UNITED SraTEs PaTENT OFFICE. NIKOLA TESLA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. METHOD OF UTILIZING RADIANT ENERGY. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent, No, 686,088, dated November 8) 1901. Aral a led March 21, 100%, Bett! Wo. 62,154, Cfo mode) To ali whom it may concern: Beit known that], Nikon Testa, acitizen of the United States, residing at the borongh of Manhattan, in the city, eonuty, and State 5 of New York, have invented certain new aud useful Improvements in Methods of Utilizing Radiant Energy, of which the following is & specification, réforenee being had tothe draw ings accompanying and forming a part of the sane. Tt is well known that certain radiations— such as those of ultra-violet light, cathodic, Roentgen rays, or the like—possess the prop. erty of charging and discharging conductors 15 of ‘electricity, the discharge being partica- larly noticeable when the conductor. upon which the rays impinge is negatively electri- fied. These radiations are generally consid ered to be ether vibrations of extremely sinall wave lengths, and in explanation of the phe- nomene noted it has been assumed by some authorities that they ionize or render con- ducting the atmosphore through which they are propagated. My own experiments and observations, however, lead me to conclu- sions more in accord with the theory hereto. fore advanced by me that souress of such radiant enorgy throw off with great velocity: minute particles of matter which are strongly. electrified, and therefore capable of charging an electrical conductor, or even if not so may at any rate discharge an electrified condue- tor either by carrying off bodily its charge or otherwise. My present application is based upon a dis- covery which Ihave made that when rays or radiations of the above kind are permitted to fall upon an insulated conducting body gonnected to one of the terminals of @ con- denser, while the other terminal of the same is made by independent means to receive or tocarry away electricity, a enrrent flows into the condenser so long as the insnlated bod: is exposed to the rays, and under the condi- tions hereinafter specified au indefinite ac- cumulation of electrical energy in the cou- denser takes place. ‘This energy aftera suit. able timeinterval, daring which the rays are allowed to act, may manifest itself in a pow- $0 erful discharge, which may be utilizod for the operation or control of mechanical or elec. a5 se 3s 4&5 trical devices or rendered useful in many other ways, In applying my discovery t provide a con- denser, preferably of considerable electro. statie capacity, and conuect oné of its ter- minals to an insulated metal plate or other conducting body exposed to the rays or streams ofradiant matter. It is very timpor~ tant, particalarly in view of the fact that elec. trical energy is generally supplied at a very slow rate to the condenser, to construct the same with the greatest care. use by prefer once the best quality of mieaasdielectric, ta ing overy possible precaution in insulating 65 the armatures, so that the instrament may withstand great electrical pressures without leaking and may leave no perceptible electri- fication when discharging instantaneously, Tn practice I have found that the best resalts ‘aro obtained with condensers treated in the manner described in a patent granted to me February 23, 1897, No. $77,671, Obviously the above precautions should’ be the more tgor- ously observed the slower the rate of chang 75 ing and the smaller tho time interval during which the energy is allowed to accumulate in the condenser. "The insulated plate or con- Aneting body should present as large a sur faco as practicable to the raya or streams of matter, I having ascertained that the amount, of energy conveyed to it per unit of timo is under otherwise identical conditions propor- tionate to theareaexposed,ornearlyso Far thermore, the surface should be clean and preferably highly polished or amalgamated ‘The second terminal or armature of the con. denser may be connected to one of the poles of a battery or other soures of electricity or toany conducting body or object whatever of such properties or a0 conditioned that by its means electricity of the required sign will be. supplied to the terminal. A simple ‘way of supplying positive or negative electricity to the terminal is to connect the same either to an insulated conductor, supported at some height in the atmosphere, or to a grounded conductor, the former, as is well known, far- nishing positive and the latter negative elec. tricity. "As the rays or supposed streams of roc matter generally convey a positive charge to 55 10 85 90 95 the firstcondenser-terminal, which iseounéet-10 15 20 35 30. 