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George Parsonage - Consultant Officer
William Graham - Full-Time Officer
Throughout our 225 year history the Society's Officers have always recruited and trained a network of Volunteers whose commitment and loyalty to the aims of the Society have made significant contribution to the enhanced safety of the River Clyde and its environs.
Principal ongoing duties are listed in the link but include :-
Providing additional safety cover at events on the River Clyde
Assisting with the development of the GPS system and lifebelt positioning
Carrying out specialist operations as requested on waterways and environs
Together William and George manage the Volunteer River Watchers and Life Guards, control the daily operations required to fulfil our contractual obligations and organise rapid responses to emergency situations. They also maintain boats and equipment, lifebelts and the GPS location system to assist the Emergency Services. Training courses offered to river users and commercial businesses fronting the River are also jointly administered.
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Most people mistake professional business consultancy as a troubleshooting exercise that a company undertakes to manage crisis. Even the business owners, especially the small and relatively inexperienced ones, have similar notions and avail of their services only in cases where management looses control. However, services offered by professional consultants need not be bound by such limitations. Business consultants, in fact, are third party experts who influence how businesses, as well as governments and institutions make decisions.
Read full article here: How a Business Consultant Can Help You Grow Your Business
Micro Consultants' Cessna 525C CitationJet CJ4 M-ICRO taxiing at snow-covered Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton, on 17th December 2022.
Singapore
Design Consultant: Philip Johnson and John Burgee Archictects
1994
According to Robert Powell, "the design is a historically derivative solution with its pyramidal forms and arched window arches, of [French architects of the revolutionary period] Boullée and Ledoux" (49)
This was the #1 photo by Flickr - Interesting on the date October 18th 2004.
St. Louis Priory Chapel
Priory Chapel, St. Louis, Missouri, designed by Gyo Obata, one of the founders of HOK Architecture with Pier Luigi Nervi serving as a consultant. The church has become an icon and one of America’s best known religious structures.
Like many cats, Elsie keeps a mental list of Very Interesting Places that need to be explored. My closet is one of those places.
Today, I indulged Elsie by lifting her to the top of a storage box inside the closte, giving her a cat's eye view of the rest of the room.
She was in seventh heaven!
633 NE 167th St, North Miami Beach, FL 33162 is the address for Miami Square (formerly known as Divine Square), a prominent 12-story, commercial high-rise office tower. It is located at the major intersection of NE 167th Street and NE 6th Avenue, offering quick access to I-95 and the Golden Glades Exchange.
Notable Businesses & Facilities
The building features a spacious lobby, attached garage parking, and hosting a variety of professional offices, services, and unique destinations:
You Make Candy: A unique, hands-on candy sculpting studio located on the 7th floor (Suite 701) that serves certified kosher food.
ICR Florida Education: A career-oriented educational institution occupying Suite 200.
QF Quality Fingerprinting: A professional fingerprinting and background check service located in Suite 319 A.
Cal Consultants Inc: A financial services provider specializing in tax preparation and bookkeeping in Suite 817.
Brightview Optical Miami: A local full-service optical shop.
North Miami Beach Police Employee's Association: Located in Suite 316.
Building Amenities: The property also includes an on-site synagogue (Shul) and daily Mincha services.
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.google.com/search?q=633+ne+167th+st+north+miami+beach...
www.google.com/search?q=+what+year+was+the+building+at+63...
www.google.com/search?q=who+was+the+architect+at+633+ne+1...
apps.miamidadepa.gov/PropertySearch/#/?address=1666%20col...
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Sowrya Consultants provides Study Abroad Consultants like student visa consultants based at Hyderabad. We helps students to find appropriate like study in USA, Study in UK, Study in Australia, Study in Canada, Study in New Zealand, Study in Germany, Study in Ireland
The magnetic motor will be cheaper than a standard motor to make, as the rotor and stator assemblies can be set into plastic housings, due to the fact that the system creates very little heat. Further, with the motor's energy efficiency, it will be well suited for any application where a motor has limited energy to drive it. While development is still focused on replacing existing devices, Minato says that his motor has sufficient torque to power a vehicle. With the help of magnetic propulsion, it is feasible to attach a generator to the motor and produce more electric power than was put into the device. Minato says that average efficiency on his motors is about 330 percent.
Mention of Over Unity devices in many scientific circles will draw icy skepticism. But if you can accept the idea that Minato's device is able to create motion and torque through its unique, sustainable permanent magnet propulsion system, then it makes sense that he is able to get more out of the unit than he puts in in terms of elctrical power. Indeed, if the device can produce a surplus of power for longer periods, every household in the land will want one.
"I am not in this for the money," Minato says. "I have done well in my musical career, but I want to make a contribution to society -- helping the backstreet manufacturers here in Japan and elsewhere. I want to reverse the trends caused by major multinationals. There is a place for corporations. But as the oil industry has taught us, energy is one area where a breakthrough invention like this cannot be trusted to large companies."
Minato was once close to making a deal with Enron. But today, he is firmly on a mission to support the small and the independent -- and to go worldwide with them and his amazing machine. "Our plan is to rally smaller companies and pool their talent, and to one day produce the technology across a wide range of fields."
When we first got the call from an excited colleague that he'd just seen the most amazing invention -- a magnetic motor that consumed almost no electricity -- we were so skeptical that we declined an invitation to go see it. If the technology was so good, we thought, how come they didn't have any customers yet?
We forgot about the invitation and the company until several months later, when our friend called again. "OK," he said. "They've just sold 40,000 units to a major convenience store chain. Now will you see it?" In Japan, no one pays for 40,000 convenience store cooling fans without being reasonably sure that they are going to work.
