IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND REGULATING ELECTRIC-LIGHT,PARTLY APPLICABLE TO PROVISIONAL
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Alfred Varley, of Hatfield, in the County of
Herts, Electrical Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR PRODUCING AND REGULATING ELECTRIC-LIGHT, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Alfred Varley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December 1881.
SAMUEL ALFRED VARLEY of Hatfield in the County of Herts Electrical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND REGULATING
ELECTRIC LIGHT PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES."
My Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for producing and
regulating electric light, and relates in part to apparatus operating on the principle
set forth in the Provisional Specification filed by the late Cornelius Varley and
myself, No 3394 dated the 24th December 1866 (and also described in the
Specification of Letters Patent subsequently granted to us No 1755 dated 15 June
1867) according to which the small amount of active magnetism existing in the
ordinary iron of commerce is made to serve as a fulcrum for mechanical force to
act upon and to develope both electricity and magnetism which forces are made to
act and react on one another with an increased absorption of mechanical force and
to produce a correspondingly increased development of both the electric and
magnetic forces.
In producing electric light it is desirable the electricity produced should be as
nearly as possible of uniform potential and therefore that the light circuit should
be of as nearly as practicable constant resistance. A fault common to dynamo
electric machines is that the electricity developed by them even under favorable
conditions is of a more or less undulating potential.
Now by my present Invention this defect is reduced and the electricity developed
is made to automatically regulate its production and also to regulate the resistance
of the light circuit. To this end I construct a number of wheels which I term the
"armature wheels;" the periphery of each of these wheels consists of an even
number of iron blocks magnetically insulated from one another which blocks I call.
ID 1021

page_text: the "bobbin armatures." These armatures are grooved out in the centre to receive
the bobbin magnets and when completed present a nearly continuous surface of
iron to the field magnets hereinafter described. I prefer to make each of these
wheels by casting in the first instance a wheel of suitable non magnetic metal the
casting resembling a toothed wheel with spaces much wider than the teeth.
blocks of iron which form the bobbin armatures are fitted into these spaces and
attached by brazing or soldering.
The
Another method is to cast the armature wheels of malleable or common cast iron,
then to braze a ring of non-magnetic metal on the face, and afterwards to turn a
groove through the wheel or bore a series of holes close enough to break into each
other so that the periphery is retained only by the brass ring. By means of a
milling or slotting machine the periphery may then be divided into segments, the
circular groove or holes and slots filled up with non-magnetic metal and the whole
soldered into one mass. I however do not limit myself to the particular methods
described as obviously there are other ways by means of which the armature
wheels as described may be built up.
The armature wheels are mounted on an axle at equal distances from one
another, the recesses in the armature blocks being arranged in a line with the axle,
the bobbin magnets fit into these recesses and I prefer to construct them of a
number of thin plates of iron arranged side by side magnetically insulated from
. one another by pieces of paper or other suitable insulating material placed between
the plates, excepting where they fit into the recesses.
The
At these places I generally separate the plates with pieces of non-magnetic
metal and solder the whole together at these parts to form a solid mass through
which a hole is bored for a screw to pass which fastens the bobbin magnets to the
armature blocks. The bobbin magnets are wrapped with insulated wire in the
spaces between the armature wheels which wheels divide them into sections.
number of armature wheels employed in the construction of the apparatus depends
upon the work it is designed to perform. When wrapping the bobbins I prefer to
place a thin sheet of iron between the layers of insulated wire so arranged as not
to embrace quite the whole of the circumference. The bobbin magnets are caused
to revolve by mechanical force when the machine is in action between the poles of
the field magnets which are iron magnets wrapped with insulated wire parallel to
one another. There are two sets of field magnets to each machine the poles of
which are curved to a radius a little larger than that of the armature wheels. The
two sets of field magnets are arranged on opposite sides of the machine facing one
another and between them they embrace the greater part of the armature wheels
nearly the whole of which are therefore always in the magnetic fields when the
machine is in action. The field magnets are generally made of malleable cast or
wrought iron but they may be made of common cast iron. When they
are made of cast iron I prefer to cast each set in one piece the convolutions
of insulated wire are in this case wrapped in the first instance on moulds
which are afterwards removed and the hollow helices so formed slipped
over the magnets. The distance which separates the field magnet Cores
from one another corresponds with the length of the sections of the bobbin
magnets. I prefer to divide the bobbin magnets into as many sections as
practicable and they are usually of such a length that the insulated wire coils
surrounding adjacent field magnets almost touch each other. I obtain by this close
contiguity of the insulated convolutions a considerable increase of the magnetic
induction in the field magnets and very great magnetic polar surface in a given
space. The bobbin magnets being also divided into short sections oppose but
little resistance to magnetic polarization and the electricity developed in the
bobbins is of a relatively high potential.
The cores of the field magnets are arranged in steps, the centre of each successive
core where the magnetic potential is the greatest, being a little higher or lower as
the case may be than the one next to it the effect of this being that the sections
of each bobbin magnet are magnetized to their highest potential in succession.

page_text: The insulated wire coils of the successive cores of the field magnets are so connected
that adjacent cores have alternate poles and present opposite poles to the corre-
sponding cores on the opposite side of the armature wheels.
