No. 649,621, Patented May 15, 1900. N. TESLA. APPARATUS FOR TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY. (detotion ed 8 10,3000) (Wo Model iB! Witnesses: Mola Testa, Inventor ae Ie ttes, 4h halliy py His lige Pore10 5 20 25 30. 40 45 50 UNITED STATES PaTENT OFFIce. NIKOLA TESLA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. APPARATUS FOR TRANSMISS ION OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 649,621, dated Moy 15, 1900, (vigialappliention od Sptoates 2,897, Sela Mo, 850,049, Wo. 8)780, Yo «il whom. ib may concern: Be it known that I, NrKOLA Test, a citi ren of the United States, residing at the bor- ongh of Mauhattan, in the eity of New York, comity and State of New York, have invented cortain new and useful Improvements in Ap- paratus for the Transmission of Electrical Energy, of which the following is a speciti tion, reference being had to the drawing ac companying and forming a part of the sime. ‘This application is a division of an applica: tion filed by me on September 2, 1897, Serial No. 650,343, entitled “Systems of transmis slons of electrical energy,” and is based upon new and useful features and combinations of apparatus shown and described in said appli cation for carrying out the method therein Aisclosed and claimed. ‘The invention which forms the subject of my present application comprises a transmit- ting coil or conductor in which electrical eur- rents or oscillations are produced and which is arranged to cause such currents or oseilla~ tions to be propagated by conduction through thenatural meditim from one point to another remote therefrom and a reealving coil or con- Anetor at such distant point adapted to be ex cited by the oscillations or currents propa- gated from the transmitter ‘This apparatus is shown in the accompany ing drawing, which is « diagrammatic illus tration of the same, Ais a coil, generally of many turns and of a very large diameter, wound in spiral form either about a magnetic core or not, as may be desired. C is a second coil formed by a gondnetor of much larger size and smaller length wound around and in proximity to the coil A, ‘The apparatus at one point is used asa transmitter, the cofl A in this case constitut ing a high-tension, secondary, and the coll C ‘the primary, of much lower tension, of a trans former. Tu thocireuit of the primary Cisin- cluded a suitable soures of cnrrent G. One terminal of the secondary A is at the center of the spiral coil, and from this terminal the current is led by'a conductor B to a terminal D, preferably of large surface, formed or maintained by sch means as a balloon at an od thie appllonton led Pobre ‘al mote 10,1800, Seriat | elevation suitable for the purposes of trans+ mission. ‘The othorterminal of thesecondary A is connected to earth, and, if desired, to the primary also, in order that the lattermay be at substantially the same potential as the 55 adjacent portions of the secondary, thus in- suring safety. At tho receiving. station a transformer of similar construction is en\- ployed; butin this ease the longer coil A’ eon- stitntes the primary, and the shorter coil C” thesecondary, of tlie transformer. In the eir- cuit of the lnttor are connected lamps L, mo- tors M, or other devices for utilizing the eur- rent. ‘Theelevated terminal D'comnects with ‘the conter of the coil A’, and tho other ter- 65 minal of said coil is connected to earth and preferably, also, to the coil C’ for the reasons, above stated. ‘The length of the thin wire coil in each transformer should be approximately one- yo quarter of the wave length of the electric dis- turbance in the circuit, this estimate being based on the velocity of propagation of the Aisturbanee through the eoil itself and the cirouit with which it is designed to bo used. By way of illustration, if the rate at which | the current traverses ‘the cireuit including | the coil be one hundred and eighty-five thou- sand miles por second then a frequency of nine hundred and twenty-five per second So would maintain ninehundred and twenty-five stationary moves in a cireuit one hundred and eighty-five thousand miles long and each waye would be two hundred miles in length. For such a low frequeney, which would be resorted (o only when it is indispensable for the operation of motors of the ordinary kind under the conditions above assumed, I would sea secondary of fifty miles in length, By such an adjustment or proportioning of the longth of wire in the secondary coil or coils the points of highest potential are made to coincide with the elevated terminals DD’, and if, should bo understood that whatever length be given to the wires this requirement should be complied with in order to obtain the best results. Tt will be readily understood that when the above-preseribed relations exist the best con- | ditions for resonance between. the transi: 60 a5 85 90 9515 25 3e 35 40 4 50 58 60 65 - ting and receiving cireuits are attained, and owing to the fact that tho points of highest po- tential in the colls or conductors A A’ are coincident with the elevated terminals the maximum flow of current will take place in the two coils, and this, further, necessarily implies that the capacity and indnetance in each of the eirenits have such values as to secure tlie most perfect condition of synehro- nism with the impressed