US1181711A - Electrical-oscillation system. - Google Patents

Description

'E. & W. H. WILSON.

ELECTRICAL OSCILLATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATON flLED NOV. 23. m0.

1,181,711. Patented May 2,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET la? Invenwrs P 5mm A M/z; p Ammo/j E. & W. H. WILSON.

ELECTRICAL OSCILLATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, I9).

Patented May 2, 1916. 4 SHEETSSHEET 2 E. & W. H. WILSON. ELECTRICAL OSCILLATION SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23. 1910.

1, 18 1 ,71 1 Patented May 2, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

mlfnbsss Inventors E. & W. H. WILSON. ELECTRICAL OSCILLATION SYSTEM. APPLICATIQII min nov. 23. mo

1,18 1,71.1. Patented May2,1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST WILSON, OF BLACKHEATH, AND WILLIAM HAMILTON WILSON, OF NORBITON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO INDO-EUROPEAN TELEGRAPH COMPANY LIMITED, 01 LONDON, ENGLAND. v

ELECTRICAL-OSCILLATION SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed November 23, 1910. Serial No. 593,864.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ERNEST \VILsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 64 St. Johns park, Blackheath, 1n the county of London, England, professor of electrical engineering, and lVnmrAM HAM- mrox lVinsoN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 14 Cobham road, Norbiton, in the county of Surrey, England, electrical engineer, have invented new and useful Electrical -Oscill ation Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for producing high potential discharges by the rapid passage of energy originally stored in a capacity or inductance through the pr1- mary winding of an induction coil or other transforming device. In certain apparatus of this class employed hitherto, the primary of the transforming device and a condenser have been bridged in series across the contacts between which the supply from the prime source to the inductance is interrupted; this connection has the disadvantages that (1) the transference of energy from the magnetic field of the inductance to the primary and condenser which are subsequently short circuited on themselves takes place through the prime source, and '(2) no use is made of the condenser in the initial storage of energy from the source. An ther method is to join the condenser in parallel with the inductance and subsequently to connect the primary in parallel with both, but the result of this is that-some of the energy of the condenser is discharged again through the inductance.

According to the present invention the primary winding of the transformer and a capacity connected in series are bridged directly across the inductance. Thus the condenser as well as the inductance receives energy from the source, and when after dis connection from the source this energy has surged into the condenser, preferably for the firsttime, the condenser and primary are short-circuited,- and the energy discharges very rapidly and with the minimum loss through the primary.

In the accompanying drawings some of the more readily practicable methods of 1 carrying out the,1nvention are illustrated.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the connections employed when two oscillatory circuits areanother modification of the contact maker of. Fig. 11 is a detail of the inductance- Fig. 7. employed. Figs. 12 and 13 show further modified systems of connections.

Throughout the drawings like numerals indicate like parts.

Referring to the diagram of connections in Fig. l. the essential parts of the appara tus are an external self-inductance 1; an induction coil or transformer 2 having primary and secondary windings; a condenser 23. and a suitable contact maker The connections are as follows: The external selfinductance 1 is placed in series with the primary winding 5 of the induction coil and forms one circuit. In parallel with this circuit is placed the condenser 3. The contact maker l performs the following operations; (a) it connects these two parallel circuits to a conductor 6 which is connected to the source of supply 8. The source of supply 8 causes a current to flow through the coils l and 5 thereby establishing magnetic fields therein; and at the same time it charges the condenser 3. (7)) It disconnects the two parallel circuits from the conductor 6 and thereby from the source 8, and leaves them with the inductance 1. the primary winding 5, and the condenser 8 in series thereby forming an oscillating circuit of comparatively long periodic time. The condenser 3 discharges through the external inductance 1 and the primary winding 5 and adds its energy to that already stored in those windings. The magnetic fields in the external inductance 1 and the primary winding 5 now be in to diminish and the condenser 3 becomes charged in-the reverse direction. At the moment the condenser 3 is fully charged in this reverse direction, the contact maker 4-performs its third operation (0) namely it short circuits circuit .noW. consists of the condenser 3 in series with the primary windin 5, the periodic time of which is smaller than in the first case when the inductance 1 was not short circuitcd. The condenser 3 now discharges with great rapidity through the primary winding 5. thereby inducing a large electromotive force in the secondary winding 9 of the induction coil 2. This completes one cycle of operations and is repeated by aid of the contact maker 4.

