US Patent: 351,589 - System of electric distribution


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US Patent: 351,589

System of electric distribution

Patentees:

John Dixon Gibbs (exact or similar names) - Middlesex County, England

Lucian Gaulard (exact or similar names) - Middlesex County, England

USPTO Classifications:

307/17

Tool Categories:

electrical devices : electric distribution systems

Assignees:

George Westinghouse, Jr. - Pittsburgh, PA

Manufacturer:

Not known to have been produced

Witnesses:

Douglas L. Newton

Frank L. Pope

Patent Dates:
Applied:	Mar. 06, 1886
Granted:	Oct. 26, 1886

Patent Pictures:

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Description:

This important patent details how to use alternating-current power with step-up and step-down transformers to greatly reduce power losses when transmitting electricity over long distances. A step-up transformer creates high-voltage low-current power that travels over the transmission lines to the destination, where a step-down transformer reduces the voltage again so that the electricity can be used safely. This principle is still used today, and only in the 21st century are we seeing more widespread deployment of high-voltage DC transmission lines to supply high-voltage AC lines.

This invention was a key enabling technology that led to Tesla's development of two-phase power (see patents 381,970, 382,279 and 382,280).