Transmission of Power

Transmission of Power means the doing of useful work at a distance from the engine or whatever other source supplies the energy. An ordinary tow-rope evidently fulfils such a function; and in a wide sense all forms of connecting rods, Belting (q.v.), and similar gearing (see WIRE-ROPS) do the same. The revolving shaft of a screw-steamer transmits rotatory motion through a considerable distance; but for long distance transmission ordinary mechanical devices, if they do not altogether fail, lose greatly in efficiency. In a series of shafts geared one to another by beltings there must be considerable loss through slipping. In the Pneumatic Dispatch (q.v.) and in Boring (q.v.) compressed air has been successfully applied as a transmitter of power. Cable cars (see TRAMWAY) also form a good illustration. It is in electricity, however, that we find the most promising agent for indefinite transmission of power. Thus a dynamo-electric machine may be worked by a waterfall; its voltage or potential may be transmitted along wires to distant stations, and there transformed into currents capable of driving an electric motor and keeping a whole factory in operation. At the Frankfort Exhibition (1891) such a power was transmitted 109 miles. See DYNAMO-ELECTRIC MACHINERY, ELECTRIC LIGHT, NIAGARA.