US1025464A - Vapor electric apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

P. G. HEWITT. VAPOR'ELEOTBIG APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION IILEDVMAR. 2a, 1908.

1,025,464. I Patented May 7, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

ami-[memos i SW LM w I 93, Janet/lieu I P. 0.. HEWITT. VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS. APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 23, 19081 1,025,464. Patented Ma 7, 1912.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2L UNITED STATES rATENT OFFICE.

rETEE' COOPER HEWITT, or RINGWOOD MANOR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To cooPnE HEWITT ELEcTEIc roux, r

COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPQBATION OF NEW VAPOR ELECTRIC APPARATUS.

Specification of letters Patent.

PatentedMay7,1912.

. Continuation of application Serial No. 204,179, filed April 21, 1904'. This application filed March 23, 1908:

Serial No. 422,616.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, PETER COOPER HEW-v ITT, a citizen of the United States, and resident'of Ringwood Manor, county of Passaic, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Va or Electric Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

' character are described in certain patents.

My nvention relates that class of .electrical apparatus in which electric currents issued tome on September 17, 1901, and reference may be had thereto for details as to the general plan of exhausting the inclosing chamber and sefuringthe proper conditions of the 'inclosed gas or vapor. It

is now well-known. that devices ofthis characterloppose a resistance to the initial passage'of currenttherethrough, but that when this resistance has once been-overcome, as

' by the application of a current of high potential for instance, current will continue to flow under the influence of moderate difference of potential.

The present invention relates more particularly'to means" for' initiating the flow' of:

a positive'electrode of the device, and if current is causedto flowthrough this conductiingpath and the path is then interrupted at or near the negative electrode, the current will .flow through the gas or vapor be tween 'the.,e lectrodes in preference to jumpi'ng or bridging the comparatively small. gap between the separated terminals of the interrupted conducting path. In practice, I have adopted a form of apparatus in which the negative electrode is provided with a conducting prolongation or extension which makes contact either with the other electrode or with an extension therefrom, and I have provided automatic means for the openin of the conducting path thus formed inside the containing vessel, with the result already described. In the original experiments with this class of devices, difficulty was encountered in obtaining a solid conductor which could be freed from gases and foreign materials within a practical time while on the pump. Such lam s after.

having apparently been suitably ex austed ,would become inoperative within a com-- 'paratively short time which was attributed to the'gi'ving oil of delete'rious gases from the extensionof the negative electrode, thus rendering the lamps diificult to make. prac-' tically and impairing their durability when .made. 11 have devised various ways of overcomingv this difli'culty amongwhich may be vmentioned, constructing the extension from the negative electrode of very thin material and heating-it by reason '01: the ohmic resistance "offered to the passage of current through it while on the pump. Itwas also overcome by allowingthe negative flame to lick'it from the top to the bottom, thus heating it locally all over in spots while stillon the pump.lThe material forming this extension mav alsobe treated externally from the lamp, before putting on the pump, thus obviating' the manor part of the difliculty .of removing thegases while the final pumpin is in pro e'ss. Thematerial may be of so t 11011, car

on, graphite, or other suitable material. "The details of a convenient embodiment of my invention are described herein. and current through apparatus of'this class. .I have found that if an actual conducting path I through the gas or vapor is provided 1n the first instancefrom a-negative electrodeto illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fi ure .1 illustrates one. form of apparatusa apted to carry outthe invention; and Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 illustrate 'details and modifications.

" In the first figure ofthe drawings, 1 rep-- transparent material. The chamber contains a suitable gas-or vapor, such for example, as

mercury vapor. In the present instance, I have shown a .negative electrode, 2, as consisting of a small quantity of mercury, and have shown this electrode as being connected with an external conductor'9, by a leadingin wire, 3. The latter is flexibly connected with the-base of the extension 8, which is surrounded by' the mercury and 'in electrical connection therewith. The rod, 8, which is thus in contact with the mercury extends longitudinally through the container 1, forming, so to speak, a prolongation or extension of the negative electrode. The extension 8 may conveniently consist of a relatively stiff piece of conducting material such, for instance, as iron, carbon, chromium, or other suitable conductor. Should some nonmagnetic material be selected for the extension 8, its remote end may be provided with a magnetizable material to constitute an armature, as will be explained later on. Near its remote end the extension 8 is here surrounded by a loop or ring, 5, constituting the main portionof the positive electrode of the apparatus. The said loop or ring is connected' by an extension, 6, with a leading-inwire, 7 constituting the means of connection with the external circuit.

