US835763A - Electric-current regulator. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

0. H. & A. P'. PIEPER. ELEGTRIO CURRENT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILE-D mi. '1. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

X f b J gmitweao uo No. 835,763. PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

. 0. H. 6: A. F. PIEPER.

v ELECTRIC CURRENT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

0. H. & A. F. PIEPBR. ELECTRIC CURRENT REGULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.7. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEIET 3.

PATENTED NOV. 13, 1906.

.O. H. & A. P. PIEPER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7. 1906. I

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

w w x a W n m PM a W W a QM*@MWL ELECTRIC CURRENT REGULATOR.

rrnrTnn sTaTns PATENT @FFTCE.

USUAR H. PTEPER AND ALPHONSE F. PTEPER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

sreernndouseenr enema-roe.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1906.

Application filed February i, 1906. Serial No. 299,993- 1 Improvements in Electric-Current Regulators; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being'had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification, and to the reference-characters marked thereon.

Our present invention relates to improvements in regulators or controllers for electric currents, and is more especially adapted to the regulation of the speed of dental and other small motors; and it has for its object to provide a device of this kind the parts of which are so constructed and arranged within a protective casing that they may be readily removed and replaced with the greatest facility and without the necessity of disturbing the electrical or other connections between the parts and to provide an improved device for positioning the controller-arm in different adjusted positions and to provide other features of improvement on regulators of the type covered by Letters Patent No. 675,294, granted May 28, 1901.

To these and other ends the invention consists'in certain new and useful improvements and .combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a central vertical section of a regulator constructed in accordance with our invention.

FigifiZ represents a top plan view of the same with the upper cover-plate removed. Fi 3' is a' bottom plan view of the device wit the lower cover-plate removed. Fig. 4 represents a sectionon the line 4'4 of Fig. 6 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 shows an underneath view of the controllerplate, showing the electric connections. Fig.

6 is a view of the resistance devices and the controller-plate removed bodily from the casing. Fig. 7 is a-top plan view of the controller-plate and its coiiperatingcontrollerarm, parts being omitted for clearness. Fig. 8 is a top plan view, of a modified form of regulator. Fi 9 represents a side elevation of thedevice s own in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 represents a section on' the line 10 10 of Fig. 8. Fig. 11 is a detail view of'one of the connections removed from the controller. Fig. 12 shows a portion of the regulator with the improved positioning device for the controller-arm, and Fig. 13 is a detail view of the terminal or binding post.

Similar reference-characters figures indicate similar parts.

The present embodiment of our invention comprises a casing 1, preferably of annular form, having upper and lower'cover-plates 2 in the several and 3 secured at its top and bottom, re-

spectively, by means of screws or other devices, to permit their removal, andwithin the casing between these upper and lower cover-plates a pair of'shoulders 4 are pro vided to serve as supports for theessential parts of the regulator.

The regulator employed may be of any suitable type, that s own in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, embodying a frame 5, removably secured by screws or other devices to the lower sides of the shoulders 4 of the casing and supporting a resistanceset 6. This re-' sistance set in the present instance is made up of a series of resistance-coils 7, formed by wrapping resistance-wire over flat plates of slate or other suitable insulating material 8, the.coils thus formed being superposed one u on the other to form a pack having sheets. of mica or other insulating material 9 to separate adjacent coils. of the series. These superposed coils are held securely between a pair of-clamping- plates 10 and 11, the latter being secured together by-screws 12 and the;

plate 10 being in turn secured to the frame 5 by means of the screws 13 so that the entire resistance set is carried by the frame 5. The lower plate 11 serves as a support for a series of binding or terminal parts A, 13,0, D, E, F, G, and H, respectively, to which the appropriate terminals in the leading-in wires are connected, the t rminals A, D, E, F, and G being attached in the present instance to their correspondingterminals A, D, E, F, and G, respectively, and theseterminals are.

extended to the exterior of, the casing and to the motor or other device to be regulated by means of the conducting-cord 14, a suitable packing or tight joint being formed between this cord and the regulator-casing by means of a suitable insulating-bushing 15, fitted into a correspondingly formed recess 16, which extends into the casing from the lower edge thereof,"screws 17 serving to detachably secure this bushing in the wall of the cas'ingf in positic 1.

