Improvements in Dynamo-electric Machines.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 16th Nov., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Dynamo-electric Machines.
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of 52 Chancery Lane, London, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by Arden Seymour Fitch, of the City of New
York, County and State of New York, United States of America, Solicitor) and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to dynamo-electric machines which are specially adapted for
developing a current of electricity for firing fuses in blasting operations and
kindred uses; and my invention consists primarily in the combination with the
device which operates the rotary armature of a dynamo electric machine in which
are two distinct and separate circuits, one including the armature, magnet-coils and
connections inside the machine, and the other comprising the working-circuit in which
are the fuses, outside the machine, of the hereinafter described circuit-controller
common to both said circuits and adapted to have motion concurrent with said
armature-operating device and to maintain the inside-circuit closed and the outside-
circuit open or
broken during the movement of said operating-device in one
direction to rotate said armature, and to establish electrical connection between said
inside and outside circuits at the conclusion of said movement of said operating-
device whereby, during the development of electricity in the machine by the rotation
of the armature the entire current is accumulated in the magnet-coils in the inside-
circuit and no part thereof passes to the outside-circuit: and whereby, at the
conclusion of said movement of said operating-device, when said armature has
attained the maximum of its velocity in its rotation, the thus accumulated, entire
current is automatically and instantly transferred in its full volume and intensity to
said outside or working-circuit.
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a dynamo-electric machine, the wall of the enclosing
case being cut away to show my improvements in side elevation and with the armature-
operating-device at the limit of its movement in one direction.
Figure 2 is a similar view of the same parts showing the armature-operating-
device at the limit of its movement in the opposite direction.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the machine, with the case-wall cut away to show
my improvements in end elevation.
Figures 4 and 5 are enlarged plans in detail of the circuit-controller and terminals
shown in elevation in Figures 1 and 2, and illustrating the same in their respective
at the limits of its movement
relative positions when the armature-operating-device
in the directions exhibited in Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a modified form of the armature-operating-device,
having a circuit-controller and terminals combined therewith in accordance with my
invention and
Figures 8 and 9 are respectively end and side elevations of the upper part of the
machine showing a modification of the armature-operating-device and the means for
actuating the same.
M represents the electro-magnet and N the rotary armature working between the
suitably recessed inner faces of the enlarged poles m, m, of the magnet, said armature
having the arbor n journalled in brackets m', m², attached to said magnet-poles.
The armature is of the usual construction in machines of this class, and upon the
arbor thereof is a commutator N₁ of the well-known form. The necessary connec-
tions are established between the respective commutator-plates and the terminals of
the armature-coils, and between the commutator-springs and one of the coil-terminals
of each leg of the magnet.

page_text: In carrying out my invention I prefer to employ a toothed segment A as the
armature-operating-device through the medium of the gearing shown. This segment
may be journaled upon a shaft a fixed on the upper part of a frame-piece B and
preferably about in line with the arbor of the armature, as shown, said frame-piece
being conveniently attached at the top to the magnet-poles and extended thence
downward to and carried under the transverse bar of the magnet and there fastened
thereto. The segment A meshes with a pinion A¹ journalled on a short shaft a¹,
which may be fixed in the frame-piece B, and the toothed face of the segment may
be so proportioned in length relatively to the circumference of the pinion A¹ that
the traverse of the segment on the pinion will operate to rotate the pinion through
the distance of one complete revolution, only, on its shaft. A³ is a gear on the same
shaft with the pinion A and a clutch-device connects said pinion and gear so that
when the segment rotates the pinion in the direction to effect the rotation of the
armature the gear will also be rotated, but that when it is reversely rotated by the
segment the clutch will disengage the gear and the latter remain idle. To accomplish
this I prefer to employ a ratchet a² fixed on the pinion, and a pawl a³ pivoted on the
gear and engaging said ratchet, as shown. A spring a may be advantageously
employed to hold the pawl to engagement with the ratchet.
The gear A meshes with a pinion n' which is fixed on the arbor of the armature,
and the diameter of this gear should be such that its rotation through the distance
of one revolution will give to the armature the number of revolutions requisite and
desirable in developing the electricity in the machine.
It is evident, when the segment is swung from the position shown in Figure 1 to
that in Figure 2, that the armature N will be thereby given the desired rotation, and
that the segment being adapted, as is preferable, to swing, at the conclusion of said
movement, clear of the pinion A¹. as shown in Figure 2, the sudden checking of
the rotation of the armature and jar upon or derangement of its parts or bearings
will be wholly avoided.
