CA Patent: CA-12,341
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| Improvements on automatic adjusters for commutator brushes of dynamo-electric machines
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Patentees:
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| Elihu Thomson (exact or similar names) - New Britain, CT |
| Edwin James Houston (exact or similar names) - Philadelphia, PA |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
Feb. 10, 1881 |
CIPO Data
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Jeff Joslin
Vintage Machinery entry for Thomson-Houston Electric Co.
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Description: |
| This patent is primarily of interest because its inventors would, in 1882, collaborate with deep-pocketed investors to establish the Thomson-Houston Electric Co., which a decade later would merge with the Edison General Electric Co. to create General Electric Co. At the time this patent was issued both men were involved in the American Electric Co. of New Britain, but that enterprise's capital was insufficient for their ambitions. One of their projects involved electrifying the armory of the town of Lynn, Massachusetts. A Lynn newspaper owner, Silas A. Barton, visited the company in New Britain to broach the possibility of a second installation in Lynn, and learned that the company was in financial difficulty. He subsequently encouraged other Lynn businessmen to invest with him in revitalizing that firm, including Charles Coffin, who owned a shoe factory (Coffin & Clough) in Lynn. Barton, Coffin, Thomson and Houston then formed Thomson-Houston Electric Co. in Philadelphia, acquired the assets of American Electric Co., and relocated the business to Lynn, with Coffin becoming president. Houston did not make the move to Lynn and ceased his active role in the business.In the hand-written patent specification Houston is described as a "Professor of Physics" and his former student and colleague, Thomson, is described as an "Electrician". The invention itself is a construction that automatically adjusts the angular position of the brushes to the optimal location so as to minimize sparking. They claim two factors in determining the best position: rotational speed and rate of current variation. They used a combination of centrifugal force (proportional to speed) and magnetic force (proportional to current variation) to automatically position the brushes. |
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