Talk:Atmospheric electricity
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[edit] modification
I think the part discussing the conductivity of the atmosphere needs modification. It makes an unqualified assertion that conductivity increases exponentially with altitude. This may be true within a certain distance regime, however it is not true in general. Those who work with vacuum systems are aware that there is a range of pressures in which the atmosphere is especially easy to ionize. I believe that it is the onset of this pressure range that corresponds to the exponential increase with altitude.
However, past some altitude the atmosphere will be so rarefied that the conductivity will again drop -- a vacuum is not a good conductor. Another point is that there is no upper bound to the atmosphere. The density of the gas drops exponentially but never reaches zero.
I don't have time to make changes, but hopefully this feedback is useful to someone.
Justin Hannigan
- I'll try to work that in, if i can. Thanks for the information. J. D. Redding 23:50, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Patents
In the United States Patent Office classification, the main classification is 310/308 Electrical Generator or Motor / Charge accumulating. Other applicable classes regarding atmospheric electricity include:
- 307/149 Electrical Transmission or interconnection systems / Miscellaneous Systems
- 320/166 Electricity: Battery of Capacitor Charging or Discharging / Capacitor Charging or Discharging
- 361/212 Electricity: Electrical Systems and Devices / Discharging or Preventing accumulation of Electric Charge(e.g., Static Electricity)
- 174/6 Electricity: Conductors and Insulators / Earth Grounds
- 174/2 Electricity: Conductors and Insulators / Lightning Protection
- Source: United States Patent Office classification system - Classification Definitions, June 30, 2000.
- Patents related to atmospheric electricity
American
- Vion, U.S. Patent 28,793, "Improved method of using atmospheric electricity", June 1860.
- Ward, U.S. Patent 126,356, "Improvement in collecting electricity for telegraphing", using towers to collect atmospheric electricity, April 1872.
- Loomis, U.S. Patent 129,971, "Improvement in telegraphing" "without the aid of wires or artificial batteries", Jul. 1872.
- Palencsar, U.S. Patent 674,427, "Apparatus for collecting atmospheric electricity" using a balloon, May 1901.
- Pennock, U.S. Patent 911,260, "Apparatus for collecting atmospheric electricity", using one or more balloons, Feb. 1909.
- Pennock, U.S. Patent 1,014,719, "Apparatus for collecting electrical energy", Jan. 1912.
- Plauson, U.S. Patent 1,540,998, "Conversion of atmospheric electric energy". Jun. 1925.
- Britten, U.S. Patent 1,826,727, "Radio apparatus" "to economize and conserve the current, and to regulate and clarify the tone", Oct. 31, 1931.
- Crump, U.S. Patent 2,813,242, "Powering electrical devices with energy attracted from the atmosphere" using transistor circuits, Nov. 12, 1957.
- Ruhnke, U.S. Patent 3,273,066, "Apparatus for detecting changes in the atmospheric electric field", Sep. 1966.
- Smith, U.S. Patent 3,205,381, "Ionospheric battery", March, 1962.
- Kasemir, U.S. Patent 3,458,805, "Electric field meter having a pair of rotating electrodes", Jul. 1969.
- Winn, et al., U.S. Patent 4,025,913, " Electrical field sensing and transmitting apparatus", May. 1977.
- Colombo, et al., U.S. Patent 4,097,010, " Satellite connected by means of a long (100 km) tether to a powered spacecraft", Jun. 1978.
- Carpenter, Jr., U.S. Patent 4,180,698, " System and equipment for atmospherics conditioning", Dec. 1979.
- Shoulders, U.S. Patent 5,018,180, " Energy conversion using high charge density", May 1991 .
- Shoulders, U.S. Patent 5,123,039, " Energy conversion using high charge density", Jun. 1992.
- Mims, U.S. Patent 5,367,245, " Assembly for the induction of lightning into a superconducting magnetic energy storage system", Nov. 1994.
Other
- Traun's Forschungs laboratorium, GB157263
J. D. Redding 18:35, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
