From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Mr. Frazer's electric drive for automobiles, detailing his background with Otis elevators.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 52\3\ Scan367 | |
| Date | 11th September 1919 | |
| X.2648 BN. {W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} 11 SEP 1919 RECEIVED Oy10-F28/8/19 E.F.C. for your information Bin FWR from Oy.? Copies Cl, Bn {W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} , JEC and Hs {Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} RE FRAZER'S ELECTRIC DRIVE FOR AUTOMOBILES 1. I first saw this drive in construction and operation on June 14. 2. Mr. Frazer is an engineer and inventor of many years standing who has worked principally on electrical apparatus for elevators, etc. He was formerly employed as a factory engineer by the Otis Co., for whom he designed the "traction" elevator, i.e. the gearless type with slow speed motor mounted direct on the winding drum. This type is now standard for passenger elevators with the Otis Co. 3. Since this time he has left the Otis Co., to carry on development work on his own account, and has now evolved types of elevators which run with a current consumption only one-quarter of that of the traction elevator, which has been hitherto considered the most efficient type. Several of these highly efficient elevators are now running in various cities of the West Coast. 4. In seeking for a design of controller for elevator motors which should avoid both the waste of current involved in series resistances on the armature circuit and the heavy weight of motors regulated by varying the arrangement of the field windings, Mr. Frazer has patented the form of double poles referred to later and used on the electric drive. THE ELECTRIC DRIVE: Mr. Frazer's explanation of his device was somewhat as follows: Two types of electric drive are in general use: (a) The "Tillings-Stevens" type, in which the whole of the engine horsepower is converted into watts in the generator, and reconverted into foot-pounds in the motor, and | ||