Two curved brass rods terminating in wire brushes curved into a
semi-ellipse just graze the outer surfaces of the plates with their
brushes. They lie in imaginary planes, passing through the axis of the
spindle and at right angles from each other.
Four collecting combs are arranged horizontally on insulating supports
to collect electricity from the horizontal diameters of the discs. These
lie at an angle of about 45° with the other equalizing rods. Discharging
rods connect with the collecting combs.
The principle of the machine is that one set of sector plates act as
inductors for the other set. Its action is not perfectly understood.
It works well in damp weather, far surpassing other influence machines
in this respect. On turning the handle a constant succession or stream
of sparks is produced between the terminals of the discharging rods.
Windage.
In a dynamo the real air gap between the armature windings and pole
pieces is sometimes thus termed.
Wind, Electric.
The rush of air particles from a point connected to a statically charged
condenser.
Winding, Compound.
A method of winding a generator or motor in which a shunt winding is
used for the field magnets and in which also a second winding of the
magnet is placed in series with the outer circuit. (See Winding,
Series--Winding, Shunt.)
Fig. 350. CHARACTERISTIC CURVES OF SHUNT AND SERIES WINDING.
The object of compound winding is to make a self-regulating dynamo and
this object is partly attained for a constant speed.
The characteristic curves of shunt and series winding are of opposite
natures. The first increases in electro-motive force for resistance in
the outer circuit, the latter decreases under the same conditions. If
the windings are so proportioned that these conditions for each one of
the two windings are equal and opposite, it is evident that the
characteristic may be a straight line. This, however, it will only be at
a single speed of rotation.