The modification shown in Fig. 2 is in re'- ard to the point of attachment of the conductor 7 with the inductance 1. It may happen that the apparatus has to be adapted M) work with different voltages between the conductors 6 and 7. The connections in Fig. 2 provide for this by an adjustment of the effective inductance, so as to take a larger current from the source 8 if the voltage thereof is reduced. This method of connection has the advantage that the condenser is charged to a voltage considerably higher than that of the source 8, the coil 1 acting as an auto-transformer. Consequently a very much larger proportion of energy can be stored in the condenser so that the condenser may even store the greater part of the total energy. The same end may be attained by supplying energy to the field of the inductance through a separate winding. This is illustrated in Fig. 12 where 13 indicates a primary wind ing upon the core of the inductance 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevation and Fig. 4 a de- /el0pment of one convenient form of contact maker shown diagrammatically in Figs. 1 and 2. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the contact maker consists of a drum of insulation material 14 on which bear three brushes ll, 12, 13 connected respectively to, first, the junction between the condenser 3 and the inductance 1, second. the conductor 6 leading to one pole of the source 8, and third, the junction between the external inductance 1 and the primary winding 5 of the mduction coil 2. The insulating drum 14 carries a metal piece 15 so devised that the above connections by aid of the brushes 11, 12, 13 are automatically made in their proper order as the contactmaker is revolved by the motor 16. It convenient to so mount the brushes that one of them 13 is adjustable; the adjustment being necessitated by the fact that the motor 16 may not always run at the same speed, that is the external inductance 1 would not be shortcircuited at the precise moment when the condenser is fully charged. The time which should elapse before the short circniting' of the external inductance 1 after disconnec tion from the mains is fixed and depends upon the value of the selfinduction and the capacity of the condenser, the short circuiting occurring when the whole of the energy has surged into the condenser, preferably for the first time. Obviously this time will be different for a fixed position of the brush 13 if the speed of the motor varies, and therefore it is essential to provide for an adjustment of the brush 13.

F g. 5 is a plan and Fig. 6 a sectional ole. tion of another form of contact maker which we find convenient. In it mercury 17 is raised by a rotating Archimedean screw 18 and thrown out horizontally through a nozzle 19. The jet of mercury 21 thus formed makes contact successively with sectors 22. 23 supported on the insulating cover. The jet of mercury 21 and the sectors 23 correspond respectively to the brushes 11. 12, 13 in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and

they can be made to replace them in the diagram of connections as they perform the same functions respectively. The contact sector is mounted in such manner that by aid of the milled head 20 it can be moved concentrically with the axis of the i\rchi-' median screw 18. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 this is conveniently carried out by aid of a worm 39 and worm sector 10. The contacts 22 and 23 are connected by conductors with the terminals 32, on'the insulating cover respectively, while a terminal 31 on the metal containing vessel serves to establish electrical contact with the mercury jet 21. A small motor coupled to the shaft 25 drives the Archimedean screw 18 and is conveniently mounted on the ebonite cover 26. In the event of the source 8 being one of direct currents. the motors above mentioned are small direct current motors, driven from the same source for convenience, and it is only necessary to make the suitable adjustments of the brushes or contacts to suit the time intervals required by the system in its various states. If the source of supply 8 is an alternating current one, the contact maker can conveniently be rotated by a synchronous motor. In this case if every half period is to be utilized the polarity of the source must be reversed once in each half period. Fig. 7 is a development of a contact maker suitable for this purpose, and shows the connections to thesystem. In it the hatched portion 14 is the drum of insulation material on which are mounted metal pieces 34, 35, 36 and 37. In addition to the brushes 11, 12. 13 brushes 27, are required. The metal pieces 35, 36 are respectively connected to the metal pieces 37, 34 by aid of conductors 29, 30 which are taken through the insulation so as not to be touched by the brushes bearing on the surface of the drum. If the connections be followed out assuming that the drum rotates in the direction of the arrow, it will be seen thatthe parallel circuits consisting of'(1) thecondenser 3 and (2) the external inductance 1 and the primary winding 5, are charged to like polarity twice in each period; a period corresponding to one complete revolution of the contact maker shown in development in Fig. 7. The reversal takes place at the moment the supply current changes sign, and therefore the contact maker must have the required position on the motor shaft relatively to the motor armature. It follows that the supply mains 6 and 7 must be disconnected from the system twice in each period at the epoch when the electromotive force is near its maximum. Instead of rectifying the alternating current it is possible to rectify the impulses transmitted to the primary of the induction coil.