I will now proceed to describe what takes place at each revolution of the con-
volutions of the insulated wire of the sections of one of the bobbin magnets of a
machine having six sections in each bobbin magnet and sixteen bobbin magnets
arranged round the circle, that is 96 sections in all. The sections of the bobbin
magnet when it is passing through the fields of one set of field magnets will be
magnetized in alternate directions positive electricity being developed say in
section 1-3 and 5; and negative electricity in sections 2. 4 and 6. When the
bobbin magnet passes out of this set of magnetic fields into that of the opposite
field magnets negative electricity will be developed in Nos. 1 3 and 5 sections and
positive electricity in sections 2, 4 and 6.
What I have described as taking place in the sections of one set of bobbins takes
place in the sections of all the other bobbin magnets in succession. The insulated
wires of the bobbin magnet sections are connected together and form a continuous
circuit, the end of one set of sections being connected to the next set of sections
and so on, and a connecting wire attached at each junction of the sections leads to
the collector or commutator in a somewhat similar manner to that first introduced
by Paccinotti and known as the "Paccinotti ring." There is however this
important difference between my arrangement and Paccinotti's; the magnetism
and the electric currents are developed in the sections of my improved apparatus
in alternate directions but the sections are so connected that the electric currents
are delivered at the collector in a uniform direction. The advantages obtained by:
developing the magnetism in the sections of the bobbin magnets in alternate
directions is not only that the arrangement of the field magnets is such that it
increases the magnetism developed as herein before already described but the bobbin
magnets although they become very highly magnetized sectionally when the
machine is in action, are as a whole always neutral or nearly so and the tendency
to develope currents in the magnets themselves generating heat in the machine
and involving a wasteful expenditure of mechanical force, which is a great defect
in Paccinotti's arrangement, is almost entirely neutralized.
The collector or commutator which I prefer to adopt is described in a Provisional
Specification of an Invention forming the subject of an application for Letters
Patent bearing an even date herewith.
The electricity developed is made by means of the commutator to pass wholly
or in part through the insulated wire of the field magnets and the external
circuit in the way already described in a previous Invention referred to in the
Specification of Letters Patent bearing date the 19th day of December 1876
No. 4905. When alternate currents are required I so construct the apparatus or
machine that part of the bobbin magnet coils produce continuous currents to excito
the field magnets and the remaining portion of the bobbin magnet coils produce
alternate currents for use in the external circuits. To this end I modify the forms
of some of the field magnet cores by removing a part of the central portion and by
wrapping the two legs thus produced by insulated wire in alternate directions and
I lead the currents from the bobbin magnet coils that pass these modified field
magnets to two or more rings while I lead the continuous currents from the coils
that pass the unmodified field magnets to the commutator.
A special feature of the improved apparatus is that the field magnets and sections
can be increased in number to a great extent without inconvenience; the greater
the number of the sections the more uniform will be the potential of the electricity
developed through a circuit of constant resistance with a constant expenditure of
mechanical force.
The machine or apparatus just above described may be modified as follows:
The sections of the bobbin magnets instead of being constructed of a continuous
length of iron bars or plates divided by the armature wheels may be made of a
number of short plates arranged end to end, and the successive sections instead of

page_text: being arranged all in a straight line may be stepped or placed a little in advance
of one another; or the bobbin sections may be made by wrapping insulated wire
on moulds of the shape of segments of a circle with thin sheets of iron between the
layers of insulated wire, the segments so formed being afterwards fitted into a
framed ring and the poles of the field magnets being made to embrace them on
both sides instead of on the periphery as before described.
"
I regulate the currents produced by machines or apparatus such as above
described and by other electric generators by means of apparatus which I call
'regulator magnets." I usually employ two such apparatus situated in the
external circuit of the machine or apparatus, the office of one being to regulate the
supply of actuating fluid to the prime mover, and the other to regulate the
resistance of the external circuit. The poles of the regulator magnets have each
tubular extensions which approach within a certain distance of one another.
Soft iron cylinders wrapped in two sections with insulated wire coiled in
alternate directions are mounted and held in a state of equilibrium in these
tubular extensions by two springs pressing in opposite directions. The insulated
wires of the iron cylinders may form a branch circuit with that of the coils of the
regulator magnets.
The cylinders are weighted in accordance with the current desired to be
produced. The weighted cylinders are lifted when the current passing through the
electro magnets exceeds that for which they are adjusted. The regulator magnet
which automatically regulates the current produced in the machine or apparatus
closes an electric circuit in which are included helices of insulated wire which
surround the upper parts of the jointed levers of a centrifrugal ball lever governor
attached to the steam engine or other motor which drives the machine.
In one form of governor for this purpose the upper portions of the governor
levers are made tubular and the rods to which the balls are attached can be moved
up and down in the tubular portion and are prevented falling below a determined
limit by stops.
The governor levers are mounted on a revolving shaft connected to the motor
and can turn round freely upon it, the motion of the shaft being communicated to
them by means of a ratchet or cam.
The effect of closing the circuit through the helices is to render the upper
portion an electro-magnet and to shorten the governor levers by drawing up the
rods to the lower end of which the balls are attached.
