IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING MAINTAINING AND BEGULATING ELECTRICAL FORCE FOR BATTERY PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATIONTER CHARGING AND OTHER PURPOSES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Percy Sellon of Surbiton in the County of
Surrey, Electrical Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SUPPLYING MAINTAINING AND BEGULATING ELECTRICAL FORCE FOR BATTERY
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Percy Sellon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th April 1883.
ROBERT PERCY SELLON of Surbiton in the County of Surrey Electrical
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING MAINTAINING AND REGULATING
ELECTRICAL FORCE FOR BATTERY CHARGING AND OTHER PURPOSES AND IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR "
My Invention 'relates to apparatus for supplying and maintaining a constant
store or supply of Electrical energy in Secondary Batteries or Accumulators or
other apparatus, or for other purposes; and to devices for automatically causing a
charging current supplied by a dynamo or other means to energise such secondary
batteries or other apparatus until such time as they are charged to the full or
desired extent and then automatically breaking or diminishing the said charging
current or throwing the generator or dynamo machine out of the charging current
or causing it to cease from generating electricity the charging current remaining
broken or the generator remaining at rest or supplying no current to the Batteries
or other apparatus or to any particular set of Batteries or other apparatus among a
number of them either in series with one another or in multiple arc, until such
time as the electro motive force or current of the secondary batteries or other
apparatus drops or diminishes owing to a withdrawal of a portion or all of the
current supplied by such apparatus for any purpose such as lighting heating or the
transmission of power, when the charging current may be, automatically re-estab-
lished, either by means of an automatic switch or by means of an electro magnet or
magnets or other devices controlling mechanical devices for throwing the generator
or other portion of the apparatus in and out of gear with the motive power supplied

page_text: by any source, such as steam or gas engines, or motors impelled by wind or water
power, such as for instance windmills or turbines: or I may in some cases employ
both, either simultaneously or at different times. My Invention further relates to
devices and apparatus for maintaining a constant or approximately constant electro
motive force or current at the poles of a dynamo where the speed of the motor or
dynamo varies to any extent, such as might be very apt to occur where wind power
is utilised for Battery charging or other purposes
With reference to the first part of my invention I propose to employ the
following or other suitable devices: a solenoid or magnet or magnets may be
placed upon a shunt circuit with the secondary batteries or other apparatus, a
current from such batteries constantly traversing the aforesaid magnet or magnets:
or the current may only traverse the magnet from time to time, the circuit of the
magnet being closed occasionally by means of a motor, a ratchet wheel and pawl,
or preferably by a contact hand impelled by clockwork, or in any convenient
manner, the said hand revolving around a dial and making contacts from time to
time against contact pieces or projections upon the dial of the clock or other
apparatus Or the above magnet or magnets may be placed in the discharge circuit
of the accumulators, so that the whole or a portion of the current withdrawn from
the accumulators shall pass through it: in which case the contact making device
consisting of a clock or other apparatus may be dispensed with-On the circuit of
the above electro magnet being completed, it will serve to attract or suck in an
armature or core, which may be made to close the circuit of a second magnet or
pair of magnets which may throw the dynamo into gear with the steam engine or
other motor, or out of gear with the above by any suitable means, such as the shifting
of a belt on the motor or dynamo, or by actuating a clutch, according as the electro
motive force or current contained in the secondary batteries may diminish or rise
to its normal or the required amount: the attraction of the controlling electro
magnet, which may be on a shunt or in direct circuit with the accumulators, for
its armature or core depending on the electro motive force or current contained
in the secondary batteries: or I may sometimes cause the controlling electro
magnet, instead of actuating some suitable mechanical device for throwing the
dynamo in and out of gear with the motor, to automatically make and break the
current supplied by the generator, either by means of a second magnet or directly,
according as the electro motive force or current of the secondary batteries may
diminish or rise to its normal or the desired amount Or in some cases it may be
convenient to employ a device where a shunt solenoid or magnet or contact
maker and solenoid or magnet as above described may by a variation in
electro motive force or current in Secondary Batteries or other -apparatus
cause the circuit of one of two magnets, also on a shunt with the secondary
batteries or energised by one or more primary batteries or other means,
to be closed so that when the electrical energy or electro motive force in the
