mprovements in or connected with Apparatus for Ventilating or for Propelling or Displacing Air or Gases.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Dec., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 17th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 22nd Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
mprovements in or connected with Apparatus for Ventilating or
for Propelling or Displacing Air or Gases.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, of Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.,
Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention, by which certain advantages are obtained, relates to apparatus for
ventilating or for propelling or displacing air or gases.
In my invention I have a fan or propeller capable of rotating freely on an axis and
this I surround by a number of pieces of iron arranged in a circle round the said
rotary fan or propeller which pieces of iron act as armatures to one or more electro-
magnets suitably placed with respect to the said circle of iron pieces. The said iron
pieces may be attached in any convenient manner as for example to a ring surrounding
the fan or propeller or to the extremities of the blades of the same. I so arrange a
commutator as to bring the electromagnets into and out of circuit as required. The
apparatus may be fed or energised by any convenient source of electrical energy;
and it may be called into action by an ordinary switch or by any convenient form of
automatic contact maker.
When desired I may control the action of my apparatus and economise electric
energy by means of a regulator consisting for example of a centrifugal device which
lessens the current supplied to the apparatus as its speed increases or which opens the
circuit when a certain speed has been attained.
In an alternative form of my invention instead of having the pieces of iron so
arranged er placed as to rotate with the fan or propeller I arrange them in fixed
positions in the form of a circle and attach the electromagnet or electromagnets to the
fan or propeller so as to rotate therewith.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Ventilating or
for Propelling or Displacing Air or Gases.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, of Norfolk House, Norfolk Street, London, W.C.,
Consulting Engineer, 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:-
My invention by which certain advantages are obtained relates to apparatus for
ventilating or for propelling or displacing air or gases.
In my invention I have a fan or propeller capable of rotating freely on an axis and
this I surround by a number of pieces of iron arranged in a circle round the said
rotary fan or propeller which pieces of iron act as armatures to one or more electro-
magnets suitably placed with respect to the said circle of iron pieces. The said iron
pieces may be attached in any convenient manner as for example to a ring surrounding
the fan or propeller or to the extremities of the blades of the same. I so arrange a
commutator which may be of any convenient form as to bring the electromagnets into
and out of circuit as required. The apparatus may be fed or energised by any
convenient source of electrical energy; and it may be called into action by an
ordinary switch or by any convenient form of automatic contact maker.
In an alternative form of my invention instead of having the pieces of iron so
arranged or placed as to rotate with the fan or propeller I arrange them in fixed
LD D71

page_text: positions in the form of a circle and attach the electromagnet or electromagnets to the
fan or propeller so as to rotate therewith.
Having thus described in general terins the nature and object of my invention and
indicated its scope I shall now proceed by means of illustrative types or examples to
show how I carry it into practice. These types or examples are shown in the
accompanying drawings in which similar letters of reference apply to similar or
equivalent parts.
Figure 1 is a diagram representing one form of my invention. In this figure A is
a rotary fan or propeller the vanes or blades of which are represented by the radial
lines. Around the circumference of the fan a number of soft iron armatures B1, B2,
B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, and B8 are fixed at equal distances apart. Three electro-
magnets C1, C2, C3, are fixed so that their poles will be just clear of the armatures
as the latter pass them and at such distances from each other that when one
(as C2) is opposite an armature, another (as C3) is half way between two armatures
while the third electromagnet (as (1) is between two armatures but much closer
to one than to the other. One end of each electromagnet is connected to one
terminal of the battery G and the other end to a fixed brush or contact spring
as F1, F2, F3 which makes contact with the star-wheel commutator D onto
the shaft E, the shaft fan and star-wheel being rigidly connected and in metallic
connection. A fourth brush F4 attached to the other terminal of the battery G
and pressing on the shaft completes the circuit. The star-wheel and brushes
are so arranged that when an electromagnet and armature as (2 and B 7 are opposite
one another the corresponding brush F2 does not touch the star wheel and no current
therefore flows through this electromagnet. When two adjacent armatures are equi-
distant from an electromagnet as B5 and B6 with regard to C3 the star-wheel is
just beginning to touch the brush F3 of that electromagnet and a current then flows
from the battery through the said electromagnet, brush, star-wheel and shaft and back
to the other terminal of the battery. Contact is maintained between the star-wheel and
brush until the approaching armature is pulled exactly opposite the electromagnet at
which instant the contact is broken and the armature being, no longer attracted is
allowed to move past the electromagnet. Let us assume now that whilst the parts
are in the position shown in the figure the current is turned on, say by a switch or
automatic contact maker. It will be seen that brush Fl is in good contact with the
commutator, that F2 is out of contact and that F3 is just making contact. B¹ will
therefore be strongly attracted by C1 so as to rotate the fan in the direction shown
by the arrow. When B1 is opposite C1 the current will no longer energise the
latter as F 1 will no longer be making contact and so B 1 will not be hindered from
passing onwards. 2 will not yet have become energised but B6 will now be well
within the attractive influence of C3 and will be pulled towards it till exactly opposite
when it will be free to pass on. By this time 2 will be making contact and C2 be
attracting BS and so the action will go on the electromagnets being successively
energised as the armatures approach them and cut out of circuit as the armatures
reach or arrive opposite them. By baving three electromagnets arranged as shown
dead points are avoided and the fan will start in any position.
Figure 2 diagrammatically represents a form of my invention similar to that
shown in Figure 1 except that the electromagnets C1, C2, C3 are arranged so that
their two poles act on two armatures at once instead of acting on one armature only.
The electromagnets are arranged relatively to the armatures exactly as the similar
parts in Figure 1 and the electrical connections and action are also the same as in
that case. For this reason I have omitted the connections, commutator and brushes
from the figure.
'
Figure 3.is a front and Figure 3ª a side elevation of a form of my invention in which
the armatures are constructed of one single piece of iron wire. Each armature B 1 to
BS is formed by a portion of this wire which is bent back and closed upon itself the
single wire being then hent circumferentially and again bent and closed upon itself at
such distances as it is required that the armatures should be apart. A number of
double iron wire armatures B are thus obtained, these being connected by single

