Suiter Swantz IP takes a look back at past inventions and inventors with our Patent Of The Day.

On this day in 1888, Nikola Tesla was granted U.S. Patent No. 391,968 for an ELECTRO MAGNETIC MOTOR.

The practical solution of the problem of the electrical conversion and transmission of mechanical energy involves certain requirements which the apparatus and systems heretofore employed have not been capable of fulfilling. Such a solution, primarily, demands a uniformity of speed in the motor irrespective of its load within its normal working limits. On the other hand, it is necessary, to attain a greater economy of conversion than has heretofore existed, to construct cheaper and more reliable and simple apparatus, and, lastly, the apparatus must be capable of easy management, and such that all danger from the use of currents of high tension, which are necessary to an economical transmission, may be avoided.

The present invention is directed to the production and improvement of apparatus capable of more nearly meeting these requirements than those heretofore available, and though various means have been described for the purpose, they involve the same main principles of construction and mode of operation,which may be described as follows: A motor is employed in which there are two or more independent circuits through which alternate currents are passed at proper intervals in the manner hereinafter described, for the purpose of effecting a progressive shifting of the magnetism or of the “lines of force” in accordance with the well-known theory, and a consequent action of the motor. It is obvious that a proper progressive shifting of the lines of force may be utilized to set up a movement or rotation of either element of the motor, the armature, or the field-magnet, and that if the currents directed through the several circuits of the motor are in the proper direction no commutator for the motor will be required; but to avoid all the usual commutating appliances in the system it is preferred to connect the motor-circuits directly with those of a suitable alternate-current generator.

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