even thousands of miles, with terminals not more than thirty to thirty-five thousand feet above the level of the sea, and even this comparatively small elevation will be required 515chiefly for reasons of economy, and, if desired it may be considerably reduced, since by such means as have been described practically any potential that is desired may be obtained, the currents through the air strata 520may be rendered very small, whereby the loss in the transmission may be reduced.
It will be understood that the transmitting as well as the receiving coils, transformers, or other apparatus may be in some cases 525movable—as, for example, when they are carried by vessels floating in the air or by ships at sea. In such a case, or generally, the connection of one of the terminals of the high-tension coil or coils to the ground may not be 530permanent, but may be intermittently or inductively established, and any such or similar modifications I shall consider as within the scope of my invention.
While the description here given 535contemplates chiefly a method and system of energy transmission to a distance through the natural media for industrial purposes, the principles which I have herein disclosed and the apparatus which I have shown will obviously 540have many other valuable uses—as, for instance, when it is desired to transmit intelligible messages to great distances, or to illuminate upper strata of the air, or to produce, designedly, any useful changes in the condition545 of the atmosphere, or to manufacture from the gases of the same products, as nitric acid, fertilizing compounds, or the like by the action of such current impulses, for all of which and for many other valuable 550purposes they are eminently suitable, and I do not wish to limit myself in this respect. Obviously, also, certain features of my invention here disclosed will be useful as disconnected from the method itself—as, for example, in 555other systems of energy transmission, for whatever purpose they may be intended, the transmitting and receiving transformers arranged and connected as illustrated, the feature of a transmitting and receiving coil or 560conductor, both connected to the ground and to an elevated terminal and adjusted so as to vibrate in synchronism, the proportioning of such conductors or coils, as above specified, the feature of a receiving-transformer 565with its primary connected to earth and to an elevated terminal and having the operative devices in its secondary, and other features or particulars, such as have been described in this specification or will readily 570suggest themselves by a perusal of the same.
I do not claim in this application a transformer for developing or converting currents of high potential in the form herewith shown and described and with the two coils 575connected together, as and for the purpose set forth, having made these improvements the subject of a patent granted to me November 2, 1897, No. 593,138, nor do I claim herein the apparatus employed in carrying out the method of this application when such 580apparatus is specially constructed and arranged for securing the particular object sought in the present invention, as these last named features are made the subject of an application filed as a division of this application on585 February 19, 1900, Serial No. 5.780.
What I now claim is—
1. The method hereinbefore described of transmitting electrical energy through the natural media, which consists in producing590 at a generating-station a very high electrical pressure, causing thereby a propagation or flow of electrical energy, by conduction, through the earth and the air strata, and collecting or receiving at a distant point the 595electrical energy so propagated or caused to flow.
2. The method herinbefore described of the transmitting electrical pressure, conducting the 600current caused thereby to earth and to a terminal at an elevation at which the atmosphere serves as a conductor therefor, and collecting the current by a second elevated terminal at a distance from the first.605
3. The method hereinbefore described of transmitting electrical energy through the natural media, which consists in producing between the earth and a generator-terminal elevated above the same, at a generating-station,610 a sufficiently high electromotive force to render elevated air strata conducting, causing thereby a propagation or flow of electrical energy, by conduction, through the air strata, and collecting or receiving at a point distant615 from the generating-station the electrical energy so propagated or caused to flow.
4. The method hereinbefore described of transmitting electrical energy through the natural media, which consists in producing620 between the earth and a generator-terminal elevated above the same, at a generating-station, a sufficiently high electromotive force to render the air strata at or near the elevated terminal conducting, causing thereby a 625propagation or flow of electrical energy, by conduction, through the air strata, and collecting or receiving at a point distant from the generating-station the electrical energy so propagated or caused to flow.630
5. The method hereinbefore described of transmitting electrical energy through the natural media, which consists in producing between the earth and a generator-terminal elevated above the same, at a generating-station,635 electrical impulses of a sufficiently high electromotive force to render elevated air strata conducting, causing thereby current impulses to pass, by conduction, through the air strata, and collecting or receiving640 at a point distant from the generating-station, the energy of the current impulses by means of a circuit synchronized with the impulses.
6. The method hereinbefore described of645
