US2453106A

US2453106A - Remote-control apparatus with adjustable gap

Info

Publication number: US2453106A
Application number: US612042A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michel N Yardeny; Bernas Robert
Original assignee: YARDENY
Current assignee: YARDENY
Priority date: 1945-08-22
Filing date: 1945-08-22
Publication date: 1948-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 1965-11-02

Description

Nov. 2, 1948. M. N. YARDENY EI'AL RBIOTB CONTROL APPARATUs WITH ADJUSTABLE GAP Filed Aug. 22, 1945.

M01152 M YARDEA/y B OBERTBER/VAS INVENTORS av I 7 ATTO R N EY Patented Nov. 2, 1948 REMOTE-CONTROL APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE GAP Michel N. Yardeny and Robert Bernas, New York,

N. Y.; said Bernas assignor to said Yardeny Application August 22, 1945, Serial No. 612,042

1 This invention relates to remote control al paratus for positioning from a control point a load at a remote point by controlling the energization of a load motor at the remote point.

Apparatus of this class generally includes a pair of conducting elements spaced by a gap 7 Claims.

and engag'eable by a contact arm which engages the respective conducting elements for directional rotation of the load motor and is aligned at the gap separating them to stop motor rotation. One of the said two pairs of relatively movable members is manually adjusted to cause directional rotation of the load motor by displacing the gap and the contact arm, and the other member is turned by a pilot motor at the control point in a direction to cause alignment of the gap and contact arm to stop rotation of the load motor with the load at the desired position.

One of the diflicult problems in apparatus of this class is to prevent the contact arm from over-running the point of alignment with the gap and engaging the anterior conducting element to cause reversal of motor rotation; this over-running is repeated in the opposite direction and results in undesirable hunting. The extent of over-running depends, in addition, toother factors, upon the size and proportion of the gap and its relation to the contact element of the contact arm.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an apparatus of the class described, means for adjusting the size of. the gap relative to the contact element, for the purpose of eliminating over-running and hunting.

It has been found that the contact element of the contact arm frequently Wears grooves in the conducting elements. A further object of the invention is to provide adjustability of the contact arm so that it may be adjusted to engage fresh, unmarred surfaces of the conducting elements.

In remote control apparatus of the class described, the gap and contact element of the contact arm may be arranged so that when the two are brought into alignment, as explained above,

' to stop motor rotation, the contact element may engage both adjacent conducting elements (referred to as bridging the gap) or may be received in a space defined bythe gap, without contacting either of the adjacent conducting elements (referred to as non-bridging).

A further object of the invention is to provide adjustment between the gap and the contact arm which will enable the device to be made either bridging or non-bridging.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable gap for the purposes stated above, in conjunction with control apparatus which is implemented with a reduced speed provision.

For the attainment of the foregoing and such other objects as may appear or be used herein, there is shown embodiments of the invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical remote control system provided .with the improved, adjustable gap alignment of this invention, and structurally showing in front view, the gap adjusting means;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the improved control device, in a reduced scale, with a modified showing of the collector rings of the diagrammatic illustration of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail top view of the contact arm of the improved device; and

Fig. 4 is a front view of a modified form of adjustable-gap arrangement.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the control device briefly outlined in the statement of invention comprises a pair of relatively movable members, one of which is a base preferably in the form of an insulated disc, [0 rotatably mounted on a spindle 9 and carrying a pair of electrical conducting elements in the form of segments ll, i2, the adjacent ends of which are spaced by a gap 8. The other member of the said pair of relatively movable members is a contact arm 20 which is mounted on the spindle 9 and carries at its distal end a contact element 2!, which is preferably in the shape of a ball, as best shown in Fig. 2. Contact element 2| is engageable with the conducting segments ii, I! to cause-as outlined above, directional rotation of the load motoF-designated 50 in Fig. l, and is receivable in the gap 8, to stop motor rotation (as will be more fully described). I

Conducting elements ll, l2 are connected to collector'rings, respectively, [3, H, which are engaged by stationary brushes, respectively, l5, I6 connected by leads l1, l8 to the terminal ends of the

field windings

41, 48 of a pilot motor 40 and further connected by leads i1 I8 to the terminal ends of

field windings

51, 58 of -a load motor 50. The. common terminal of reversing

field windings

41, 48 of the pilot motor is connected by a short lead ill to the armature of the load motor and through a, short lead to a 51' of the source of current supply. The other 1 supply terminal 8 is connected through switch as and a lead a to the proximal point of the contact arm 26 at the spindle 9. The" common terminal of field windings '1, 5%] and load motor oil is connected through a short lead hi. to the arms-.- ture of the motor, from whence lead 52 connects v to the aforesaid supply wire ii.

