IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING POWER BY MEANS OF ELECTRO-MAGNETISM
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HANNIS TAYLOR, late of New York, afterwards of Bridge Street, in the City of
London, but now of Wellington Terrace, Waterloo Road, in the County of
Surrey, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Second day of November, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said William Hannis Taylor, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, Ier especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Hannis Taylor, my exors, adñiors, and
asssigns, and such others as I, the said William Hannis Taylor, my exors,
adiiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her said
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Domi-
nion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN OBTAINING POWER BY MEANS OF ELECTRO-MAGNETISM;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that 1, the said William Hannis Taylor, should
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Hannis Taylor, do hereby declare that, whereas the generality of
attempts which have been hitherto made to obtain a motive power through the
agency of electro-magnetism have depended on taking advantage of the
change of polarity, of which masses of iron fitted as electro-magnets are
susceptible, so as to cause them alternately to attract and repel certain other
electro-magnets brought successively within the sphere of their influence, and
thus to produce a continuous rotary movement; and whereas these attempts
have failed of success from the difficulty, if not impossibility, of multiplying or
accumulating power by such means: now the nature of my said invented
improvements consists in employing, as my prime movers, a series of electro-
magnets, which are alternately, and (almost) instantaneously, magnetized
and demagnetized without any change of polarity taking place, that is to say,
demagnetized to a degree sufficient to render them inoperative as electro-
magnets, and in bringing certain other masses of iron or electro-magnets
successively under the influence of the said prime movers when in a magnetized
state, and in demagnetizing the said prime movers to the extent aforesaid as
soon (or nearly so) and as often as their attractive power ceases to operate
with advantage; or, in other words, my said improvements consist in letting on
or cutting off a stream of the electric fluid in such alternate, quick, and
regular succession to and from a series of electro-magnets, that they act always
attractively or positively only, or with such a preponderance of positive attrac-
tion as to exercise an uniform moving force upon any number of other masses
of iron or magnets fixed or placed so as to be conveniently acted upon. And
I declare that the manner in which my said invented improvements are to be
carried into effect is fully exemplified in the Drawings hereunto annexed, and
in the following description thereof, that is to say:
Figures 1 and 2 represent an electro-magnetic engine, in which the electro-
magnets are caused to rotate, and the masses of iron that are acted upon are
kept stationary. A, A, A, is a rectangular frame of wood, which supports an
axis B, B, to the centre of which is affixed the rotating shaft C, armed with
horse-shoe markets D, D), one at each end. E, E, are two parallel rings of
brass, or any other metal not capable of being rendered magnetic, which are
secured or fixed in the framework, and in such a position that their centres
coincide exactly with the axis B, B. F, F, are cross bars of iron (called

page_text: armatures), which are fixed between and connect the rings E, E, and aro
placed at regular distances from one another, and at such a depth in the
periphery that the horse-shoe magnets at the end of the rotating shaft C will
just pass without touching them. G, H, are two disks of copper, silver, or
other suitable metal, which are fixed on the axis B, B, but insulated there-
from by means of collars of ivory or other non-electric conducting substance.
As many small square pieces of ivory a, a, a, are let in at equal distances into
the periphery of the disk G as there are armatures F, F, for the purpose of
intercepting or cutting off the stream of electricity, as afterwards more particu-
larly explained. The disk H dips at bottom into a trough d filled with
mercury; b, b, are copper wires which connect the horse-shoe electro-mag-
nets D, D, with the disks G, H; and c, a conductor which connects the disk H
with a galvanic battery in the usual way. I is a knobbed or massive conductor
which rests upon the periphery of the disk G, and is connected to a second cell
in the galvanic trough k, by the conducting wirez, 5. Provision having been
thus made for the transmission of an electrical current through the machine,
all that is necessary in order to set the machine in motion is, first, to place the
rotating shaft C in such a position that the horse-shoe electro-magnets at each
end D, D, shall each be nearer some one of the armatures F, F, than any of
the others, and then to adjust the knobbed conductor so that it shall rest on
one of the copper portions of the periphery of the disk G, and finally to con-
nect the two poles of the battery with the two cells of the galvanic trough k.