As a means to actuate the journalled-arinature-operating-device, I prefer to employ
a bar seated in or upon said device and adapted to slide or move longitudinally
therein and transversely thereof; and to accomplish this the segment A is preferably
formed or provided with an extension or hab a' which has in it a transverse slot a
in which a bar F is fitted to slide longitudinally, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
The bar may have a ring-like handle a at its upper end and a pin or projection a¹º at
its lower end to limit its movement in one direction in the slot a8. In this connec-
tion it is desirable to construct the enclosing case G of the machine with a
partition g beyond the body of the segment Å and to permit the hub a to extend
through an aperture in this partition and to project into a corresponding recess g₁ in
the case-wall, as shown in Figure 3. By this means a bearing for the hub is
furnished in the partition and the bar is given play in the hub a' within a compart-
ment in the case, which is separate from the main chamber in the case containing
the working parts of the machine. The bar F is desirably of such a length that
when it is slid downward in the slot a and its lower end rests upon the case-bottom,
its upper end will project but slightly above the case-lid through a slot g' formed
therein and extending transversely thereof. When the machine is not in use the bar
may be slid downward in the hub a' and be practically enclosed in the case, as
shown in Figure 3; and when it is desired to actuate the armature-operating-device
or segment A, in using the machine, the bar F may be slid upward in the hub a',
and thus caused to project through the slot g in the case-lid where it will be in
position to be grasped conveniently by the hand of the operator and thus serve as a
lever to vibrate the segment A as shown in Figures 1 and 2, by being swung from
a limit of movement in one direction in the lid-slot g' to a limit of movement therein
in the opposite direction. Any known means may be employed to give the bar F the
described seat in or upon the device A and the described longitudinal play therein or
thereon.
The segment may have an extension or arma, by which it is actuated through a
duly proportioned rod 6 pivoted thereto in a slot a therein, as shown, said rod

page_text: desirably extending through an opening in the lid of the enclosing-case of the
machine and being linked to a lever 6' fulcrumed on said lid, as shown in Figures 8
and 9. A stop may be fixed inside the case and adapted to limit the downward
movement of the segment, as herein before described.
The described construction will be found convenient and effective for several reasons
among others, the compactness of the apparatus and the comparatively small bulk
thereof when enclosed in its case: the readiness with which the machine may be
operated, it being necessary to simply draw the bar F upward and then vibrate it in
the slot in the lid as described, or to swing the lever b¹ upward and then it
press
downward to its limit of movement: the effectiveness of the operating-devices in
causing the armature to attain a constantly increasing velocity of rotation during the
thrust of the actuating-lever, the gearing shown greatly facilitating this result: and
also the decreased liability of the machine to get out of order or be injured, when
not in use, by contact with the actuating-lever of external objects, the said lever
being either slid within the case as shown in Figure 1, or folded down to the box-lid
as in Figures 8 and 9-and the segment being wholly disengaged from the gearing
and armature.
C is a circuit-controller composed of a metal block upon the face of which and in
electrical contact therewith bear spring-terminals d d¹ which are mounted on a fixed
insular support D which may be secured to the magnet-poles, as shown. To these
terminals, extend, respectively, the coil-terminals m³, mt, of the magnet which are the
opposite ones to those extending from the magnet to the armature. I combine the
circuit-controller C with the armature-operating-device so that it is adapted to move
concurrently with and to the same extent as said device, and to accomplish this I
preferably constitute the controller C as a part of the said operating-device, as, for
example, in the form of a segmental disk as an extension of the toothed-segment A
beyond its pivotal bearing, as shown clearly in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The terminals d d
traverse the peripheral face of this disk, as said disk moves concurrently with the
segment A.
At e, el, are spring-terminals, preferably mounted on the insular
support D and desirably between the terminals d, d, as shown, and adapted to
project towards the periphery of the disk C. From said terminals e, e', respectively,
wires e, es, extend to binding-posts E, E¹, which may be arranged externally of the
enclosing case, as shown. To the posts the line-wires, shown at e', e running to the
fuses, may be attached.