In the form. shown in Fig. l, the contact arm 28 is selectively adjusted, by manipulation of a knob 5 secured to spindle ii, to cause directional rotation of load motor, (as previously outlined in the statement of invention), and the insulated disc ill is moved in a direction to bring the contact element 2i and gap it into alignment to stop motor rotation. For this purpose, there is secured a shaft 43 of the pilot motor a pinion this which meshes with a gear my secured to rotate with the insulated disc. Displacement of contact element ii of contact arm 2t away from the gap 8, and engagement therewith with one of the conducting elements M, it will. cause the circuit to be completed to both the load motor to and the pilot motor it, which circuit may be traced, assuming that the engagement of the contact arm at iswith the conducting element ii irom one terminal ll of the source of supply through lead 8, to the proximal point 05. the contact arm Elli, through the contact arm to the engaged segment ll, its collector ring us, crush to, lead ill, to held winding (ll of the pilot motor lit, from whence through short lead at, through the armature of the motor, through short lead ii and leadlt, to contact to, unattracted armature M (as shown in Fig. l) of normally de-energized relay llll, short lead M to the other supply wire i. Concurrently, a circuit is completed through the correspondin winding ill of lead motor ii, which may be traced through lead i'i field winding 57], short lead iii, through the armature of load motor oil, and through lead 52, to the said supply wire I. hin= ergization or field winding Ell oi the load motor causes clock-wise rotation to move the load at the remote point, while energization of the corresponding field winding i l 013 the pilot motor encrgizes the pilot motor for rotation in a clockwise rotation, to cause, through the connecting gears 43g and thy, turning of the insulated disc ill in t a counter-clockwise direction to bring gap it into alignment with the contact element 2i oi the adjustable contact arm 2t, whereat the aforetraced circuit of field winding of the pilot motor and load motor is broisen and motor rotation stopped.

The aforementioned relay Ellis used. in connec= tion with the means provided for reducing the speed of pilot motor rotation when alignment betweengap 8 and contact element 2i is approached; where such a provision is omitted, lead 42 would connect directlyto supply wire l. The speed governor ior reducing speed of the pilot motor is designated generally tit, and the component parts t ereof are mounted on an insulated disc 6i secured to rotate with shalt ll of the pilot motor. These component parts comprise a swing arm pivotally mounted on the disc ti are: and provided at its distal end with a contact 64 which is engageabie with the contact 66 secured on the insulated disc ti. The proximal end of swing arm 62 is connected to a collector ring 65, and the fixed contact 66 is connected to a collector ring 63, which collector rings are engaged by stationary brushes, respectively: 61, which is connected by lead 69 to the supply wire I, and

' by a. brush 46, which is connected by a short 4 lead, as shown, to the lead 42. Swing arm 82 is provided with a weight, so that centrifugal force will be effective to break contact between N and $6 when the high limit of speed is attained. The speed governor St is effective to reduce the speed of motor rotation, only at such times when alignment between gap 8 and contact element 2| is approached, and by-passed at other times, so that the speed of pilot motor rotation will not be limited. This by-passing or the governor 80 is I under control of the afo-re-rnentioned relay ill and an auxiliary contact arm 30, which is secured to rotate with the contact arm 20. Auxiliary contact arm Jill is provided at its distal end with a contact it which may also be in the form of a sphere, as shown in Fig. 2, engageable with a short conducting plate l9 which, as shown in Fig. l, is substantially diametrically opposite to the gap Conducting plate i9 is connected to a collector ring it which is engaged by a stationary brush ill connected by a lead H to one terminal of the aforementioned relay it, the other terminal being connected by a short lead ll to the supply wire u.

