RESERVE Distribution and Transformation of Electric Energy.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Oct., 1886.
Complete Left, 1st July, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 23rd Aug., 1887.
RESERVE
Distribution and Transformation of Electric Energy.
We, ROBERT DICK, Manufacturer, and RANKIN KENNEDY, Electrical Engineer, both
of the Electric Lamp Works, 115 Woodside Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, do hereby
declare the nature of our Invention to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object and comprises appliances for the distribution of
electric energy from a centre with safety, economy, and cheapness in alternating
currents. The distributing wires employed for the purpose of this invention are
comparatively small and light, a large amount of energy being transmitted in the form
of a small current at a high pressure or electro-motive force; thus a horse power can
be transmitted through a wire only one tenth of an inch in diameter with a loss of only
one tenth of a horse power per 1,000 yards of wire, if we maintain a pressure or
electro-motive force at the distant ends of 150 volts and maintain a current
of 5 amperes. If we multiply the pressure by 10, and raise it to 1,500 volts at the
distant ends, and still maintain a current of 5 amperes, this wire, a tenth of an inch
in diameter, will transmit 10 horse power with a loss of, or rather at the expenditure
of, only of a horse power per 1,000 yards, or at a loss of only 1 per cent. It being
thus possible to transmit electric energy at such a small loss per 1,000 yards provided
we employ high electro-motive force, and small current, it becomes of importance to
apply apparatus whereby we may utilise small currents at a high pressure for electric
lighting, transmission of power, and other purposes, which is what our invention is
devised to accomplish. In the present state of electrical engineering, small currents
at high pressure cannot be conveniently applied to useful purposes generally; it is
therefore necessary to transform the small currents of high pressure into the large
currents of low pressure, which are demanded, and required for electric lighting, and
other purposes. Electric energy is equal to the current multiplied by the electro-
motive force, or pressure, and the product divided by 746 Watts, is equal to the horse

page_text: -
7,500
746
power of the energy, thus we have 1,500 volts pressure and 5 amperes current, the
energy would be equal to (1,500 × 5: =) about 10 horse power. Now if this
were transformed into a safe and usual pressure say 100 volts, and a current
of 75 amperes, we would still have the same amount of energy in a useful and
7,500
746
applicable form, thus (100
100 x 75= -) about 10 horse power as before; and
the said current at this pressure could be utilised to light up and maintain
one hundred 16-candle incandescent lamps, and all transmitted through a wire to inch
thick 1000 yards long, at a loss in the wire of only 1 of a horse power.
According to our improvements, our alternating current transformer consists of a
cable of insulated copper wires sheathed with soft iron wire. There may be any
number of wires in the cable, and some may be insulated from the others, while others
may be uninsulated in cases where they are to be joined parallel. The best results
are obtained with only 7 wires, a central insulated wire forming a primary circuit, and
surrounded by 6 bare wires forming a secondary circuit, the whole constituting a cable
which is then insulated by a layer of cotton, silk, or jute tape covering all over.
this is then wound a sheathing of soft iron wire, preferably to a depth equal to at
least a fourth of the diameter of the 7 wire cable.
Over
The cable when used as a transformer may be put up into any shape or form most
convenient for its being packed away.
The novel feature in these improvements is the application of an iron sheathed
cable of insulated conducting wires wherein one or more wires are used as a primary,
and one or more as a secondary circuit, for the transformation of electric energy of
alternating currents. Iron sheathing has been applied to coils of wires for the same
purpose, but in that case the coils of wire being of many turns, some of them are
unavoidably far from the iron sheathing and thus its effects are not uniform throughout
the length of wire forming the coils. By our improvements we enclose the wires
themselves from end to end in an iron sheathing, and this insures uniformity besides
great intensity of action from end to end, and we do not require to wind this cable
into any particular coil or form whatever. This improved cable is also conveniently
made in long lengths of any suitable cross section sufficient to carry the strength of
current: for instance, if we have a current of six amperes in the primary circuit wire,
that would in practice require to have a sectional area of at least two square millimetres.
In the secondary circuit where the large currents circulate the combined area of the
wires forming this circuit would be equal to one square millimetre for every three
amperes of current.
In our improved cable the electro-motive force is directly.
proportional to its length that is to say, the force increases from zero at one end to
a maximum at the other, so that any desired electro-motive force less than this
maximam may be obtained by making a connection at proportionally lesser lengths
of the cable. Thus, with a cable of a length giving 100 volts pressure, an electro-
motive force of 50 volts could be obtained by making a connection at half length, and
still maintain the continuity of the cable and the maximum pressure of the whole
length.
:
Another construction of our improved transformer would be to make the core of
thin plates of soft iron insulated from each other, each of the section of a bobbin or a
laminated form of the well known Siemens' Shuttle Wound Armature or double
Tshape piled on each other, forming a long U-shaped channel on each side, into
which would be coiled two coils of thick and thin copper wire, either side by side or
one over the other, and have the whole space filled up preferably to a cylindrical
shape, round and outside of which cylinder would be coiled an outer annular casing of
coiled iron wire surrounding the whole from end to end.
For the supply of the high pressure small current for the distribution, we use a
generator to which our improvements have been applied to give constant current, and
be perfectly self-regulating, and the same generator would be employed where
constant electro-motive force is required; but any generator of alternating currents of
high tension and constant volume, that is, constant under varying external resistance.
may be used. For this purpose, we by our improvements take any continuous direct

page_text: current dynamo of the Gramme, Siemens, or Burgin types, but preferably an ironclad
dynamo constructed in accordance with Rankin Kennedy's Patent No. 723
January 16 1886, and made with an additional circuit on the armature by taking out
a connection from the end of one of the sections of wire on the armature to an
insulated copper or other conducting ring on the shaft, and from another conducting
insulated ring on the shaft we take a connection back to the commutator plate, from
which the end of the armature section has been removed, then the end of the section
diametrically opposite on the armature is taken out in a similar manner, and also
connected to a pair of insulated rings on the shaft. A pair of collecting brushes
applied to these insulated rings would collect the whole current in alternating form,
and the current would be reversed twice in every revolution in a two-pole. machine,
four times in a four pole machine and so on.
Dated this 2nd day of October 1886.