The effect of this is to reduce the diameter of the orbit through which the
governor balls revolve and their speed of revolution by a well known law becomes
immediately increased the consequence being they travel faster round than the
shaft which communicated motion to them; the balls thus become raised and cut
off the actuating fluid by closing the throttle valve in the usual way. The
resistance of the light circuit is automatically regulated as follows:-
The carbon electrodes in the lamps are arranged vertically the upper one coming
in contact with the lower one by the action of gravity; they are separated from
one another by the action of the electric current; the lower carbon holder is
permanently attached to the lamp; the upper holder is a cylindrical tube of iron
wrapped helically with a single wire or wrapped in sections with a conductor
insulated from the iron tube which moves freely in tubular poles of a regulator
magnet. Contact springs connected to one pole of the apparatus or machine press
on the helical conductor in the space which separates the two poles of the regulator
magnet and the current divides itself, part of it flowing in an upward and part
of it in a downward direction through the helical conductor to the carbon holder.
Thence it passes to and through the carbon electrodes and to the other poles of
the apparatus. The effect of this arrangement is to impart an upward motion to
the upward carbon holder separating the carbon electrodes, the circuit being
maintained through the electric arc which is formed. The resistance of the arc
increases as the space separating the carbon electrodes becomes greater and the
strength of the current decreases with the increased resistance of the circuit until

page_text: a point is reached where the weight of the upper carbon and its holder balances or
overcomes the motive force which raises it.
As the
When the strength of the current is balanced by the weight of the upper carbon
the upper electrode becomes stationary; when gravity overcomes the current the
upper carbon falls, the resistance of the circuit becomes decreased and the current
becomes greater. In this way by the combined action of the forces of gravity and
electricity the resistance of the light circuit is made sensibly constant.
upper carbon burns away the force of gravity becomes less but this takes place so
gradually that the steadiness of the light is not appreciably affected. The chief
effect of this decrease is to gradually increase the distance separating the electrodes
at which the electric current and the force of gravity balance one another. This
slight defect may be overcome by causing the carbon holder to pick up successive
weights as it falls, or to gradually take up a chain equal in weight length for
length to the carbon rod or by a modification of this part of the Invention in
which the upward current of air set up by the heat developed in the electric arc is
made to give motion to a screw fan which is attached to the upper portion of a
tubular cylinder mounted in bearings in which it revolves. This tubular cylinder
is slotted through on one side and two bevelled wheels of the same diameter and
same number of teeth are mounted one above the other on the tubular cylinder
and move freely on it. These bevelled wheels gear into a third bevelled wheel
having a pinion which works a rack up or down according to the direction of the
motion communicated by the pinion. A soft iron cylinder is placed inside the
tubular cylinder and has a key or tooth attached to it which projects through the
slot; this cylinder can be moved freely up or down between stops.
An
Two helices of insulated wire are placed over the tubular cylinder the one being
just above the upper bevilled wheel and the other below the lower one.
electric circuit is closed through the upper or lower of these helices by the motion
of the weighted cylinder of the regulator magnet previously described. When the
circuit is closed through the upper of these helices the soft iron cylinder working
in the tubular cylinder is attracted upwards and gears the upper bevilled wheel to
the tubular cylinder causing it to revolve with it. When the circuit is closed
through the lower helix the soft iron cylinder is attracted downwards ungearing
the upper bevilled wheel and gearing the lower one, the direction of motion of the
tubular cylinder is always constant but the direction of motion of the third bevilled
wheel having the pinion changes accordingly as the upper or lower bevilled wheels
are geared. In this way an upward and downward motion is given to the rack to
which is attached the upper carbon electrode such motion being regulated
absolutely by the resistance of the light circuit.
The lower electrode is provided with arrangements whereby the arc may be
electrically or mechanically separated at the commencement of the lighting.
It will be obvious that the details of the different apparatus hereinabove
described may be variously modified without departure from the principles of my
Invention.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Samuel Alfred Varley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th June 1882.
SAMUEL ALFRED VARLEY late of Hatfield in the County of Herts now of
Islington in the County of Middlesex Electrical Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND REGULATING ELECTRIC LIGHT, PARTLY
APPLICABLE TO OTHER USES."
My Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for producing and
regulating electric light, and relates in part to apparatus operating on the principle
set forth in the Provisional Specification filed by the late Cornelius Varley and
myself, No. 3394 dated the 24th December 1866 (and also described in the Speci-
fication of Letters Patent subsequently granted to us No. 1755 dated 15 June 1867)
according to which the small amount of active magnetism existing in the ordinary
iron of commerce is made to serve as a fulcrum for mechanical force to act upon
and to develope both electricity and magnetism which forces are made to act and
react on one another with an increased absorption of mechanical force and to
produce a correspondingly increased development of both the electric and magnetic
forces.
In producing electric light it is desirable the electricity produced should be as
nearly as possible of uniform potential and therefore that the light circuit should
be of as nearly as practicable constant resistance. A fault common to dynamo
electric machines is that the electricity developed by them even under favourable
conditions is of a more or less undulating potential.
Now by my present Invention this defect is reduced and the electricity
developed is made to automatically regulate its own production and also to
regulate the resistance of the light circuit. To attain this end I construct a
number of wheels which I term the " armature wheels;" the periphery of each of
these wheels consists of an even number of iron blocks magnetically insulated from
one another which blocks I call the "bobbin armatures." These armatures are
grooved out in the centre to receive the bobbin magnets and when completed
present a nearly continuous surface of iron to the field magnets hereinafter
described. I prefer to make each of these wheels by casting in the first instance a
wheel of suitable non magnetic metal the casting resembling a toothed wheel with
spaces much wider than the teeth. The blocks of iron which form the bobbin
armatures are fitted into these spaces and attached by brazing or soldering.
