[Milsurplus] Does anybody remember a torque amplifier?

[J. Forster]

An Amplidyne has NO input, power, or output shafts.

Input:    Ships power, AC or DC
Control:  Bipolar DC voltage or current (it's an Ohmic load)
Output:   Bipolar DC Voltage

No shafts.

-John

===================


> Jim
> Try
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplidyne
> this is, I believe, the torque amplifier you remember.
> Regards,
> Jim
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Jim Haynes <jhhaynes at earthlink.net>
> To: milsurplus at mailman.qth.net
> Sent: Fri, May 21, 2010 4:36:51 PM
> Subject: [Milsurplus] Does anybody remember a torque amplifier?
>
> I have a mental image from 50+ years ago of a thing painted OD and
> having a motor on it, and an input shaft and an output shaft.  It was
> called a torque amplifier.  The power was supplied by the motor and
> a little bit of effort to turn the input shaft resulted in the output
> shaft turning the same amount with a lot more torque.  I guess it had
> been used in something like a radar-controlled gun aimer, or maybe
> just a manually controlled gun aimer, to allow some low-power control
> input to maneuver the output that required a lot more power.  I'm
> not at all clear on how the thing worked.
>
> I recently googled for "torque amplifier" but it seems that some
> tractor manufacturer applied that term to a low gear so most of
> the hits are about tractors and repairing same.
>
> The context of the question is an item on slashdot in the past week
> concering a guy who has invented a transmission that is infinitely
> variable from reverse to a high forward speed and says that all power
> transmission is through gear teeth - no belts or clutches.  So I'm
> wondering if he has just re-invented the WW-II era torque amplifier,
> or maybe invented a new way of making one.
>
> Or am I just imagining the whole thing?
>
>
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