secondary batteries or other apparatus is below the normal or desired amount
the circuit of one of the two magnets shall be closed which may cause the
batteries to be thrown into the charging circuit: and inversely when the electrical
energy or electro motive force of the accumulators shall equal or exceed the normal
or desired amount, the circuit of the other of the two magnets shall be closed in
such a manner that a short circuit or branch circuit may be established across the
accumulators, which will throw them out of the charging circuit until such time
as their electro motive force or current may diminish, when they will again be
automatically thrown into the charging circuit-From time to time occasions may
arise when the speed of the dynamo machine may be so reduced, as might be very
liable to happen in the application of wind power to the generation of electricity,
that the electro motive force developed by the dynamo would be insufficient to
overcome or hold in check the opposing electro motive force of the secondary
batteries, and a dangerous discharge from the batteries into the machine would
probably occur, resulting possibly in injury or destruction to the dynamo. In
order to obviate this I may employ the following or some other suitable device;

page_text: A magnet or solenoid or pair of magnets in the charging circuit of the dynamo,
on the passage of a current, attract an armature or core to which two contact
fingers, one in connection with the main or charging circuit, and the other with
the magnet or field magnet, but insulated from one another, are attached, the said
contact fingers dipping into two mercury troughs which complete the main and
field circuits or this may be done by any other suitable means, such as for
instance by arms or levers dependent from the armature or core making contact
with two metal or other surfaces-In addition to the above a solenoid or magnet
on a shunt with the magnet fields or part of them may be made to control a
mechanical device or click for holding the armature out of the mercury trough or
otherwise breaking the main and field magnet circuits, when this has once been
accomplished by an excess of current from the batteries or otherwise--The action
of this device is as follows: Supposing an excess of current to be passing in the
circuit, whether owing to the discharge of the secondary batteries into the
dynamo or from any other cause, the magnet or magnets in the main circuit
will attract the armature or core and thus break the main or field magnet circuit
or both, the said armature being held out of the mercury by any suitable
mechanical device as mentioned above and the contact remaining broken until
such time as the shunt magnet or solenoid may release the said mechanical device,
which will allow the circuit to be re-established by causing the metal fingers to
make contact with the mercury, or by other means: and the magnet circuit may
be established slightly before the main circuit, so that a powerful charging current
may be at once generated. Thus the danger of a discharge from the batteries to
the machine may be avoided, the circuit being automatically broken or re-established
at the necessary times.
:
The second part of my Invention relates more especially to devices and means
for maintaining a constant electro motive force or current at the poles of a dynamo
or in any part of a circuit where any material variation takes place in the speed
of the motor or dynamo-In addition to all or any of the apparatus or devices
previously described I propose to employ a solenoid or magnet round which the
main current supplied by the dynamo circulates-This solenoid or magnet controls
a core, to which may be attached metal or other fingers of different lengths
dipping into a mercury trough, or other suitable arrangement-Between each of
the metal fingers a wire or carbon or other resistance may be inserted, one wire of
the circuit of the magnet fields being attached to the shortest finger and the other
to the mercury trough or the movement of the core may be made to vary à
resistance in any suitable or convenient manner: or I may place the ends of the
magnet coils themselves in connection with the fingers, causing the magnet fields of
the dynamo to take the place of the resistance: thus when any excess of speed in
the motor or generator tends to cause an excess of current or electro motive force
to be developed by the dynamo, the above magnet by attraction of its core or
armature will insert a resistance in the magnet field circuit or will throw more or
less coils of the magnet field into circuit: and should the speed of the motor or
generator decrease, the reverse may take place, thus tending to maintain a
constant or approximately constant current or electro motive force at the terminals
or in any part of a circuit-In some cases the above magnet may cause a portion
of the current to be shunted out of the field circuit as required instead of inserting
a resistance in the field circuit or cutting out more or less coils of the magnet
fields
By means of this invention an approximate constancy may be maintained at the
poles of a dynamo or other machine or in any part of a circuit, within reas mable
limits, where a variable speed is obtained upon the motor or generator: whether
such generator be used for charging secondary batteries direct or for working lamps
direct or for any other purposes
;

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Percy Sellon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1883.