When the apparatus is mounted, say in a vertical position, the extension 8 rests against the inner edge of the ring electrode 5, thereby completing a conducting path through the container 1 by way of the leading-in wire 7, the extension 6, the ring electrode 5, the extension 8, the negative electrode 2, and the leadingdn wire 3. The connection of the positive electrode 5 to the external circuit conductor, 10, is made through a coil, 11, having a magnetizable core, 12. To start the device into operation, the circuit 9-10 is closed and current passes through the device by way of the conducting path already described. In this. way the electro-magnet 1112 is vitalized and acts magnetically upon the adjacent end of the extension 8 whereby the said extension will be lifted out of contact with the ring 5. Thereupon the current will pass from the ring through the intervening vapor path to the extension 8, after which the current very quickly chooses the path of gas or vapor in the container, and instead of 'continuing to traverse a portion of the extension 8, passes directly through the gas or vapor path to the surface of the electrode 2. The position of the magnet 1112 may be such as to draw the extension 8, over against an insulating block or coating, 13, carried by the ring 5; or it may cause the extension to stand free within the ring and out of contagt with any portion thereof.

The extension 6, may terminate in circular form, as shown in cross-section in Fig. 3, or in an electrode of Y-shape, as shown in Fig. 4, or in an electrode having other suitable configurations In Fig. 2 I have shown a modification illustrating the invention as applied to a multiphase electric circuit. The source, 30, is here shown as a three-phase generator, which may be either a transformer or any other suitable source of three-phase currents. It is not necessary that the multiphase circuit should be. a three-phase circuit, it being readily possible to adapt the invention to circuits carrying any desired number of phases. The neutral point, 31, of the generator is joined by a wire, 9, with the leading-in wire 3. The terminals of the generator are connected by wires, 10, 10", and 10, respectively, with positive electrodes 15, 15 and 15, within the container 1. The

magnet 1112 is here included in the conductor 9, and a switch, 20, is provided for controlling the circuit. A work circuit is shown at 21. The electrode 5 is ring shaped as before and surrounds the open end of the extension 8. The latter simply rests within the mercury electrode, 2, without being mechanically linked to the leading-in wire. For energizing the magnet 1112 and initiating the flow of current, I may use a suitable source, 14, of continuous electric currents and I may provide its circuit with a switch, 33, by means of which the said source may be cut into and out of circuit. This circuit may be independent of the work circuit. Assuming that the said switch is closed, the closure of the switch 20 will then complete a circuit from the source 14 through the leading-in wire 7 the extension 6, the electrode 5, the extension 8, the electrode 2, the leading-in wire 3, and the conductor 9*. This will cause the extension 8 to be lifted out of contact with the ring electrode 5, and it will be held out of cont-act so long as the circuit to the source 14 remains closed. As to the operation of the device under the influence of multiphase currents, it may be said that successive phases pa$ through the device to the electrode 2 from the electrodes 15, 15 and 15, and inasmuch as current from one of these electrodes begins before that through another ceases, the apparatus will be kept in operative condition.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modification in the arrangement of the apparatus in which the negative electrode is put at the upper end of the device in the bottom of a bentover extension and hangs downward through the tube and passing through the ring 5 at the lower end. The magnet 11 may be so placed as to swing the extension into contact with the electrode when it is desired to make contact therewith and it will be released when the circuit of the magnet 11 is broken, or it may be made to operate in the same manner as described with reference to Fig. 1. The magnet 11, in this instance, is shown as being connected in a separate circuit provided with a switch of any suitable character for temporarily closing its connection.

The present application is a continuation of applicants case Serial Number 204,179, filed April 21st, 1904.

I claim as my invention 1. In a system of electrical distribution, the combination with an alternating ourrent source, a rectifier therefor comprising a completely exhausted container and elec-- trodes therein, including a plurality of anodes and a vaporizable reconstructing cathode and connections between said anodes and terminals of the source and a connection between the cathode and an intermediate point of said source, of a separate direct current source connected between the inter-' mediate point of the alternating source and I a separate anode within the container, means for connecting and disconnecting said additional anode to and from said cathode within the container and automatic means responsive tothe rectified current from said alternating source for operating said means,

together with non-automatic means for controlling the direct current source. g

2. In a system of electrical distribution, the combination with an alternating current source, a rectifier therefor comprising a completely' exhausted container and electrodes therein, including a plurality of anodes and a filporizahle reconstructing cathode and connections between said anodes and the terminals of the source and a connection between the cathode and an intermediate point of said source, of a separate direct current source connected between the intermediate point of the alternating source and a separate anode within the container, means for connecting and disconnecting said additional anode to and from said cathode within the container, a magnet coil located in vthe said first named connection to the intermediate point of the alternating source for operating said means, together with non-aut omatic means for controlling the direct

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