The detachable frame 5 also carries the stationary controller-contacts, the controller being in the present instance similar to that shown and described in the patent hereinbefore mentioned, it being therefore unnecessary to describe it in detail herein, except to say that it comprises generally an insulatingdisk 18, secured tothe frame by screws 19 and having on its upper surface the groups or sets of contacts arranged to cooperate with a rotatable control1er-arm 20, the latter being made up of two insulated brush-carrying members 21 and 22, carrying pairs of brushes 23 24 and 25 26, respectively. This con troller-arm is fixed to an operating-shaft 27, the latter being journaled in a bearing 28 on the frame 5, the upper end of this shaft being iournaled in a bearing 29 on the plate 30, the atter being removably secured by screws or otherwise to the upper side of the shoulders 4 on the casing-walls. The brush 23 of the controller-arm is adapted to cooperate with a set of controller-contacts 31, while the brush 24 is arranged to cooperate with the contacts 32, the circuit being completed between the brushes 23 and 24 through the member 21 on the controller arm. The brush 25 is arranged to cooperate with a set of contacts 33, while the brush 26 cooperates with a set of contacts 34, the circuit between the brushes 25 and 26 being completed through their supporting member 22 on the controller-arm. The present form of controller is adapted to a reversible motor, the groups of contacts 33 and 34 being employed for reversing the polarity of the current flowing through the motor-armature, while the groups of contacts 31 and 32 are employed for varying the amount of resistance inserted in the circuit, the dot-- ted line a: as of Fig. 7 indicating the median line which the contacts occupy when in neutral position, all as will be more fully under- ,stood by reference to the Letters Patent aforesaid; but as this part of the regulator is not claimed herein a general description will be sufficient for an understanding of the present invention.

In order to simplify the various connections between the terminal parts for the lineterminals and their corresonding contacts on the controller, it is pre'erable to employ connecting-bars, such as shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 1 1, which are made up, preferably, of sheet metal in stamped form, having eyes at opposite ends to receive the fastening-screws of the binding posts or terminals, the connections between the terminal posts on the plate 11 and the contact-plates on the disk 18 being formed with angular bends to clear the resistance-coils and other parts, and as the relative positions and distances between the terminal posts and their corresponding contact-plates is different in each instance and each connecting-bar is of a particular form in length one is not liable to confusion in making these connections, as each connection will only fit between its pro er terminal osts.

The regulator shown in .igs."8, 9, an 10 is similar in most respects to that first described, except that the resistance-coils are constructed and arranged in a different way and the regulator is adapted for controlling alternating currents. In this instance the frame 35, corresponding to the frame 5 in the previous construction, has a pair of oppositely-arranged brackets 36 and 37, detachably secured thereto by means of screws 38, the brackets each having a row of inwardlyextending projections arranged to rest in apertures in a set of spools 39, the latter being formed of lava or other suitable insulating material surrounded by resistance-coils 40, a plate 41 being secured in these brackets by means of screws 42 and serving to support the terminal posts for the conductor-terminals.

In each form of controller shown and described the respective frames 5 and 35 serve as a support having the controller-contacts and the resistance-coils in fixed relation thereto, so that the relation between the controller-contacts and the binding-posts which have electrical connections with the resistance-coils remains fixed, and therefore the connections between these parts will not be disturbed whenever the frame 5 or 35, as the case may be, is applied to and removed from the casing, and as the bushing 15, surrounding the conductor-cord 14, is removably fitted into the recess 16, which extends upwardly from the lower open edge of the easing, removal of the resistance and controller contacts from the casing may be accomplished by unfastening this bushing and withdrawing it from its recesses in the casing, so that all of the parts of the controller or regulator may be removed bodily without disturbing any of the mechanical or electrical connections, permitting inspection to be made of the parts while they are in exactly the same condition as they were within the easing.

The shaft 27, carrying the controller-arm, has a treadle 43 fixed thereto, preferably above the plate 30, parts of the treadle extending through segmental recesses 44 and 45 in the casing and having portions adapted to be actuated by the operators foot to bring the controller-brushes to rest upon the desired contacts. When, as in the present instance, the controller is adapted for use in connection with a reversible motor, it is desirable to provide means which normally operate to return the controller-arm automatically to central or neutral position, and the means employed for this purpose in the resent instance embody generally a pair 0 oppositely-arranged arms 46 and 47, having a tension-spring 48 normally operating to draw them together against a central stop 49, as