The horse-shoe electro-magnets D, D, become then instantly charged with the
electric fluid, and are attracted towards the armatures F, F, nearest to them,
drawing round along with them the disks G and H, so that at the same
moment these electro-magnets reach the armatures the copper portion of tho
periphery of the disk, on which the knobbed conductor I previously rested, is
drawn from beneath it, and it comes then to rest on the next adjoining ivory"
piece, whereby the electric current is at once cut off, the horse-shoe picces are
demagnetized to the extent aforesaid, and the arms of the shaft are carried.
beyond the armatures by the effect of their acquired momentum (unretarded
by any attractive force), till, by the rotation of the disk, another of the
copper portions of the periphery is brought under the knobbed conductor
and the electric current is re-established, when the. horse-shoe pieces are
again magnetized, and another pair of armatures in passes as before,
and so on through the whole series of armatures, and through the same
series over and over again as long as the electric current is sustained
by the battery employed, whereby a rapid, continuous, and powerful rotary
motion is produced. I have found that during the period that the massive

page_text: or knobbed conductor I rests upon any of the non-conducting ivory pieces in
the periphery of the disk G, an accumulation of the electric fluid takes place
in it which enables it to act with the greater energy when brought into contact
with the next succeeding metallic division of the periphery, and it is on this
account I give it the form of a knob; care, however, should be taken to make
the knob of such a shape that its contact with the disc shall but little exceed a
touching point or line. As it will sometimes be of importance to give a
reverse motion to the revolving shaft, as is usual in the case of the steam
engine, I effect this by shifting the knobbed conductor I in manner following:
-When this conductor is placed not directly over the top of the axis, but a
little in advance of it, as shewn in Figure 1, the rotary action is in the forward
direction indicated by the arrow m, but when it is drawn proportionally back
behind the top of the axis, the rotation is in the reverse direction, as indicated
by the letter n. In the machine represented in Figures 1 and 2 there are
two arms and six armatures, but instead of two arms three or four or more may
be employed, and the number of armatures may be increased or reduced
according to the number of the arms and the magnitude of the wheel.
I will now proceed to describe another arrangement in which the magnets
or alternately magnetized and demagnetized masses of iron are made stationary,
and the other masses of iron upon which they exercise their attractive influence
are made to rotate. M, M, M, M, Figure 3 and Figure 4, are four electro-
magnets of equal size, fixed in a suitable framework. A, A, A, A, A, A, A,
are seven pieces of soft wrought iron or armatures let in or attached to the
periphery of a wheel W at equal distances from one another, which wheel
should be of metal or wood, but if of metal the rim should be covered with
wood or some other non-conducting substance, so as to place the metal parts
out of the magnetic influence. I prefer that these armatures should have only
half their depth let into the wheel, and that they should be of the breadth and
height of the two iron faces of one of the electro-magnets M, M, including the
interval between these faces, and in depth equal to half the height. The
magnets must be so fixed in the framework, that when the wheel revolves the
armatures may just pass without touching them. The distance between the
centre points of two adjoining armatures should be equal to the height of the
iron faces of all the magnets employed, so that as the magnets pull in succession,
the pull may commence when the edge of the armature is opposite the edge of
a magnet, in which position the pull is strongest. The magnets must be also
so fixed in the framework that, when the centre of one of them is opposite the
centre of an armature, another magnet shall have one of its edges just opposite
the edge of an armature, and a third its contrary edge, opposite a contrary

page_text: edge of another armature, and a fourth magnet directly in the centre between
the two. D is a disk, constructed as before described in Figures 1 and 2,
divided into twice as many parts as there are armatures, each part being
alternately copper and ivory, or in place of ivory some other non-conducting
substance, the size of the external rim of the copper parts bearing the same
proportion to that of the ivory as the rim of the armatures is to the curved
interval between them. The disk is keyed to the shaft S, and revolves with the
wheel. H, H, H, H, are four bent copper bolts or hammers, similar to the
knobbed conductor described in Figures 1 and 2, each connected with the
