Saxton magneto generator (replica)
date: label: Date made
content: 1964
name: label: inventor
content: Saxton, Joseph
label: maker
content: Miniature Engineering Ltd.
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: Replica of an 1834 generator made by Joseph Saxton (1799-1873). Includes a separate brush unit clamped in place (clamp missing). A direct current generator consisting of a horizontally-mounted, laminated magnet (three plates) and rotating coils set at the open end of the magnet. Rotating coils of wire in a magnetic field are features common to all magneto devices and later used in the design of all electric motors and generators. Saxton's generator required external excitation to energize the magnetic field between the coils and the magnet. Since the generator was hand-operated by a crank set opposite the armature. The electrical output was irregular; only one half of each rotation produced current. The device was widely copied and improved upon in subsequent years by inventors eager to perform experiments with this reliable source of electricity.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Electricity
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2001.3038.04
label: nonaccession number
content: 2001.3038
objectType: label: Object Name
content: generator
label: Object Name
content: magneto generator
label: Other Terms
content: Generator; Motors and Generators
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 1/2 in x 6 3/4 in x 14 in; 29.21 cm x 17.145 cm x 35.56 cm