page_text: Distribution and Transformation of Electric Energy.
We, ROBERT DICK, Manufacturer, and RANKIN KENNEDY, Electrical Engineer,
both of the Electric Lamp Works, 115 Woodside Road, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, do
hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object and comprises appliances for the distribution of
electric energy from a centre with safety, economy, and cheapness in alternating
currents. The distributing wires employed for the purpose of this invention are
comparatively small and light, a large amount of energy being transmitted in the
form of a small current at a high pressure or electro-motive force; thus a horse power
can be transmitted through a wire only one tenth of an inch in diameter with a loss of
only one tenth of a horse power per 1000 yards of wire, if we maintain a pressure or
electro-motive force at the distant ends of 150 volts and maintain a current of
5 amperes. If we multiply the pressure by 10 and raise it to 1500 volts at the distant
ends, and still maintain a current of 5 amperes, this wire, a tenth of an inch in
diameter, will transmit 10 horse power with a loss of, or rather at the expenditure of,
only of a horse power per 1,000 yards, or at a loss of only 1 per cent. It being
thus possible to transmit electric energy at such a small loss per 1,000 yards provided
we employ high electro-motive force and small current, it becomes of importance to
apply apparatus whereby we may utilise small currents at a high pressure for electric
lighting, transmission of power, and other purposes, which is what our invention is
devised to accomplish. In the present state of electrical engineering, small currents
at high pressure cannot be conveniently applied to useful purposes generally; it is
therefore necessary to transform the small currents of high pressure into the large
currents of low pressure, which are demanded and required for electric lighting, and
other purposes. Electric energy is equal to the current multiplied by the electro-
motive force, or pressure, and the product divided by 746 Watts, is equal to the horse
power of the energy, thus we have 1,500 volts pressure and 5 amperes current, the
energy would be equal to (1,500 × 5 =
=746) about 10 horse power. Now if this
were transformed into a safe and usual pressure say 100 volts, and a current of
75 amperes, we would still have the same amount. of energy in a useful and applicable
form, thus (100 x 75 = about 10 horse power as before; and the said
utilised to light up and maintain one hundred
16-candle incandescent lamps, and all transmitted through a wire 1 inch thick
1000 yards long, at a loss in the wire of only 1 of a horse power.
7,500
746
current at this pressure could be
7500

page_text: And in order that our said invention and the manner of performing or carrying our
improvements into effect or practice may be properly understood, we have hereunto
appended an explanatory sheet of Drawings in which the same reference letters are
used to indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where shown. Figures 1 and 2
are respectively longitudinal and end elevations of a "shuttle wound" transformer of
alternating currents of electric energy constructed in accordance with our improve-
ments. And Figure 3 is a longitudinal section corresponding to Figure 1; While
Figure 4 is a transverse section taken near the line 1---1 of Figure 3. Figure 5
shows a side and end elevation of the central core part A as made of thin laminated
plates of soft iron insulated from each other.
Referring to these Drawings:-According to our improvements we construct our
alternating current transformer with the core A of a solid block, or of thin plates of
soft iron insulated from each other, as shown to a small scale in side and end elevation
in Figure 5, of the section of a bobbin or a laminated form of the well known Siemens'
shuttle wound armature or double T-shape, and when made of thin plates as shown in
Figure 5, they could be piled on each other, forming a long U-shaped channel A¹ on
each side, into which is coiled the coils of thick and thin copper wire a, b, the thick
wires a forming the secondary conductors being preferably wound next the core A and
the thin wires 6 forming the primary conductors being wound above the secondary
wires a there being preferably 15 to 20 turns of primary wire 6 to each coil of
secondary wire a, but these wires may be in any proportion of coils and may be wound
either side by side or one over the other; and the whole space is filled up preferably
to a cylindrical shape, round and outside of which cylinder is coiled an outer annular
casing or sheathing of coiled iron wire B surrounding the whole from end to end, as
shown particularly in Figures 1 and 3.
Our improved construction of transformer will be very suitable for being employed
for the transformation of alternating currents of electric energy from currents of high
potential and small volume to currents of low potential and large volume, in which
case the long thin wire b would form the primary conductor, and have its end b¹
connected to the main lines from the dynamo electric machine; while the thick wire a,
would form the secondary conductor and have its ends a¹ connected to the supply
wires in the consumption circuit. But when this transformer is used for transforming
currents of low potential into currents of high potential, the short thick wire a would
form the primary conductor and the long thin wire b the secondary conductor.
:―
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :-
A transformer of alternating currents of electric energy, for transforming currents
of high potential into currents of low potential, and vice versa, comprising a shuttle or
double T-shaped core or internal magnetic soft iron organ portion A, either made solid
or of thin insulated plates, having coils of primary and secondary conductors wound
round it, and surrounded by an outer wire sheathing, all substantially as and for
the purposes herein described, in reference to and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.