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Electromagnetically levitated trains: a tribute to Emile
Bachelet
Emile Bachelet was born in France in 1863. He emigrated in the 1880s
to the United States where he worked as an electrician. In this activity he
discovered some therapeutic applications of electro-magnets to cure rheumatism
and relieve arthritic pain. After starting in the 1890s to commercially exploit
related medical devices for which he was granted several patents, he began work
on magnetic forces through electro-magnets. It is easy to understand what is
involved by thinking of what can be done with natural magnets: when the north
pole of a magnet faces the south pole of another magnet an attraction force is
created; in reverse, a magnetic repulsion is obtained by opposing two north
poles or two south poles. Electro-magnets, according to the intensity of the
current and turning on and off at the desired frequency, allow the creation and
control of a powerful magnetic force.
In March 1912, Bachelet obtained a patent for a “levitating
transmitting apparatus” from the United States Patent Office (patent no.
1,020,942). The invention is described as a machine to transfer bodies at a
very high speed from one point to another. Although it was primarily meant for
the transmission of mail and small packages by a carrier, it was easy to
imagine its application at a larger scale in trains carrying freight or
passengers. Using the forces of magnetic attraction and repulsion, Bachelet
explained in detail how to arrange the magnets, with their poles, on a pathway
and on the carrier and how to energise them (periodically) so as to create
magnetic fields and allow the carrier to move through these fields. A first
magnetic field is designed to levitate the carrier, which is made of a
non-magnetic metal but which hold its own set of magnets that react with the
magnetic field of the pathway. It then “floats” in the air and
can be propelled like a plane without mechanical friction. Another magnetic
field is used to make the carrier move along with another series of magnets
that are activated to attract other magnets on board the carrier (the
repulsion/attraction pushing the carrier forward) while it is levitated
(although this propulsion could also be obtained by classical means). Finally,
the guidance of the carrier along the pathway can also be controlled using a
third magnetic field.
Bachelet was quite successful as early as 1914 with a prototype in
an exhibition in London and managed to attract financial support to continue
his research until his death in 1946. This invention is one of the premier and
fundamental predecessors of the technologies surrounding modern
electromagnetically levitated trains (or so-called ‘Maglev’
trains for ‘magnetic levitation’).
Bachelet was probably too far ahead of his time. Although the patent
described details such as how to savae electricity by activating the magnets
just before the passage of the train and cut the current after it has passed,
it should be recalled that, at that time, the development of electric
locomotives functioning on a reliable and powerful source of electricity to
propel real commercial freight or passenger trains that would later overcome
steam locomotivs had not even begun. In addition, the system required, and
still requires nowadays, the construction of a specific and costly network.
Nevertheless, Bachelet’s invention undoubtedly paved the way for modern
maglev trains, like the Chinese Transrapid of Shanghai or the Japanese Linimo
of Aichi.
Further information
Emile Bachelet’s patent (US 1,020,942) on
esp@cenet.com
Emile Bachelet - Inventor from Mount Vernon, New York by
J.ower
Introduction to Maglev Monorail on monorails.org
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