1. business and industrial
2. energy
3. electricity

Jan. 2, 1923.
1,440,879
T. L. LEE ET AL‘
Enac‘rmc SYSTEM FOR Vzmcuzs.
FILED JAN. 20‘ I921‘
llnvemwrs
U Mama/45E; gt 1.0.
Gk
W‘.
11.8%
i
1,440,879
Patented Jan. 2, 1923.
‘UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE‘
i'irnommsiii LEE AND IiAY-MOND H.-SULLIVAN, OFIYOCHESTEB, NEW‘Yon-x, irs'sreiwol'zs
mo NORTH EASTELEGTRIG COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A COR'PGRATION
01%‘ NEW' YORK.
ELECTRIC SYSTEM FOR wil'II-ZIHICLIEIS.
Application med January 20, 1921; Serial in 438,641.
Be is know" that we,’ THOMAS L. LEE and
'RAYl-rION‘D ?ilgsmuvim, citizens of ‘,ythe
Unitedis?aie'giie?dinglat Rochester, in the
Ithas'
5
have invented ee'rtain new a‘n'd useful Im
prqvements
eeprie?ysteins“for Vehi
elegiqndklq li’eife‘, yildeéliire the, 'fbllewing to
be a full? clear, ‘mid
description 0!‘ the
zi_n_=\:re11t'i.0_1'1, suehiasj‘ will enable others skilled
in the
£16 \iihi'ch i‘?jxpvpefrt'ains to ineke and
u?e-thé?a'liiéi
'
.Ihis iiiltrveiitiqirlhelates to’ electric systenm
‘the’. ‘hind-.111. ,vfwliich ‘ghs?orage-ba?crv is
15
charged
5 a, iii‘regtégnérreqi; ;ge1_1er'3itu1z In
,_s1y$teII1S!.Q_g,?1l$‘,ilfll}?, ‘when: operated under operable in ‘néjmirét’
.t 12
60
lief;
.
65
, att‘t'enilant, it is
'éiieipmarzh lllde?fml?enthi} time when ‘the
is
‘ci .argédby reference to, elec
h'iei Inegsig ring’.Eingt'fi?n'e?isQ?ihl- observation
79
the tempé'rlatiireiqf,‘thenll?tfery, or the
speci?c gravity of the eleeti'0lj\{te,,2_1n1l the
In5iultudepends .nrppnlhe “care and skill ()L‘the
75
a gut; tisolatrerlbplgiirzib, or the‘ ZLLQ‘JA-l‘?l'rliS on 1;
m?t'dl‘ ‘Vehicle , orlla ,Q’ailwuy‘wzng, skilled sn
.petvisib_n n1 ‘ tinhegidispensed -\'\{ith and the
pperzrt‘ioirgifiiihe sjrsfenrr'nnst be mainly or
‘wholly Hilautomatic; _ Various arrangements
so
liziyeiheenfproposed for this, purppee. in gonjie
of n‘hiehithas- been attempted to lii‘n'ii' or
present overehargilig; of the baittery by {he
use of automi'iliie mun-011mg devices; hub fur
' the
partqthe delicacy ‘and "irregularity
; of such devices have caused their abandon
mentmnd in the vast lil'djQi‘li-‘V (if such email
systems nothing is attempted beyuml huh]
ing. the overcharging of the battery clown (u
a degree at which it will net he tvuoquii'zkly
. destructive to the battery.
90
40
An object of theprese'nt inve'ntiun is w
provide a rSiYSiGIll, u! the type in rqllésithi'sil‘
with simpleend reliable inegns by \rhicl‘i-the
gharging o-fj ?heyhatlie'rlv will he rlistxjnlinur?
eutumatiealbi Whenever the. battery has hi»
eome'fully charged. A further object ofytlm
invention is to provide 15m? bheuuterimtic re
50
sul'npt-ion ufrthe charging-operation hefm'e
the batleiy he's become greetlliidiseharged, generator‘ has been sliill ful‘fihéi" redubealh‘ji 100
1,440,879
.2
either reduction in speed or complete slop moment of full charge in the battery is the
v
page. so that there is no pulsating action of moment when 411L461: (1 where E is voltage
across the battery terminals or the gener
either the controller or the cut-out.