The Maestro ~
The streets of east Shinjuku are littered with the tailings of the many small factories and workshops still located there -- hardly one's image of the headquarters of a world-class technology company. But this is where we are first greeted outside Kohei Minato's workshop by Nobue Minato, the wife of the inventor and co-director of the family firm. The workshop itself is like a Hollywood set of an inventor's garage. Electrical machines, wires, measuring instruments and batteries are strewn everywhere. Along the diagram-covered walls are drill presses, racks of spare coils, Perspex plating and other paraphernalia. And seated in the back, head bowed in thought, is the 58-year-old techno maestro himself. Minato is no newcomer to the limelight. In fact, he has been an entertainer for most of his life, making music and producing his daughter's singing career in the US. He posseses an oversized presence, with a booming voice and a long ponytail. In short, you can easily imagine him onstage or in a convertible cruising down the coast of California -- not hunched over a mass of wires and coils in Tokyo's cramped backstreets. Joining us are a middle-aged banker and his entourage from Osaka and accounting and finance consultant Yukio Funai. The banker is doing a quick review for an investment, while the rest of us just want to see if Minato's magnetic motors really work. A prototype car air conditioner cooler sitting on a bench looks like it would fit into a Toyota Corolla and quickly catches our attention. Seeing is Believing ~
Nobue then takes us through the functions and operations of each of the machines, starting off with a simple explanation of the laws of magnetism and repulsion. She demonstrates the "Minato Wheel" by kicking a magnet-lined rotor into action with a magnetic wand. Looking carefully at the rotor, we see that it has over 16 magnets embedded on a slant -- apparently to make Minato's machines work, the positioning and angle of the magnets is critical. After she kicks the wheel into life, it keeps spinning, proving at least that the design doesn't suffer from magnetic lockup. She then moves us to the next device, a weighty machine connected to a tiny battery. Apparently the load on the machine is a 35kg rotor, which could easily be used in a washing machine. After she flicks the switch, the huge rotor spins at over 1,500 rpms effortlessly and silently. Meters show the power in and power out. Suddenly, a power source of 16 watt or so is driving a device that should be drawing at least 200 to 300 watts. Nobue explains to us that this and all the other devices only use electrical power for the two electromagnetic stators at either side of each rotor, which are used to kick the rotor past its lockup point then on to the next arc of magnets. Apparently the angle and spacing of the magnets is such that once the rotor is moving, repulsion between the stators and the rotor poles keeps the rotor moving smoothly in a counterclockwise direction. Either way, it's impressive. Next we move to a unit with its motor connected to a generator. What we see is striking. The meters showed an input to the stator electromagnets of approximately 1.8 volts and 150mA input, and from the generator, 9.144 volts and 192mA output. 1.8 x 0.15 x 2 = 540mW input and 9.144 x 0.192 = 1.755W out. But according to the laws of physics, you can't get more out of a device than you put into it. We mention this to Kohei Minato while looking under the workbench to make sure there aren't any hidden wires. Minato assures us that he hasn't transcended the laws of physics. The force supplying the unexplained extra power out is generated by the magnetic strength of the permanent magnets embedded in the rotor. "I'm simply harnessing one of the four fundamental forces of nature," he says. Although we learned in school that magnets were always bipolar and so magnetically induced motion would always end in a locked state of equilibrium, Minato explains that he has fine-tuned the positioning of the magnets and the timing of pulses to the stators to the point where the repulsion between the rotor and the stator (the fixed outer magnetic ring) is transitory. This creates further motion -- rather than a lockup. (See the sidebar on page 41 for a full explanation). Real Products ~ Nobue Minato leads us to the two devices that might convince a potential investor that this is all for real. First, she shows us the cooling fan prototype that is being manufactured for a convenience store chain's 14,000 outlets (3 fans per outlet). The unit looks almost identical to a Mitsubishi-manufactured fan unit next to it, which is the unit currently in wide use. In a test, the airflow from both units is about the same. The other unit is the car air conditioning prototype that caught our eye as we came in. It's a prototype for Nippon Denso, Japan's largest manufacturer of car air conditioners. The unit is remarkably compact and has the same contours and size as a conventional unit. Minato's manufacturing skills are clearly improving.
The Banker and his Investment ~
Minato has good reason to complain about Japan's social and cultural uniformity. For years, people thought of him as an oddball for playing the piano for a living, and bankers and investors have avoided him because of his habit of claiming that he'd discovered a breakthrough technology all by himself -- without any formal training. However, the Osaka banker stands up after the lecture and announces that before he goes, he will commit \100 million to the investment pool. Minato turns to us and smiles. We brought him good luck, and this was his third investor in as many weeks to confirm an interest. Bringing the Tech to the Table ~ With the audience gone, we ask Minato what he plans to do to commercialize the technology. His game plan is simple and clear, he says. He wants to retain control, and he wants to commercialize the technology in Japan first -- where he feels he can ensure that things get done right. Why doesn't he go directly to the US or China? His experiences in both countries, he suggests, have been less than successful. "The first stage is critical in terms of creating good products and refining the technology. I don't want to be busy with legal challenges and IP theft while doing that." Still, the export and licensing of the technology are on his agenda, and Minato is talking to a variety of potential partners in other countries. Whereas another inventor might be tempted to outsource everything to a larger corporation, part of what drives Minato is his vision of social justice and responsibility. The 40,000 motors for the convenience store chain are being produced by a group of small manufacturers in Ohta-ku and Bunkyo-ku, in the inner north of Tokyo -- which is becoming a regional rust belt. Minato is seized with the vision of reinvigorating these small workshops that until the 80s were the bedrock of Japan's manufacturing and economic miracle. Their level of expertise will ensure that the quality of the motors will be as good as those from any major company. International Prep " Despite his plan to do things domestically first, Minato is well prepared for the international markets. He is armed with both six years of living and doing business in Los Angeles in the early 90s -- and with patent protection for over 48 countries. His is hardly a provincial perspective. His US experience came after playing the piano for a living for 15 years. He began tinkering with his invention in the mid-70s. The idea for his magnetic motor design came from a burst of inspiration while playing the piano. But Minato decided to drop everything in 1990 to help his daughter Hiroko, who at the age of 20 decided that she wanted to be a rhythm and blues star in the US. Minato is a strong believer in family: If Hiroko was going to find fame and fortune in the US, Dad had better be there to help manage her. He suceeded in helping Hiroko to achieve a UK dance chart number one hit in 1995. In 1996 Minato returned to Japan and his magnetic motor project. The following year he displayed his prototypes to national power companies, government officials and others at a five-day conference in Mexico City. Interest was palpable, and Minato realized that his invention might meet a global need for energy-saving devices.
Subsequent previews and speeches in Korea and Singapore further consolidated his commitment to bringing the invention to fruition, and he was able to bring in several early-stage investors.
During the late 90s, Minato continued to refine his prototypes. He also stayed in constant contact with his lawyer, registering patents in major countries around the world. Through his experiences in the US he realized that legal protection was critical, even if it meant delaying release of the technology by a couple of years. Ironically, by the time he'd won patents in 47 countries, the Japanese patent office turned him down on the grounds that "[the invention] couldn' t possibly work" and that somehow he was fabricating the claims. But a few months later they were forced to recant their decision after the US patent office recognized his invention and gave him the first of two patents. As Minato notes: "How typical of Japan's small-minded bureaucrats that they needed the leadership of the US to accept that my invention was genuine." By 2001, the Minatos had refined their motors and met enough potential investors to enter into a major international relationship, initially with a Saudi company, to be followed thereafter by companies in the US and elsewhere. However, fate dealt the investors and Minato's business a serious blow when the World Trade Center was attacked in New York. The Saudis retreated, and Minato's plans fell back to square one. Now Minato is once again ready to move. With the first order in the works and more orders pending successful prototypes, he has decided that investors don't have to be primary partners. He is actively accepting inquiries from corporate investors who can bring strategic advantages and corporate credibility with them. His company, Japan Magnetic Fan, will make a series of investment tie-up announcements in the first and second quarters of 2004. Implications ~ Minato's motors consume just 20 percent or less of the power of conventional motors with the same torque and horse power. They run cool to the touch and produce almost no acoustic or electrical noise. They are significantly safer and cheaper (in terms of power consumed), and they are sounder environmentally. The implications are enormous. In the US alone, almost 55 percent of the nation's electricity is consumed by electric motors. While most factory operators buy the cheapest motors possible, they are steadily being educated by bodies like NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) that the costs of running a motor over a typical 20-year lifespan comprise a purchase price of just 3 percent of the total, and electricity costs of 97 percent. It is not unusual for a $2,000 motor to consume $80,000 of electricity (at a price of .06 cents per kilowatt hour). Since 1992, when efficiency legislation was put into place at the US federal level, motor efficiency has been a high priority -- and motors saving 20 percent or so on electrical bills are considered highly efficient. Minato is about to introduce a motor which saves 80 percent, putting it into an entirely new class: The $80,000 running cost will drop to just $16,000. This is a significant savings when multiplied by the millions of motors used throughout the USA and Japan -- and eventually, throughout the world. The Devices ; Minato's invention and its ability to use remarkably less power and run without heat or noise make it perfect for home appliances, personal computers, cellphones (a miniature generator is in the works) and other consumer products.