When contact element iii of auxiliary contact arm Elli is not in engagement with the conducting plate it, the circuit from one supply terminal 8,

through lead t, to the proximal end of the contact arm, to the relay it, is broken; hence, at such times, other than when the auxiliary arm engages the conducting plate lit), the armature it of relay it will be in engaging position, as shown in Fig. i, with contact it, thus completing the circuit Irom the armature of the pilot motcr directly to'supply wire l and thus by-passing the speed governor 60. When engagement is made between the auxiliary contact arm 3t and the conducting plate it the circuit through relay "ill will be completed, the relay energized and its armature M attracted away from engagement with contact l5, thus breaking the by-passing circuit and causing the circuit through the pilot motor to pass through the speed governor, which circuit may be traced through brush 5G, collector ring 65, to the proximal end of the swing arm t2, the distal contact 84, stationary contact (assuming that the speed of the motor rotation is below the upper limit) to collector ring til, brush til, lead til, to the supply wire ll.

Even with the provision of reduced speed, when the alignment between gap and conducting arm is approached, there is a tendency of the insulated disc it] turned by the pilot motor til, as described, to over-run the position of alignment, thus causing contact element 26 to engage with the other of the conducting segments ii, i2 which causes the motor to start rotating in the opposite direction; the insulated disc may again over-run in the opposite direction, thus causing objectionable hunting back-and-forth. One way which objectionable hunting may be avoided is by increasing the size of the gap, or, rather, the clearance separating the adjacent ends of the conducting elements. But this is open to another drawback resulting from the fact that there may be loss in accuracy in load positioning because the contact element of the contact arm will be positioned at undetermined points in the gap. We have discovered that the two objections mentioned above (over-running by reason of a narrow gap and inaccurate positioning, because of the wide gap) may be compromised by making the gap adjustable, so that by trial and error the proper gap distance may be determined and the apparatus fixed with the best gap distance to meet both conditions menidentical to those shown in Fig. l.

at diflerent radial distances from the center of the spindle 9. For example, in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, if the contact arm 20 is adjusted toposition its contact element 2| relatively nearer the spindle 9, the path of the gap traversed by contact element 2| will be less than the gap traversed were the contact arm adjusted away from spindle 9. In this manner, the gap traverse may be selected by trial and error until the best traverse or can opening is round.

Contact arm 20 is made adjustable for the aforesaid radial movement in any suitable manner; as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the proximal end of the contact arm 20 is bifurcated to form a central recess 22 separating

fingers

23, 24 and in each of the fingers is provided anelongated slot, respectively 23 24*, as best shown in Fig. 3. In mounting the ifurcated contact arm on the insulated disc ID, the spindle 9 is received in the recess 22, as best shown in Fig. l and the contact arm is secured to rotate with spindle 9 by suitable fastening means, for example, screw 25, as shown, the shanks of which pass through the elongated slots 23 24 and are threaded into a collar or flange 6, integral with or secured to the spindle 9.

The auxiliary contact arm 30, used as already described above for the reduced speed provision, may be simultaneously radially adjusted relative to spindle 9. Cooperative therewith, the conduct ing plate 19 is likewise provided with a taper, to provide difierent traverse for the contact element 3| of the auxiliary contact arm. The purpose of providing the different engaging traverse between thecontact element 3| and conducting plate I9 is to regulate the time of their engagement and thus to vary the time that the relay H1 is energized to call the rotary governor into operation as alignment between gap 8 and contact arm 20 is approached and reached.

A further object in providing a? radial adjustment of contact arm 20 is to be able to change the position of its contact element radially, so that it may traverse circles of different radii. This is desirable because the contact element 2| very frequently wears grooves in the conducting elements or segments ll, 12; by changing the radial position of the contact element 2|, it may be caused to engage fresh, unmarred surfaces of the conducting elements.

