US1156228A - Controlling means for vapor apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

'P. c. HEWITT. CONTROLLING MEANS FOR VAPOR APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1, 1914.

1,156,228. Patented Oct. 12, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

WITNESSES P. C. HEWITT. CONTROLLING MEANS FOR VAPOR APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 1. 1914.

Patented Oct. 12, 1915 INVENTOR WITNESSES -p' 1 Aiish4 ,4 TTORNE UNITED STATES Pr-ETENT PETER CGOPER HEWITT, 0F RING'W'OOD MAKER, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGIQ'QB T0 SGQPEEZ HEWITT ELECTRIC NEW JERSEY.

COMPANY, 65 EGB'OKEH, NEW JERSEY, i

CURPORATIGH iii CONTRGLLING 50B Vial-F1135; AIPTBABATUS.

Original application filed January 2 19%, Serial Ito.

gpecificatipn of Letters Fatent.

" Patented 12,

2 11,9 13. Div-idea and application filed leeceznber 7, 1314. Serial No. 875,322'.

To all whom it may concern: r v Be it known that 1, PETER Coorn'n Harv ITT, a citizen of the United States, and rash dent of Ringwood Manor, county of Pas.

saic, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controlling Means for Vapor Apparatus, of Whichthe following is-a specification.

In a vapor electric device comprising a suitable containing vessel and tWo or rnore rent into an electrode which for the time,

being may be negative; that is to say, to strengthen the normal initial resistance to starting at a negative electrode.

I have found that under certaineondt tions the vapor in theneighborhood of the negative electrode of a vapor device, and particularly at a small distance from the surface thereof, is, before the current actu ally passes, charged inductively in a sense opposite to the. charge of the negative'elec- I trode itself, and not in the same sense. That is to say, the vapor at a short distance from the surface of the negative electrode ischarged positively as if by induction.

Appearances seem to indicate that the Va.- por in close proximity to. the surface of the negative-electrode so arranges itself that it acts asa dielectric while farther away it is capable of assuming a chargeas if it.

were a conductor. For the purpose'of the present invention this' apparent dielectric action maybe considered the cause of the high initial reluctance or resistance to the passage of the current. As already stated the present invention concerns'itselfwith amplifying this effect so as to stillfurther increasethis reluctance or resistanceto starting. For exam le, I have placed near the negative electro' e an exploring disk or ring,

' and when-the said disk or ring was charged negatively by means of the device occasionally started of itself, the terminals being connected with a continuous current circuit carrying a current of 110 volts. When, however, the ring was charged positively even to a greater potential, the

device did not start. On introducing a spark-gap, when charged positively, so that the ring was allowed to chargeand discharge itself, the device started into opera tion. By reasonof these facts the ringmay he made to-still further increase the'pctential' of the inductive efiects from the. nega tive electrode. The dificult'y, of starting may be inoreasedlb'y causing the inductive efiect of the ring to 'prenonderate over inductive efi'ect of the current at the nega tive electrode, modifying it to a great er tent, and may be used for assisting these re actions for useful purposes. Certain supen imposed charges appear to lessen the tendency of a negative electrode to disintegrate and thus assist in -p reventingfthe' lowering of the reluctance 'or resistance to starting from this cause. i

it appears from the discovery thus made that the vapor close to negative electrode: interpcses hetweenthe'said electrode and an electrode which is posieiveto it inan ap paratus a dlelectrlc condition which can he .further increased? by inducing a greater charge than that which the electrode itself.

would induce. I propose to make use of this principle of operation by surrounding an electrode or electrodes vapor apparatus or other vapor device Wllthit shield capable of receiving a'charge assist the charge which would naturally be present at a negative eiectrode; The device forproducing this charge may be any suitable device, but is herein iliustrated as a transformer of smali current capacity but of higher potential than that atthe nega;

tive, and is connected to shields thereby as si'sting the charge- The action is not essentiall that of current riowin but more nearly that of capacity charged-to the required potentia The shie d whe properly connected er a he 1311- at ales e me being to waning to assist creasing s trade inegs another." pentive will augment or static machine;

in preventing current passing between these electrodes. In this highpotential circuit a condenser may be introduced in order to actually limit the flow of more than a specific amount of current and further the neutra'l points of. the windings of the transformers may be all connected together so as to insure the same zero point or a positive diiference of potential at the terminals.