ROBERT PERCY SELLON of Surbiton in the County of Surrey Electrical
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPLYING, MAINTAINING AND REGULATING
ELECTRICAL FORCE FOR BATTERY CHARGING AND OTHER PURPOSES, AND IN
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
"
My Invention relates to apparatus for supplying maintaining and regulating
electric force for charging Secondary Batteries or accumulation or for other
purposes; and to devices for automatically causing a charging current supplied
by a dynamo or other means to energize such secondary batteries or other
apparatus until such time as they are charged to the full or desired extent and
then automatically breaking or diminishing the said charging current or throwing
the generator or dynamo machine out of the charging circuit or causing it to
cease from generating electricity; the charging circuit remaining broken or the
generator remaining at rest or supplying no current to the Batteries or other
apparatus until such time as the electro motive force or current of the secondary
batteries or other apparatus drops or diminishes owing to a withdrawal of a
portion or all of the current supplied by the batteries for any purpose such as
lighting heating or the transmission of power when the charging circuit may be
automatically re-established either by means of an automatic switch or by means
of an electro magnet or magnets or other devices controlling mechanical devices
for throwing the generator or other portion of the apparatus in and out of gear
with the motive power supplied by any source such as steam or gas engines or
motors impelled by wind or water power or I may in some cases employ both
either simultaneously or at different times. My Invention further relates to
devices and apparatus for maintaining a constant or approximately constant
electro motive force or current at the poles of a dynamo where the speed of the
motor or dynamo varies to any extent such as might be very apt to occur where
wind power is utilised for Battery charging or other electrical purposes.
With reference to the first part of my Invention I may employ the following
device A solenoid or magnet or magnets may be placed upon a shunt circuit
with the Secondary batteries; the circuit of this solenoid or electro magnet being
closed when the current stored in the batteries diminishes beyond the point
required by means of some suitable device such as a float affected by the gravity
of the liquid contained within the cells, which may cause (by any convenient
arrangement such as the movement of an arm in connection with the float affected
by the gravity of the liquid) the circuit of the above solenoid or electro magnet to
be closed. Apparatus suited to this purpose is described in the Specification of
Letters Patent Number 1644 granted to John Scudamore Sellon and dated the second
day of April One thousand eight hundred and eighty three. On the circuit of this
electro magnet being completed it will serve to attract or suck in an armature or
core which may be made to close the circuit of a second magnet or pair of magnets
which may throw the dynamo into gear with the steam engine or other motor by
any suitable means such as the shifting of a belt on the motor or dynamo or by
actuating a clutch; or inversely when the circuit of the above mentioned solenoid
or electro magnet remains broken owing to the float actuated by the gravity of
the liquid in the cells failing to make the necessary contact which shall close the
above circuit then the armature or core of the above solenoid may make a second

page_text: contact whereby the circuit of a second magnet or pair of magnets shall be closed,
Buch magnet by the shifting of a belt on the dynamo or motor or by actuating a
clutch throwing the dynamo out of gear with the steam engine or motor; the
circuit of this magnet need not remain permanently closed so long as the circuit of
the above mentioned controlling solenoid remains broken owing to the failure of
the float actuated by the gravity of the liquid in the cell or other suitable device
failing to close its circuit, since the circuit of this magnet may be occasionally
closed in any convenient manner, such as by means of a contact arm impelled by
clockwork or otherwise coming in contact from time to time with a second contact
piece or projection upon the dial of the clock. Or I may sometimes cause the
controlling solenoid as above mentioned, instead of actuating some suitable
mechanical device for throwing the dynamo in and out of gear with the motor, to
make and break the current supplied by the generator, either directly or by means
of a second electro magnet, according as the gravity float or other suitable device
which may be used to indicate the condition of the batteries, vizt, whether they
require recharging or whether they are sufficiently charged, may decide.