Content provided by J@pan Inc. Magazine -- www.japaninc.com
US Patent # 4,751,486
(Cl. 335/272)
Magnetic Rotation Apparatus
(June 14. 1998)
Kohei Minato
Abstract --- The magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention has first and second rotors rotatably supported and juxtaposed. The first and second rotors are connected so as to be rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner. A number of permanent magnets are arranged on a circumferential portion of the first rotor at regular intervals, and just as many permanent magnets are arranged on a circumferential portion of the second rotor at regular intervals. Each permanent magnet has one magnetic polarity located radially outward from the rotors, and has the other magnetic polarity located radially inward toward the rotors. The polarity of each permanent magnet, which is located radially outward from the rotors, is identical. When the first and second rotors are rotated in a cooperating manner, the phase of rotation of the permanent magnets of one rotor is slightly advanced from that of the permanent magnets of the other rotor. One of the permanent magnets of one rotor is replaced with the electromagnet. The radially outward polarity of the electromagnet can be changed by reversing the direction in which a current is supplied to the electromagnet.
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a magnetic rotation apparatus in which a pair of rotors are rotated by utilizing a magnetic force.
BACKGROUND ART
An electromotor is well known as a rotation apparatus utilizing a magnetic force. For example, an AC electromotor comprises a rotor having a coil, a stator surrounding the rotor, and a plurality of electromagnets, disposed on the stator, for generating a rotating magnetic field. An electric power must be constantly supplied to the electromagnets in order to generate the rotating magnetic field and keep the rotor rotating, i.e., an external energy, or electric energy, is indispensable for the rotation of the rotor. Under the circumstances, a magnetic rotation apparatus, which employs permanent magnets in lieu of electromagnets and can rotate a rotor only by a magnetic force of the permanent magnets, is highly desirable. The present application proposes a magnetic rotation apparatus which comprises a pair of rotors rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner, and a plurality of permanent magnets stationarily arranged at regular intervals on the peripheral portion of each rotor. One end portion of each permanent magnet of both rotors, which has the same polarity, is located radially outward of the rotors. When the two rotors are rotated in a cooperating fashion, a permanent magnet on one rotor and a corresponding permanent magnet on the other, which form a pair, approach and move away from each other periodically. In this case, the phase of rotation of the magnet on one rotor advances a little from that of the corresponding magnet on the other rotor. When the paired permanent magnets approach each other, magnetic repulsion causes one rotor to rotate. The rotation of one rotor is transmitted to the other rotor to rotate the same. In this manner, other pairs of magnets on both rotors sequentially approach each other, and magnetic repulsion occurs incessantly. As a result, the rotors continue to rotate. In the above apparatus, in order to stop the rotation of the rotors, a brake device is required. If an ordinary brake device is mounted on the magnetic rotation apparatus, the entire structure of the apparatus becomes complex, and a driving source for the brake device must be provided separately. The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a magnetic rotation apparatus including a brake device for suitably stopping the rotation of rotors.,DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention is provided with magnetic force conversion means which is substituted for at least one pair of permanent magnets of the paired rotors. In a normal state, the magnetic force conversion means causes a magnetic repulsion, as in the other pairs of permanent magnets. When it is intended for the rotors to stop, the magnetic force conversion means causes a magnetic attraction force. Since a magnetic attraction force can be produced between the rotors at any time, the magnetic attraction force serves to stop the rotors. The brake device constituted by the magnetic force conversion means differs from an ordinary brake device which forcibly stops a pair or rotors by using a frictional force. In the brake device of this invention, by converting a magnetic repulsion force to a magnetic attraction force, the rotors can be braked in the state that the movement of the rotors is reduced. Thus, the rotors can be stopped effectively. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a magnetic rotation apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the relationship between the first and second rotors; FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a permanent magnet; FIG. 4 shows an electromagnet, a permanent magnet cooperating with the electromagnet, and a driving circuit the electromagnet; and FIG. 5 is a view for explaining how a pair of rotors rotate. BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows a magnetic rotation apparatus embodying the present invention. The magnetic rotation apparatus has frame 1. Frame 1 is provided with a pair of rotation shafts 2 which extend vertically and in parallel to each other. Shafts 2 are located at a predetermined distance from each other. Upper and lower ends of each shaft 2 are rotationally supported on frame 1 via bearing 3. First rotor 4a is mounted on one of rotation shafts 2, second rotor 4b is mounted on the other rotation shaft 2. First and second rotors 4a and 4b are arranged on the same level. Rotors 4a and 4b have similar structures. For example, each rotor 4a (4b) comprises two ring-shaped plates 5 which are spaced apart from each other in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 2. Gears 6a and 6b made of synthetic resin are, as cooperating means, attached to lower surfaces of first and second rotors 4a and 4b. The diameters of gears 6a and 6b are identical but larger than those of rotors 4a and 4b. Gears 6a and 6b mesh with each other. First and second rotors 4a and 4b are thus rotatable in opposite directions in a cooperating manner. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 indicates support arms for supporting first and second rotors 4a and 4b.
For example, 16 magnets are arranged at regular intervals on a peripheral portion of first rotor 4a. These magnets are secured between two ring-shaped plates 5. In this embodiment, among the 16 magnets, one is electromagnet 9a (see FIG. 2), and the others are permanent magnets 8a. FIG. 2 shows only some of permanent magnets 8a. As shown in FIG. 3, permanent magnet 8a comprises case 10, and a plurality of rod-like ferromagnetic members 11 housed in case 10. Ferromagnetic member 11 is, for example, a ferrite magnet. Ferromagnetic members 11 of each permanent magnet 8a are arranged such that ferromagnetic members 11 have the same polarity at one end. In first rotor 4a, for example, an N-polarity end portion of each permanent magnet 8a faces radially outward, and an S-polarity end portion of magnet 8a faces radially inward. As shown in FIG. 2, when each permanent magnet 8a is located between two shafts 2, angle C formed by longitudinal axis A of magnet 8a and imaginary line B connecting two shafts 2 is, for example, set to 30.degree. C. On the other hand, electromagnet 9a is, as shown in FIG. 4, constituted by U-shaped iron core 12, and coil 13 wound around core 12. Electromagnet 9a is arranged such that both N- and S-polarity end portions face radially outward of first rotor 4a, and the above-mentioned angle C is formed, similarly to the case of permanent magnet 8a. The same number of permanent magnets (8b,9b) as the total number of all permanent magnets and electromagnet (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a are secured on a peripheral portion of second rotor 4b at regular intervals. In FIG. 2, when first and second rotors 4a and 4b are rotated in opposite directions, each permanent magnet of second rotor 4b periodically moves toward and away from the corresponding one of the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a. The permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b will now be described in greater detail. Permanent magnets 8b of second rotor 4b, which periodically move toward and away from permanent magnets 8a of first rotor 4a in accordance with the rotation of rotors 4a and 4b, have a structure similar to that of permanent magnets 8a of first rotor 4a. The polarity of that end portion of each permanent magnet 8b which is located radially outward from second rotor 4b, is identical with that of the end portion of each permanent magnet 8a of first rotor 4a. That is, the radially outward portion of each permanent magnet 8b has an N-polarity. Permanent magnet 9b of second rotor 4b, which periodically moves toward and away from electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a, has a structure shown in FIG. 4. Permanent magnet 9b has a structure similar to that of permanent magnets 8a. Both polarities of electromagnet 9a face radially outward from first rotor 4a. Permanent magnet 9b has two different polarities which face radially outward from second rotor 4b and correspond to both polarities of electromagnet 9a. As shown in FIG. 2, when each permanent magnet 8b,9b is located between two rotation shafts 2, angle E