oscillations. ‘When the source of current G is in opera- ion and produces rapidly pulsating or oscil- lating currents in the cirenit of coil C, cor- responding inducod currents of -very-much higher potential are generated in the seeond- | ary coil A, and since the potential in the same | gradually increases with the number of turns toward the center and the difference of poten- tial between the adjacent turns is eompara- tively small a very high potential impractica- blo with ordinary coils may he successively obtained. Asthe main object-for which the apparatus is dosignod is to produce a current of excess- ively-high potential, this object is facilitated by using a primary current of very consid. erable frequency; but the frequency of the gurronts is in a large measure arbitrary, for if the potential be sufficiently high and the terminals of the coils be maintained at the proper elevation where the atmosphere is, rarefied the stratum of air will serve asa con- ducting medium for the current produced and the latter Will be transmitted through the air, with, it may be, even less an through an ordinary conductor, As to the elevation of the terminals D D’, it, is obvious that this Is a matter which will be determined by a number of things, as by the | amount and quality of the work to be per formed, by the condition of the atmosphere, and also by the charaeter of the surrounding country. ‘Thus if there be high mountains in the Vieinity the terminals should be at a greater height, and gonerally they should al- ‘ways be at an altitude much greater than that of the highost objects near them. Sinee by ‘the means deseribed practically any potential that is desired may be produced, the currents through their strata may be very small, thus reducing the loss in the air. ‘The apparatus at the recoiving-station re- sponds to the currents propagated from the transmitter in a manner which will be well understood from tho foregoing description. ‘The-primary cireuit of the receiver—that is, the thin wire coil A'—is excited by the eur- rents propagated by conduction through tho intervening natural medium from the trans- mitter, and these currents induee in the sec- ondary coil O' other currents which aro util- ized for operating the devices included in the circuit thereof. Obviously the receiving-coils, transform- er3, or other apparatus may be movable—as, for instance, when they are carried by a ves- sel floating in the air or byaship at sea, In 649,621 the former case the connection of one termi- nal of the receiving apparatus to the ground might not be permanent, but might be inter- mittently or inductively established withoat doparting from the spirit of my invention. It is to be noted that the phenomenon here involved in the transmission of eleetrical en- ergy is one of true conduction and is not to be confounded with the phenomena of clec- trical radiation which have heretofore been observed and which from the very nature and modeof propagation would render practically impossible the transmission of any appre- ciable-amount of energy to sach distances as are of practical importance. ‘What I now claim as my invention is— 1, Thecombination with a transmitting coil or condactor connected to ground and fo an elevated terminal respectively, and means for producing therein electrical etirrents or oscil lations, of a receiving eoil or conductor simi- larly conneeted to ground and to an elevated terminal, at a distance from the transmit- ting-coil’and adapted to be excited by eur- rents caused to be propagated from the same dy conduetion through the intervening nat- ural medium, a socondary conduetor in in- ductive relation to the receiving-conductor and devices for utilizing the eurrent in the reuit of said secondary conductor, as set forth, 2, The combination witha transmitting coll or conductor having its ends connected to ground and to an elevated terminal respec- tively, a primary ofl in inductive relation thereto and a source of electrical oseillations | in said primary cirenit, of a receiving condue- tor or coil having its ends connected to ground and to an elevated terminal respectively and adapted to be excited by emrents caused to be propagated from the transmitter through the natural medium and a secondary circu in inductive relation to the receiving-cireuit and receiving devices connected therewith, as set forth. 3. ‘The combination with a transmitting in- striment comprising a transformer having its, secondary connected to ground and to an ele- vated terminal respectively, and means for impressing electrical oscillations upon its pr. mary, of a receiving instrument comprising a transformer having its primary similarly connected to ground and to an elevated ter- minal, and a translating device connected ‘vith its secondary, the capacity and induet- ance of the two transformers having sueh values as to secure synchronism with the Im pressed oscillations, as sot forth. 4. ‘The combination with a transmitting in- strument comprising an_ electrical. trans- former having its secondary connected to ground and to an elevated terminal respec tively, and means for impressing electrical oseillations upon its primary, of a receiving instrument comprising a transformer having its primary similarly connected to ground and to an elevated terminal, and a translat 15 80 85 9° 105 120 135 130