Or in some cases it may be convenient to employ an arrangement where a shunt
solenoid or magnet and contact making device may by a variation in the current
strength in accumulators or Secondary Batteries cause the circuit of one of two
magnets also on a shunt with the Secondary Batteries or energized in any con-
venient way to be closed so that when the current strength in the accumulators is
below the normal or desired amount the circuit of one of the two magnets shall be
closed whereby the batteries will be thrown into the charging circuit and inversely
when the current strength in the accumulators shall equal or exceed the normal
or desired amount, the circuit of the other of the two magnets shall be closed in
such a manner that a short circuit or branch circuit will be established across the
accumulators which will throw them out of the charging circuit until such time
as a diminution in their current strength takes place when they will again be
thrown into the charging circuit. From time to time occasions may arise when the
speed of the dynamo machine may be so reduced, as might be very liable to happen
in the application of wind power to the generation of Electricity, that the Electro
Motive force developed by the dynamo would be insufficient to overcome or hold
in check the opposing Electro motive force of the. secondary batteries, and a
dangerous discharge from the batteries into the machine would occur, resulting
possibly in injury or destruction to the dynamo. In order to obviate this I may
employ the following automatic safety device: A magnet or pair of magnets in
the charging circuit of the dynamo, on the passage of a current, attract an armature
or core to which two contact fingers, one in connection with the main or charging
circuit, and the other with the magnet or field circuit of the dynamo, but insulated
from one another, are attached, the said contact fingers dipping into two mercury
troughs which complete the main and field circuits: or this may be done by any
other suitable means such as for instance by arms or levers dependent from the
armature or core making contact with two metal or other surfaces: in addition
to the above a magnet on a shunt with the magnet fields or part of them may
be made to control a mechanical device or click for holding the armature out of
the mercury trough or otherwise breaking the main and field magnet circuits
when this has once been accomplished by an excess of current from the batteries
or otherwise.
In Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings S is a solenoid placed upon a shunt
circuit with the secondary batteries the circuit of the above solenoid being closed
or broken at the proper times by means of a float affected by the gravity of the
liquid within the cells or any equally suitable device in the position indicated in
the Figure at when the charging current passing through the cells shall have
charged them to the normal or desired extent the above float may in any convenient
way close the circuit of the above solenoid S which by the attraction of a core K
may close the circuit a of a second magnet or solenoid M: this magnet by the
attraction of its armature or core k will cause the clutch C to be thrown out of

page_text: gear with the pulley r of the dynamo D allowing the pulley to revolve freely upon
the shaft of the dynamo; as soon however as the fall of the current strength in
the batteries shall cause the float at f to break the circuit of the solenoid S the
core K will be released and in being released will make a second contact whereby
the circuit b of a magnet M¹ will be closed which by the attraction of its armature
or core will cause the clutch C to be thrown into gear with the revolving
pulley and so commence to charge the cells once again until such time as a rise
in the current strength in the cells shall cause the solenoid S to close the circuit of
the magnet M and so cause the dynamo to cease from charging the cells. When
however the dynamo is brought to rest by means of the clutch C being thrown out
of gear with the pulley r it is obvious that unless some special arrangement were
provided the batteries would discharge back through the dynamo and probably
cause its destruction...
In order to prevent this I employ a device as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 and
on an enlarged scale in Figure 2.
The magnets or solenoids m m are placed in the charging circuit of the dynamo,
this circuit being completed through the metal contact fingers n and the mercury
trough H. The field magnet circuit of the dynamo is completed through the metal
contact fingers / and the mercury trough H¹. On a shunt or high resistance circuit
with the field magnets of the dynamo or part of them is a second magnet or
solenoid P which controls a suitable device for holding up the contact fingers n
and out of the mercury troughs H and H' respectively when the magnets m m
have attracted them to the desired distance and for releasing the same when the
electro motive force of the dynamo has risen to the required extent so that the two
contact fingers n and I may dip into the troughs H and H¹ and establish the field
circuit of the dynamo and the charging circuit of the accumulators. The action of
this device is as follows:-Supposing an excess of current to be passing in the
circuit whether owing to the discharge of the secondary batteries into the dynamo
or from any other cause the magnet or magnets m m in the main circuit will
attract the armatures or cores m² and thus break the main and field magnet circuits
by drawing the contacts n l out of the mercury cups H H¹, the said armature being
held out of the mercury by suitable catches q controlled by the magnet P and the
contact remaining broken until such time as the shunt magnet may release the said
catches g. which will allow the circuits to be re established by causing the
fingers to make contact with the mercury and the magnet circuit may be
established slightly before the main circuit so that a powerful charging current
may be at once generated. Thus the danger of a discharge from the batteries to
the machine will be avoided, the circuit being automatically broken or reestablished
at the necessary times.