I have found in certain experiments under certain degrees of impurity of the gases and under certain conditions and particularly where other gases were present than those of mercury vapor, that the effects herein stated may be reversed or changed. In other words, under the peculiar conditions of-materials and manufacture used, there are instances where the actual reversal of the operation described will tend to take place so that under particular conditions to get at the result desired it becomes necessary to connect the apparatus here shown in the one sense, in the other sense to obtain results. These conditions may be considered as abnormal; and are to be avoided by further cleansing and exhaustion for the removal of the cause, except in instances where such abnormal conditions are desirable. In- 'cidentally the shields may constitute chambers inclosing the various electrodes and thus serve to screen the said electrodes from the effects of certain discharge when one or the other of'them is temporarily a negative electrode and another a positive electrode.

The shield surrounding a given positive electrode may be made to substantially inclose the electrode or not as is found most practical in use or may be made wholly or in part of conducting material,

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1. and 2 represent mercury vapor converters each provided with two positive electrodes with shields, it being desired that current shall not pass from one of these electrodes to the other and showing also diagrams of a system of electrical circuits which i may be employed with the apparatus; Figs. 1 and 2 represent mercury vapor converters in which condensers are employed; and Fig. 3 illustrates a modification adapted to direct current v In the drawings, 1. is acontainer for a vapor converter; 2 is the negative electrode thereof, the same being in the present instance of mercury; and 3 and 4 are positive electrodes of some solid material, such as iron. In this instance the positive electrodes 3 and 4 are each surrounded by a Shield or screen, 5 .of sheet metal, gauze, or wire forming a chamber around the electrode. The shield or screen thus described is of conducting material, but is insulated from the corresponding positive electrode and its lead-wire. In the preferred construction, the shields are supported upon inwardly projecting or reentrant supports, 6, 6, formed of the glass which constitutes the material of thecontainer 1. The leadwires, 7 and 8, for the positive electrodes 3 and 4: pass through these supports without making contact with the shields In the form illustrated in Fig. 1 the shields are made of thin sheet metal, and are sealed to the supports 6, 6. Screens or shields such as herein described serve to increaselthe normal resistance to startingbetween the positive electrodes and also to reduce the danger of short-circuiting between the positiveelectrodes 3 and 4. Thus, the apparatus is adapted to work with greater certainty.

Referring now to the electrical connections, I show in Fig. 1 a system of circuits which may be conveniently utilized .in the operation of a converter having my improvements applied thereto.

At 10 and 11 are shown the mains of an alternating current circuit, between which mains is connected a coil, 12,.as shown.

The mains are connected to the two positive electrodes 3 and 4, while the negative electrode is 'joined by a conductor, 15, through a Work-circuit including translating devices, 16, to an intermediate point of the coil, 12.

By the means described, a charge of high potential is applied to the screens or shields, 5, 5, while the working current, or the current which is to be translated into direct current is applied to the positive electrodes 3 and 4 and to the negative electrode 2.

The operation will be readily understood,

the function of the shields 5, 5, having been negative electrode in the manner already de-- scribed in this application. I The condensers are illustrated at 17, 17 in Figs. 1 and 2, and their action is to limitcurrent flow to the shields. When considering the more unusual condition in which the common action is reversed the connections of the condenser shields should be as shown in Fig. 1. In the more usual conditions they Should be as shown in Fig. 2. Such an,ar-,

rangement is shown in Fig. 3 wherein'the like numbered parts are the equivalent of these parts in the other figures. It will be vthe current through the rectifier 1.

seen that the D. C. generator 119 normally passes current through the anode 3 .to the cathode 2 and thence through the storage battery 120 back to the generator. The shield 5 corresponding to the shield 5 of the other figures is connected to the lead of the short circuiting switch 121 serves to make a direct connection between the shield 5 and the lead of the electrode 3 when desired, thus eliminating the efiect of the condenser, which would otherwise limit current flow to the shield. The operation of this figure is otherwise as described for the previous figures. Fig. 3 illustrates a condition similar to thecondition of Fig. 1 described above.

This case is a division of my application This shield when thus connected- The Serial Number 241,947, filed January 20th, 1905.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with an evacuated electric apparatus, of 'a plurality of electrodes, an electrified conductor, means for impressing electric variations on said electrified conductor and a condenser between the source of said variations and said electrifiedconductor.

The combination with an evacuated electric apparatus, of a plurality of electrodes, a metal electrified conductor, means for impressing electric variations on said electrified conductor and a condenser between the source of said variations and said electrified conductor.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 2nd day of December A. D. 1914.

PETER COOPER HEWITT.

Witnesses:

R. A. Hnwrrr, \VALTER E. F. BRADLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Intents,

Washington, D. 0."

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