Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404Various
Science
Scientific American, September 29, 1883 Supplement. No. 404
Various
Science -- Periodicals
The first instrument that I made, which I have called a "cart"
integrator, is a machine which, if the lower figure is traced out, will
describe the upper. I will trace a circle; the instrument follows the
curious bracket shaped line that I have already made sufficiently black
to be seen at a distance. The height of the new line measures the size
of the circle; the instrument has squared the circle. This machine
is a thing of mainly theoretical interest; my only object in showing
it is to explain the means by which I have developed a practical and
automatic instrument, of which I shall speak presently. The guiding
principle in the cart integrator is a little three-wheeled cart, whose
front wheel is controlled by the machine. This, of course, is invisible
at a distance, and therefore I have here a large front wheel alone. On
moving this along the table, any twisting of its direction instantly
causes it to deviate from its straight path. Now suppose I do not let
it deviate, but compel it to go straight, then at once a great strain
is put upon the table; which is urged the other way. If the table can
move, it will instantly do so. A table on rollers is inconvenient as
an instrument, let us therefore roll it round into a roller, then on
moving the wheel along it the roller will turn, and the amount by which
it turns will correspond to the height of the second figure drawn by
the cart integrator. If, therefore, the wheel is inclined by a magnet
under the influence of an electric current, or by any other cause, the
whole amount of which we wish to know, then the number of turns of the
rollers will tell us this amount; or to go back to our water analogy,
if we had the weighted board to show current strength, and had not the
paddle wheel to show total quantity, we might use the board to incline
a disk in contact with a roller, and then drag the rollers steadily
along by clockwork. The number of turns of the roller would give the
quantity of water. Instruments that will thus add up continuously
indications at a time, and so find amounts during a time, are called
integrators. The most important application that I have made at present
of the integrator described is what I have called an engine-power
meter. The instrument is on the table, but as it is far too small to
be seen at a distance, I have arranged a large model to illustrate
its action. The object of this machine is to measure how much work an
engine has done during any time, and show the result on a dial, so
that a workman may read it off at once, without having to make any
calculations.
[Illustration: FIG. 2]
[Illustration: FIG. 3]
[Illustration: FIG. 4]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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