35 45 so. 5s 60 65 2 ed to the plate or condnetor above mentioned, Lausually connect the second terminal of the epndenser to the ground, this being the most convenient way of obtaining negative clectsic- {ty, dispensing with the necessity of provid- ing an artificial source. In order to utilize for ay useful purpose the energy accumu. lated in the condonser, I furthermore connect tothe terminals of the same cireuit inclnd~ ingan instrument or apparatus which itis de- sired to operate and another instrament or device foralteraately closing and opening the clreuit. This latter may be any form of eir- cult-controller, with fixed or movable parts or electrodes, hich may be actuated either by the stored energy or by independent means. "The rays oF radiations which aro to be util- {zed for the operation of the apparatus above deeeribed ia general terms may be derived from a natural source, as the sun, or may be artificially produced by such means, for ex. timple, as an Are-lamp, a Roentgen tbe, and The Iike, and they may be employed for a teat vaviety of useful purposes. Ay diseovery will be more fully understood trom the following detailed deseription and annexed dravings, to which reference is now tande, and in which— ‘Figure 1 is a diagram showing typical forms of the devices or clements ns arranged and ‘connected ia applying the method for the op- eration of a mechanical contrivance or instrn- ment solely by the energy stored; and Fig. 2 isn diagrammatical representation of a modi- fied arrangement. suitable for special poses, with a clreuit-controlier actunted by Independent means. ‘Referring to Fig. 1, C is the condenser, P theinsniated plate or eonducting body,which {s exposed tothe rars, and P’ another plate or conductor, all being jolned inseries,asshown. ‘The terminals TT’ of the condenser are also connected to acircuit including a receiver R, ‘which is to be operated, and acirenuit-control- Ting device d, which in this case is composed of two very thin condueting-platest £, placed in elose proximity and very mobile, either by reason of extreme flexibility or owing to the charater of their support, To improve their Action, they should be inclosed ia a receptacle from whieh the air may be exhansted. The receiver It is shown as consisting of an elec- tromagnet M, a movable armature a, a re- tractile spring 6, and a ratchet-wheel te, pro- ‘vided with a spring-pavil r, which is pivoted to armature a, as illastrated. The apparatas being arranged as shown, it will be found that when the radiations of the sam or of any other source capable of producing the effects before described fall upon the plate P an accumula. tion of electrical enorgy in the condenser C ‘will resnlt. ‘This phenomenon, I believe, is dest explained asfollows: Tho sun as well as other sourees of radiant energy throw off mi- ute particles of matter positively electrified, whieb, impinging upon the plate P, commu niente an electrical charge tothe saine, The 685,058 ‘opposite terminal of the condenser being con- nbbted to the gronad, which may be consid- bored asa vastrecorvoirof negative electricity, fe feeble current flows continuously into the Condenser, and inasmuch as these supposed particles are of an inconeoivably small radius br eurvatare, and consequently charged to a relatively very high poteutial, this charging of the condenser may contidue, as T have found in practice, almost indefinitely, evento the point of ruptoring the dielectric. Obvi- ously whatever cireutt- controller be em- joged it should operate to close the cireit, Ja Which it is included when the potential ia the condenser has reached the desired magui- tude. ‘Thus in Fig. 2 when the electrical pres- sure at the terminals T’T" riees to a certain redetermined vaine tho plates (#', attract- ing each other, lose the cirenit conhected to the terminals.” This permitsa flow of current Which energizes the magnet Mf, causing it to draw down the armature a and impart a par- tial rotation to the ratchet-wheel w. As the current ceases the armatare is retracted by the spring b without, however, moving the wtheel 1. With the stoppage of the eurrent the plates £ cease to be attracted and sepa rate, thus restoring the elrenit to its original condition. ‘Many usetal applications of this method of utilizing the radiations emanating from the jun oF other source and many ways of carry fog ont th same will at ouce sngsest then: selves from the nbove description. By way of ‘illustration modifed arrangement is showa in Fig. 2, in which the sources of ra- Aina energy is «special form of Roen\gon tube devised by me haviog but one terminal , generally of alumininm, in the form of halts sphere with a plain polished surface on the ffont side, from which the streams are thrown off, Tt may be excited by attaching {t to one of the terminals of any generator of suffciently-high electromotive