US141777A - Improvement in relay-magnets - Google Patents

Description

Case 723.

T. A. EDISON.

Relay Magnets.

N0. 141,777, Patented August12,1873.

g I gf/gamgmfm UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

THOMAS A. EDISON, OF NEWARK, NEW J ERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND GEORGE HARRINGTON, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

l-MPROVEMENT lN Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 141L777, dated August 12, 1870; application filed March 13, 1873.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS A. EDISON, of

Newark, in the county of Essex and State of v burning of the contact-p0ints by the spark are sources of constant annoyance.

My present invention is made for'preventing" the points burningonh-and for avoiding adjustment of the retractile armature-springs.

I make use of metallic contact-points within a liquid, such as glycerine or water,so that the motion of one contact-point nearer to or farther from the other raises and lowers the electric tension in the telegraph'line, and operates a distant magnet without forming a spark or breaking the circuit.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of the relay-magnet with the circuit-cup in section, and Fig. 2 is a side view of the distant magnet.

The finger-key a is in a circuit from the battery I); so also are the coils of the relay-magnet c. The armature d andits lever f are moved by the spring e in one direction, and by the magneto in the other. The circuit-cup gis made to contain water, glycerine, or other suitable liquid. In the bottom is the screw or point i, connected with the circuit-wire 7a, and the movable point or screw l passing through the lever f is connected with the other circuitwire m, extending to the distant magnet 11. The battery 9 isin the circuit .to the magnet a; and it will now be understood that by adjusting the point Z nearer to or farther from i the proportion of current passing to the mag net a can be adjusted so that, when the point Z is moved by the magnet c nearest to i, the current from 1 will be su'fliciently powerful to energize the magnet in and draw down its armature u,- but when the circuit-to the magnet 0 is broken at the key a, or otherwise, the

movement of the point Z away from i will lessen the tension in the circuit k m by the resistance of the intervening liquid, and weaken the power of the electro magnet a, so

that its spring or weight t will draw away itsarmature.

The movement of the armature u may be made operative in effecting any desired telegraphic operation to which it is adapted. I, however, employ the same especially as a sounder, and in that case the battery 1' and circuit k m are local.

I am aware that contact-points within a liq uid, such as oil or glycerine, have been em ployed in the circuit-breaker of an electric engine; In my improvement the circuit is not broken, but the relay-magnet or sounder is operated by rise and fall of tension, and the contact-points are adjustable instead of varying the armature-spring of the magnet.

I claim as my invention The adjustable contact-points acting within a liquid, in combination with thehelix, armature, and spring of a sounder or relay, as set forth.

Signed by me this 7th day of March, A. .1). 1873.

THOMAS A. EDISON.

Witnesses:

Gno. T. PINCKNEY, Gems. H. SMITH.

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