It is apparent that in the machine as thus constructed there are two separate and
distincts circuits, one including the armature, magnet-coils, connections and terminals,
inside the machine, and the other comprising the wires e, e³, their terminals e, e¹,
and the line wires e, e³, outside the machine, and that the circuit-controller C is
common to both these circuits and maintains said inside-circuit closed during its
movement concurrently with the segment A. While effecting this result, the con-
troller is also adapted to maintain the outside-circuit open or broken during and
until the conclusion of its movement concurrently with that of the armature-
operating-device in the direction to rotate the armature, and furthermore to establish
connection between said inside and outside-circuits at the conclusion of said move-
ment. To accomplish the first of these results I prevent the terminals e, e¹, from
having contact with the face of the controller throughout the path thereon traversed
by them during the movement of said controller, as described, preferably by forming
a channel c in the face of said controller along said path into which the ends of the
terminals may project, as shown: and I accomplish the other of these results by
means of metal plates c¹, c³, placed upon the face of the controller, insulated there-
from and from each other, and so located thereon as to engage, respectively, the
terminals of similar polarity d, e, and d¹, e¹, of the said circuits, at the conclusion
of the described movement of the said controller concurrently with that of the
segment A in the direction to rotate the armature. It is desirable that said
plates, c, c, should have the extended portions c³, c, respectively, adapted to enable
the terminals d, d¹ to establish connection with the respective plates before leaving

page_text: the bearing face of the controller, and that the terminals e, e¹ should be of such
length and so located relatively to the terminals d, d', and the plates 'c', c², as to
enable said terminals e, e', to engage their respective plates just as the terminals d, d¹
wholly escape from the face of the controller; as thereby no actual breaking of the
electric current ensues, but a shunting or switching thereof from the inside to the
outside circuits is effected.
In the practical operation of the machine, it is evident, when the segment is swung
from the position shown in Figure 1 to that in Figure 2, that during such movement
and while the armature is being thereby rotated, the circuit-controller C will have a
concurrent movement and the terminals d, d', will traverse the face thereof, main-
taining the inside-circuit closed, while the terminals e, e¹, will traverse the channel c
thereby maintaining the outside-circuit open or broken, so that the entire electrical
current developed will be accumulated in the magnet-coils in said inside-circuit, none
of it passing to or through said outside-circuit: and, when the segment has concluded
its said movement and the rotating armature attains its maximum of velocity, that the
terminals d, e, and d¹, e¹, will respectively engage the switch-plates c¹ and c² on the
controller C, and the entire accumulated current be thus automatically and instantly
transferred in its full volume and intensity to the outside or working-circuit. There-
after the swinging of the segment A, and concurrently the controller C, in the reverse
direction, will disengage the circuit-terminals from the switch-plates and restore the
parts to the positions shown in Figures 1 and 4, in readiness for another operation of
the machine.
In Figures 6 and 7 I show a rack-bar engaging an operating-pinion on the armature-
arbor, as a modified form of armature-operating-device, with which is corabined a
circuit-controller in accordance with my invention. In this construction the down-
ward thrust of the rack-bar rotates the pinion and the rack-bar itself carries or
constitutes the circuit-controller. For this purpose one of its faces is longitudinally
channelled at c to permit the traverse therein, during the downward thrust of the bar,
of the terminals e, e', of the outside-circuit, the insulated support D of said terminals
being, for convenience placed at or near the lid of the case through which the bar
works. The terminals, d, d', of the inside-circuit are arranged on said support as
hereinbefore described and bear upon the face of the bar in its reciprocal movements.
The insulated switch-plates c', c², being placed at the upper end of the bar on said
face, are adapted to engage the said terminals of similar polarity when the bar has
reached, the limit of its downward thrust in rotating the; armature. The result
attained is the same as that in the case of the segment A and the controller carried
by it, as hereinbefore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what Í
claim is :-
:-
1. In a dynamo-electric machine having two separate circuits, one including the
rotary armature, magnet-coils and connections, inside the machine, and the other
comprising the working-circuit outside the machine, the combination with the armature-
operating-device, of a circuit-controller common to both said circuits and having
motion concurrently with said armature-operating-device, and fixed contacts connected
with said circuits and in electrical relation to said circuit-controller to maintain the
inside-circuit closed and the outside-circuit open or broken during the movement of
-- said operating-device in the direction to rotate the armature, and to establish electrical
connection between said inside and outside circuits at the conclusion of said movement
of said operating-device, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
...
2. In a dynamo-electric machine having two separate circuits, one including the
rotary armature, magnet-coils and connections, inside the machine, and the other com-
prising the working-circuit, outside the machine, the combination with the rotary
armature-operating-device adapted to rotate said armature by a single movement in
one direction, of a circuit-controller, common to both said circuits, and carried by

page_text: said armature-operating-device, and having movement therewith, and comprising
fixed contacts connected with said circuits and in electrical relation to said circuit-
controller to maintain the inside-circuit closed and the outside-circuit open or broken
during said movement of said operating-device, and to establish electrical connection
between said circuits at the conclusion of said movement, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
3. In a dynamo-electric machine having two separate circuits, one including the
rotary armature, magnet-coils and connections, inside the macbine, and the other com-
prising the working-circuit, outside the machine, the combination with the rotary
armature and a pinion fixed on the arbor thereof, of a gear engaging said pinion, a
clutch-pinion on the shaft of said gear and adapted to rotate said gear in one
direction, only, and a toothed segment engaging said clutch-pinion and adapted to
rotate it through a single revolution, together with a circuit-controller, common to.