foree; but ‘rhatever apparatus be used it is Important that the tube be exhausted to a high degree, ‘otherwise it might prove entirely inelfect” ive. ‘The working or discharge elreult con- nected to the terminals TT’ of the condenser inoludes in this ease the primary p of a traus- former and a cireuit-controller comprising a fixed terminal or brash f and a movable ter- minal ftp theshape of a wheel with conduct- ing and [usulating sezments which may be rotated at an arbitrary speed by any suitable means, In inductive relation to the primary wire of coll p is a secondary 4, usually of Intich greater nnmber of turns, to the ends of which is connected a receiver R, Tho ter- minals of the condenser being connected as fodieated, one to an insulated plato P and the other to ® grounded plate P', when the tube § is excited rays or streams’ of matter are emitted from the same, which convey a positive charge to tho pate and condenser. terminal T, while terminal T is continzonsly receiving negative electricity from the plate 7 5 80 85 9° 95 105 15 15 130685,958 P’. This, as before explained, results in an accumulation of electrical energy in the con donser, whieh goes on as long as the etre inclading the primary p is interrupted. 5 Whenever the circuit i8 closed, owing to the rotation of the terminal /, the stored energy ig discharged through the primary p, this giv- ing rise in the secondary ¢ to indeed cnr- rents which operate the receiver R. Itis clear from what has been stated above that if the terminal T’is connected toa plata supplying positive instead of negative elec: tricity the rays should convey negative elec- tricity to plate P. ‘Tho source S may be any form of Roentgen or Lenard tube; but it is obvious from the theory of action that in or- der to be very effective the electrical im- pulses exciting itshould be wholly ot at least reponderatingly of one sign. If ordinary symmetrical alternating currents are eii- ployed, provision shonld be made for allow- ing the rays to fall upon the plate P only uring those periods when they ate produc- tive of the desired resnit. Evidently it the radiations of the soureo bo stopped or inter- cepted or thelr intensity varied in any man- ner, as by periodically interrupting or ryth~ mically Varying the current exciting the urce, there will be corresponding changes the action upon the receiver R, and thas signals may be trausmilted and wany other usefuleffeets produced. Furthermore,it will be understood that any form of eirenit-closer which will respond to or be set in operation when a predetermined amount of energy is stored in the condenser may be used in lien of the device specifically described with ret- erence to Fig. 1, and also that the special details of construction aud arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus may be very greatly varied without departure from the tnvention. 5 35 35 40 Having described my invention, what I claim is— 45 1. The method of utilizing radiant energy, 8 | which consists in charging one of the arma- tures ofa condenser by raysorradiations, and the other armature by independent means, and discharging the oondonser through asuit- able receiver, as sot forth. 2, The method of ulilizing radiant energy, which consists in simultaneously charging s condenser by means of rays or radiations and an independent source of electrical eu ergy, and discharging the condenser throngh 8 Suitable receiver, as set forth, 3, The method of utilizing radiant energy, which consists in charging ono of the arma: ‘tures of acondenser by rays or radiations, and the other by independent teas, controlling the action or effect of ssid rays or radiations and discharging the condenser through asuit- able receiver, as set forth. 4, The mothod of utilizing radiantenergy, whieh consists in charging one of the arnia: 65 | tures of a condenser by rays or radiations and the other by independent moans, varying the intensity of the said rays orradiationsand pe- Hlodioally discharging the condenser through a saitable recoiver, #8 set forth. | 8, The method of utilizing radiant energy, | which consists in directing upon an elevated conductor, connected to ou of the armatures of a condeuser, rays or radiations eapnble of | positively electrifying tho same, carrying off 75 electricity from the other armature by eon- necting the samo with the ground, and dis- barging the accumulated energy through a suitablo receiver, as set forth. 6, The method of utilizing radiant energy, which consists in charging one of the arina: tures of a condenser by raysor radiations,and the other by independent means, and efect- ingby the antomaliediscbarge.f theaceumt- lated energy the operation or control of 85 suitable receiver, as set forth, NIKOLA TESLA. Witnesses: AL Lawson DyzR, Ricuarp Doxova} 50 55 60 70