\Vhere the system is used on a inotor-yehr ator‘terminals, I is the current flowing
ole, for which use it is particularly well through the battery, and a, b, and c are con
adaptedfthe 'iioiinal ‘operation of the vehicle stants'depending upon theipeculiarities of
is certain to involve, at 'not infrequent in
tervals, a momentary reduction in speed of
the engine and ‘the "generatorisuflicient ‘to
cause the voltage of the generator to fall be
low that required to hold the controller in
operation, so that after eaetilinterruptionof
the several parts of the apparatus.“
\Vhile the foregoing expression may not
be rigorously true, itrhas been .found 1to be
at least a practical‘ approximationrto the
fact, and the principle involved may be util~
ized practically in a very simple manner, by
the charging operation the operation may be using, as the charge-controller, a relay hav
resumed, after an interval of'uncertain but‘ ing a voltagel'winding connected across the
generator terminals, of high resistance and
,
15, in no case unduly‘ great lenvth.
Another disadvantage o? a Charge-Con»
troller of the type inr‘question, as heretofore
proposed,vli‘es in the {fact that the voltage
‘across the battery terminals or the generator
20 ‘While theba'ttery is charging is not, in itself
alone‘ an accnratem'eas'ureof the extent to
'y'yhich‘the batteryfhas been charged. This
many turns, anda current or series wind
ing ‘of few turns and low' resistance, this ‘lat
ter winding being connected in ‘series with
80
the generator and the battery and being ar
ranged in oppositiontothe voltage, wind-i
The accompanying drawing is ‘a‘coniren
is ‘due'ito the fact that this voltage is due to tional diagram of an electric system embody
two variables; namely, first, the electromo
tive tome; orff‘open-circuitfvoltage” of the
ing the present invention.
'
I
The invention is illustratedlias ‘embodied
battery, and, ' seconds,” the, internal resistance in an electric system in w'hjch'the ‘ nerator
of the battery. Theelec'tromotive force of 5 has the form of a simple threei rush‘di
rect-current machine, such as ‘is oftennsed
, the
.
, b?ttérrirhen
i. ..
1
, Christiana
.
__
elite“ degree
in connection with“ a motor-Vehicle and
tsristlb?ainmllny
'c'on'sftehtiiréeeir
13.35 iéfiitem" driven,
at variable speed, byidirect connec
pérature, [but the internal resistance ‘varies
tion with the engine of._thej vehicle.‘ The
istlb’?elliiiellyi with, ,the_..w11n5efiitiire lot the generator
has, main brushesffi'iind 7,‘ and a
Pattern aniiiliiatiéteiier?tifrsvaiiés notonly third or’ auxiliary‘
brush{ 8,‘ tli‘e’sliunt“?eld
with.‘ atmospheric changes but also iii'acoord winding 9 being energized
by‘ current ?ow
he~ rate at ‘which the battery has
been charged ._
_
,
.
i
.
‘
‘‘ To secure accurate results‘iit is necessary,
'ing from the brush 8,’ tliroug‘h'i‘the‘circuit “
connections hereinafter"described, to ‘ the 100
‘r '
"'
"
tl'iereformntoi ‘compensate, automatically for main brush 7.
Thecharge-controller is‘ in the'form'of‘a
,andhjnfeature-of thisiin‘vention resides in relay,
tux-c 11.,
having
The a relay
magnebcore
is provided‘
1O and-an
with'back»
thenovel andsihiplewnieans provided for this
contacts,
the
contact
12,
carried
bythe
"arma
purpose ‘In this respect advantage is taken
oi ‘the fact .that‘certami eneratoi's tend to in tm'e, being in the form of‘a spring WhIi'fh
changesi'ini the , temiperat-iire?of» the battery,
crease their output wit
ll,
45
increasein the re
cooperates with a'i?xed contact '13.‘
I
100
)8
sista‘iice or counterE. Mjlh of the load cir» vrelay is so constructed that the‘cont'aicts are
cuit, ' This is particularhy true of generators not separated by the ?rst part of the move» '
of the three-brush type, in which a shunt ment of the armature towards theymagnet. 110
?eld-winding is connected between one or Xs :\ conventional construction for this pun
more of the main brushes and one or more ‘pose, the armature is shown as provided with
auxiliary brushes interposed between the a pin 14 having a head which engages and
main brushes. With such a generator, open positively moves the spring 12, but not until
atinur at any given speed, charging a battery the armature has performed a part of its
Whic has been charged to any riven degree movement The armature is maintained in
and has attained a corresponding electro the illustrated position, with the contaits
ll
motive force. if the resistance of the churgi» closed, by means of a spring 15‘ By suitable
ing-circuit be increased, by reduction in the adjustment of the spring and the contacts, ‘
temperature of'ithe battery. the voltage tin‘ relay may be caused to act so that‘upon 12H
across the generator terminals increases to
such a degree that the current output in»
creases instead of diminishing. In such ::
system, therefore, while the’condition of the
the attainment of a certain degree of flux
in the magnet, the spring 15 is overcome
and the armature begins to more. As it.
does so the airgap in the magnetic circuit is
battery, as to charge, cannot be gauged by shortened, so that the armature moves
voltage alone, it can be gauged by referenci with rapidly increasingr force. Conse
to the inverse variation of both "voltage and quently, when the contacts have been‘sepa
current. i That is, it may be stated on: the rated the armature is in a position to be re‘
Qi
1,440,879
tuined by the nntguot notwithstanding it cutrouti so that charging of the hatter)v
great reduction in ‘the tOttll flux in'thc mag
netic circuit.