formed by longitudinal axis D of the magnet (8b,9b) and imaginary line B connecting two shafts 2 is, for example, set to 56.degree. C. In addition, when rotors 4a and 4b are rotated in opposite directions, as shown by arrows, the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a move a little ahead of the corresponding permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b, in a region in which both magnets (8a,9a; 8b,9b) approach one another. In other words, the phase of rotation of the magnets (8a,9a) of first rotor 4a advances by a predetermined angle in relation to the permanent magnets (8b,9b) of second rotor 4b. As shown in FIG. 4, electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a is electrically connected to drive circuit 14. Drive circuit 14 includes a power source for supplying an electric current to coil 13 of electromagnet 9a. While rotors 4a and 4b rotate, drive circuit turns on electromagnet 9a upon receiving a signal from first sensor 15 only when electromagnet 9a and permanent magnet 9b are in a first region in which they periodically approach each other. First sensor 15 is an optical sensor comprising a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element. As shown in FIG. 1, first sensor 15 is attached to a portion of frame 1 above first rotor 4a. First sensor 15 emits light in a downward direction. The light is reflected by reflection plate 16 projecting radially inward from the inner edge of first rotor 4a. First sensor 15 receives the reflected light, and feeds a signal to drive circuit 14. Thus, drive circuit 14 turns on electromagnet 9a. The circumferential length of reflection plate 16 is equal to that of the above-mentioned first region. When magnets 9a and 9b enter the first region, first sensor 15 is turned on, and when they leave the first region, first sensor 15 is turned off. When drive circuit 14 receives a signal from first sensor 15, it excites electromagnet 9a such that both polarities of electromagnet 9a correspond to those of permanent magnet 9b of second rotor 4b. Drive circuit 14 is electrically connected to switching circuit 17. When brake switch 18 is operated, switching circuit 17 reverses the direction in which an electric current is supplied to electromagnet 9a. When the current supplying direction of drive circuit 14 is reversed, drive circuit 14 excites electromagnet 9a only in a time period in which drive circuit 14 receives a signal from second sensor 19. Second sensor 19 has a structure similar to that of first sensor 15, and is attached to frame 1 so as to be located closer to the center of rotor 4a than first sensor 15. Reflection plate 20, which corresponds to the position of second sensor 19, is formed integral to an inner edge portion of reflection plate 16. As shown in FIG. 2, compared to reflection plate 16, reflection plate 20 extends in rotational direction of first rotor 4a, indicated by the arrow. The operation of the above-described magnetic rotation apparatus will now be explained with reference to FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, rotation shaft 2 of first rotor 4a is denoted by 01, and rotation shaft 2 of second rotor 4b is denoted by 02. Only the radially outward polarity, that is, N-polarity, of the magnets of rotors 4a and 4b is shown, for the sake of convenience. Although electromagnet 9a and permanent magnet 9b have both polarities located radially outward, only the N-polarity thereof is shown. When first and second rotors 4a and 4b are put in a position shown in FIG. 5, magnetic pole Nb1 of one permanent magnet of second rotor 4b is located in a line connecting shafts 01 and 02. In this case, polarity Na1 of first rotor 4a, which is paired with polarity Nb1, is a little advanced from polarity Nb1 in the rotational direction of first rotor 4a. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, magnetic pole Na1 is advanced from polarity Nb1 by an angle of X.degree.. Polarities Na1 and Nb1 exert repulsion force F1 upon each other along line L. Supposing that an angle, formed by line M, which is drawn from shaft 01 perpendicularly to line L, and the line connecting shafts 01 and 02 is represented by Y, and that the length of line K is represented by R, torques Ta1 and Tb1 caused by repulsion force F1 to rotate first and second rotors 4a and 4b can be given by: Ta1=F1.multidot.R.multidot.cos (Y-X)
Tb1=F1.multidot.R.multidot.cos Y Since cos (Y-X)>cos Y, Ta1>Tb1.
As shown in FIG. 5, since magnetic pole Na1 is advanced from magnetic pole Nb1 by angle X.degree., first rotor 4a receives a greater torque than second rotor 4b. Thus, first rotor 4a forwardly rotates in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5. Mention is now made of paired magnets of rotors 4a and 4b in the vicinity of magnetic poles Na1 and Nb1. Magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 of first rotor 4a are advanced ahead of magnetic pole Nal in the rotational direction. Magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 receive a torque produced by a repulsion force acting between magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 and corresponding magnetic poles Nbn and Nbn-1. In FIG. 5, magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1 receive a smaller torque, as they rotate farther from the location of magnetic pole Na1. It is well known that a torque of first rotor 4a, which is caused by a repulsion force acting on magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1, is decreased in inverse proportion to the square of the distance between paired magnetic poles Na and Nb.
Magnetic poles Na2 and Na3, behind magnetic pole Na1, receive a torque which tends to rotate rotor 4a in the reverse direction. This torque is considered to be counterbalanced with the torque acting on magnetic poles Nan and Nan-1. In FIG. 5, attention should be paid to the region of magnetic poles Na1 and Na2. As first rotor 4a forwardly rotates, the direction in which a torque applies to magnetic pole Na2, is changed from the reverse direction to the forward direction, before magnetic pole Na2 reaches the position of magnetic pole Na1. The torque for forwardly rotating rotor 4a is larger than that for reversely rotating rotor 4a. Therefore, first rotor 4a is easily rotated in the direction shown in FIG. 2. Second rotor 4b is considered to receive a torque in a direction reverse to the direction shown in FIG. 2, as seen from the description of first rotor 4a. It is obvious that second rotor 4b receives a maximum torque at the position of magnetic pole Nb1. As seen from the above formula, torque Tb1 applied to second rotor 4b in a direction reverse to that denoted by the arrow is smaller than torque Ta1 applied to first rotor 4a in the forward direction. The rotation of first rotor 4a is transmitted to second rotor 4b through gears 6a and 6b. By determining the relationship between the strengths of torques Ta1 and Tb1, second rotor 4b is thus rotated in a direction reverse to the rotational direction of first rotor 4a, against the torque applied to second rotor in the direction. As a result, first and second rotors 4a and 4b are kept rotating, since a torque for rotating rotors 4a and 4b in a cooperating manner is produced each time magnetic poles Na of first rotor 4a pass across the line connecting shafts 01 and 02. In a diagram shown in the right part of FIG. 5, a solid line indicates a torque applied to first rotor 4a, and a broken line indicates a torque applied to second rotor 4b. The ordinate indicates a distance between each magnetic pole and the line connecting shafts 01 and 02 of rotors 4a and 4b. The first region in which electromagnet 9a of first rotor 4a is turned on is set in a range of Z during which a torque is applied to first rotor 4a in the forward direction. In order to stop the cooperative rotation of rotors 4a and 4b, brake switch is turned on to operate switching circuit 17. Thus, the direction in which drive circuit 14 supplies a current to electromagnet 9a is reversed. The polarities of electromagnet 9a are reversed. The torque applied to electromagnet 9a in the forward direction is stopped. When electromagnet 9a approaches permanent magnet 9b, a magnetic attract:on force is produced. As a result, the rotation of rotors 4a and 4b is effectively slowed down and stopped. Since the second region, in which electromagnet 9a is excited, is larger than the first region, a large braking force can be obtained from a magnetic attraction force. In the above embodiment, since electromagnet 9a is excited only in a specific region, a large electric power is not required. In addition, since electromagnet 9a rotates and brakes rotors 4a and 4b, a braking mechanism for a magnetic rotation apparatus can be obtained without having to make the entire structure of the apparatus complex. The present invention is not restricted to the above embodiment. With the exception of the paired electromagnet and permanent magnet, all permanent magnets of the rotors are arranged such that their end portions of the same polarity face radially outward from the rotors. However, it is possible that the polarities of the radially outward end portions of the permanent magnets are alternately changed. Namely, it should suffice if the polarities of the radially outward end portions of the first rotor are identical to those of the corresponding radially outward end portions of the second rotor. The magnets may have different magnetic forces. Furthermore, an electric power for exciting the electromagnet can be derived from the rotation of the rotors or from the revolving magnetic field of the permanent magnet.
