Benjamin Franklin Bailey

[gar]

171026-2526 EDT

The AC Machinery book I studied from was written by Bailey and Gault. I never met either one, but I did know Gault's wife.

In a recent University of Michigan EE publication mention was made that Bailey was the inventor of a single phase induction motor. There seems to be an indication this was a capacitor motor circa the mid 1920s. Also it was indicated that Bailey worked at the same Detroit power plant where Henry Ford was chief engineer in the mid 1890s. This was when Henry was working on his Quadricycle. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Bailey

Ford went on to make cars, and Bailey to be an electrical engineering professor at the University of Michigan. Later head of the department.

In a search to see what Bailey invented I came across a book he wrote on induction motors, 1911. See

https://books.google.com/books?id=r...esnum=4&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

This book indicates that the theory of induction motors was well understood by 1911.

Also see
https://archive.org/details/inductionmotorsh00behruoft
, 1901.

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[gar]

171028-0730 EDT

In searching for a direct link to early patent(s) on the single phase capacitor start and/or run induction motor, and Bailey's involvement I came across
https://www.lib.umich.edu/faculty-history/faculty/benjamin-franklin-bailey/bio-2 .
This provides some good information on the reason for the development of the capacitor motor. Also mentions his early, circa 1900, involvement with induction motors.

Most people do not know that a single phase capacitor run induction motor has a good power factor at near or full load. This is in contrast to the poorer power factor of a three phase induction motor.

My uncle was a U of M EE student in the mid 1920s and thus almost certainly was taught by Bailey. After Bailey the next EE department head was Prof Alfred Lovell. A family connection here was that Lovell was my dad's commanding officer during World War I. http://ece.umich.edu/bicentennial/chairs/lovell.html .

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