according to this part of my invention for generating
electric currents. In this form of machine the magnets are caused to rotate and
the armature coils are stationary. Six magnets are shewn but any even number
of them may be used. The magnets a a are similar in form and construction to
those used in the well-known Gramme dividing machine for generating alternating
currents. The machine is also provided with an arrangement of ordinary con-
struction B B for communicating a continuous current from some external source
to the rotating magnets by means of rubbing contacts.
The peculiarity of its construction consists in the method of forming and coiling
the armature which is external to the magnets; the armature consists of a number
of thin rings of soft iron C C etc, held together by the bolts D D D two of which
pass through the lugs E E cast on the bedplate of the machine and serve to retain
the armature in position. These rings are insulated from each other and from the
bolts D by suitable washers of nonconducting material placed between each ring
and through which the bolts D pass.
The end rings are provided with a number of pegs of nonconducting material F F
to support the wire coils. The wire is wound as follows: Starting from H I lay
it along the inside of the cylinder formed by the rings C C parallel to the axis to
the point ; it is then passed over the two pegs F to the point J, thence along the
inside of the cylinder parallel to the axis to the point K, over two inore pegs FF-
to L, back through the cylinder to M and so on till the point H is again reached.
There will then be six equidistant strands of wire along the interior surface of the
cylinder CC parallel to its axis, and the process of coiling may be continued till
the required number of strands have been wound on. The ends of the wire are
then led to suitable terminals whence the current may be utilized. In the Figures
only one section of wire is shewn, but others may be similarly wound at points
intermediate between the parallel strands of the first section and their ends may
be led to suitable terminals, the current from each pair of which may be utilized
in a separate circuit.
According to another part of my invention I form the cores of armatures of
dynamo electric machines of a compound of iron filings or iron in a comminuted
condition mixed with other non-conducting material such as sand and cemented
together with any suitable cement. Or the mixture may in the case of armatures
for machines of the Siemens continuous current type, be contained in a drum of
nonconducting or badly conducting material.
In this manner a very cheap armature core may be formed which, owing to its
bad conductivity, offers great resistance to the circulation of local currents, while
it contains sufficient iron to intensify or reinforce the magnetic field.
In an electric lamp according to my invention I effect or control the feed of one
or more of the electrodes by causing it or them to pass through a guide or guides
or tube or tubes of refractory material, such as porcelain. Each guide or tube is of
such diameter or size that it will allow of the easy passage of the electrode but at
one end it has a finger projection "lip" or "break which while it prevents the
passage of the carbon beyond that point, until its diameter has become reduced by
the wasting action of the arc and the atmospheric air is so constructed that it
allows the free passage of the air round the point of the carbon whereby it is
constantly wasted to a conical point. The electrode is impelled towards the arc
by the action of a weight or spring and moves at a rate proportional to its rate of
consumption. The guide or tube may be pivotted or otherwise attached to an arm
or bracket in such way that it may be swung or rotated to admit of the easy
insertion of a fresh carbon,.

page_text: Figs 89 and 10 shew three views of such a guide or tube. a is the portion
which admits the easy passage of the carbon, and b the finger, projection, lip or
break which prevents the passage of the carbon until its diameter has been reduced
by the wasting action of the arc and the air.
Having thus described the nature of the said invention and the manner in
which it is to be carried into effect I would have it understood that what I
consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as the invention secured to
me by the Letters Patent first hereinbefore in part recited is:-
1. In an electric machine in which two ends of each section of wire on the
armature are connected to two diametrically opposite segments of the commutator,
forming the said commutator of pieces, plates or segments of such form that the
brushes remain in contact with them for about three quarters of each half revolu-
tion, the surface in contact with the brushes being approximately proportional to
the amount of current given off at any moment, and that during the remaining
quarter revolution the coil is cut out of circuit substantially as described.
2. In an electric machine forming the edges of the segments of the commutator
of two or more lines, either straight or curved, lying at an angle to each other so
that the contact between the brush and the segment is broken simultaneously at
more than one place substantially as described.
3. In an electric machine having an armature of the cylindrical or drum typ
winding the armature in the manner substantially as described with reference to
Fig 4 of the Drawings.
4. The use of an electric machine in which the armature is wound in the manner
referred to in the preceding claim and rotates between fixed magnets placed both
within and without it substantially as described.
5. The use of an electric machine in which the armature is wound in the manner
referred to in claim 3, upon hollow rings within which the fixed magnets rotate
substantially as described.
6. The improved electric machine substantially as described with reference to
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings.
7. Forming the cores of the armatures of electric machines of a compound of
iron in a comminuted condition mixed with other nonconducting material
substantially as described.
8. Controlling the feed of an electrode in an arc lamp by causing it to pass
through a guide or tube of non-conducting material of the kind described with
reference to Figs. 8, 9 and 10 of the drawings.
In Witness whereof I the said Francis Murray Newton have hereunto set my
band and seal this eleventh day of August in the year of Our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
FRANCIS MURRAY NEWTON (L.S.)