Kron’s Primitive Machine

Rotating electrical machines work on the same basic principles. The various types differ from each other
in their winding arrangements and in the method of exciting these windings. The attempts to unify the
piecemeal treatment of rotating electrical machines has led to generalised theory of electrical machines
or two-axis theory of electrical machines. Park, in his classic papers, developed two axis equations.
Park’s ideas were then developed by Gabriel kron to deal with all rotating electrical machines in a
systematic manner by tensor analysis. This unified treatment of rotating electrical machines developed
by Kron, is now called generalised theory of electrical machines."

A rotary (rotatory) transformer is a specialized transformer used to couple electrical signals

between two parts which rotate in relation to each other.

Slip rings could be used for the same purpose, but these would be subject to friction, wear,
intermittent contact, and limitations on the rotational speed that can be accommodated without
damage. By comparison, a rotary transformer has none of these limitations.

Rotary transformers are constructed by winding the primary and secondary windings into
separate halves of a cup core; these concentric halves face each other, with each half mounted to
one of the rotating parts. Magnetic flux provides the coupling from one half of the cup core to
the other, providing the mutual inductance that couples energy from the transformer's primary to
its secondary.

In brushless synchros, typical rotary transformers (in pairs) provide longer life than slip rings
that are more commonly used. These have a cylindrical rather than a disc-shaped air gap between
windings. The rotor winding is a spool-shaped ferromagnetic core, with the winding placed like
thread on a spool. The flanges are the pole pieces. The stator winding is a ferromagnetic cylinder
with the winding inside, and end poles that are discs with holes, like hardware washers.

APPLICATIONS

The most common use of a rotary transformer is within videocassette recorders. Signals must be
coupled from the electronics of the VCR to the fast-moving tape heads carried on the rotating
head drum; a rotary transformer is ideal for this purpose. Most VCR designs require coupling
more than one signal to the head drum. In this case, the cup core has more than one concentric
winding isolated by individual raised portions of the core; the transformer used with the head
drum shown to the right couples six individual channels.its used in electric traction where
mechanical output to a generator then output from generator to metadyne converter

Another use is to transmit the signals from rotary torque sensors installed on electric motors, to
allow electronic control of motor speed and torque using feedback.

Rotary transformers cannot be used in most DC motors instead of commutators as transformers

can only transfer AC current.
A Metadyne is an electrical machine with three, or more, brushes. It can be used as an amplifier or
rotary transformer. It is similar to a third brush dynamo but much more complex, having additional
regulator or "variator" windings. The technical description is "a cross-field direct current machine
designed to utilize armature reaction". A metadyne can convert a constant-voltage input into a constant
current, variable voltage, output.

APPLICATION

Metadynes have been used to control the aiming of large guns and for speed control in electric trains,
e.g. London Underground O Stock. The equipment in the latter case weighed three tons. They have been
superseded by solid state devices. The concept and original patents were issued to the Macfarlane
engineering company of Cathcart, Scotland. They were licensed to 'Met Vick' (Metropolitan-Vickers) and
there was a cross licence or some form of agreement with GE USA who patented almost to the day the
'Amplidyne' which works the same way (the difference is simply in the amount of compensation that is
made for armature reaction. Macfarlane used the concept in two main applications: constant current for
electric welders and, in Amplidyne form, for alternator voltage and current control.

ROTARY CONVERTER

A rotary converter is a type of electrical machine which acts as a mechanical rectifier or inverter. It was
used to convert AC to DC or DC to AC power before the advent of chemical or solid state power
rectification. They were commonly used to provide DC power for commercial, industrial and railway
electrification from an AC power source.

Wiring schematic for a simpllfied two-phase to direct current rotary converter, with the second phase
connected at right angles to the first
 Wiring schematic for a simpllfied three-phase to direct current rotary converter, with the phases
separated by 120 degrees on the commutator.

The rotary converter can be thought of as a motor-generator where the two machines share a
single rotating armature and set of field coils. The basic construction of the rotary converter
consists of a DC generator (dynamo) with a set of slip rings tapped into its rotor windings at
evenly spaced intervals. When a dynamo is spun the electric currents in its rotor windings
alternate as it rotates in the magnetic field of the stationary field windings. This alternating
current is rectified by means of a commutator which allows DC current to be extracted from the
rotor. This principle is taken advantage of by energizing the same rotor windings with AC power
which causes the machine to act as a synchronous AC motor. The rotation of the energized coils
excites the stationary field windings producing part of the DC current. The other part is AC
current from the slip rings which is directly rectified into DC by the commutator. This makes the
rotary converter a hybrid dynamo and mechanical rectifier. When used in this way it is referred
to as a synchronous rotary converter or simply a synchronous converter. The AC slip rings also
allow the machine to act as an alternator. The device can be reversed and DC applied to the field
and commutator windings to spin the machine and produce AC power. When operated as a DC
to AC machine it is referred to as an inverted rotary converter.

One way to envision what is happening in an AC-to-DC rotary converter is to imagine a rotary
reversing switch that is being driven at a speed that is synchronous with the power line. Such a
switch could rectify the AC input waveform with no magnetic components at all save those
driving the switch. The rotary converter is somewhat more complex than this trivial case because
it delivers near-DC rather than the pulsating DC that would result from just the reversing switch,
but the analogy may be helpful in understanding how the rotary converter avoids transforming all
of the energy from electrical to mechanical and back to electrical.

The advantage of the rotary converter over the discrete motor-generator set is that the rotary
converter avoids converting all of the power flow into mechanical energy and then back into
electrical energy; some of the electrical energy instead flows directly from input to output,
allowing the rotary converter to be much smaller and lighter than a motor-generator set of an
equivalent power-handling capability. The advantages of a motor-generator set include
adjustable voltage regulation which can compensate for voltage drop in the supply network; it
also provided complete power isolation, harmonics isolation, greater surge and transient
protection, and sag (brownout) protection through increased momentum.

In this first illustration of a single-phase to direct-current rotary converter, it may be used five
different ways:[4]

 If the coil is rotated, alternating currents can be taken from the collector rings, and it is
called an alternator.
 if the coil is rotated, direct current can be taken from the commutator, and it is called a
dynamo.
 If the coil is rotated, two separate currents can be taken from the armature, one providing
direct current and the other providing alternating current. Such a machine is called a
double current generator.
 If a direct current is applied to the commutator, the coil will begin to rotate as a
commutated electric motor and an alternating current can be taken out of the collector
rings. This is called an inverted rotary converter (see Inverter).
 If the machine is brought up to synchronous speed by external means and if the direction
of the current through the armature has the correct relationship to the field coils, then the
coil will continue to rotate in sychronism with the alternating current as a synchronous
motor. A direct current can be taken from the commutator. When used this way, it is
called a rotary converter.

APPLICATION

A typical use for an AC/DC converter was for railway electrification, where utility power was
supplied as alternating current (AC) but the trains were designed to work on direct current (DC).
Before the invention of mercury arc rectifiers and high-power semiconductor rectifiers, this
conversion could only be accomplished using motor-generators or rotary converters.

Most machinery and appliances were operated by DC power at the turn of the century which was
provided by rotary converter substations for residential, commercial and industrial consumption.
Rotary converters provided high current DC power for industrial electrochemical processes such
as electroplating. Steel mills needed large amounts of on site DC power for their main roll drive
motors.