Angles C and E are not restricted to 30.degree. and 56.degree.. They may be freely determined in consideration of the strength of the magnetic force of the permanent magnet, a minimum distance between adjacent magnets, angle x, and the like. The number of magnets of the rotor is also freely chosen.
Industrial Applicability ~ As described above, the magnetic rotation apparatus of the present invention can be used as a driving source in place of an electric motor, and as an electric generator. US Patent # 5,594,289 (Cl. 310/152) Magnetic Rotating Apparatus (January 14, 1997) Kohei Minato Abstract --- On a rotor which is fixed to a rotatable rotating shaft, a plurality of permanent magnets are disposed along the direction of rotation such that the same magnetic pole type thereof face outward. In the same way, balancers are disposed on the rotor for balancing the rotation of this rotor. Each of the permanent magnets is obliquely arranged with respect to the radial direction line of the rotor. At the outer periphery of the rotor, an electromagnet is disposed facing this rotor, with this electromagnet intermittently energized based on the rotation of the rotor. According to the magnetic rotating apparatus of the present invention, rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from permanent magnets. This is made possible by minimizing as much as possible current supplied to the electromagnets, so that only a required amount of electrical energy is supplied to the electromagnets. Claims --- [ Claims not included here ] Description BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a magnetic rotating apparatus, and more particularly, to a magnetic rotating apparatus which utilizes repulsive forces produced between a permanent magnet and an electromagnet.
2. Description of the Prior Art In a conventional electric motor, an armature as a rotor consists of turns of wires, and electric field as a stator consists of a permanent magnet. In such the conventional electric motor, however, current must be usually supplied to windings of the armature which is rotated. When the current is supplied, heat is generated, which gives rise to the problem that not much driving force is efficiently generated. This, in turn, gives wise to the problem that the magnetic forces cannot be efficiently obtained from the permanent magnet. In addition, in the conventional electric motor, since the armature is so constructed as consisting of the windings, the moment of inertia cannot be made very high, so that enough torque cannot be obtained. To overcome the above-described problems of such the conventional electric motor, the inventor proposed, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) a magnetic rotating apparatus in which a plurality of the permanent magnets are disposed along the two rotors, respectively, at a predetermined angle, and in which an electromagnet is disposed at one of the rotors. In a generally constructed conventional electric motor, there is a limit as to how much the efficiency of energy conversion can be increased. In addition, the torque of the electric motor cannot be made high enough. For the above reasons, hitherto, various improvements have been made on existing electric motors, without any success in producing an electric motor so constructed has providing satisfactory characteristics. In the magnetic rotating apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) a pair of rotors is rotated. Therefore, it is necessary for each of the rotors to have high precision, and in addition, measures must be taken for easier rotation control. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-described problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic rotating apparatus in which rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from the permanent magnet with a minimum amount of electrical energy, and in which rotation control can be carried out relatively easily. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft; a rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon permanent magnet means and means for balancing rotation, the permanent magnet means being disposed such that a plurality of magnetic poles of one (or first) polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation, and a plurality of magnetic poles of the other (or second) polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; electromagnet means, which is disposed facing this rotor, for developing a magnetic field which faces the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means of the rotor and detecting means for detecting rotating position of the rotor to allow the electromagnet means to be energized. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft a rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon a plurality of permanent magnets and balancers for balancing rotation, the permanent magnets being disposed such that one magnetic polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation and the other magnetic polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; an electromagnet, which is disposed facing this rotor, for developing a magnetic field which produces the other magnetic polarity type on the facing surface; and energizing means for intermittently energizing the electromagnet means from where the leading permanent magnet, based on the rotation of the rotor, passes the facing surface of the electromagnet in the direction of rotation. According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided magnetic rotating apparatus comprising a rotating shaft; a first rotor which is fixed to the rotating shaft and which has disposed thereon permanent magnet means and means for balancing rotation, the permanent magnet means being disposed such that a plurality of magnetic poles of the second polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation, and a plurality of magnetic poles of the first pole type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line; a second rotor which rotates along with the first rotor and is fixed to the rotating shaft, having disposed thereon a plurality of permanent magnets and balancers for balancing rotation, the permanent magnets being disposed such that one magnetic polarity type is arranged along an outer peripheral surface in the direction of rotation and the other magnetic polarity type arranged along an inner peripheral surface, with each pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities obliquely arranged with respect to a radial line a first and a second electromagnet means, which are magnetically connected and disposed facing the first and second rotors, respectively, for developing a magnetic field which faces the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means of the first and second rotors; and detecting means for detecting rotating position of the rotors to allow the electromagnet means to be energized. The nature, principle and utility of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a magnetic rating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention FIG. 2 is a side view of the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of a rotor of the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a circuit in the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a magnetic field distribution formed between the rotor and the electromagnet of the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating a torque which causes rotation of the rotor of the magnetic rotating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The magnetic field developed by an electromagnet means and that of a permanent magnet means of a rotor repel each other. In addition, the magnetic field of the permanent magnet means is flattened by the magnetic fields of other nearby permanent magnets and electromagnet means. Therefore, a torque is produced therebetween to efficiently rotate the rotor. Since the rotor has a high inertial force, when the rotor starts rotating, its speed increases by the inertial force and the turning force. A magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the following drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are schematic diagrams of a magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention. In the specification, the term "magnetic rotating apparatus" will include an electric motor, and from its general meaning of obtaining turning force from the magnetic forces of permanent magnets, it will refer to a rotating apparatus utilizing the magnetic forces. As shown in FIG. 1, in the magnetic rotating apparatus related to one embodiment of the present invention, a rotating shaft 4 is rotatably fixed to a frame 2 with bearings 5. To the rotating shaft 4, there are fixed a first magnet rotor 6 and a second magnet rotor 8, both of which produce turning forces and a rotated body 10, which has mounted therealong a plurality of rod-shaped magnets 9 for obtaining the turning forces as energy. They are fixed in such a manner as to be rotatable with the rotating shaft 4. At the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, there are provided, as will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first electromagnet 12 and a second electromagnet 14 respectively are energized in synchronism with rotations of the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, both of which face each other and are each disposed in a magnetic gap. The first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are respectively mounted to a yoke 16, which forms a magnetic path. As shown in FIG. 3, the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 each have disposed on its disk-shaped surface a plurality of tabular magnets 22A through 22H for developing a magnetic field for generating the turning forces and balancers 20A through 20H, made of non-magnetic substances, for balancing the magnet rotors 6 and 8. In the embodiments, the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 each have disposed along the disk-shaped surface 24 at equal intervals the eight tabular magnets 22A through 22H along half of the outer peripheral area and +the eight balancers 20A through 20H along the other half of the outer peripheral area.