The controller isprovided ‘with aicurrents
winding 16, comprising 21, few turns of. low
ceases and the output of the generator is
reduced to the ‘small! amount necessary to
energize the high-resistance windings 17 and
19 of the controller and the cutout, the
resistance’ anda tolta'ge-winding 17, com
object being to ‘maintain the controller in
prisingIrnunyiturns-of high resistance, these
‘open-circuit position for at least a, ‘substan
hereinbefore ‘described.
‘to this position.
\vindingsvwbeing arranged ‘in ‘opposition, as tial length of time after it has been moved
10
15
.'
= '
I
.
The cut=out -is shown 11s‘ of a typical
'
VV‘ith the appalratus in the condition ‘last
in whichithe imngnet-core "18 issprovided with described, ‘the controller iremriins in open
rircuit position until the generator has been
current-windingn-QOof relatiively few turns. either stopped, ‘or so reduced in speed that
rPhe ?xed contact 911 é'islehgagedbry the airma its output is no longer su?icient to hold the
form, r
‘ture 22 while ‘the batterly "is-being ‘charged, 'cohtroller open. When this occurs the‘ con:
SO
‘but 12. ’sp ring .23'terlds1-to ‘move: the‘ armature troller'oloses,‘ thus re-es'ttiblishin'v the ‘low
"to open—circuit :positio'n;*being‘adjilé?d to resistance’ circuit ‘through the‘ ?eiDd-wi'nding
.‘do so ‘whenever :the' vgenerated voltage ' is -le'ss »9. Upon‘ a subsequent‘sta'rtin ‘of'the gen
than that necessary to charge Ithe'Y-batte‘ry: erator or increase. in its spee , the cut-‘out
- Assuming thatethe "b ru’sh r?-iis -'the positive in‘ turn} will close in response to‘ a sufficient
brush [of the generator, :the'curren‘t normally vincrezise'in theigenerttted'voltage, and'if; iii
flows from ‘this’ lb'rus'h? throu» 11 some; Tthe meantime, the battery has been partly
.and the 1current-xviriding Minot] he ‘cont-roller, discharged the charging voperation will he
landeizhe'nce through :i Wire-25 170 the cut-“out resumed-‘11f, howeve'gth'e battery has not
‘From the wire 25' a'ism'z?l-xpart of the current been discharged during ‘the interim the‘coii- K
?ows-"through the'f voltage-Winding :19 timd troller Will vagain immediately move to open
thence: 1by wires'Qti-and :27'=to thenegativ'e circuit position, followed 'byfthe cut-out‘tmd
brush 7 .of theigenerato'r; . The greater part
the ‘apparatus will. remain in this condition
of the "current F?owsrfro'm the wire 25 ~until the-‘generator is again slowed downer
through rthe =' serieswindingi 20 ‘of t [theo- ‘out 'stopp'edvas 'andnc'ident to ‘the operation'i'of "915
out an'dl'thencepby wiry ofifthe contact ‘21
the'veh‘iclez'
Y
'
<
-
-
r
-,
end the armature Slfziztovm-wirer 28 eomieetec'i _ ;eLA<lthough.-'¢the1interval’ between the ii‘n’ter
‘with ‘the positive q’iote'of ftli'e battery; The rupti'oniendl‘the'iresunhptioh oft the‘charging
current ?ows "through the'ibatte‘ry aii'd ‘thence ioperation is1 basedji‘niot directly '_ =up'on‘7fthe
byway 10f‘ :the \irire'W;-baclt=~'t‘o‘the ‘Ige'nera :requ'iréments'of the‘ battery‘, but rather upon
-tor,-the battery thus‘ being charged ‘so long ‘the unrelated accidents‘ of -'_the operation‘ of
as the cut-out remiLins'clos'e'd:* -'
_
“the veliiclei'itiis certain as ‘a practical matter
' During this‘churg‘ing "operdtio'n a ismall ‘that this ‘intervzil‘will never be ‘unduly ‘lo'nix.
