IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO- MAGNETIC ENGINES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fletcher Wiles, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-
MAGNETIC ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fletcher Wiles
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th May 1870.
I, JOHN FLETCHER WILES, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC ENGINES," to be as follows:-
"
The Invention has for its object improvements in electro-magnetic
engines. For this purpose I arrange a series of magnets upon or around
a disc or wheel within or around which is a "keeper" or keepers. The
magnetic disc or wheel and the "keeper or keepers may be of a
circular or of other desired shape, such as an octagon or nonagon, but
in all cases the magnetic disc or wheel and the keeper or keepers are
made with only a small amount of difference in size, so that as the mag-

page_text: netic disc or wheel revolves the magnets shall always be within a short
distance from the keeper or keepers, in a similar manner to the
differential gearing now employed for various other purposes.
When employing a magnetic disc or wheel and keeper or keepers of the
form of a pentagon I prefer to make one in the form of a nonagon, and
the other an octagon, or with the difference of only one in the number of
their sides, but if desired there may be a difference of two or more in
the number of their sides. The magnetic disc or wheel carries a number
of double-action commutators, one commutator or "make and break"
to each magnet.
The commutators work upon two rings or other form of contact pieces,
so that by reversing the connections the engine may be caused to travel
in the one or the other direction. The magnetic disc or wheel or the
keeper or keepers are connected to the shaft in any suitable manner so as
to allow of the disc or wheel or keeper or keepers to revolve in an orbit
around such shaft and yet to give motion to such shaft or axis. When
mounted on a vertical axis I support the magnetic disc or wheel or
keeper or keepers on suitable wheels or runners. By these means the
magnets are not caused to rub past the keeper or keepers, as heretofore
in most descriptions of magnetic engines, but they roll into and out
of contact with each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Fletcher Wiles in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN 2
FLETCHER WILES, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Fletcher Wiles, Her special licence,
that I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC ENGINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, do hereby
3 declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
"
66
"
The Invention has for its object improvements in electro-magnetic
engines. For this purpose I arrange a series of magnets upon or around
a disc or wheel within or around which is a keeper or keepers. The
magnetic disc, or wheel and the "keeper or keepers may be of a
circular or of other desired shape, such as an octagon or nonagon, but
in all cases the magnetic disc or wheel and the keeper or keepers
are made with only a small amount of difference in size, so that as the
5 magnetic disc or wheel revolves the magnets shall always be within a
short distance from the keeper or keepers, in a similar manner to the
differential gearing now employed for various other purposes.
When employing a magnetic disc or wheel and keeper or keepers of
the form of a pentagon I prefer to make one in the form of a nonagon,
and the other an octagon, or with the difference of only one in the
number of their sides, but if desired there may be the difference of two
or more in the number of their sides. The magnetic disc or wheel
carries a number of double action commutators, one commutator or
"make and break" to each magnet.
The commutators work upon two rings or other form of contact pieces,
so that by reversing the connections the engine may be caused to travel
in the one or the other direction. The magnetic disc or wheel or the
keeper or keepers are connected to the shaft in any suitable manner so

page_text: Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of an electro-
magnetic engine constructed according to my Invention; and Figures 3.
and 4 are detail views of a commutator or contact maker and breaker,
to be used therewith.
manner.
a is a ring of iron which forms a continuous "keeper" for all the
magnets 6 to act upon as they are successively charged with electricity.
This keeper a may be supported as shown, or in any convenient
manner. The magnets are screwed or otherwise secured to a ring or
disc c in which is formed a slot c¹, in which works a disc c² having a
slot c³ formed therein at right angles to the slot c¹. In this slot c³ works
the upper end of the shaft d on which is fixed a bevilled toothed
wheel d giving motion to the bevilled wheel e¹ fixed on the axis e. Or
motion may be communicated from the driving shaft d in any suitable
The shaft d by the arrangement before described although
fixed in immoveable bearings allows the magnets 6 and disc or ring c to
move as required around it. f is a plate of iron planed or otherwise
worked to a smooth surface for the rollers or balls 9, 9, 9, g, to run
upon and thereby support the weight and reduce the friction, which
would otherwise result from the magnetic circle travelling thereon.
h, h¹, are two brass rings faced on the inside with platinum, to which
rings are affixed binding screws i, ¹, to convey the current from one
pole of the battery; these rings are carefully insulated with ebonite or
other suitable material from each other and also from the circular
keeper u to which they are fixed by protected screws. j is an insulated
brass disc faced with platinum and fixed upon the shaft, to which disc
all the wires on the magnets are connected by one end of each only.