shown in Fig. 2, a projection 50 on the treadle operating either one or the other of these arms against the tension of the spring when the controller-arm is moved in either direction from its central position, the springarms thus provided tending to return the treadle to normal position as soon as it is released from the foot of the operator. However, in order to avoid the necessity of retaining the foot against the treadle when it is desirable to keep the motor on a given speed for a considerable period of time I provide an improved device for positioning and holding the controller-arm at the difierent degrees of rotation corresponding to the different speeds, the device cooperating with the spring-operated arms to normally overcome the action thereof, but adapted to yield when a positive force is applied to the treadle to 1 A spring 55, surrounding the pivot 53 and having its opposite ends bearing on the pins 56 and 57 of the res ective arms, serves to force the latter against t .e roller or projection 54 on the treadle as the latter is rotated into the different positions, so that when the said roller or projection approaches one of the recesses the action of the spring 55 will move the corresponding arm against the projection with sufficient force that the inclined sides of the recess will operate to center the roller or proj ection therein, andthus hold the controllerarm in operative position but of course if a positive force is applied to the treadle to move it in either direction the projection on the treadle will be dislodged from the recess .to permit the treadle to befinovedinto a different position. x

By providing the screws or equivalent devices 68 these spring-arms may be thrown out of operative position, and therefore the treadle will be returned to normal position as soon as it is released from the foot of the operator. The treadle with the automatic centering device and the operating-shaft 27 with the controller arm and brushes are preferably attached together and carried bodily by the detachable plate 30, so that by unfastening the plate 30 these parts can be removed bodily from the casing independently of the remainder of the regulator, and consequently without disturbing the electrical connections of the controller, and above the plate 30 is fitted the removable top plate 2,

be readily which serves to cover and protect the treadle-operating parts, the operating ends of the treadle which extend through the segmental recess 44 and 45 being the only parts of the regulator exposed at the exterior of the casing.

It is generally preferable to so construct the regulator as to control the speed in both directions when the device is employed as a motor-regulator; but it will be understood that the controller may be made single or non-reversible by rearrangementof the controller-contacts, and in this case it would be necessary to use only one each of the arms for operating and positioning the treadle instead of two, as shown.

The connectors, such as shown in Fig. 11, may be used with particularly good results in a regulator of this kind for electrically connecting the terminal posts with their corresponding contacts of the controller, the apertured attaching-lugs 58 and 59 being 'se curely clamped beneath the heads of the screws or nutsto provide good electrical contacts, while the portions of the lugs encircling the screw or other part of the post preventtheir displacement from beneath the screw head or nut, and by forming the bends, such as at the points 60, 61, 62, and 63, these connections clear the intervening parts of the controller, and by forming them of materialof sufficient stiffness to retain their form it is unnecessary to cover them with insulating material, and this facilitates an inspection of the controller-circuits when such is necessary. A novel terminal or binding post is shown ICC in Figs. 1 and 13, which is particularly adapt- A ed for use in connecting the terminals or leadconductors to the regulator, the bared end of the conductor or terminal being extended around a circumferential groove 64, formed in an attaching-ring 65, the free end of the conductor being preferably extended entirely around the ring and then wrapped or wound about the conductor beyond the ring to prevent unwinding of the conductor from the ring, and with the conductor end so Wrapped and secured 'on said ring it is soldered thereto, preferably at a point 66 removed from the point where the conductor joins the ring. A' terminal with an attaching-ring secured thereto in such a way may attached to a terminal or binding post by passing a screw 67 therethrough, an terminals attached to terminal posts in this manner avoid the inconvenience of wrapping the loose conductor end about the post, as is customary, and are also proof against breaking of the conductor from constant bending" and strain at its point of attachment, as the bending of the conductor takes place through a longer portion of the conductor instead of at a given point, and therefore liability of breakage of the terminal is reduced to a minimum.

ITO

We claim as our invention 1. In an electric-current regulator, the combination with a casing, of a frame detachably mounted in said casing, a resistance set and sWitch-contacts removable from the bottom of the casing bodily with said frame, connections between the said set and contacts, and a supporting-plate carrying. a switch or controller-arm arranged to cooperate with said contacts and removable from the top of the casing, and supports formed in the casing between the said frame and plate.

2. In an electric-current controller, the combination with a casing, of a frame detachably secured within said casing, a resistance set and controller-contacts secured in fixed relation on said frame, connections between said set and contacts, said set, contacts and their connections being removable bodily with said frame, and a rotatable switch or controller-arm having brushes arranged to cooperate with said contacts the said frame and arm being independently removable from the casing by relative movement in the direction of the axis of said arm.

