Pacinotti ring armature
Inducido en anillo de Pacinotti
- Date
- 1860 · confidence high
- Place
- Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
- Credited to
- Antonio Pacinotti
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Pacinotti built a direct-current machine with an iron ring armature with coils and a segmented commutator, giving an almost constant current. It is the design that made Gramme's dynamo and the practical motor possible.
Pacinotti described it in 1865 in Il Nuovo Cimento; Gramme, unaware of his work, rediscovered it in 1871 and commercialised it. Pacinotti's priority was recognised in 1881.
What it led to
- Gramme's dynamo (1871) and its industrial spread
- ring and drum armatures (Hefner-Alteneck)
- commutator DC motors and generators