page_text: .
wires b. H, H are two flat rings connected by the electromagnets as shown and
serving as a frame to support the parts. From these rings radial arms h, h. h pass
to the bearings of the fan shaft. The brushes or contact springs are attached to but
insulated from these radial arms as shown. The connections between the contact
springs and the electromagnets are shown by the dotted lines. In other respects the
connections are as in Figure 1. The vanes or blades of the fan are shown actually in
Figure 3 and diagrammatically in Figure 3. The armatures are attached to the
vanes by any of the well known means employed by mechanics in similar cases. It
will be seen that with the shape and arrangement of electromagnets and armatures
shown in this figure a very low resistance of the magnetic circuit of each electro-
magnet at all positions of the armatures is obtained, thus increasing the efficiency.
The
Figure 4 is a front and Figure 4° a partial side elevation of another form of my
invention (the supporting frame not being shown and the vanes or blades being still
indicated diagrammatically) in which no star-wheel is used but in which the
commutator is formed by the rim of the fan. This is notched or cut away at
certain intervals ¹ so as to form a sort of rough crown wheel as it were.
brushes or contact springs complete the circuit through the respective electromagnets
by touching the teeth and break circuit by dropping into a notch between two
teeth when the fan has turned sufficiently to bring the approaching armature
directly opposite an electromagnet. In Figure 4 contact springs F6 and F7 are
shown touching teeth of the commutator and completing the circuit through
their respective electromagnets while contact springs F8 and F9 are each in a
notch and have broken circuit. The armatures and the poles of the electro-
magnets are bevilled as shown in order to render the motor more efficient for
a given current. As will be seen, by this arrangement of the commutator the whole
surface of the fan is unobstructed and for this purpose also the contact springs may
in practice be arranged much closer to the commutator than shown in the figure.
Figure 5 shows a form which differs from that shown in Figure 1 chiefly in that
it has only two electromagnets C1 and C2 only one of which is in action at any one
time and in order to prevent the fan stopping at a dead point a small weight Wis
attached to the fan to bring it when stopped into a favourable position for starting
again when the current is next turned on. The position of this weight is regulated
or adjusted by turning it along the screw until the best position is found. By
employing a weight for the purpose described one electromagnet only may be
employed but in that case it would be advisable to have the armatures closer together.
The armatures B in Figure 5 are simply straight pieces of round iron wire and are
seen end on in the figure.
Figure 6 shows a form in which the armatures and the contact springs are
stationary while the electromagnets are attached to and rotate with the fan. The
armatures instead of being separate as in Figure 1, 2, 4 and 5 consist of one piece
of iron this piece being of such form (consisting of alternate projections and
depressions) as to practically constitute separate armatures. This piece of iron is
connected to one pole of the battery and the contact springs are fixed to the
amatures and in electrical connection therewith. One end of each electromagnet
coil is connected to the fan and thence by the shaft and central contact spring F 4
shown to one pole of the battery. The other end of each electromagnet coil
terminates in a contact pin f which is insulated from the fan. As the fan revolves
the circuit is completed through the electromagnets at the proper time by the contact
pin touching a contact spring as at f¹. The course of the current as will be seen is
here from one pole of the battery through the central contact spring, fan shaft, fan,
electromagnet coil, contact pin, contact spring F, armature and back to the other pole
of the battery.
Of the forms of my invention illustrated I prefer those shown in Figure 3 and 6.
In order to make the apparatus more suitable for alternating currents I generally
laminate the armatures and electromagnet cores.
It will be seen that instead of making such a form of armatures as is shown in
Figures 3 and 3ª of a continuous piece of wire I might stamp out a piece of sheet

page_text: iron ribbon or strip to shape and then bend it round into a hoop. This would
produce practically the same form as the bent wire.
It will be readily understood that very good forms of my invention could be
designed by analgamating (so to speak) different parts of the different forms
illustrated herein. For example electromagnets of the form and in the positions
shown in Figure 2 might be used with armatures constituted by a soft iron ring
attached to the fan and of the shape shown in Figure 6 except that the teeth or
projecting parts would then point outwards instead of towards the centre.
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.:
..
'
1. The improvement in or connected with apparatus for ventilating or for pro-
pelling or displacing air or gases consisting of a rotary fan or propeller bearing a
number of pieces of iron (either separate or in one) arranged so as to act as armatures
to one or more electromagnets which latter are so connected to a commutator as to be
energised when approached by and cut out of circuit when reached by one or more
armatures.
2. The improvement in or connected with apparatus for ventilating or for pro-
pelling or displacing air or gases consisting of a rotary fan or propeller bearing one
or more electromagnets so connected to a commutator as to be energised when
approaching and cut out of circuit when opposite one or more armatures the said
armatures being arranged in a circle and consisting of soft iron either in separate
pieces or in one.
3. The improvements in apparatus for ventilating or for propelling or displacing
air or gases consisting in the combination and arrangement of parts substantially as
set forth with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 3, 4 and 4", 5 and 6 respectively.
4. The improvement connected with apparatus for ventilating or for propelling or
displacing air or gases consisting in the form or arrangement of armature set forth
with reference to Figures 3 and 3 whereby a very low resistance of the magnetic
circuit at all relative positions of electromagnet and armature are obtained.
Dated this 17th day of October 1890.
J. G. LORRAIN.