As shown in FIG. 3, each of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are disposed so that its longitudinal axis 1 makes an angle D with respect to a radial axis line 11 of the disk-shaped surface 24. In the embodiment, an angle of 30 degrees and 56 degrees have been confirmed for the angle D. An appropriate angle, however, can be set depending on the radius of the disk-shaped surface 24 and the number of tabular magnets 22A through 22H to be disposed on the disk-shaped surface 24. As illustrated in FIG. 2, from the viewpoint of effective use of the magnetic field, it is preferable that the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the first magnet rotor 6 are positioned so that their N-poles point outward, while the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the second magnet rotor 8 are positioned so that their S-poles point outward. Exterior to the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8, the first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are disposed facing the first and second magnet rotors 6 and 8 respectively in the magnetic gap. When the first and second electromagnets 12 and 14 are energized, they develop a magnetic field identical in polarity to the their respective tabular magnets 22A through 22H so that they repel one anther. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, since the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the first magnet rotor 6 have their N-poles facing outwards, the first electromagnet 12 is energized so that the side facing the first magnet rotor 6 develops an N-polarity. In a similar way, since the tabular magnets 22A through 22H on the second magnet rotor 8 have their S-poles facing outwards, the second electromagnet 14 is energized so that the side facing the tabular magnets 22A through 22H develops a S-polarity. The first and second electromagnets 12 and 14, which are magnetically connected by the yoke 16, are magnetized so that the sides facing their respective magnet rotors 6 and 8 are opposite in polarity with respect to each other. This means that the magnetic fields of the electromagnets 12 and 14 can be used efficiently. A detector 30, such as microswitch, is provided to either one of the first magnet rotor 6 or second magnet rotor 8 to detect the rotating position of the magnet rotors 6 and 8. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, in a rotational direction 32 of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, the first and the second magnet rotors 6 and 8 are respectively energized when the leading tabular 22A has passed. In other words, in the rotational direction 32, the electromagnet 12 or 14 is energized when starting point So, located between the leading tabular magnet 22A and the following tabular magnet 22B coincides with the center point Ro of either the electromagnet 12 or 14. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in the rotational direction 32 of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, the first and the second magnet rotors 6 and 8 are de-energized when the last tabular magnet 22A has passed. In the embodiment, an end point Eo is set symmetrical to the starting point So on the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. When the end point Eo coincides with the center point Ro of either the electromagnet 12 or 14, the electromagnet 12 or 14 is de-energized, respectively. As will be described later, with the center point Ro of the electromagnet 12 or 14 arbitrarily set between the starting point So and the end point Eo, the magnet rotors 6 and 8 start to rotate when the electromagnets 12 and 14 and their tabular magnets 22A through 22H face one another. When a microswitch is used as the detector 30 for detecting the rotating position, the contact point of the microswitch is allowed to slide along the surface of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. A step is provided for the starting point So and the end point Eo so that the contact of the microswitch closes between the starting point So and the end point Eo. The area along the periphery therebetween protrudes beyond the other peripheral areas of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. It is apparent that a photo sensor or the like may be used instead of the microswitch as the detector 30 for detecting the rotating position. As shown in FIG. 4, the windings of the electromagnets 12 and 14 are connected to a DC power source 42 through a movable contact of a relay 40, which is connected in series with the windings. A series circuit containing the relay 40 (solenoid) and the detector 30 or microswitch is connected to the DC power source 42. In addition, from the viewpoint of energy conservation, a charger 44 such as a solar cell is connected to the DC power source 42. It is preferable that the DC power source 42 is constantly chargeable using solar energy or the like. In the magnetic rotating apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a magnetic field distribution shown in FIG. 5 is formed between the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, disposed on each of the magnet rotors 6 and 8, and the electromagnets 12 and 14 which face them, respectively. When the electromagnet 12 or 14 is energized, a magnetic field of a tabular magnet of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, adjacent to the electromagnet 12 or 14, is distorted in the longitudinal direction in correspondence with the rotational direction. This results in the generation of a repulsive force therebetween. As is apparent from the distortion of the magnetic field, the repulsive force has a larger component in the longitudinal or perpendicular direction, and produces a torque, as shown by an arrow 32. Similarly, a magnetic field of a tabular magnet of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, which next enters the magnetic field of the electromagnet 12 or 14, is distorted. the repulsive force produced between the tabular magnets of the tabular magnets 22A through 22H, which have already entered the magnetic field of the electromagnets, a repulsive force operates between both of the poles M and M' of the tabular magnet at the rotating side and the electromagnet at the stationary side, respectively. Therefore, from the relationship illustrated in FIG. 6, an angular torque T is generated based on the formula: T=F. a.cos (.alpha.-.beta.), where in a is a constant. The angular torque starts the rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. After the rotating disk-shaped surface 24 has started rotating, its rotating speed gradually increases due to an inertial moment thereof, which allows a large turning driving force to be produced. After a stable rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface 24 has been produced, when a necessary electromotive force can be developed in an electromagnetic coil (not illustrated) by externally bringing it near a rotated body 10 to be rotated along with the rotating disk-shaped surface 24. This electric power can be used for other applications. This rotating principle is based on the rotating principle of the magnetic rotating apparatus already disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486) by the inventor. That is, even if an electromagnet, provided for one of the rotors of the magnetic rotating apparatus disclosed in the same Patent Application, is fixed, it is rotated in accordance with the rotating principle disclosed therein. For details, refer to the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 61868/1993 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,486).
The number of tabular magnets 22A through 22H is not limited to "8" as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. Any number of magnets may be used. In the above-described embodiment, although the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are disposed along half of the peripheral area of the disk-shaped surface 24, and the balancers 20A through 20H are disposed along the other half of the peripheral area, the tabular magnets may further be disposed along other areas of the disk-shaped surface 24. It is preferable that balancers, in addition to magnets, are provided along a portion of the peripheral area on the disk-shaped surface. The counter weights, which do not need to be formed into separate blocks, may be formed into one sheet of plate which extends on the outer peripheral area of the disk-shaped surface. In addition, in the above-described embodiments, while the construction is such as to allow the electromagnets to be energized for a predetermined period of time for every rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface, the circuit may be so constructed as to allow, upon increased number of rotations, energization of the electromagnets for every rotation of the rotating disk-shaped surface, starting from its second rotation onwards. Further, in the above-described embodiment, a tabular magnet has been used for the permanent magnet, but other types of permanent magnets may also be used. In effect, any type of magnet may be used as the permanent magnet means as long as a plurality of magnetic poles of one type is disposed along the outer surface of the inner periphery and a plurality of magnetic poles of the other type are disposed along the inner peripheral surface of the disk-shaped surface, so that a pair of corresponding magnetic poles of one and the other polarities is obliquely arranged, with respect to the radial line 11, as shown in FIG. 3. Although the tabular magnets 22A through 22H are mounted on the magnet rotors 6 and 8 in the above embodiment, they may be electromagnets. In this case, the electromagnets 12 and 14 may be the alternative of electromagnets or permanent magnets.