The second part of my invention relates more especially to devices and means
for maintaining a constant Electro motive force or current as far as possible. At
the poles of a dynamo or in any part of a circuit where any material variation
takes place in the speed of the motor or dynamo. In addition to all or any of the
apparatus or devices previously described I propose to employ a solenoid or magnet
-round which the main current supplied by the dynamo circulates: this solenoid or
magnet controls a core, to which may be attached metal or other fingers of different
lengths dipping into a mercury trough, or other suitable arrangement: between
each of the metal fingers a wire or carbon or other resistance may be.inserted, one
wire of the circuit of the magnet fields being attached to the shortest finger and
the other to the mercury trough; or the movement of the core may be made to
vary a resistance in any suitable or convenient manner: or I may place the end!
of various layers of the magnet coils themselves in connection with the fingers,
causing the magnet fields of the dynamo to take the place of the resistance.
Figure 3 illustrates a method which I may adopt in carrying out this Invention:
-M is a magnet or solenoid through which the main or charging current passes, and
which exerts an attractive influence upon the armature or core K: attached to
this armature K. are the contact pieces n of varying lengths between each of which

page_text: a wire, carbon, or other suitable resistance may be placed, and to the shortest of
which fingers one end of the field magnet circuit is connected, while the other is
connected to the mercury trough H into which the contact fingers n dip. When
any excess of speed in the motor or generator tends to cause an excess of current
or electro motive force to be developed by the dynamo the above magnet M by
attraction of its core or armature K will insert a resistance in the magnet field
circuit or will throw more or less coils of the magnet field out of circuit by
attracting the core K, and should the speed of the motor or generator decrease the
reverse may take place thus tending to maintain a constant or approximately
constant current or Electro motive force at the terminals of the dynamo or in any
part of the circuit. In some cases the above, magnet may cause a portion of the
current to be shunted out of the field circuit as required instead of inserting a
resistance in the field circuit or cutting out more or less coils of the magnet fields.
In Figure 3 I have shewn an arrangement similar to that shewn in Figure 1
but in this case I have shewn one magnet M which throws the dynamo out
of gear with the wind mill or steam engine or other motor by lifting the worm w
from the worm wheel w' when the circuit of the magnet M is closed as described
with reference to Figure 1.
By means of this Invention an approximate constancy may be maintained at
the poles of a dynamo or other machine or in any part of a circuit within
reasonable limits where a variable speed is obtained upon the motor or generator
whether such generator be used for charging secondary batteries direct or for
working lamps direct or for any other purposes.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is :-
First For regulating and maintaining a constant, or approximately constant,
current strength in storage or secondary batteries, the employment of a magnet
controlling a device for throwing the dynamo out of, or into, gear with the motor,
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 3 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Second The automatic safety device for automatically making and breaking
the charging circuit, substantially as herein before described and illustrated' in the
several figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.
Third: For supplying, maintaining, and regulating electrical force for battery
charging, the combination of the controlling device for throwing the dynamo out
of, or into, gear with the motor, with the automatic safety device for making and
breaking the charging circuit, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated
in Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying Drawings.
Fourth In combination with storage or secondary batteries where charged
by a motor of variable speed, the automatic device for maintaining an approximately
constant current strength from the dynamo in combination with apparatus for
throwing the dynamo in, or out of, gear with the motor, substantially as
ereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
et
In witness whereof I the said Robert Percy Sellon have to this my Specification
my hand and seal this nineteenth day of October One thousand eight hundred
and eighty three.