{amount of current ?ows constantly {from ‘the ln‘the electricjsystem's' conimon'l'y ‘used on
‘wire 24 ‘to the vo‘itegeltv‘in'di’ng 17 of the con "inoto'rsvehicles ‘the ‘battery ‘has ‘a capacity
trailer and thence,iby,waiy of thearmatu'rell which "is lar'g'eiin ‘proportion to the load n01‘
and the wire 313th the return-‘whoa? ‘and
45
5) O
60
Go
‘mall?i in'lp‘osedviipoii‘ it while ‘the vehicle‘ is
back ~to the ge‘nei'atorrfi’l‘he' magnetizing running; this load consisting m'ere'ly of
e?ect -‘ o'f-the winding‘ 17 "alwiiys ‘preponder hi'inpsi ignition-apparatus,‘ signal-‘horn, (etc,
ates over the demagnetizirrgie?eettithe so that theieis no‘ danger’ of the battery be ‘llO
winding 16,1 *so that‘hs tli‘e'vo‘l't-tlge :across ing seriously deleted during the longest
the‘ I generator terminate incre?ses "th‘e- ' pu‘l'l ‘continuous run‘ 0 ‘the vehicle ‘at high‘ speed.
upon ‘the immature 1 increases, ‘until ‘?nally The *ohil‘yi‘hesivy' 8min upon the‘ battery is
t'h'e .con'tro‘l‘le‘r"movesi to‘ open-circuit? o'si‘tio'n. that in'ci‘clentiiflito starting the engine after
Prior'to-thisoocurrenee-tlieeurren‘t y‘whicih it has been stopped, but the“ apparatus aLu't'o 11-3
the‘ "?eld-winding" 9‘ is ‘energized passes Tn‘Jtica’lly takes ‘care of this condition. owingr
through the controller contacts by ‘way of to‘th'e fact that it always in condition to
the wires 30 and 31, and thus‘ has return resume charging of the battery when the
pathof‘low resistanceto'the brush‘ '1. > ‘When engine is stz?‘te‘t‘l from a condition of 'r'e‘st.
the controller contacts are tpenyhowewr,
In order thét the clause-controller may
the current through the ?eld'gwiniiingl'has
sensitive ‘and accurate in this ‘operation.
no return path except-through a: resistance it is desirable to compensate it for changes
de'vice 32 connected’ he‘t't'ireenthe’ windtng t:ind in the resistance of the voltageéwi'ndinig 17‘
the wire 27. This device ‘is-adjusters have due to chtin‘g'es in the ‘te'?iperlitu’re'thereof.
i:- resis‘tan'ce ls'trchwis‘td "cut *tl’oivn the’ ?eld in the 'diaggz‘riiiri‘ta compensating 'd'ei'iceis
current nndwthus‘ t'o“ ?e‘dqcetli‘e ‘genera-ted
shown .the
in‘ tlie'iiorm
poles of of
the :i i'na'gnct.
body 33. This
placedbody
voltaigeto aniamoejntsfi-‘ghtly ‘fess thanizthgrt tween
necessary-rte hold ‘the cut-‘out closed.‘ i The is i'iia‘d'e of a magnetic material having‘ the
mim-edfre'tely'followed‘ by the opentng'oit
characteristic that its ‘permeabilitv dimin
ishes W111 rfse'i‘r‘i Leinpererure. This body
130
4:
"1,440,879
thus acts as a magnetic shunt,- of which the -is not necessarily limited to the particular
eliicacy diminishes as the temperature of the form described, and that the invention is
winding 17 increases, thus compensating for not, in general, limited to the details of con’
the increased resistance of ‘this winding. struction and operation ‘hereinbefore set
This method of'compensatingl is shown more forth.
The invention'claimed is:
1y as one convenient device \for the purpose,
1. In an electric system, the combination,
and is not claimed as a part ofthepresent
withia generator of the three—brush type, a
invention.
‘I
1i
The relative amount of resistance of the storage-battery charged by the generator,
windings 16 and 17 of. the controller "is a anda‘. reverse—'current cutout connected in‘
matter which can be 'best'determined by ex
series with the generator and the battery, 01"
periment, in any particular application of ‘a charge-controller arranged‘ to control the
the invention; but‘ it may belstated, for ex output‘of the generator, the charge-control
ample, that in connection with a three~brush ler‘being connected both across the genera» _
15
generator of conventional form,=adapted to tor-terminals and in series with the‘genera
charge a three-cell‘ilead storagebattery when tor andv theibattery .and organized and ad
rjustedto act,-underithe‘differential action of
R.» P. M. at; armaxim-umwrate ofrapp‘roiri :the terminal voltage‘and the current~output
mately 20 amperes, 2025 turns ofNo. 32 cop of 'thegenerator; to interrupt the charging
per wire inthe-voltage-windin’g "17;,‘iandw3 ‘operation? when "the battery ‘becomes fully
operated at _ a speed rangelof ‘400 to 2500
25
turns of heavy ‘conductor :with negligible re‘ charged; byireducing the terminal voltage
sistance in the-winding" 16, have been found below that required to hold the cut-out closed.
