US Patent: 120,057
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| Improvement in magneto-electric machines
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Patentees:
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| Eardley Louis Charles d'Ivernois (exact or similar names) - Paris, France |
| Zénobe-Théophile Gramme (exact or similar names) - Paris, France |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
Oct. 17, 1871 |
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Jeff Joslin
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Description: |
| Zénobe Gramme was a Belgian-born electrical experimenter; The comte d'Ivernois (Count of Ivernois), credited here as co-inventor, was his financial backer and promotor. Gramme reportedly had been repelled by the mess of conventional electric batteries and set out to design and build a dynamo, i.e., a DC generator, for converting rotary physical movement to direct current electrical energy. In 1868 or '69 he succeeded, and then in 1871 he developed a generator for AC power. This patent describes both, and while generators were not a new idea, compared to previous generators Gramme's generators could create much higher voltages and hence would have lower transmission losses.In that same year of 1871 Gramme and the comte d'Ivernois established a company, Société des Machines magnéto-électriques Gramme, to promote and manufacture Gramme's inventions. Another electrical experimenter, Hippolyte Fontaine of France, was made the director of this new firm. In 1873 Fontaine discovered that Gramme's generator, if connected to an electrical power source, could act as an electric motor. This was a key insight that contributed to the ensuing adoption of electricity: generators were driven by an energy source such as a water wheel or a steam engine, and supplied electricity across a distribution network to electric lights and motors. AC system would prove superior to DC systems because they allowed the use of high-voltage transmission lines with improved efficiency compared to lower-voltage systems, then step-down transformers reduced voltage for simpler and safer use in homes and factories.The company presented both generator and motor at the 1873 Universal Exhibition in Vienna, which led to international sales of the company's products. In 1875 Nikola Tesla first saw a Gramme generator and became intrigued with the potential of AC electrical systems. It took several years before he made serious progress but he would eventually make significant improvements to AC motors: see, e.g., patent 381,968. Meanwhile, the Gramme company promoted their machines at the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris, where Gramme and Fontaine signed licensing contracts, including French manufacturer Joseph Jaspar, whose company, Ateliers Jaspar, would build Gramme dynamos and DC motors, lighting systems, machine tools, gas engines for driving the Gramme dynamos, and electric elevators. |
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