page_text: k is an arm terminated at one end by a small roller k¹, also faced with
platinum, at the other end of which is a binding screw k³, to which the
wire from the other pole of the battery is connected. are a number of
double action commutators or contact makers and breakers arranged one
on the top of each magnet. m, n, Figures 3 and 4, are the rods of the
commutators to which the other ends of the wires forming the coils on
the magnets are fixed, these rods m, n, are insulated from each other and
are provided with spiral springs m², n³, to force their ends on to the brass
rings h, h¹, when required, m³, n², are cross bars fixed respectively on the
rods m, n, and to each of which are fixed a platinum point m³ or n³ and
an ivory point m* or n*, the platinum point m³ carried by the rod m being
arranged above the ivory point n* carried by the rod n and the ivory
point m' over the platinum point n³.
I will now proceed to describe the manner in which an electro-
magnetic engine constructed as before described will operate.
In this engine the power of each of the magnets b is used as in other
electro-magnetic engines to produce a powerful attraction towards the
"keeper” a, and when in contact each of the magnets holds on to the
keeper and rolls upon its own poles, whilst the magnet to the right (if
the engine is travelling in that direction) attracts itself also to the
keeper, to which it no sooner holds than the magnet to the left of it is
disconnected from the battery by the ivory point in the commutator
coming into contact with the brass ring hor ¹, thereby releasing the
platinum point; the next magnet to the left is then charged by the
platinum point of its commutator coming into contact with the same
brass ring, this also becomes immediately attracted to the circular
keeper" a and of course rolls the whole circle of magnets and brings
successively each magnet into position for continuing the action above
described. The magnetic circle is free to move in a lateral direction
without also moving the shaft d in the same direction, by reason of the
slots c¹, c³, and other parts forming the connection between the magnetic
circle and the shaft d, but the magnetic circle cannot move in any part
of a circle without carrying the shaft round with it. The magnetic
circle in moving around the inside of the "keeper" a describes a circle
rather larger than itself, and consequently in rotating the rotation upon
its own axis is in an inverse direction to that in which the magnetic
circle is travelling.
It will thus be seen that as the periphery of the magnetic circle is

