Improvements in Lightning Arresters.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Dec., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 4th Sept., 1893-Accepted, 14th Oct., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND
MANUFACTURING COMPANY, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United States
of America.]
Improvements in Lightning Arresters.
I, REGINALD BELFIELD, of 32 Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of
London, Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to the lightning arresters which are introduced in systems
of electrical distribution, in order to convey lightning discharges to earth, instead of
allowing them to pass through the system of conductors.
The chief object of the present invention is to make a lightning arrester, such as
will give free passage for the lightning discharge, but will not maintain an electric
arc, which might otherwise be started by the passage of the lightning. For this
purpose, the lightning arrester is made of pieces of one or other of certain metals or
compounds, which, while they are sufficiently conductive for passage of electricity
over the narrow space separating the pieces, are incapable of forming or maintaining
between them an electric arc, such as would be produced by a current from a
dynamo electric machine passing between pieces of other metal. Among the
metals having this property of preventing an arc, are zinc, antimony, cadmium,
mercury and bismuth or compounds of these. The pieces of these metals or
compounds may be of various forms, but it is preferred to make them cylindrical
and to mount them side by side on parallel axes on which they can be turned, so
that, when one side of a piece becomes damaged, a fresh side can be presented
to the adjacent piece for passage of the lightning discharge. It is also of
advantage to corrugate or roughen the surfaces of the pieces or make them with
numerous projecting points, as this facilitates the passage of the discharge.
The pieces of metal, which may be more than two in number, are, as stated above,
arranged side by side near each other, the piece at one extreme being connected by
a conductor to earth, while the other extreme piece is connected to a conducting
main, so that, when lightning strikes the main, the discharge passes from the
extreme piece on that side either directly or through several intermediate pieces
to the other extreme piece and thence to earth. An arrester, consisting of an odd
number of pieces, may be placed in connection with two conducting mains, the
middle piece being connected to earth and the extreme pieces to the two mains
respectively so that lightning from either main can pass by the middle piece
to earth.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1892.
.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Lightning Arresters.
I, REGINALD BELFIELD, of 32 Victoria Street, Westminster, in the County of
London, Electrician, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
10 manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the lightning arresters which are introduced in systems
TD 077

page_text: of electrical distribution, in order to convey lightning discharges to earth instead of
allowing them to pass through the system of conductors.
The chief object of the present invention is to make a lightning arrester, such as
will give free passage for the lightning discharge, but will not maintain an electric
arc, which might otherwise be started by the passage of the lightning. For this
purpose, the lightning arrester is made of pieces of one or other of certain metals or
compounds, which, while they are sufficiently conductive for passage of electricity
over the narrow space separating the pieces, are incapable of forming or maintaining
between them an electric arc, such as would be produced by a current from a
dynamo electric machine passing between pieces of other metal. Among the
metals having this property of preventing an arc, are zinc, antimony, cadmium,
mercury and bismuth or compounds of these. The pieces of these metals or
compounds may be of various forms, but it is preferred to make them cylindrical
and to mount them side by side on parallel axes on which they can be turned, so
that, when one side of a piece becomes damaged, a fresh side can be presented
to the adjacent piece for passage of the lightning discharge. It is also of
advantage to corrugate or roughen the surfaces of the pieces or make them with
numerous projecting points, as this facilitates the passage of the discharge.
The pieces of metal, which may be more than two in number, are, as stated above,
arranged side by side near each other, the piece at one extreme being connected by
a conductor to earth, while the other extreme piece is connected to a conducting
main, so that, when lightning strikes the mains, the discharge passes from the
extreme piece on that side either directly or through several intermediate pieces
to the other extreme piece and thence to earth. An arrester, consisting of an odd
number of pieces, may be placed in connection with two conducting mains, the
middle piece being connected to earth and the extreme pieces to the two mains
respectively so that lightning from either main can pass by the middle piece
to earth.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A lightning arrester consisting of two or more adjacent pieces of metals or alloys
which are incapable of forming or maintaining an electric arc, one of the pieces
being connected to an electric main and another of the pieces being connected to
earth, substantially as described.
Dated this 4th day of September 1893.