Referring to the accompanying three Sheets of Drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation
of one of the armature wheels.
Fig. 2 shews five of these wheels mounted together on a shaft or axle.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the bobbin magnets and one set of bobbins.
Fig. 4 is an end view of the same.
Fig. 5 is an elevation of an armature wheel with the bobbin magnets and bobbins
mounted in their places.
Fig. 6 is a plan or top view shewing five armature wheels, with their bobbin
magnets and bobbins, together with a central shaft, commutator or collector and
driving pulley.
Fig. 7 is a side view of the machine.
Fig. 8 is a plan or top view of the same.
Fig. 9 is an end view.
Fig. 10 is an end view of the machine when modified for the production of
alternating currents.
19

page_text: B (Fig. 1) represents one of what I have termed the armature wheels; its
periphery consists of an even number of blocks of iron A, having notches or
grooves A cut in them. These blocks are magnetically insulated from one another
by the teeth or projections A2 and are mounted, as shewn on the Drawing, on the
wheel B, which is constructed of a suitable non-magnetic metal, to which they (the
blocks) are brazed, or soldered, or attached by other suitable means. These
armature wheels are mounted, at equal distances from one another, on the axle A**
of the machine, as shewn in Fig. 2. Soft iron bobbin magnets C, wrapped with
coils or bobbins of insulated wire C fit into the notches of the blocks of iron A.
The armature wheels are mounted on an axle at equal distances from one
another, the recesses in the armature blocks being arranged in a line with the axle,
the bobbin magnets fit into these recesses and I prefer to construct them of a
number of thin plates of iron arranged side by side magnetically insulated from
one another by pieces of paper or other suitable insulating material placed
between the plates.
Fig. 3 is a front view, and Fig. 4 is an end view of one of the bobbin magnets C
and one set of bobbins C¹. I usually fasten the bobbin magnets in their places by
cutting a shallow groove in the circumference of the armature wheels and bobbin
magnets, and binding them (the bobbin magnets) by wrapping wire round in the
groove. The bobbin magnets are wrapped with insulated wire in the spaces
between the armature wheels which wheels divide them into sections. The number
of armature wheels employed in the construction of the apparatus depends upon
the work it is designed to perform. When wrapping the bobbins I prefer to place
a thin sheet of iron between the layers of insulated wire so arranged as not to
embrace quite the whole of the circumference.
"
Fig. 5 is an end view of the armature wheels, with the armature blocks bobbin
magnets and bobbins mounted in their places, and Fig. 6 is a top view of the same
shewing also the commutator or collector. A** is the axle or central shaft, F is
the driving pulley through which motion is communicated to the machine. G is
the "commutator or "collector" to which the insulated wires of the bobbins are
connected. In the Drawings the machine is represented as having four bobbins
on each bobbin magnet; and sixteen bobbin magnets; making a total number of
sixty four bobbins. The number of bobbins on each bobbin magnet, and the
number of bobbin magnets, may be increased or diminished in accordance with the
work the machine is designed to perform. The armature wheels are caused to
revolve by mechanical force when the machine is in action between the poles
of the field magnets which are iron magnets wrapped with insulated wire parallel
to one another. There are two sets of field magnets to each machine the poles of
which are curved to a radius a little larger than that of the armature wheels. The
two sets of field magnets are arranged on opposite sides of the machine facing one
another and between them they embrace the greater part of the armature wheels
nearly the whole of which are therefore always in the magnetic fields when the
machine is in action. The field magnets are generally made of malleable cast or
wrought iron but they may be made of common cast iron. When they are made of cast
iron I prefer to cast each set in one piece the convolutions of insulated wire are in
this case wrapped in the first instance on moulds which are afterwards removed
and the hollow helices so formed slipped over the magnets. The distance which
separates the field magnet cores from one another corresponds with the length of
the sections of the bobbin magnets. I prefer to divide the bobbin magnets into as
many sections as practicable and they are usually of such a length that the
insulated wire coils surrounding adjacent field magnets almost touch each other.
I obtain by this close contiguity of the insulated convolutions a considerable
increase of the magnetic induction in the field magnets and very great magnetic
polar surface in a given space. The bobbin magnets being also divided into short
sections oppose but little resistance to magnetic polarization and the electricity
developed in the bobbins is of a relatively high potential.
The cores of the field magnets are arranged in steps, the centre of each

page_text: successive core, where the magnetic potential is the greatest, being a little higher
or lower as the case may be than the one next to it the effect of this being that
the sections of each bobbin magnet are magnetized to their highest potential in
succession. The construction of the field magnets is shewn in Figs 7, 8, and 9.
Fig 7 is a side view of the machine; Fig 8 is a top view of the machine, and
Fig 9 is an end view. Each set of field magnets H consists of as many cores or
plates wrapped with insulated wire as there are armature wheels in the machine.
The insulated wire coils surrounding the cores of the field magnets are so con-
nected that adjacent cores have alternate polarity and present opposite poles to the
corresponding cores on the opposite side of the armature wheels.
I will now proceed to describe what takes place at each revolution of the axle
in the convolutions of the insulated wire of the sections of one of the bobbin
magnets of a machine such as I have illustrated and which has sixteen bobbin
magnets each comprising four sections or bobbins that is 64 sections in all. The
four bobbins or sections of the bobbin magnet, for example that shewn separately
in Fig 3, when it is passing through the fields of one set of field magnets will be
magnetized in alternate directions positive electricity being developed say in
sections 1 and 3, and negative electricity in sections 2 and 4. When the bobbin
magnet passes out of this set of magnetic fields into that of the opposite field
magnets negative electricity will be developed in Nos. 1 and 3 sections, and positive
electricity in sections 2 and 4.
What I have described as taking place in the sections of one bobbin magnet
takes place in the sections of all the other bobbin magnets in succession. The
insulated wires of the bobbin magnet sections are connected together in such a
way that although the currents developed at a given moment in adjacent sections
flow locally in opposite directions yet they flow in the same direction in the main
circuit which is continuous, the end of one set of sections being connected to the
next set of sections and so on, and a connecting wire attached at each junction of
the sections leads to the collector or commutator in a somewhat similar manner to
that first introduced by Pacinotti and known as the "Pacinotti ring." There is
however this important difference between my arrangement and Pacinotti's; the
magnetism and the electric currents are developed in the sections of my improved
apparatus in alternate directions but the sections are so connected that the electric
currents are delivered at the collector in a uniform direction. Thus I obtain the
following advantages by developing the magnetism in the sections of the bobbin
magnets in alternate directions; (1) the arrangement of the field magnets is such
that it increases the magnetism developed as herein before already described and
(2) the bobbin magnets although they become very highly magnetized sectionally
when the machine is in action, are as a whole always neutral or nearly so and the
tendency to develop currents in the magnets themselves, generating heat in the
machine and involving a wasteful expenditure of mechanical force is almost entirely
neutralized.
The collector or commutator which I prefer to adopt is described in the
Specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent No. 5667 were granted to
me dated 24 December A.D. 1881. The electricity devoloped is made by means of
the commutator to pass wholly or in part through the insulated wire of the field
magnets and the external circuit in the way already described in a previous
Invention referred to in the Specification of Letters Patent bearing date the
19th day of December 1876 No 4905. When alternate currents are required I so
construct the apparatus or machine that part of the bobbin magnet coils produce
continuous currents to excite the field magnets and the remaining portion of the
bobbin magnet coils produce alternate currents for use in the external circuits.
To this end I modify the forms of some of the field magnet cores by removing a
part of the central portion and by wrapping the two legs thus produced by
insulated wire in alternate directions and I lead the currents from the bobbin
magnet coils that pass these modified field magnets to metal rings mounted on the
axis of the machine but electrically insulated from it but the continuous currents

page_text: developed in the coils that pass the unmodified field magnets are led to the com-
mutator or collector which closes the circuit through the field magnet coils.
Fig. 10 is an end view shewing the construction of the modified field magnets
which develop currents in alternate directions in the revolving bobbins; Fig. 11 is
a top view of the same. J are the modified "field magnets; the insulated wire
coils surrounding these modified field magnets are so connected that they (the
magnets) present four alternate poles to the armature wheels, and, consequently at
each revolution, corresponding alternations are induced in the magnetic polarity of
the bobbin magnets thus developing corresponding alternations of current in the
insulated wires of the bobbins.
The number of modified field magnets employed in each machine_varies in
accordance with the potential of the electricity it is desired to develop. In Fig. 11
the machine or apparatus is represented as having four sections to each bobbin
magnet which revolves in the fields of the modified magnets J, and the bobbin
magnets which revolve in the magnetic fields of the unmodified magnets H are
represented as being divided into two sections. The insulated wires of the bobbins
in which alternate currents are developed are usually connected in two circuits,
one end of each of which circuits is connected to one of the three insulated metal
rings K, mounted on the axle of the machine or apparatus; and the other ends of
the wires are connected to the other two rings.
A special feature of the improved apparatus is that the field magnets and
sections can be increased in number to a great extent without inconvenience; the
greater the number of the sections the more uniform will be the potential of the
electricity developed through a circuit of constant resistance with a constant
expenditure of mechanical force.
I regulate the currents produced by machines or apparatus such as above
described and by other electric generators, by means of apparatus which I call
"regulator magnets."
I usually employ two such apparatus situated in the external circuit of the
machine or apparatus the office of one being to regulate the supply of actuating
fluid to the prime mover whilst the office of the other is to regulate the resistance
of the external circuit.
The regulator magnet has tubular extensions or forms a hollow horse shoe magnet
with poles directed towards one another and approaching within a short distance.
A soft iron cylinder is mounted in these tubular extensions, and is there held in a
state of equilibrium by two springs pressing in opposite directions. Around this
said cylinder are two coils of insulated wire; these coils are so wound and connected
that the two ends situate near the centre of the cylinder are of N polarity, and the
two outer ends are of S polarity, or vice versa.
The cylinder is weighted in accordance with the current desired to be produced
or it may be pulled in one direction by means of an adjusting spring. When the
current developed by the machine exceeds that desired, the weighted cylinder
mounted in the tubular extensions of the regulator magnet becomes raised and
closes an electric circuit in which are included helices of insulated wire; these
helices surround the upper parts of the jointed levers of a centrifugal governor,
attached to the steam engine or other motor which drives the machine. In one
form of governor for this purpose the upper portions of the governor levers are
made tubular, and the rods to which the balls or weights are attached can be
moved up and down in the tubular portions and are by means of stops prevented
from falling below a determined limit. The governor levers are mounted on a
revolving shaft which is connected to the motor and the levers can turn round
freely on this shaft the motion of the shaft being communicated to them by means
of a ratchet or cam. This governor will normally act like an ordinary centrifugal
governor to control the speed of rotation of the motor. If however, the current
from any cause increase beyond a determined amount, the circuit will be closed
through the governor helices, the tubular portions of the governor levers will
become electro magnets and will shorten the governor arms by drawing up the rods

page_text: to the lower end of which the weights are attached. The effect of this, is to reduce
the diameter of the orbit through which the governor weights (balls) revolve, and
by a well known law, it results that their rate of revolution becomes immediately
increased, and consequently they travel round faster than the shaft which com-
municated motion to them-thus the balls become raised by the centrifugal
force, and the supply of actuating fluid to the motor is arrested by closing the
throttle valve in the usual way.
Fig. 12 shews one construction of the regulator magnets; L is an electro magnet,
the poles of which (N and S) are tubular, and approach each other in 'the centre.
M and M' are equilibrium springs. M² and M³ are conductors against which the
equilibrium springs press. M is attached to but insulated from the soft iron
cylinder O. M³ is in electrical connection with the soft iron cylinder. P is
an adjusting spring attached to the end of the pivotted lever Q which rests on
a hook at the lower end of M³ shewn separately in another position in Fig. 13.
P is a screw nut by means of which the required amount of strain on the
cylinder O can be adjusted.
When the regulator magnet is connected with the circuit, the electric current
passes from the machine through the conducting wire W and divides itself through
the electro magnet L and the resistance shunt R, part of the current passing through
Ron to the electric lamps, and part passing through the insulated wire of electro
magnet L and through the spring M to conductor M and thence to the insulated
wire surrounding the soft iron cylinder; from this the current proceeds vid
the metal of the soft iron cylinder through conductor M³ and lever Q on to the
contact spring T and through resistance R¹ to the lamps. When the electricity
developed exceeds the desired amount, the soft iron cylinder O is raised and the
lever closes the circuit through contact spring T. This spring T2 is connected
to the electric governor T3 which comes into action as previously described.
Fig. 14 shews the construction of the electric governor. X is the revolving shaft
which communicates motion through the pawl and ratchet X' to the centrifugal
governor levers. Y Y are the tubular portions of the said levers, one of which is
shewn in section, and which become electro magnets when the circuit is closed
through them, drawing up the weights Xx as indicated by the dotted lines, thus
cutting off the supply of actuating fluid from the prime mover (by closing the
throttle valve) in the manner previously described.
The resistance of the light circuit is automatically regulated as follows:-The
carbon electrodes in the lamps are arranged vertically the upper one coming in
contact with the lower one by the action of gravity; they are separated from
one another by the action of the electric current; the lower carbon holder is
permanently attached to the lamp; the upper holder is a cylindrical tube of iron
wrapped helically with a single wire, or wrapped in sections with a conductor
insulated from the iron tube which moves freely in tubular poles of a regulator
magnet. Contact springs connected to one pole of the apparatus or machine,.
press on the helical conductor in the space which separates the two poles of the
regulator magnet and the current divides itself, part of it flowing in an upward
and part of it in a downward direction through the helical conductor to the
carbon holder. Thence it passes to and through the carbon electrodes and to
the other pole of the apparatus. The effect of this arrangement is that a magnetic
pole is formed in the coil surrounding the iron tube midway between the two poles
of the regulator magnet. This pole is always of opposite name to the lower pole
of the regulator magnet and consequently is attracted by the upper pole. This
imparts an upward motion to the upper carbon holders, separating the carbon
electrodes, the circuit being maintained through the electric arc which is formed.
The resistance of the arc increases as the space separating the carbon electrodes
becomes greater and the strength of the current decreases with the increased
resistance of the circuit until a point is reached where the weight of the upper
carbon and its holder balances or overcomes the motive force which raises it.
When the strength of the current is balanced by the weight of the upper

page_text: carbon the upper electrode becomes stationary;-when gravity overcomes the
current the upper carbon falls, the resistance of the circuit becomes decreased and
the current becomes greater.
In this way by the combined action of the forces of gravity and electricity the.
resistance of the light circuit is made sensibly constant. As the upper carbon
burns away the force of gravity becomes less but this takes place so gradually that
the steadiness of the light is not appreciably affected. The chief effect of this
decrease is to gradually increase the distance separating the electrodes at which
the electric current and the force of gravity balance one another. This slight
defect may be overcome by causing the carbon holder to pick up successive weights
as it falls, or to gradually take up a chain equal in weight length for length to the
carbon rod. By a modification of this part of the Invention the upward current
of air set up by the heat developed in the electric arc is made to give motion to a
screw fan which is attached to the upper portion of a tubular cylinder mounted in
bearings in which it revolves. This tubular cylinder is slotted through on one
side and two bevilled wheels of the same diameter and same number of teeth are
mounted one above the other on the tubular cylinder and move freely on it.
