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Early Electric Motors

The Development of the Electric Motor

As is so often the case with invention, the credit for development of the electric motor belongs to more than one individual. It was through a process of development and discovery beginning with Hans Oersteds discovery of electromagnetism in 1820 and involving additional work by William Sturgeon, Joseph Henry, Andre Marie Ampere, MichaelFaraday,ThomasDavenportandafewothers.

The first electric motors - Michael Faraday, 1821

The motors were constructed of a metal wire suspended in a cup of mercury (See illustration at right). Protruding up from the bottom of the cup was a permanent magnet. In the left cup the magnet was attached to the bottom with a piece of thread and left free to move, while the metal wire was immobile. On the right side, the magnetwasheldimmobileandthesuspendedwirewasfreetomove. When current from a Volta pile was applied to the wire, the circuit was completed via the mercury ( a good conductor of electricity) and the resulting current flowing through the wire produced a magnetic field. The electromagnetic field interacted with theexistingmagneticfieldfromthepermanentmagnet,causingrotationofthemagnet ontheleft,orofthewireontheright.
Faraday Motor from the collection 1830's

BarlowsWheels
TheBarlowwheel(alsoknownastheFaradaywheel)wasfirstbuiltin1822bytheEnglishmathematicianand physicistPeterBarlow(17761862). Mercuryispouredintothetroughlocatedonthebaseoftheapparatus.Thewheelislowereduntilaspokejustdips intothemercury.Voltageappliedtothebindingpostswillcauserotationofthewheel.

Barlow's Spur-Wheel Benjamin Pike 1848

Barlow's Spur-Wheel and Faraday's Rotating Wire Possibly Benjamin Pike 1848

Revolving Spur-Wheel Daniel Davis 1848 Barlow's Wheel 1890

Double Barlow's Wheel Watkins and Hill 1845

RotatingMagnetMotors

Ritchie's Motor 1830's Veryprimitiveelectromagneticmotor inventedbyRev.WilliamRitchie;probably thefirstmantoproducetherotarymotionof anelectromagnet,in1833(TheDevelopment ofElectricalTechnologyinthe19thCentury, UnitedStatesNationalMuseumBulletin228, Washington;D.C.1962).

Page's Rotating Motor Charles Page 1840

Ritchie's Apparatus English 1838 AlsoknownasElectromagnetrotating betweenasoftironhorseshoe.

William Sturgeon Mercury Interrupter English 1838 DescribedinAnnalsofElectricity, De La Rive's Apparatus for Showing the Directive Properties of an Electrified Wire MagnetismandChemistryVol.III,

William Sturgeon Mercury Interrupter

London1838pgs331334,PlateIl figs.15and16.

Likely Watkins and Hill 1828 AlsoknownasDeLaRivesFloatingBattery. Primitiveelectrophilosophicaldevices. Describedonpages7172andillustratedinfigs 7&8inAPopularSketchofElectromagnetism orElectroDynamics,FrancisWatkins1828; alsoinWatkinsand.Hill1845Catalogpg.9 figs.77&78.Thesearealsodescribedin TreatisesonElectricity,Galvanism,Magnetism andElectroMagnetismbyP.M.Roget(1832) alsodescribedandillustratedinPalmers TradeCatalogofElectroMagneticandVoltaic Devices,London,1838.

English 1830

Apparatus to Exhibit the Deflection and Rotation of an Electrified Wire about the Pole of a Fixed Horizontal Magnet English 1840's

Revolving Magnet Benjamin Pike Jr. 1848

Faraday's Motor With Mercury Cups American 2nd Qtr, 19th Century

Contracting Helix Daniel Davis 1848

Whenacurrentisapplied,the electromagneticfieldcausesthecoilsto attractoneanother,liftingthewirefrom themercurypool.Thisbreaksthe connection,thecoilrelaxes,the connectionisremade,andthecycle repeats.Averysimpleformofelectric motor.

Ampere's Rotating Battery Likely Benjamin Pike Jr. 1848

Thermo-Electric Revolving Wire Frames Likely Daniel Davis 1842

Early Faraday Motor Watkins and Hill 1830

Single Ampere's Rotating Battery American 1848

Revolving Electromagnet Daniel Davis 1848

Device Demonstrating the Rotary Action of a Magnet on a Conducting Wire when Coiled into a Helix Watkins and Hill 1830's

Primitive Early Faraday Rotating Wire Experiment Apparatus to Exhibit the Rotation of Apparatus to Exhibit the Deflection and 1830's Two Hollow Cylinders about the Rotation of an Electrified Wire about the Poles of a Magnet when an Electric Pole of a fixed Horizontal Magnet Current Flows through the Cylinders Watkins and Hill English or Italian 1830's 1840.