page_text: travelling in contact with the inner periphery of the "keeper
"in the
direction of the red arrow, the shaft d will be caused to rotate in the
direction of the black arrow.
The commutator shown in the Drawings work in the following
manner, the upper platinum points m³ all point in one direction and the
lower platinum points n³ all point in the other direction, consequently
by affixing the wire from one pole of the battery to the brass ring h,
and the wire from the other pole of the battery to the connecting
screw on the arm k, the main shaft d will rotate to the right hand
whilst the magnetic circle will travel around the inner periphery of the
keeper to the left. To reverse the motion of the engine the wire from
one pole of the battery is disconnected from the ring h and connected to
the ring h¹.
At Figure 5 I have shown a plan of so much of an electro-magnetic
engine as will enable me to describe a modification of my Invention in
which the keeper a is made in the form of a nonagon, whilst the
magnetic circle is in the form of an octagon, consequently as the
magnetic circle completes one journey around the inner periphery of the
keeper a by the attraction of the successive magnets, it rotates in the
reverse direction one eighth part of a revolution around its own axis
which thereby receives a similar amount of rotary motion, it is therefore
necessary for the magnetic octagon to make cight journeys around the
inner periphery of the "keeper" to cause the driving shaft d to complete
one revolution. In this form of engine I prefer to make the magnets of
rectangular shape as shown by the dotted lines with two poles as in the
arrangement before described. The magnets being separated from each
other by accurately fitting pieces of brass or other suitable material.
At Figure 6 I have shown the manner in which a double-acting
engine may be made having the advantage of the main shaft being in a
horizontal position. In this case the two magnetic circles or pentagons
are preferably balanced against each other on the shaft d to which they
are connected by means of a gimbal & in the centre of each magnetic
circle, and a gimbal on the shaft d. By these mcans I counterbalance
the weight of each magnetic circle by the other one, and if desired the
use of the slots c¹, c³, may be dispensed with.
Figure 7 is a side view, Figure 8 a sectional plan, and Figure 9 a
sectional end view of a double-acting engine somewhat modified in form
from that shown at Figure 6. In this case the circular keepers a are

page_text: balanced against each other by means of cross beams o which are
connected by pin joints to studs or axes working in fixed bearings p and
to the keepers a, a, by means of compound joints q, q. The circular
keepers a, a, consequently perform the lateral motion which in the
cases before described was given to the magnetic circle, but they are
prevented revolving upon their own axis, although it will be seen that
in their motion they will travel in paths similar to that of an eccentric.
The magnetic circles in this case are fixed firmly on the shaft d, which
is carried in fixed bearings as shown, and therefore it will be seen that
the magnetic circles are caused only to revolve with the axis d, and that
they do not perform any other motion. The compound motion given
in the cases previously described to the magnetic circles being in this
case divided between the keepers and the magnetic circles.
I would here remark that in all the foregoing descriptions of electro-
magnetic engines the same principle of operation is involved, namely,
that the magnets are never at a great distance from the " 'keepers" and
the peculiar motion being in all cases "differential."
It will be seen that in the nonagon and the octagon one complete
journey of the octagonal magnetic disc around the inner periphery of
the nonagonal keeper gives one eighth part of a revolution to the axis,
and therefore the octagon has to make eight journeys around the inner
periphery of the nonagon to produce one revolution of its axis.
Also in this description of engine the holding power of the magnet is
utilized during the time that each magnet rolls upon the surface of the
keepers, and should this not be so the magnets would simply slip upon
the surface of the keepers, instead of dragging the shaft round with
them but as the holding power is very great in all electro-magnets, it is
clear that they cannot slip.
The commutators or contact makers and breakers employed with any
of the engines described may be that shewn in the Drawings, but any
other suitable form of commutator may be employed.
In the Drawings I have shown six magnets in the circular form of
engine and cight in the pentagonal, but I do not limit myself to the
employment of these numbers as a greater or less number may be used
without departing from the peculiar features of my Invention, and if
desired the poles of the magnets and the inner periphery of the keeper
may be provided with teeth or corrugations to gear together.

page_text: I would also further remark that I am aware that it has been proposed
to construct electro-magnetic engines with a magnetic circle mounted on
a crank formed on or fixed to the axis of the engine, but in such case one
journey of the magnetic circle around the inner periphery of the keeper
has necessarily given one complete revolution to the shaft, this form of
engine however is not constructed according to the principle involved in
my Invention.
It will be seen that the various arrangements may be reversed, the
magnetic circle being placed outside and the keepers inside, if desired.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and various
modes in which the same may be carried into effect I would have it
understood that what I do claim is,-
The construction of electro-magnetic engines in which a differential
motion is communicated to the shaft of the engine by the peculiar
combined action of the magnetic circle and the keeper in the modes
substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, have hercunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
FRED. HARRIS,
Patent Agent,
35, Southampton Buildings.
JOHN. F. WILES.
(L.S.)