both said circuits, and carried by said segment, and adapted, in its movement there-
with in the direction to rotate said armature, to maintain said inside-circuit closed and
said outside-circuit open, and to establish electrical connection between said circuits
at the conclusion of said movement, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a dynamo-electric machine having two separate circuits, one including the
rotary armature, magnet-coils and connections and spring-terminals for said coils
carried by an insulating support, and the other comprising the main or working-
circuit having spring-terminals carried by said insulating support, the combination
with the operating-device adapted to rotate the armature by a single movement in
one direction only, of a circuit-controller consisting of a metal-block carried by and
moving with said operating-device, and provided with bearing-faces for the terminals
of the magnet-circuit, and with a channel in its face for the traverse of the terminals
of the working-circuit, during its movement with said operating-device in the direction
to rotate the armature, and with insulated switch-plates adapted to engage the
terminals of similar polarity of both said circuits, at the conclusion of its said
movement, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a dynamo-electric machine having the separate magnet-circuit and working-
circuit, as described, the combination with the rotary armature-operating-device,
adapted to rotate said armature by a single movement in one direction, of a circuit-
controller C carried by and moving with said armature-operating-device, and con-
sisting of a metal-block having bearing faces for the spring-terminals d, d², of said
magnet-circuit, and a channel c in its face for the traverse of spring-terminals e, e¹, of
the working-circuit, during its movement with the said operating-device in the
direction to rotate the armature, and the switch-plates c, ², provided with the
extensions c³, c, adapted to enable said terminals of the magnet-circuit, to establish
connection with said plates before leaving said bearing faces of the controller, and
thereafter to establish connection between the terminals of similar polarity of both
circuits, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. In a dynamo-electric machine of the class described, having an enclosing-case,
the combination with the segment A, adapted to actuate the gearing, by a single
movement in one direction, to rotate the armature, and provided with the extension-
arm as, of a lever b¹ fulcrumed on the exterior of the enclosing-case, and a rod b
pivotally connecting said arm and lever through an opening in the case-wall, substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
7. In a dynamo-electric machine having one circuit comprising the magnet, rotary
armature and connections, and another and separate circuit comprising the working-
circuit, the combination with a reciprocatory rack-bar which operates by a single
movement in one direction to rotate said armature, of a circuit-controller carried by
and adapted to move concurrently with said rack-bar, and fixed contacts connected
with said circuits and in electrical relations with said circuit-controller to maintain
said circuits, respectively, closed and open during the reciprocation of said bar, and
to establish connection between said circuits at the conclusion of the movement of
said bar in the direction to effect the rotation of the armature, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.

page_text: 8. In a dynamo-electric machine having one circuit comprising the magnet, armature
and connections and terminals d, d', and another and separate circuit comprising the
working-circuit and terminals e, e¹, the combination with the armature of the recipro-
catory rack-bar A, adapted, by a single movement in one direction, to effect the
rotation of said armature, and provided with the longitudinal faces a¹, a², for engage-
ment and traverse by said terminals d, d', and the longitudinal channel a³ for traverse
by said terminals e, e' during the reciprocation of the bar, together with the described
plates a* and a³ located on said bar to engage, respectively, the said terminals of similar
polarity of both said circuits at the conclusion of said movement of said har to effect
the rotation of said armature, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
9. In a dynamo-electric machine, the combination with the armature-operating-
device, adapted to swing or rotate in its movement to operate the armature for the
generation of an electric current, of a bar seated in or upon said armature-operating-
device and adapted to slide or move longitudinally therein and transversely thereof,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
10. In a dynamo-electric machine, the combination with a journalled toothed
segment for operating the rotary armature to generate an electric current, of a bar
seated in or upon said segment and adapted to slide or move longitudinally therein
and transversely thereof, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
11. In a dynamo-electric machine, the combination with a journalled toothed-
segment for operating the rotary armature to generate an electric current, and pro-
vided with a lateral extension or hub in which is a transverse slot, of a bar seated in
and adapted to play longitudinally in said slot in said hub, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
12. In a dynamo-electric machine, the combination with a journalled toothed-
segment for operating the rotary armature to generate an electric current, and pro
vided with a laterally extended hub baving a transverse slot, of an enclosing-case
having therein an apertured partition through which said hub extends and in which
it has bearing, together with a bar seated and having play longitudinally in said slotted
hub outside said partition, and a lid or wall on said case provided with a slotted
aperture to permit the bar to project exteriorally of the enclosing-case, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 10th day of September 1889.