According to the magnetic rotating apparatus of the present invention, rotational energy can be efficiently obtained from permanent magnets. This is made possible by minimizing as much as possible current supplied to the electromagnets, so that only a required amount of electrical energy is supplied to the electromagnets. It should be understood that many modifications and adaptations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art and it is intended to encompass such obvious modifications and changes in the scope of the claims appended hereto. KeelyNet: BBS Posting from Henry Curtis (11-18-1997)
Korean Magnetic Perpetual Motion Wheel I must apologize for not having all the details of this interesting device but will update the file when I get more info from the source. In email communications with John Schnurer, I happened to mention it and he's been on me since then to send him a diagram, yet I felt like it would simply be confusing because its operation is not clear or readily apparent from the information I had.The information that I have comes directly from long time friend Henry Curtis of Colorado. We both attended the 1997 ISNE conference in Denver and Henry was telling about this interesting machine he had seen while on a trip to the Phillipines. He said there was a free energy conference held there and he noticed a spinning bicycle wheel that was attached to a stand that sat on a table.The wheel was running when he first saw it, yet there did not appear to be any driving force such as a motor, belts, gears, etc..Henry said he watched it for quite awhile and it never stopped running. On expressing curiosity about the wheel, he was invited to stop it and start it up without any outside assistance.Henry reports the wheel was brought to a complete stop, then he gave it a spin with his hand and it began moving on its own. I am uncertain if it followed the tendency of other such devices to establish its own speed. Some devices like this can be spun up to high speed from an outside source, then will slow to a speed which is determined by the geometry and strength of the repelling or attracting forces that operate it.Henry swears it was the neatest thing he'd ever seen and drew a crude diagram of the arrangement on my notepad. Unfortunately, we were a bit rushed and I did not achieve a complete understanding of how it operated. That is why I did not want to blow smoke about it until more detail had been received, god knows, we don't need any more of that.However, perhaps someone can figure it out from the limited information I do have. The following drawing shows the wheel arrangement, one half was weighted, the other half had slanted magnets. I do not know whether they are all repelling, attracting or a mix of these forces. As you can imagine, the weight of the magnets must equal the weight of the other half of the wheel to balance out. Apparently the force of the magnetic repulsion or attaction provides the actual imbalance.Henry also said there was a patent on this device that is dated January 14, 1997. The inventor is a Japanese man named Minatu. The spelling of this name is uncertain. I did a search on the IBM server but found nothing even remote. Henry specifically said this was a United States patent. So, here it is. Perhaps Henry can come up with some more detail which can be used to update this file in future. Good luck.... KeelyNet: Update and Corrections from Henry Curtis (Wed, 19 Nov 1997) ~
From: Henry Curtis ~ To: Jerry Decker Subject: Bicycle wheel correction and update Jerry, Again we see that communication is difficult and memories are fallable. Obviously I am remiss in not having sent this to you months ago as I intended to, but as a sage of old observed "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is slow." During the first weekend of May, 1997, a group in Soeul, Korea headed up by Mr. Chi San Park, held The First International New Energy Conference in Seoul, Korea. I attended this conference and gave a talk on various approcahes to free energy. It was at this conference in Seoul, Korea that I saw the bicycle wheel and had the opportunity to work with it unattended by anyone else.The inventor is Kohei Minato, a Japanese rock musician, who reports that he has spent a million dollars out of his own pocket developing magnetic motors, because the world needs a better source of energy. He has several patents in various countries. His latest patent that I am aware of is United States Patent # 5,594,289. His development efforts have gone in the general direction of the Adams motor which the above patent is similar to. He had a working prototype of this design at the conference and reported that it used 150 watts power input and produced 450 watts output on a sustained basis. About a year ago CNN (in the US) had a 10 minute segment about him and his motors. In this video he is shown demonstrating two of his magnetic motors. I have a copy of this film clip that he gave to me. I will make a copy and send it to you. Unfortunately, the editors were not attuned to technical details and the pictures of the running machines show little useful detail. The Phillipine connection that you mention is completely erroneous. It was in Korea. The drawing on the web site is essentially correct with the following exceptions. The counter weight is a single curved piece of aluminum covering 180 degrees. Each of the several individual magnets on the other half of the wheel are slightly asymmetric, crescent shaped and nested. They are magnetised end to end with the N poles out. The motor is actuated by moving the N pole of a large permanet magnet (the drive magnet) toward the wheel. As this magnet is moved toward the wheel, the wheel starts to spin. As the magnet is moved closer to the wheel it spins faster. The acceleration of the wheel is rapid. So rapid in fact, as to be startling. To put it another way I was very impressed. The motor works. And it works very well. In the film clip a slight pumping action of Minato's hand holding the magnet is apparent. When I braced my hand so that there was no pumping action, the motor still ran. In fact it seemed to run better. Pumping action by the hand held magnet is not the power that drives the motor. When the drive magnet is moved away from the wheel it coasts rather quickly to a stop and comes to rest in a manner typical of any spinning bicycle wheel. Again when the wheel is at rest and a large magnet is moved up to the wheel it starts to spin. At no time is it necessary to touch the wheel to get it to rotate. Simply bring the N pole of a large magnet several inches from the wheel. The particular orientation of the wheel when it is at rest seems to have no effect on how well it starts to turn. Irrespective of how the wheel and the magnets on it are sitting; move the drive magnet near, it starts to spin. Move the magnet closer it spins faster. Move the magnet further away it slows up. The wheel was mounted on a stand made of aluminum angle pieces bolted together similar to the diagram in the above mentioned patent. The axle of the wheel was mounted parellel to the surface of the planet. I have attached a rough diagram of the wheel. Apparently the geometry of the magnets on the wheel is very important and subtle. I have built several small models none of which have shown the free energy effects of Minato's machine. The conference in Seoul was attended by several hundred people, most appeared to be under 40 and evenly divided between men and women. Presenters were from Korea, US, Japan, and China. Simultaneous translation was provided for all talks in the 3 day conference. Jerry, I hope this information is useful. I may be contacted by e-mail at mailto:hcurtis@mindspring.com or by phone at 303.344.1458.
KeelyNet: Email from Gene Mallove at Infinite Energy ~ I spoke to Bob Vermillion of Tri-Cosmos Development (Los Angeles, CA 310-284-3250 or fax 310-284-3260) today, just before he left for the three-day demonstrations of the Minato magnetic motor being held in Mexico City, Mexico on July 8, 9, 10th.Three (3) Minato Motors (MM), covered by US Patents # 5,594,289 (Jan 14, 1997) and # 4,751,486 (June 14, 1988), have been brought over from Japan. One was allegedly tested last evening by Grupo Bufete Industrial (supposedly one of the largest power generation construction companies in Mexico and South America). The company engineers were said (by Vermillion) to have measured an output /input ratio of 4.3 / 1. The printed literature, which I received in a Fedex packet from Vermillion states that the device can put out 500 watts (maximum) with an input of 34 watts.For those of you who wonder why the device is not self-sustaining -- oral info from Vermillion is that Minato *will* in the course of one of the demonstrations *remove the battery power supply* and let the device self-run -- presumably with a load. The press release makes no bones about the physics-busting character of the MM: "As rotations per minute (rpm's) increase, the electromagnetic consumption of the stator decreases. This phenomenon is in direct conflict with accepted laws of physics and is achieved through the repelling magnetic fields. It operates without heat, noise, or pollution of any kind. It can be produced in size from ultra-small to very large." It is said in the press release that applications from cell phones to laptop computers are under development. Vermillion told me of other parties who were planning to attend the demonstrations, which will be conducted both in public displays and with private party measurements. These include: ENRON, Bechtel, Tejas (a division of Shell Oil Corporation), Fluor Daniels, Kellogg Corp. .He told me that Hal Fox of New Energy News and the Fusion Information Center will be there (I confirmed with Hal that he will be there and will give us a full report.) I considered going myself (I was invited), but I trust Hal Fox to provide a full report --
German collectors card by Ufa, Berlin, no. 17. Photo: Ufa. Scene from S.O.S. Eisberg/S.O.S. Iceberg (Arnold Fanck, 1933).