SimpleArmatureMotors

Revolving Armature Engine Upright Reciprocating Probably Daniel 1848 1842

Engine Davis

Revolving Armature Engine Daniel Davis 1848

Unusual Electric Motor English 1860

Electrodynamic Revolving Ring Probably Daniel Davis 1848

Magnetic Motor French 1870

OtherEarlyMotors

Magnetic Beam Engine Pike and Son 1840

Reciprocating Engine Probably Daniel Davis Early 1840's

Unusual Electric Motor English 1860

Electromagnetic Motive Engine Likely Watkins and Hill 1845

Magnetic Motor French 1860's

Magnetic Motor French 1860's

DEMONSTRATION ELECTRO-MOTOR TRAIN French, circa 1850-1860 Madeofbrass,steel,copperandwood,measures51/2 length.Earlyexampleofanelectromotivetrain.Hastwo electromagnets,a10polerotorgearedtothemainaxle. Theotheraxlefreetopivot,anddesignedtorideona2 1/2gaugetrack.

DEMONSTRATION ELECTRO-MOTOR TRAIN French, mid- 19th century

Unsigned;madeofbrass,copper,wood,steelandiron. Anearlyexampleofanelectromotivetrain.Itis8long, equippedwithfourelectromagnets,atwelvepolerotoron themainaxle,commutatorwheelsandcontacts.Thesix spokedmainwheelsaredesignedtorideon33/4gauge track;thefrontwheelsareoffcenter;designedfora circulartrackoffixedradius.Elegantandveryrare

demonstrationpiece,infinecondition.

Electromagnetic Engine Gustav Froment 1848

Horizontal Axial Engine Daniel Davis Jr. 1840's

Charles Page Reciprocating Electromagnetic Engine 1840's

Electro-Medical Double Helix and Reciprocating Armature Engine Jerome Jewell 1848

Close-up of Edison Electric Fan

Emerson Electric Fan

Edison DC Electric Fan ca. 1898

Kent Electric Co. electric fan ca. 1898 One of the first products made and sold by Atwater Kent, who would later become the world's largest manufacturer of radio receivers.

GeisslerTubeRotatorsandSimilarMotors

Magnetic Motor French 1870 Magnetic Motor French 1870 Magnetic Motor French 1870 Thismagneticenginehasasixpole rotator with a wood and brass holder and original Geissler tube attached designed to spin with the engine creating a dazzling light display Magnetic Motor French 1860's

Magnetic Motor French 1870 Magnetic Motor French 1870 Magnetic Motor Rotator Manufacture Francaise, Armes et Cycles, Saint-Etienne 1870 Magnetic Motor Rotator French 1870

Magnetic Motor French 1860's The rotator is unusual in that the poles are shaped as small iron cylinders measuring 11/2 in length.

Magnetic Motor French 1870

Magnetic Motor French 1870

Magnetic Motor French 1870

Magnetic Motor with Four Electromagnets French 1850's Four vertically positioned electromagnets angled on a 10 slant toward each other power a 5 pole large rotator. 61/2 in total height. Very unusual design for an electromagneticengine.

Magnetic Motor French 1850's

Dynamos&RelatedElectromagneticApparatus

Waltenhofen's Electromagnetic Pendulum

ThisapparatusisusedtodemonstrateLenzs law,whichstatesthattheinducedcurrentin aclosedconductingloopalwaysflowsin suchadirectionastoopposethechangethat producedit.Thelawcorrespondstothelaw ofconservationofenergyin electromagnetism. Thedeviceconsistsofapendulum,witha pendulumbobofatwodimensionalshape Waltenhofen's Electromagnetic madeofanonferromagneticconducting Pendulum materialthatsissetswingingbetweenthe by Max Kohl polesofanelectromagnet.Theeffectof (German) Lenzslawisseenbytherapidbrakingofthe 1900 pendulum.

Bipolar Dynamo c. 1900

Electric Motor The M. Cornwell Co. Syracuse, New York, USA". 1890

No. 30 'Tesla Thriller' Generator Kendrick and Davis (K&D) 1st Qtr 20th Century Bipolar Dynamo

Magnetic Motor Wooley Magnetic Engine Co. 1885

Tesla Motor
This is a model of an early three phase motor designed by Nickola Tesla. ``Inourdynamomachines,itiswellknown,wegenerate
alternatecurrentswhichwedirectbymeansofacommutator,a complicateddeviceand,itmaybejustlysaid,thesourceofmost ofthetroublesexperiencedintheoperationofthemachines. Now,thecurrents,sodirectedcannotbeutilizedinthemotor,but mustagainbymeansofasimilarunreliabledevicebe reconvertedintotheiroriginalstateofalternatecurrents.The functionofthecommutatorisentirelyexternal,andinnoway doesitaffecttheinternalworkingsofthemachines.Inreality, therefore,allmachinesarealternatecurrentmachines,the currentsappearingascontinuousonlyintheexternalcircuit duringthetransferfromgeneratortomotor.Inviewsimplyof thisfact,alternatecurrentswouldcommendthemselvesasamore directapplicationofelectricalenergy,andtheemploymentofcontinuouscurrentswouldonlybejustifiedifwehad dynamoswhichwouldprimarilygenerate,andmotorswhichwouldbedirectlyactuatedby,suchcurrents. Adopted from T.C. Martin, "The Inventions, Researches and Writings of Nikola Tesla," New Work: Electrical Engineer, 1894, pp. 9-11

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