Still another object in providing the aforedescribed adjustment of the gap 8 is that the 5 contact element 2| may be made, by radially positioning its contact arm 20, to either bridge the gap B-by which is meant to simultaneoslyengage the adiacent conducting elements 2- or to be aligned in the gap 8 without engaging either of the segments |2. In the form shown in Fig. 1, the bridging position of the contact element 2| would be the position in which the contact arm 20 is adiusted towards spindle 9; the other, or non-bridging position, would be'the position of contact element 2| when its contact arm '20 is adjusted away from the spindle 9.

A second form in which the contact arm may be adjusted to position its contact element 2| at different radial distances is shown in Fig. 4, where the corresponding parts bear reference characters Secured to rotate with the spindle 9 is a lever arm 52, the distal end of which is" articulated to a link member 82, the distal end of which carries the contact a 6 element 2|. The said articulation between link 53 is such that link 83 can be turned a slight extent to change the radial distance of contact element 2| from the spindle 9; the securement is then made fast, so that the lever arm 52 and link '53 are rigidly connected to be turned as a unit by I the spindle 9. r

We claim:

1. A control device comprising a pair of electrically conducting segments separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentrically therewith; a contact arm slidably engaging the segments; a .means to support the proximal end of the contact arm on the spindle; and a means to vary the radial length of the contact arm for causing the contact arm to engage the gap at a point of selected width.

2. In a device of the class described in combination; a pair of electrically conducting members on the base separated by a gap having varying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentrically therewith; a flange on the spindle; a contact arm adjustably secured at its proximal end to the flange and slidably engaging the conducting members; and means to secure the contact arm onthe' flange in radially adjustable positions for causing the contact arm to pass over the gap at a point of its width corresponding to the radial adjustment of the contact arm.

3. A control device comprising a pair of electrically conducting segments separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentrically therewith; a contact arm; a flange on the spindle; means to adjustably support the proximal end of the contact arm on the flange for varying the effective radial length of the contact arm; and a contact element at the end of the contact arm slidably engaging the conducting segments, the contact element engaging the gap at a width corresponding to the radial adjustment of the contact arm.

4. A control device comprising an insulating base; a pair of electrically conducting segments on the base separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentrically therewith; a contact arm, a flange on the spindle, the contact arm having a bifurcated proximal end supported on the flange; a contact element-at the distal end of the contact arm slidably engaging the conducting segments; and a means to secure the contact arm on the flange in radially adjustable positions for causing the contact element to pass over the gap at the desired widtlithereof.

5. In a device of the class described, in combination, a spindle; an insulated disc rotatively mounted on the spindle; a pair of electrically conducting segments supported on the base, the

adjacent ends of said segments being separated by a gap having a varying width; a flange secured to said spindle; a contact arm having a contact element'at its'distal end slidably engaging the segments; the proximal end of the contact arm being bifurcated to provide a central recess forming a 'pair of fingers having elongated slots, the said contact arm being mounted on the said flange with the said spindle received in the central recess ofthe contact arm; a pair of screws received in the said elongated slots for securing the contact arm to the flange in a selected radial position;

the contact element thereby engaging the gap at a width corresponding to the radial adjustment oi the contact arm.

6.In a device of the class described, in combination, an insulated base; a pair of electrically conducting members on the base separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotatively supported on the base in a fixed relation to the members and concentrically therewith; a contact arm adjustably secured at its proximal end on the spindle and slidably engaging the conducting members; a means to vary the radial efiective length of the contact arm for causing the contact arm to pass over the gap at a Width corresponding to radial length of the-contact arm; a conducting plate supported on the base having different width at different radial distances; a second contact arm slidably engaging the contact plate secured to the spindle; and a means for varying the radial effective length of the second contact arm for causing the second contact arm to pass over the plate at a width corresponding to the radial length of the second contact arm.

7. A contact device comprising an insulating base; a pair oi electrically conducting" members for varying the efiiective radial length of the contact arm; a means to secure the proximal end oi the inner arm portion to the spindle, the distal end of the outer arm portion slidaloiy engaging the conducting members and passing over the tap at a width corresponding to the angular position of the second portion relative to the first portion.

- ll/HCJEDEHL. N. YARDENY.

ROBERT REFERENCES CITED The following references are oil record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STAWS PATENTS Number Name Date 913,753 Murray Mar. 2, i909 Biebel .....,...Q Decfifi, 194i