extremities of the wires on one pole of each of the magnets, the extremities of
the wires on the other pole of each magnet being joined by screws or soldering
to a wire or wires a, a, a, a, which go at once to one pole of the battery. The
hammers H, H, H, H, are moveable on pivots attached to a frame C, and are
kept pressing against the extreme periphery of the disk by springs, as seen in
the Figure. The hammers are placed at such distances from each other that
each of them respectively just begins to touch the copper portion of the disk'
when the magnet to which it is attached is in the position with regard to the
armatures before described; and it will be found from the proportions before
laid down, that when the centre of any armature is opposite the centre of any
magnet the hammer connected with it will be just resting on an ivory portion
of the periphery of the wheel, whereby the magnetism will be suspended, so as
to allow the armature to pass freely, while another copper portion of the disk
will just be coming under another hammer, whereby the succeeding magnet
will be charged in its turn, and so on successively. To produce a reverse
action of the wheel, the semicircular frame C, which supports the hammers, is
made to slide by the action of the handle, as shewn in the Figures; if moved
so that the hammers shall be shifted a space equal to half the external rim of
any of the copper parts of the disk, the magnets will be charged after the
armatures are opposite the magnets, and a back action will be engendered, by
which the wheel will soon be stopped; and if the frame be moved so that the
bammers are shifted a space equal to the whole rim of one of the copper parts
of the disk, then the magnets will be charged and suspended at their proper
intervals, so as to create a reverse motion of the wheel. W', W', is a copper
wire, which proceeds from one of the poles of the battery, and is made to press
by a spring against the inner copper portion part R of the disk, or the disk
may have a rim projecting in that part for the wire to rest upon. The action
of the machine is as follows:-The battery being charged, the current proceeds
along the copper wire W', through the copper of the disk, along the hammer
that may be in contact with any copper segment of the disk, and through the

page_text: copper wire proceeding from the said hammer, round the magnet, along the
wires x, x, x, to the opposite pole of the battery, and the general result of the
alternate magnetizing and demagnetizing (to the like extent as explained in
describing Figures 1 and 2) of the electro-magnets, and of the successive
attraction of the armatures by these magnets, is the continuous rotation of the
wheel in one direction, which direction, as before explained, may be changed
at pleasure.
And having now described the nature of my said invented improvements,
and given two exemplifications of the manner in which the same is to be
performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to the precise manner of
construction represented in either of these exemplifications, but that the
same may be varied in many ways without involving any material departure
from the new plan or system of obtaining power from electro-magnetism, which in
its generality constitutes the essential feature of my said improvements; and
I declare that what I claim more particularly as of my Invention is, the plan
or system of alternately magnetizing and demagnetizing, or, in other words,
of letting on and cutting off the supply of the electric fluid to one, two, or
more masses of iron fitted as electro-magnets, so that they shall always act
positively, or with an attractive influence, upon any number or series of masses
of iron or magnets brought successively within their influence, without under-
going any change of polarity, and this whether the said electro-magnets are
made to rotate and the bodies which they influence are kept stationary, or
vice versa, and however the said general results may be obtained, whether by
the mechanical arrangements which I have herein-before described, or either
of them, or by any variation of the same, or by any merely equivalent or
analagous means. And such my said invented improvements being, to the best
of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that
part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or in
any of Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve
or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right
and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second
day of May, One thousand eight hundred and forty.
WILLIAM HANNIS (L.s.) TAYLOR.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of May, in the year
of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid William Hannis Taylor came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Second day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand