Improvements in or relating to the Generation, Transformation, or Conversion of Electric Currents.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 1st June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 28th Feb., 1889
Comolete Specification Accepted, 30th Mar., 1889
Improvements in or relating to the Generation, Transformation, or
Conversion of Electric Currents.
We, ALFRED LE CLERCQ and AOHILLE VANSTEENKISTE, both of 70 Quaide
Willebroeck Brussels in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention has for its object the transformation of the current
produced by a magneto or dynamo electric machine in such a manner that its nature
is changed so as to give a greatly increased efficiency relatively to that of the current
first produced.
Our invention consists essentially in the combination with a magneto or dynamo
electric machine, of converting and multiplying apparatus and of accessory devices
required to establish the electrical relations between the generating machine and the
multiplying converters.
As in the multiplying and converting system it is of the greatest importance that
the intensity of the original current should be constant, this current is generated by
a machine of a special and novel construction, more particularly with regard to the
arrangement of the inductors.
We
Our generating machine differs from those generally in use, in the arrangement of
its inductors and revolving armatures: instead of employing either electro magnetic
or magneto-electric inductors, we form the magnetic field of a combination of ordinary
bar magnets and electro magnets in such a manner that the energy of the magnetic
field of the natural magnets is equal to that of the field of the electro magnets, this
permitting us to obtain a magnetic field of constant and uniform energy.
preferably use for each electro magnet, two ordinary bar magnets placed symmetri-
cally on each side of it, each of the bar magnets having half the power of the
electro magnet. It is easily understood that this arrangement may be repeated as
many times as is necessary, and receive forms varying according to the ideas of the
designer, and the requirements of the plant. The ordinary magnets have the form

page_text: of horse shoes and consist of a suitable number of thin sheet magnets connected
together in any convenient manner. The advantages resulting from the combination
in a machine generating electric currents, of inductors consisting partly of ordinary
bar magnets and partly of electro magnets arranged in the aforesaid manner, are
obvious. First, the machine can always be started without a special system for
exciting the magnets such as by a separate machine or by a shunt current. One
part of the magnetic field being always active, currents are generated immediately
the armature begins to rotate, furthermore, during the time the machine is working,
the regularity of the current will not be affected in any way owing to the constant
power of the magnetic field. Another advantage of great importance consists in
the possibility of varying at will the electro motive force and keeping constant at
the same time the intensity of the current, and conversely of varying the latter
and keeping constant the electro motive force, both results being obtained without
altering the uniform speed of the machine. In fact to keep the intensity constant
and vary the electro motive force it is sufficient to wind round the inducing electro
magnet a wire having a resistance greater than that of the revolving armature, that
is to say, a fine wire offering a resistance about 250 times higher than that of the
latter wire. If on the contrary, it is wished to keep the electromotive force constant,
and vary the intensity of the current, a thick wire offering a resistance a little less
than that of the armature must be wound round the electro magnet. As the working
of our current generating apparatus is based upon the use of currents of high
intensity, the armature is designed so as to avoid abnormal overheating, which will
not fail to take place when the intensity amounts to several hundreds or thousands of
ampères. This armature consists of a series of discs of soft iron, separated from
each-otlier by discs of silicated paste-board of a greater thickness, but of smaller
diameter. These discs are mounted on a wooden hollow cylinder-fixed on the
driving shaft of the machine. Wooden discs placed at each extremity of the row
of soft iron and paste-board discs press the latter together by means of a nut and
lock nut bearing on the outside face of the said wooden discs, and screwed on the
driving shaft of-the-machine.-
The iron discs are provided on their edge with indentations, the number of which-
corresponds to the quantity of coils to be applied to the armature.
In the case
of a machine having one electro magnet, and two ordinary bar magnets, thero
would be on each iron disc 26 such indentations placed one immediately behind
another on the next disc, so as to form longitudinal rows. These indentations
carry the coils, each of which consists of three turns of thick wire wound on the
vertical sides of each longitudinal row of indentations, which are made of a depth
suitable for this purpose. The internal end of each coil of wire is connected with
the external end of the wire of the next, on a contact piece of the collector, by
means of a set screw. To form the collector of our machine, we take a copper
cylinder provided with a flange at one end (the inner one on the machine) and with
circular grooves on both its bases. It is then sawn longitudinally in as many contact
pieces or segments as there are coils. These contact pieces are insulated. from each
other by sheets of gutta percha or other insulating substance driven into the saw
notches. The whole is then connected together by wooden hoops driven into the
aforesaid circular grooves. The cominutator thus constructed is mounted on the
driving shaft, from which it is insulated by a wooden hollow cylinder. The portions
of the vertical flange at the inner end of the cylinder, form terminals for the ends of
the coil wires.
It is easy to see that in consequence of this construction, namely, the winding of
the wire on the vertical sides of the longitudinal rows of indentations, the cooling by
ventilation of the revolving armature is perfect, and that moreover, the insertion
of discs of silicated paste-board between each two discs of soft iron, perinits instan-
taneous depolarisation. These two qualities contribute largely to increasing the
efficiency of the machine; the latter being designed specially to produce quantity
currents. Its armature contains a large mass of iron (favourable to the saturation
of the magnetic field) in proportion to that of the copper, which is very small, as each

page_text: coil consists only of 3 turns. The generating armature thus constituted is combined
so as to transform and multiply by means of multiplying converters, the action of the
current it gonorates; said converters being erected as near the generating armature
as practicable, and preferably against it. These apparatus are nothing but simplified
Ruhnkorff coils, which can be adjusted according to requirements. Such a converter
consists of a bobbin composed of three compartments, and on the end ones, a thick
inducing wire is wound. This wire is connected electrically with the generating
machine through the interrupting apparatus hereafter described. The middle com-
partment, larger than the end ones, is wound with fine wire constituting the circuit of
the secondary or converted current, in which the devices to be operatod, such as
lamps etcetera, are included. A bundle of rods of soft iron can be shifted lengthwise
in and out of the coil, so as to increase or decrease the strength of the current
according to the distance this bundle is drawn out or shifted into the coil forming the
converter.
The current interrupting apparatus consists essentially of a fixed interrupting disc
on which revolves a brush mounted on a crank attached to the centre of the extremity
of the driving shaft of the machine. The interrupting disc is made of ebonite or any
other insulating substance and provided on its surface with metallic sectors or
contacts, each of which is fitted with a terminal binding screw.
The positive brush of the machine is fitted in any suitable manner with a second
brush loading the positive current to the shaft of the machine, and to the brush
which is fixed to the end of the shaft in the aforesaid manner. The wire from the
negative brush is connected with the negative extremity or extremities of the
primary coil of the converters, the positive extremities of which are connected with
the binding screws of the above-mentioned interrupting disc.
The current generated in the secondary wire of the converter will therefore have a
much greater tension than tho direct current generated by the machine, and in
consequence a greater number of lamps can be applied on the circuit of the secondary
wire than on the direct circuit from the machine armature.
It is well known that the tension of this current may be varied by introducing into
or withdrawing from within the converter coil, the bundle of iron wires. This
peculiarity is taken advantage of, for the purpose of adjusting the tension of the
current in case one or several lamps should be withdrawn from the circuit, this being
effected by causing the bundle of wire to advance or recede automatically in the
converter coils. The end in view is attained by the combination of a pawl and
ratchet wheel acting on a rack attached to the aforesaid bundle of wire, and
actuated by a pair of electro magnets with an apparatus indicating the condition
of the current.
The last-mentioned apparatus, acting either as ammeter or as a Voltmeter, consists
of a ring inductor, built of a soft iron ring on which a copper wire of suitable size is
wound; this wire being thick if intensities are to be shown, and thin if difference of
potentials is to be recorded. In the centre of this ring is an armature containing
8 coils built up like those of the machine armature. The axis of the armature of the
current indicating device is provided with an index moving over a graduated dial, so
as to show the rate of deviation of the said armature, when a current flows in the
aforesaid ring inductor."
Supposing that this current is the one traversing the secondary wire from the
converter, its ends are connected with the binding screws of the current indicating
device. Then so long as the lamps in the circuit of the secondary wire aro glowing,
the index of the apparatus is in its normal position, but as soon as one or several
lamps are withdrawn from the circuit, the tension of the current increases and the
index indicates the "minimum" position. In this position the index strikes against a
contact piece, thereby closing the circuit of a local battery, the current of which
traverses the coils of one of the electro magnets actuating the aforementioned pawl
and ratchet device which then acts in the manner of the regulator of an arc lamp, on
the rack attached to the wire core of the converter, whereby the said core is drawn
out of the converter until the intensity of the current has been reduced to that required

page_text: for the lamps still in circuit. [f, on the contrary, the current's strength decreases,
the index moves towards the "maximum" position, in which it closes the circuit of
another local battery, the current of which acts on the other electro magnet, which
then releases the rack, thereby causing the iron core to fall further into the
converter, and to re-establish the maximum strength of the current. As a matter
of course, the regulating devices may be varied according to the nature of the
installations.

page_text: Conversion of Electric Currents.
We, ALFRED LE CLEROQ and ACHILLE VANSTEENKISTE of 70 Quaide
Willebroeck Brussels in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in by the following statement :-
This invention has for its object the transformation of direct currents, such as
those produced by dynamo electric machines, into alternating currents, in such
manner that the intensity of the same is greatly increased in comparison with that
of the original current from the machine, and the said invention consists in placing
in the circuit of the machine a converter and an interrupting mechanism required
for the working of the same.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a longitudinal section and Figure 2
a cross section of the apparatus.
T is the converter comprising the coils III'. The two outer coils I' I¹ for the
primary current are made of thick wire, while the middle secondary coil I gives off
the converted and more free alternating current. The converting mechanism consists
essentially of a fixed interrupting disc P fitted into a rest F at a suitable point near
the machine that generates the direct current. This disc P is made of a thick slab
of slate or other suitable insulating material, in which a certain number of contacts (1,
preferably of copper, are set and isolated from each other. The disc P is ring-
shaped, that is to say, there is a hole in the centre through which a shaft W passes.
This shaft rotates on its pointed ends which are set in adjustable supports B.
A hollow conducting shaft H is fixed onto the shaft W and has on the left hand
side (as shown in the drawing) of the interrupting disc a contact ring R against
which the brush B' rubs. The rotating brush B is keyed onto the hollow shaft H
on the right hand side of the disc, and rubs against the contact pieces C of the
interrupting disc P during its rotation. To the right of the brush B on the shaft is
a belt pulley S over which a strap is passed, which comes either directly from a larger
belt pulley keyed onto the shaft of the generating inachine or, if the shaft W is to
rotate still more quickly, from a gearing driven by the said shaft or from any other
swiftly rotating shaft.
The thick wire of the primary coils I' I' is connected at one end with the corre-
sponding contact or contacts C of the disc P by means of binding screws K, and at
the other end with the negative pole of the machine generating the direct current,
while the positive pole of the same is connected with the contact ring R, so
that the converter T is inserted with the contact breaker in the circuit of the
generating machine.
If the interrupting disc is fitted with only one contact C, it is easily understood
that as soon as the brush B comes in contact with the same,, the circuit is closed, and
as soon as it has passed over it the circuit is again interrupted, a proceeding which

page_text: produces induced alternating currents of very high tension in the coil or circuit I.
If, however, the brush rotates with such speed that it passes over the contact 30, 40
or 50 times a second, a practically uninterrupted alternating current is produced in
the circuit I, the power of which will be considerably greater than that of the original
current generated by the machine.
It is understood that in this manner several converters may he combined with the
same generating apparatus, and for this purpose it will only be necessary to employ
a corresponding number of contact plates, namely, one plate C for each converter.
Several plates might also be used for one converter, in which case the brush B
need not rotate with such great speed.
More than three converters cannot be conveniently combined with one direct
current generator.
The following statistics will clearly show the comparison between the action of the
direct current of the alternating current formed by the use of the above described
apparatus. A direct current of 50 × 10 ampères will work a system of 10 lamps,
but if an alternating current I is produced by placing the converting apparatus in
the circuit 30 lamps of 50 Watt may be worked on the same circuit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is —
1. The improvements in or relating to the transformation or conversion of an
electric current or currents which consist in including one or more converting
apparatus in the primary circuit whereby the said primary current inducers alter-
nating currents of considerably greater intensity, the said apparatus comprising
a converter such as T, in combination with an interrupting device consisting
essentially of a stationary interrupting disc P surrounding a rotary shaft which
carries a rotating brush B the said brush being adapted to revolve over the said
interrupting disc P and thereby alternately open and close the primary circuit or
circuits, substantially as described and shown.
2. An interrupting device or contact breaker for an electric current or currents
consisting of a stationary insulated interrupting disc P, provided with one or more
contact plates C in electrical communication with one pole of a suitable primary
generator or generators, the other polo of the generator or generators being in
electrical communication with a revolving shaft which carries a rotating brush such
as B, the said brush being adapted to pass over the face of disc P and contact pieces C,
thereby alternately opening and closing. the circuits of the said generator or
generators, substantially as described and for the purposes set forth.
3. The apparatus for converting a current or currents, taken as a whole,
substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 97th day of Februar 1889