These bevilled wheels gear into a third bevilled wheel having a pinion which
works a rack up or down according to the direction of the motion communicated
by the pinion. A soft iron rod is placed inside the tubular cylinder and has a key
or tooth attached to it which projects through the slot: this rod can be moved
freely up or down between stops. Two helices of insulated wire are placed over
the tubular cylinder the one being just above the upper bevelled wheel and the
other below the lower one. An electric circuit is closed through the upper or lower
of these helices by the motion of the weighted cylinder of the regulator magnet
previously described. When the circuit is closed through the upper of these
helices the soft iron rod working in the tubular cylinder is attracted upwards and
gears the upper bevelled wheel to the tubular cylinder causing it to revolve with
it. When the circuit is closed through the lower helix, the soft iron rod is
attracted downwards ungearing the upper bevilled wheel and gearing the lower
one, the direction of motion of the tubular cylinder is always constant but the
direction of motion of the third bevelled wheel having the pinion changes
accordingly as the upper or lower bevelled wheels are geared. In this way an
upward and downward motion is given to the rack to which is attached the upper
carbon electrode such motion being regulated absolutely by the resistance of the
light circuit.
The lower electrode is provided with arrangements whereby the arc may be
electrically or mechanically separated at the cominencement of the lighting.
Fig. 15 illustrates a lamp according to this Invention.
Fig. 16 is a section of the regulating magnet and its armature or core.
Fig. 17 is an elevation to a smaller scale of the lamp shewing the means for
counterbalancing the weight of the upper carbon and holder and for modifying the
abruptness of its action.
Fig. 18 illustrates a modification of the arc controlling mechanism.
Fig. 19 is a detail view.
The carbon electrodes a a' (Fig. 15) are arranged vertically, the upper carbon a
coming in contact with the lower one a¹ by the action of gravity. They are
separated from one another by the electric current which communicates an upward
motion to the upper carbon electrode. The lower carbon holder is permanently
attached to the lamp. The upper carbon is carried by the holder 6 which is
attached to but is electrically insulated from the tube of iron c. This tube I
usually wrap with a single layer of wire, insulated from the iron tube, which wire
I prefer to be of a square section as shewn in Fig. 15, but which may be round
wire as shewn in the sectional Drawing Fig. 16. This wrapped iron tube moves
freely in the tubular poles of the regulator magnet n, 8. When the electric circuit
is closed through the lamp, the current passes in the direction shewn by the
arrow 100, through the insulated wire of the electro magnet d to the metal work

page_text: of the magnet, the effect of this is to attract the armature d' and separate it from
the contact screw d²,-the current then passes on as shewn by the arrows 200
and 300 to the lower carbon holder a', through the lower carbon to the upper
carbon, then through the two contact rollers a³ as shewn by the arrow 400 on to
the metal frame a³ and thence to the contact rollers e, e, e¹, e², which make
electrical contact with the convolutions of wire surrounding the iron tube c. Part
of the current passes from the upper convolutions downwards to the centre and
part of it passes from the lower pair of contact rollers upwards to the centre;
from the centre the current passes through the contact springs f which press
against the convolutions surrounding the iron tube c midway between the two
poles ns of the regulator magnet. The current after leaving the contact springs f,
passes through the convolutions of insulated wire g, shewn in the sectional Drawing
Fig. 16 and through the remaining portion of the circuit. The effect of this is to
give an upward motion to the iron tube c, separating the upper and lower carbons,
the circuit being maintained by the electric arc which is formed. It is obvious
that the coil would move without any iron core inside or if there be an iron core
inside the said iron core might be fixed and the carbon attached to the coil. The
use of an iron core however greatly increases the motive force. To lessen the
amount of force required to give motion to the upper carbon a rope or chain is
attached to the iron tube c; this rope or chain passes over a pulley h shewn in
Fig 17, and has a weight j attached to it which weight partly balances the
weight of the iron tube c and upper electrode; this weight j moves in a
cylinder large enough to allow it to just freely move, and the resistance of the
air prevents the weight from falling or rising too rapidly. Should the
circuit become divided by the carbon breaking or from any other cause the
armature of the magnet d is no longer attracted downwards but is pressed
upwards against the contact screw d and completes the circuit through the said
contact screw d, and through the resistance r, which approximately equals the
resistance of the arc circuit in the lamp. Fig. 18 shews a modification of this portion
of my Invention, in which the upward current of air (set up by the heat developed
by the arc) is made to give motion to a screw fan k, which is attached to the upper
portion of a hollow cylinder mounted in bearings in which it revolves. This
cylinder is slotted through on one side; two bevilled wheels 1, 1, (both having
the same diameter and the same number of teeth) are mounted one above the
other on the said cylinder and move freely on it. These bevelled wheels gear
into a third bevelled wheel 1³,-
-on the axis of this wheel there is a pinion * which
works a rack m up or down according to the direction of motion of the pinion.
A soft iron rod p is placed inside the tubular cylinder k and has a key or tooth pi
attached to it; this rod p can be moved freely up and down between stops; two
helices of insulated wire o¹ o' are placed over the tubular cylinder above and
below the bevelled wheels; an electric circuit is closed through the upper or lower
of these helices by the motion of the weighted cylinder of a regulator magnet as
herein before already described with reference to Fig. 12; when the current is
closed through the upper of the helices the soft iron rod p is moved upwards, the
tooth p gearing the upper bevelled wheel to the tubular cylinder causing it
to revolve with it.