to give a satisfactory result.‘ ;Not-onlyidoes . .wQmIn an electric systemythe combination,
the current-winding 16 com‘pensatefor va with-a generator ofithe type in which’ the
riations in the internal lresistance ofthe ibat~ output increases-with increase in terminal
tery, due to changes 'in temperaturev orrto ivoltage, and a storage-battery charged ‘by
anyother cause, but~it also compensates, to the‘generator,~of.means for controlling the
a certain degreepfor various other disturb output of the generator, comprising an elec~
ing effects-in the system.‘ When the temper
30
tromagnetic device operating. when subject
ature of, the 'generator1 ~increases,i;owing to ed to-aipredetermined magnetic ?ux,‘ to sub—
change in atmospheric conditional-or to in— stantially reduce said output; ‘said device
95
ternal heating of the generator,‘ ‘the; {resist having a liighwesistance winding .of many‘
tu'r'nsconnected across the generator'terr'nt
ance. of ,the. winding, 19 ‘ increases, so that :it
35
40
tends to ‘take less current, and the generated rials 'and= a low-resistance winding of- few
‘voltage diminishes. :This corresponds to -no turns connected in ise'ries with the generator
100
change in thG-uCOl'lditiQIl'Of the battery, but and the ‘battery and arranged in opposition
.
.
since it resultsgin .a reductioniinwvolumeiof to said high-resistancawinding.
the charging currentas‘ wellaseili the termi I: 3; In an electric system," the :combination,
nal'voltageof'the generator, the one reduc with .a generator of the typeyin which‘thc
tion compensates 'forithe other'through the output increaseswith increase ‘in terminal
action of the windings 16 and 1?: of the 'con voltage.‘ a battery charged vby. the generator,
troller, so‘thatthe controlleriwill stilliact
to discontinue the charging'oper'ation at ap
105
and a reverse current cut-out connected be
tween the generator and the battery, of a
proximately the right moment.‘ Again, if a charge-controller arranged to regulate the
45
50
60
load. such as the electric lights 34 shown 'in generator and organized and adjusted to re
the diagram. be thrown upon the generator duce the terminal voltage of the generator
and the battery, this load,-by diminishing to anamount less than that required to hold
the resistance of the total load upon the gen— the cut~out closed, vwhenever aE-—b1:d,
erator, causes a reduction in the voltage ‘ef where E is the terminal voltage of the gen
fective across the winding 17 of the control erator, I is the current output of the gener
ler, not necessarily corresponding to any ator, and. a, b, and d are constants’based
change of condition in the battery. ' Owing upon the characteristics of" the several parts
'
to the peculiarities of the three-brush gen of the apparatus.
4. In an electric system, the combination,
orator, ‘,l'lO‘VGVQ-l'; this reduction in voltage
causes a correspondingr reduction in the,cur~ with a generator of the type in which the
rent-output flowing through the Winding 1.6, output increases‘ with increase in terminal
and the two changes approximately neutral voltage, and a storage-battery connected
with and charged by the generator, of a
ize each other.
Although the controller has been described charge-controller arranged ‘to control‘ the
speci?cally as a magneto—electric device or
lltl
operation of the generator‘and constructed
relay, it is not necessarily limited, to this and adjusted to substantially reduce the ter~
form, but may have any form in whichvit is ininal voltage ‘of (the generator whenever
capable of acting in respect to the differen aE~Z2I:d, where E is the terminal voltage
tial effect of voltage and currentr?ow. It of the generator, I is the current-output of.
will be understood. also. that the ‘generator the generator, and a,'b, and d are constants 130
1,440,879
5
based upon the characteristics of the several t-ure moves far enough to substantially re
duce the air-gap, so that the contacts will he
parts of the apparatus.
5. In an electric system7 a charge-con
troller comprising a magnet havingr :1 volt
held open under a flux much less than that
required to initiate movement of the arma
age-winding of'comparatively high resist ture; and means compensating for change
ance and many turns; a reverse series~wind
ing of low resistance and few turns; an ar
mature controlling back-contacts; means for
holding the contacts closed While the arma
of resistance in the voltage-Windingr due in
change in temperature.
THOMAS L. LEE.
RAYMOND I-I. SULLIVAN.
JO