As already indicated the oscillating circuit made up of the condenser inductance and the primary winding, is separated from the mains. The energy oscillates between the inductance and the condenser. The short circuiting connection is completed when all the energy is stored in the condenser but now at successive surgings the condenser is charged in opposite directions. Therefore if for one half period of the alternating current supplied short circuiting is made to take place when the condenser is charged for the first time and for the next half period of the alternating current supplied the short circuiting is made to take place when the condenser is charged the second time. these two charges will be of like polarity and therefore the subsequent discharges through the primary of the induction coil will be of similar sign. Thus instead of providing the rectifying contacts indicated in Fig. 7 it isonly necessary to arrange the projecting segments which con tact with the brush 13 in the manner shown in Fig. 10. Thus one segment 41 must be placed so that the interval between disconnection from the mains and short circuiting is equal to the time required for the energy to surge into the conductor once, or more generally the time required for any odd number of surgings to take place. The other segment 42 is so placed that the interval between disconnection from the mains and short circuiting is sufficient for two or for an even number of surgings to occur.

If it is only desired to make use of one half wave of each period of the alternating supply, the contact maker is of simpler construction as shown in development in Fig. 8. It may be driven as before at synchronous speed. but the reversal of the mains above described in'connection with Fig. Y is dispensed with. In this case the brushes 12. 13 would be insulated during each alternate half period.

' As'above mentioned several variations are possible in the arrangement of condensers and inductances, the fundamental principles being retained. If desired one pole of the condenser may be disconnected at the required epoch from the external inductance and be connected to the end of the primary windingof the induction coil which is connected to the external inductance. This necessitates the modified structure of commutator shown in Fig. 13. There are now four brushes 41, 15. 16 and 47 connected as shown. In theposition shown the condenser alone is joined to the mains. \Vhile the segment 15 touches both brushes 45 and 46 energy is supplied to the inductance 1 and condenser 3; when the segment leaves brush 45 the condenser and inductance are still joined and surging goes on. At the instant when the energy is accumulated in the condenser the segment must touch brush 47 so that the condenser is bridged across the primary winding 5. It is obviously well, though not essential, that the segment should simultaneously leave brush 46 as otherwise there will be two discharge paths for the condenser.

cuited independent of variations in the speed of the motor.

We find by experiment that the external inductance l. and the induction coil 2 may have open or partially closed magnetic circuits. If, however. the magnetic circuit is completely closed the magnetic flux does not fall to zero before the condenser begins to discharge and so its rate of change is lessened. \Ve prefer a partially closed magnetic circuit for the inductance 1, such as is illustrated in Fig. 11. but if when the inductance 1 is short circuited the frequency of the oscillatory current is sufiiciently high. it may be necessary to have no iron core for the coil 2. These methods of supplying energy to an induction coil or the like have the great advantage that a very considerable amount of energy may be passed through the apparatus in a given time. and that without serious losses or injurious sparking. For X-ray work our methods have the further recommendation that the reverse potential applied to the tube electrodes may be very small compared with that which is intended to produce variations. so that the harmful production of cathode radiations from the anode is avoided.

\Vhat We claim is: V 1. Apparatus for producing high potential dischargescomprising a source of supply. an inductance, means for intermittently connecting said inductance to the source of supply so as to store energy in it, a capacity, means for connecting said capacity to said inductance independently of said source to permit the stored energy to oscillate, a transforming device, and means for connecting said capacity to the prim ry of said transforming device and for siort-circuiting said inductance.

2. Apparatus for producing'high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an oscillatory circuit of long periodic time independent of said source, means for connecting said circuit intermittently across the source of supply, and means for reducing the periodic time of said circuit after each disconnection from the source of supply at a definite epoch in the'oscillation of energy in said circuit.

3. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an oscillatory circuit of long periodic time independent of said source. means for intermittently connecting said circuit across the source of supply and means for reducing the inductance of said circuit after each disconnection from the source of supply at a definite epoch in the oscillation of energy in said circuit.

4. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an oscillatory circuit of long periodic time, means for connecting said circuit to and disconnecting it from said source of supply, and adjustable means for reducing the periodic time of said circuit after disconnection from the source of supply at a definite but variable epoch in the oscillation of energy in said circuit.

5. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance, a capacity, a transforming device, means connecting the capacity and the transforming device in series across the inductance, and means for introducing energy from the source into the said induc tance and subsequently short-circuiting the inductance.

6. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of sup ply, an inductance, a capacity, a transfor mmg device, means connecting said capacity across the inductance and the primary of the transforming device. a rotary contact maker, a motor driving the same. brushes hearing on said contact maker connected respectively with the ends of said inductance and with one terminal of the source of supply and metal segments on said contact maker adapted successively to join said inductance across the source of supply and to short-circuit it.

7. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance, a capacity, a transform: ing device, and means for supplying energy simultaneously to said inductance and capacity, means maintaining said inductance and capacity in connection after such supply in disconnected, and means for discharging said capacity directly and Wholly through said transforming device when the energy in the circuit is accumulated in it.

8. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges, comprising an inductance, a transforming device having its primary. winding in series with the inductance, a ca-i, pacity bridged across said inductance and primary winding. a source of supply, a con-' nection from said source to the inductance, and means for connecting the end of the in-- ductance remote from the primary winding' tial discharges comprising a source of supply. a capacity, an inductance consisting of windings having considerable mutual 'in ductance. means connecting the capacity across said windings. means for intermittently connecting a portion of said windings across the source of supply and disconnecting it therefrom, a transforming device, and means for intermittently connecting said capacity directly across the primary of said transforming device.

11. Apparatus for producing high potential dischargescomprising a source of supply, a capacity, an inductance consisting of windings having considerable mutual induc tance, a transforming device, means for connecting said capacity across said windings and the primary of the transforming device. means for intermittently connecting a portion of said windings across the supply and disconnecting it therefrom. and means for intermittently short-,circuiting said windings.

12. Apparatus for deriving unidirectional electric impulses from an alternating current source. comprising an oscillatory circuit made up of a capacity and inductance, means for introducing energy into said circuit. a work circuit, and means for discharging said capacity into said work circuit after iit an interval different for successive half 'periods.

13. Apparatus vfor producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance, atransforming dev ceq a condenser, means connecting said condenser across the inductance and primary of the transforming device, means fonintermittently charging said condenser from the source of supply to a potential higher than that of said source, and means for intermittently short-circuiting the inductance.

14. Apparatus for supplying energy to a transforming device comprising a source of supply, an inductance connected at one pointto the source of supply and in series with the primary winding of the transforming device, a capacity bridged across said inductance and primary winding, a rotary drum and means driving the same, brushes bearing on said drum connected respectively to the terminals of the inductance and the source of supply, and metal segments on said drum having differently spaced pairs of projections, the projections of each pair being adapted to join the inductance to the source of supply and to short circuit it respectively.

15. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an oscillatory circuit of long periodic time, means for intermittently charging the capacity of said circuit'from said source to a potential higher than that of said source, and means for intermittently reducing the periodic time of said circuit at a definite epoch in the oscillation of the charge in said circuit.

16. Apparatus for deriving unidirectional electric impulses from an alternating current source comprising a capacity, an inductance, a transforming device, means connecting said capacity across the inductance and transforming device, means intermittently connecting said capacity across the alternating current source so as to introduce energy during each half period, and adjustable means for short-circuiting said inductance when the capacity is charged to a given polarity.

17. Apparatus ,for deriving unidirectional electric impulses from an alternating current source comprising an oscillatory circuit of long periodic time, means for introducing energy into said circuit from said source during each half period, and adjustable means for reducing the periodic time of said circuit at a definite phase in the oscillations of energy in said circuit.

18. Apparatus for .producing high potential discharges comprising an inductance, a capacity, a transforming device, means for supplying energy to said inductance and capacity, means maintaining said inductance and capacity in connection after said supply, and means for discharging said capacity wholly through the primary of said transforming device when the energy of the circuit is accumulated in said capacity.

19. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance having a nearly closed magnetic circuit, a capacity, a transformin device, means connecting the capacity an the transforming device in series across the inductance, and means for introducing energy from the source into said inductance and subsequently short-circuiting the inductance.

20. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance having a nearly closed magnetic circuit, a capacity, a transforming device, and means for supplying energy simultaneously to said inductance and capacity, means maintaining said inductance and capacity in connection after such supply, and means for discharging said capacity after an interval directly and wholly through said transforming device.

21. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges, comprising an inductance having a nearly closed magnetic circuit, a transforming device having its primary winding in series with the inductance, a capacity bridged across said inductance and primary uinding, a source of supply, a connection from said source to the inductance, and means for connecting the end of the inductance remote from the primary winding alternately to the source of supply and to the junction of the inductance and primary winding.

22. Apparatus for producing high potential discharges comprising a source of supply, an inductance, a capacity, a transforming device having an almost closed magnetic circuit, means connecting the capacity and the transforming device in series across the inductance, and means for introducing energy from the source into said in mary winding in series with the inductance, a capacity bridged across said inductance and primary winding, a source of supply, a, connection from said source to the inductance, and means for eonnertimg the end of the inductance reniote-from the primary winding alternately to the source of supply and to the junction of the inductance and primary winding.

In testimony whereof we have signed our 1) names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST 'ILSON 'ILLTAM HAMILTON VILSON.

'itnesses V Lnoxmro E. HAYNEs, HERBERT D. JAMESON.

copies of thh patent may be obtained for five cents eiach, by addressing the Washington, D. 0."

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