When the circuit is closed through the lower helix the soft iron rod p is attracted
downwards and the lower bevilled wheel becomes geared to the tubular
cylinder k. The direction of motion of the tubular cylinder k is always constant
but the direction of motion of the third bevilled wheel having the pinion 7*
changes accordingly as the upper or lower bevelled wheels are geared. In this
way an upward and downward motion is given to the rack m to which is attached
the upper carbon electrode such motion being regulated absolutely by the
resistance of the arc circuit. The lower electrode is mounted on a tubular iron
cylinder p² forming the core of the electro magnet o³ and is forced upwards by a
helical spring inside. The upper carbon comes into contact with the lower one in
the first instance by the action of gravity. A friction cam rx presses against the

page_text: wheel k², attached to the upper end of the slotted cylinder k¹. A top view of this
cam * is shewn in Fig. 10. This cam * permits the cylinder ' to move freely
in the direction imparted to it by the upward currents of heated air acting on
fan but gives a certain amount of resistance to motion in the opposite direction.
When the circuit is in the first instance closed through the lamp, the carbons are
in contact with each other and the resistance is less than is the case when an ars
is (afterwards) formed; hence it results that the regulator magnet previously
described puts the upper bevelled wheel into gear with the slotted cylinder k¹.
The formation of the arc takes place when the hollow cylinder p² of the electro
magneto (which carries the lower carbon) is attracted downwards;-whilst l
is in gear with k¹ the friction cam ** prevents the upper carbon descending but
as soon as the arc circuit is formed, heat is developed and the resistance of the
circuit rapidly increases until so high a resistance is attained that the lower bevel
wheel becomes geared to the slotted cylinder. The heated air now sets the fan in
motion and an upward and downward movement is communicated to the upper
carbon accordingly as the resistance of the circuit varies. The heated air rising
from the neighbourhood of the arc is received by a funnel n and directed by it.
through slots into the pipe P by which it is delivered under the fan blades.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and the manner in
which it is to be performed I would have it understood that what I consider to be
novel and original and therefore claim as secured to me by the Letters Patent
hereinbefore first in part recited is :-
1
1. In an electric generator the arrangement in combination substantially as
hereinabove described of generating bobbins, or sections, carried between
magnetically insulated armatures of magnetic material, and field magnets so
arranged that their poles acting upon the circumferential edges of the said armatures,
will produce in directions parallel with the axis of the machine, polarities of
opposite name at the opposite ends of each coil or section.
2. In an electric generator arranging the poles of the field magnets in steps
substantially as described with reference to Figs. 7 and 8 of the Drawings so that
the several bobbins or sections in a row are magnetized to their highest potential
in succession as above set forth.
3. In an electric generator in which the field magnets are arranged in steps as
referred to in Claim 2 providing a thin sheet of iron between the layers of
insulated wire on the sections or bobbins in which the current is generated
substantially as described.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the electric generating
portion of the machine substantially as described with referenco to Figs. 7, 8 and 9
of the Drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the alternate current
producing portion of the combined machine substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 10 and 11 of the Drawings.
6. The use for regulating electric currents of a soft iron cylinder wrapped in two
sections with insulated wire coiled in alternate directions and mounted within a
tubular electro magnet in such wise that when the ourrent exceeds a certain
determined intensity the whole or a portion of it is diverted into a second circuit
substantially as and for the purposes described.
7. The use for controlling the speed of a motor employed to produce electrio
light or for other purpose of a governor so constructed that the effective length
of its arms can be altered when desired by the action of an electric current
substantially as described.
8. The use for controlling the speed of a motor employed to produce electric
light or for other purpose of a governor, of the kind referred to in Claim 7, in
combination with a current regulator of the kind referred to in Claim 6,
substantially as described.
9. The improved-governor, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as
described with referenco to Fig. 14 of the Drawings.

page_text: 10. In an electric lamp the use for adjusting an electrode or electrodes of a coil
so arranged that its poles remain fixed in space although the coil itself may move
in the direction of its length, substantially as described.
11. In an electric lamp, the use for adjusting an electrode or electrodes, of a coil
so arranged that the poles remain fixed in space although the coil itself may move
in the direction of its length in combination with a magnet, the arrangement being
such that the said coil is free to move in the magnetic field substantially as
described.
12. In an electric lamp the use of a moveable coil of wire traversed by a
current which enters the coil from one or more fixed contact pieces and leaves by
one or more other fixed contact pieces in combination with an electro magnet with
hollow poles or polar extensions substantially as described and for the purpose set
forth.
13. The improved electric lamp, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially
as described with reference to Figs. 15, 16 and 17 of the Drawings.
14. In an electric lamp, utilizing the heated air or gases arising from the
electric are as a motive power to effect the feeding of one or more electrodes
substantially as described.
15. In an electric lamp the use in combination of a fan driven by the heated air
or gases arising from the electric arc, and mechanism whereby one or more
electrodes is or are raised or lowered according as the electric resistance in the arc
circuit varies substantially as described.
In witness whereof I the said Samuel Alfred Varley have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twentyfourth day of June in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.