Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 16th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 26th July, 1887.
Electrical iġy.
I GUSTAV JOHANN KORNMÜLLER of Gand, Belgium, Electrician do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in electric apparatus consisting of an electro-
magnet with its armature, which latter is so arranged that it breaks the current as
soon as it is attracted towards the magnet by it.
These apparatus are known under the name of vibrating contact breakers and their
action is also well known i.e. as soon as the armature is attracted it breaks the circuit,
the attraction ceases and a spring draws the armature back which completes the circuit
when it will be attracted again and so forth.
The succession of these alternative movements is extremely rapid and results in a
sort of energetic vibration of the armature.
The vibratory and rapid movement of the armature has two great inconveniences.
1. The durations of the successive interruptions are perceptibly the same as those of
the closing of the current and are extremely short. Here results a great consumption
of the current and eventually a rapid polarisation of the battery.
2. In case the above named mechanism is used for the transmission of power to
mechanical work, this rapid vibratory movement will not adapt itself readily to a
certain and regular transmission.
This invention has for its object to obviate these inconveniences and to render the
periods of interruption long, even while the contacts and the attractions remain rapid
and short.
Although no drawings are appended to this specification reference letters are
employed to facilitate the understanding of the invention. One form of apparatus
realising this object consists essentially of an electro-magnet M, the armature A of
which is fixed to the lower end of a lever L pivotted about the middle at P. The
upper end of this lever is forked and in this fork is pivotted a pawl C which is held
against the teeth of a ratchet wheel K by a spring fixed to the lever L by two
screws. In about the middle of this lever L and extending downwards another
spring R is fixed by two screws tv which spring carries at its lower and free end a
small soft iron armature a. This armature is opposed to a small permanent horse-shoe
magnet E the S. pole of which is at the bottom. To this S. pole is fixed a small
platinum contact point p, corresponding with a small platinum plate p¹ let into the

page_text: armature a. Lastly a kind of bridge encircling the small armature a and provided
with an adjusting screw V is attached to the armature A of the electro-magnet M.
A spiral spring B draws the armature A back when it ceases to be attracted by the
electro-magnet M.
Supposing the platinum points p plare in contact the current coming from the positive
pole attached to the electro-magnet. M will pass through this, the spiral spring B the
pivotted lever I the hereto attached spring R with its small armature a, the platinum
contact p p and the horse shoe magnet E and returns to the negative pole attached to
the latter. The circuit being thus completed the electro-magnet M will attract its
armature A which being attached to the pivotted lever I will draw the latter slightly
away from the fixed end of the flexible spring R which is attached thereto while the
small armature a of this spring remains in contact with the permanent horse-shoe
magnet E. Thus a slight prolongation of the attraction is effected which can be
limited at will by a convenient adjusting of the screw V in the bridge encircling the
small armature a of the permanent horse shoe magnet, which screw strikes this small
armature a and instantly disconnects it from the horse shoe magnet E and thus breaks
the circuit.
By this means the amplitude of the vibration of the armature is increased and a
sufficient movement is transmitted to the pawl C to let it pass over a certain number of
teeth of the ratchet wheel K. while the pivotted lever L under the influence of the
spiral spring B will move the pawl C forward and thus move the ratchet wheel K a
certain distance.
On the other hand when the 'armature A of the electro magnet M moves away from
the latter and the small armature a arrives within a certain distance of the horse shoe
magnet E this armature will separate briskly from the pivotted lever Land bring the
platinum points ppl into contact a little before the pawl C has arrived at the end of
its course. The electro magnet M will now at once attract its armature A again break
the inertia of the pivotted lever L and this without any detrimental shock to the
regularity of a movement.
The above described arrangement thus well realises the transmission of the electric
energy to a mechanical movement by means of an electro-magnet acting upon an
armature in such a manner that the removal of the latter is slow while its attraction
remains brisk and rapid.
Instead of using a spiral spring B to act upon the pivotted lever L a weight X may
be used suspended from a cord passing over a grooved pulley G and attached to the
pivotted lever I (as indicated in Figure 3) or the lever L may be extended down-
wards and bent and an adjustable weight T screwed onto the end like a nut and held
in position by a lock nut T (see Figure 2).
The applications of this novel arrangement are numerous, but in the first instance
it is particularly applicable to work electric time pieces or clocks. Experience has
shown that two cells of any constant system, like Daniel's or Meidinger, and the like
are sufficient to work a clock for 15 months without being touched. If several clocks
are connected up in the same circuit it is sufficient to provide one clock only with the
permanent horse shoe magnet E its armature a and the spring R acting upon the,
latter. For the others a simple mechanism consisting of an electro-magnet with an
armature provided with spring or weight suffices.
This particular application of the invention has been described because it is the most
applicable one, but it is well understood that the transmission of electrical energy by
an apparatus constructed as above described and coming from any source can be
applied to other mechanical purposes without deviating from the principle of the
invention.