3. In an electric-current regulator, the combination with a casing, of a controller detachably mounted therein, a conductor having connections with said controller and extending through an open recess in the wall of said casing to permit removal of said conductor and controller bodily from the casing without the necessity of disconnecting them.

4. In an electric-current regulator, the combination with a casing having an opening therein and a recess extending into the walls thereof from said opening, of a controller fitted within said casing and having a portion thereof removable through said opening, and a conductor resting in said recess of the casing and connected to the removable portion of the controller.

5. The combination with a hollow casing having an opening therein, and a recess extending into the wall of the casing from said opening, of a controller arranged within said casing having a portion adapted to be removed. through said opening, a bushing removably fitted in said recess, and a conductor extending into said casing through said bushing and having termina connections with said controller.

6. In a regulator, the combination with a pivoted member having a projection thereon, and contacts controlled by the movement of said member, of a positioning device for said member embodying an arm pivoted at a point approximately in the path of said projection and having recesses or notches therein arranged to be engaged thereby and a spring operating on said arm to retain the notched portions in cooperative relation with said projection.

7. In a regulator, the combination with a pivoted member and contacts controlled by esavea the movement thereof, of a centering device normally tending to operate said member, and a positioning device for holding said member in adjusted position against the action of said centering device embodying an arm having recesses or notches thereon, and a projection on said member arranged to cooperate with said recesses and means for yieldingly operating said arm to retain the notched portion thereof in cooperative relationi with said projection.

8. In a controller, the combination with a pivoted member having a projection thereon, and contacts controlled by the movement of said member, of a positioning device for said member embodying copivotal arms having recesses or notches thereon to cooperate with the projection on said member and means operating said arms in a direction to hold the recessed portions thereof in cooperative rela tion with said projection.

9. In a controller, the combination with a casing supporting a pivoted member, and contacts controlled by the movement of said member, of a positioning device 'for said member embodying copivotal recessed arms having a spring supported by the pivot and engaging the arms on one of the parts, and a projection on the other part arranged to cooperate with the recessed portions of said arms.

10. In a regulator, the combination with a pivoted member, and contacts controlled by the movement thereof, of a positioning device for yieldingly holding said member in different operative positions, and means for throwing said positioning device out of operative condition.

11. In a regulator, the combination with a pivoted member, and contacts controlled by the movement thereof, of a positioning device for said member embodying a springoperated arm pivoted on one of the parts and having recesses thereon, a projection on another part arranged to cooperate with the recesses of said arm, and a device for moving said arm out of cooperative relation with said projection.

12. In an electric-current regulator, the combination with a supporting-frame, a disk arranged at one side of the frame and provided with switch-contacts, a resistance set arranged at the opposite side of the frame, and a plate attached to the resistance set having portions thereon extending beyond the edges of said frame and carrying terminal posts for the resistance set, of connectors arranged between the said posts and their respective switchcontacts each embodying, a substantially rigid conductor having one end attached to the post on the extension of said plate, an intermediate portion extending transversely of the supporting-frame, and having its opposite end connected to its appropriate switch-contact on the said disk.

I 13. In an electric-current controller, the l combination with a casing, and an annular shoulder formed therein, ofa sup ortingframe secured against the said shoufder and having segmental recesses formed in its edge, a disk arranged at one side of the said frame and provided'with a set of switch-contacts, a resistance set arranged at the opposite side of the said frame, and connectors arranged between the said contacts and the resistance set embodying rigid conductors having intermediate portions extending through the recessed portions of the frame in directions transverse of the latter.

14. In an electric-current controller, the combination with a hollow casing open at the top and bottom, and up er and lower annular shoulders formed t erein, of a frame adapted to enter the bottom of the casing and having means for securing it to the lower of said shoulders, a resistance set carried by the said frame, a disk attached to the said frame and provided with a set of switch-contacts, and electrical connections between the said contacts and the resistance set, a plate adapted to enter the top of the casing, and secured against the upper shoulder, a shaft journaled in said plate, a switch-arm on said shaft carrying brushes arranged to cooperate with the switch-contacts, and an operating member connected to the said shaft.

OSCAR H. PIEPER. ALPHONSE F. PIEPER.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE A. BATEMAN, G. WILLARD R1011.

Images