SCIENCE 



FRIDAY, MARCH i, i5 



THE ELECTRIC MOTOR IN FACTORIES. 

 On Feb. 6 a visit was made to the factory of the C. & C. Electric 

 Motor Company by the New York Electrical Society, accompanied 

 bv some of the members of the American Institute of Electrical 



fact that each machine individually is in operation only for a short 

 time, even in the busiest times of work, the sum total of the power 

 consumed at any one time is but a fraction of that required to drive 

 all the machines simultaneously. 



Fig. 2, for which we are indebted to the Electrical World, gives 

 the amperes delivered by the dynamo during the whole run of the 

 factory for one day, the diagram shown being one selected from a 



_m. 



Engineers. The arrangements for power transmission were ex- 

 plained by Mr. Harvey L. Lufkin, of the company. 



The engine in the engine-room is belted direct to a 50,000 watt 

 Edison compound wound dynam.o, which furnishes light to the 

 building, as well as the current for driving the motors connected 

 with the shafting. Instead of belting from floor to floor, wires run 

 up. connecting directly with motors suspended from the ceilings. 



number which did not differ materially in outline, so that an aver- 

 age run is there illustrated. As will be seen, the electrical horse- 

 power delivered by the dynamo even with the heaviest load, due in 

 great measure to the current furnished to the incandescent lamps, 

 never exceeded 18 horse-power; and at times of the day when 

 little light was in demand, such as between 10 and 3 o'clock, the 

 load averaged no more than 12 horse-power. 



TIME 



, — Diagram of Current-Delivery. 



P.M. 



On the floor working the heavy machinery, such as lathes, planers, 

 drill-presses, milling-machines, on which are some thirty machines, 

 four motors, connected to separate lines of shafting, do the work. 

 Two of these are only of 3.5 horse-power, and two of i horse- 

 power each. The small amount of power required is remarkable. 

 To one looking at the shop in operation, it seems hardly credible 

 that machines of such small power should be capable of doing the 

 work which is actually accomplished ; but when we consider the 



The average load on the dynamo is about 40 amperes, or about 

 12 electrical horse-power, which covers both light and power. The 

 friction load on the engine is 6.4 horse-power, giving us a total of 

 about 20 to 22 horse-power on the engine. The power which would 

 be required to operate the factory in the usual way, by belting 

 through the floors, was estimated to be between 30 and 50 horse- 

 power, without considering the power required for lights, amounting 

 to an additional 1 5 horse-power. 