page_text: I, GUSTAV JOHANN KORNMÜLLER of Gand, Belgium, Electrician, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in electrical apparatus consisting of an
electro-magnet with an armature which latter is so arranged as to break the current
whilst being attracted towards the magnet.
These apparatuses are generally known as vibrating contact breakers and their action
is well known, i.e. as soon as the armature is attracted it breaks the circuit the
attraction ceases and a spring draws the armature back which completes the circuit
when it will be attracted again and so on.
The succession of these alternative movements is extremely rapid and results in a
sort of energetic vibration of the armature.
The vibratory and rapid movement of the armature has two great inconveniences:
1. The durations of the successive interruptions are perceptibly the same as those of
the closing of the current and are extremely short. Hence results a great consumption
of the current and a rapid polarisation of the battery.
2. In case the above named mechanism is used for the transmission of motive power
this rapid vibratory movement will not adapt itself readily to a certain and regular
transmission.
This invention has for its object to obviate these inconveniences and to render the
periods of interruption long even while the contacts and the attractions remain rapid
and short.
One form of apparatus realising this object consists essentially (see figure 1) of
an electro-magnet M. the armature A of which is fixed to the lower end of a lever L
pivotted about the middle at P. The upper end of this lever is forked and in
this fork is pivotted a detent C which is held against the teeth of a ratchet wheel K by
a spring r fixed to the lever L by two screws. In about the middle of this
lever Land extending downwards another spring R is fixed by two screws to which
spring carries at its lower and free end a small soft iron armature a.
This armature is opposed to a small permanent horse-shoe magnet E having north
and south poles. To this S. pole is fixed a small platinum contact point p, corresponding
with a small platinum plate p' let into the armature a. Lastly a kind of bridge
attached to the armature A carries an adjusting screw V the object of which is
hereinafter described.
A helical spring B draws the armature A back when it ceases to be attracted by the

page_text: electro-magnet M. The arrows indicate the course of the current through the
apparatus.
'
1
Supposing the platinum points p p² are in contact the current coming from the
positive pole leading to the electro-magnet M will pass through the latter, through the
spiral spring B the pivotted lever L, the spring R attached thereto with its small
armature a, the platinum contact p p and the horse shoe magnet E and returns to the
negative pole attached to the latter. The circuit being thus completed the electro-
magnet M will attract its armature A which being attached to the pivotted lever L
will draw the latter slightly away from the fixed end of the flexible spring R which is
attached thereto while the armature a of this spring remains in contact with the
permanent horse shoe magnet E. Thus a slight prolongation of the attraction is
effected which can be limited at will by a convenient adjusting of the screw V in the
bridge encircling the small armature of the permanent horse shoe magnet which
screw strikes this small armature a and instantly disconnects it from the horse shoe
magnet E and thus breaks the circuit.
By this means the amplitude of the vibration of the armature is increased, and a
sufficient movement is transmitted to the pawl C to let it pass over a certain number
of teeth of the ratchet wheel K while the pivotted lever L under the influence of the
spiral spring B will move the pawl C forward and thus move the ratchet wheel Ka
certain distance.
In the same manner when the armature A of the electro-magnet M. moves away
from the latter and the small armature a arrives within a certain distance of the horse
shoe magnet E this armature will separate briskly from the pivotted lever Land bring
the platinum points p p into contact a little before the pawl C has arrived at the end
of its course. The electro-magnet M will now at once attract its armature A again,
break the inertia of the pivotted lever L, and this without any shock detrimental to the
regularity of the movement.
It will be seen that by means of the adjusting screw the duration of the contact
between the parts p p can be regulated exactly so that the time of action of the pile
can be limited with precision.
The above described arrangement this completely effects the transmission of the
electric energy to a mechanical movement by means of an electro-magnet acting upon
an armature in such a manner that the removal of the latter is slow, while its attraction
remains brisk and rapid.
Instead of using a spiral spring B to act upon the pivotted lever L a weight X may
be used suspended from a cord passing over a grooved pulley G and attached to the
pivotted lever L (as indicated in figure 3) or the lever L may be extended downwards
and bent and an adjustable weight T screwed on to the end like a nut and held in
position by a lock nut T (see figure 2).
The rigid lever L may also be replaced by a sufficiently strong spring L (see
figure 4) fixed at its upper end. In this arrangement the detent and the wheel are
placed behind the lower portion of the spring.
The applications of this novel arrangement are numerous but in the first instance it
is particularly applicable to work electrical time pieces or clocks. Experience has
shown that two cells of any constant system like Daniel's or Meidinger and the like
are sufficient to work a clock for 15 months without being touched. If several clocks
are connected up in the same circuit it is sufficient to provide one clock only with a
permanent horse shoe magnet such as E its armature a and the spring R acting upon
the latter. For the others a simple mechanism consisting of an electro-magnet with
an armature provided with spring or weight suffices.
This system may be easily applied to pocket watches of which the motive power
derived from poles of very small size carried about the wearer. The chain of the
watch then serves as an electrical conductor.
This particular application of the invention has been described because it is the most
applicable one but it is well understood that the transmission of electrical energy by an
apparatus constructed as above described and coming from any source can be applied
to other mechanical purposes without deviating from the principle of the invention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is
1. In apparatus for the transmission of electric energy the combination of an
electro-magnet M and armature A with a supplementary spring armature a and
magnet E substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. In apparatus for the transmission of electric energy the combination with an
electro-magnet of a lever such as I to which is fixed an armature A and a spring
armature R a to make contact with the magnet E substantially as specified.
3. In apparatus for the transmission of electric energy the combination of electro-
magnet M lover L armatures A and a magnet E and adjusting screw V substantially
as specified.