S.O.S. Eisberg/S.O.S. Iceberg (Arnold Fanck, 1933) is a German-US drama film starring Gustav Diessl, Leni Riefenstahl, Sepp Rist, Gibson Gowland, and Rod La Rocque. The film which mixes elements of mountain film drama and disaster film was written by Tom Reed and based on a story by Arnold Fanck and Friedrich Wolf. S.O.S. Eisberg follows the account of the real-life Alfred Lothar Wegener polar expedition of 1929-1930. Two members of the ill-fated Wegener expedition served as technical consultants to Universal.
At the beginning of 1932, German film director Arnold Fanck received a request from Hollywood to make a "nature feature film" for Universal Pictures. The film industry executives had in mind a project comparable to Fanck's mountain films Die weiße Hölle vom Piz Palü/The White Hell of Pitz Plau (Arnold Fanck, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1929) and Stürme über dem Montblanc/Storm over Mont Blanc (Arnold Fanck, 1930) since both had also been successfully shown in cinemas in the United States. Fanck's first proposal to shoot on Mount McKinley in Alaska did not convince the Universal film bosses. A far more spectacular location had to be found, a setting that promised a cinematic enhancement of the theme of mountains, snow and ice that had already been introduced to filmgoers. In Fanck's circle of collaborators, Sepp Allgeier, Richard Angst and Bernhard Villinger, there had already been relevant experiences with Greenland and the Arctic Circle, respectively, since 1913 and 1926. Fanck had already dealt with Greenland as a filming location earlier. For example, he wrote the manuscript for the film Milak, der Grönlandjäger/Milak, the Greenland Hunter (Georg Asagaroff, Bernhard Villinger, 1928). The Greenland expeditions of Umberto Nobile with the airship Italia in 1928 and of Alfred Wegener in 1930, which ended in drama, were present in the collective memory of the time so that the apron seemed prepared for a spectacular cinema film about Greenland. Fanck transmitted his exposé expensively by telegram to Hollywood and travelled with his secretary and friend Elisabeth Kind on the Bremen to New York City in May 1932 and from there by rail across the North American continent to Los Angeles. There he was greeted by Paul Kohner and awaited by studio boss Carl Laemmle, who hosted a reception in his honour with Hollywood greats such as Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. The cinematic venture was given a budget of 1 million Reichsmarks, the most expensive and elaborate project in film history up to that point. Till 1948), Greenland was a territory closed to tourists or foreigners. Filming with actors, therefore, required the Danish authorities to circumvent this provision. Without further ado, the filming was declared a scientific expedition with the help of the ethnologist and polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, who also took over the patronage for the film. In addition, the glaciologists Fritz Loewe and Ernst Sorge were engaged, who had already made a name for themselves through their participation in Alfred Wegener's expeditions.
Among the stars in S.O.S. Eisberg (Arnold Fanck, 1933) was Leni Riefenstahl, who had just made her directorial debut in Das blaue Licht/The Blue Light (Leni Riefenstahl, 1932). Riefenstahl, in her last film as an actress, co-starred with Gustav Diessl and Ernst Udet in the German version S.O.S. Eisberg, and with Gibson Gowland and Rod La Rocque in the English version, S.O.S. Iceberg. Ernst Udet, a former German ace in the First World War, in a cameo performance, flew in both versions. S.O.S. Eisberg follows the account of the real-life Alfred Lothar Wegener polar expedition of 1929-1930. In April-October 1929, Wegener embarked on his third expedition to Greenland, which laid the groundwork for the main expedition that he was planning to lead in 1930-1931. Wegener's last Greenland expedition was in 1930. The 14 participants under his leadership were to establish three permanent stations from which the thickness of the Greenland ice sheet could be measured and year-round Arctic weather observations made. They would travel on the ice cap using two innovative, propeller-driven snowmobiles, in addition to ponies and dog sledges. Wegener felt personally responsible for the expedition's success, as the German government had contributed $120,000 ($1.5 million in 2007 dollars). Success depended on enough provisions being transferred from West camp to Eismitte ("mid-ice") for two men to winter there, and this was a factor in the decision that led to his death. Owing to a late thaw, the expedition was six weeks behind schedule and, as summer ended, the men at Eismitte sent a message that they had insufficient fuel and so would return on 20 October. On 24 September, although the route markers were by now largely buried under snow, Wegener set out with thirteen Greenlanders and his meteorologist Fritz Loewe to supply the camp by dog sledge. During the journey, the temperature reached −60 °C (−76 °F) and Loewe's toes became so frostbitten they had to be amputated with a penknife without anaesthetic. Twelve of the Greenlanders returned to West camp. On 19 October the remaining three members of the expedition reached Eismitte. Expedition member Johannes Georgi estimated that there were only enough supplies for three at Eismitte, so Wegener and Rasmus Villumsen took two dog sledges and made them for West camp. They took no food for the dogs and killed them one by one to feed the rest until they could run only one sledge. While Villumsen rode the sledge, Wegener had to use skis, but they never reached the camp: Wegener died and Villumsen was never seen again. After Wegener was declared missing in May 1931, and his body found shortly thereafter, Kurt Wegener took over the expedition's leadership in July, according to the prearranged plan for such an eventuality.
This expedition inspired the Greenland expedition episode of Adam Melfort in John Buchan's novel 'A Prince of the Captivity' (1944) and the film S.O.S. Eisberg/S.O.S. Iceberg (Arnold Fanck, 1933). At a banquet at the International Society for Arctic Research, the members toast scientist Dr. Carl Lorenz (Gustav Diessl), who is about to recreate famed explorer Wegener's ill-fated expedition. Lawrence's team consists of two scientists, Dr. Johannes Brand (Sepp Rist) and Dr. Jan Matushek (Max Holzboer), his friend, Fritz Kuemmel (Walter Riml), their financial backer, John Dragan (Walter Riml), and their pilot to the Arctic, Lorenz's wife Hella (Leni Riefenstahl). After Hella drops them at their base camp, the men begin their long trek to recover Wegener's records and prove his theories on ice floes. As the weeks pass, Brand and the others fear they will not survive when the ice breaks up, but Lorenz scoffs and refuses to wait until winter. Early one morning, Lorenz sets out on his own. His companions fear he is lost. They find a hut Wegener occupied and a note from Lorenz saying that he is trying to reach a native village. Suddenly, the break up of the ice leaves their sledges of food supplies tumbling into a ravine. The rescuers take refuge on a huge iceberg where they discover that Lorenz is there, dazed and uncommunicative. Brand begins sending out an S.O.S. on his wireless and Hella immediately leaves to search for her husband. Disaster strikes, with Dragan going mad, and as Kümmel fights with him to prevent their dog, Nakinak, from being killed, Kümmel falls to his death. When Hella finds the survivors, she misjudges her landing and crashes but is able to swim to the iceberg. Brand seeing they are drifting out to sea, dives into the water, and is picked up by another pilot (Ernst Udet) following Hella's flight path. The pilot flies Brand to the nearby Inuit village. Matushek sees two polar bears fighting over a seal but is killed when he tries to spear the bears. Dragan then attacks Hella, but by then her husband has come to his senses, and she is saved. The iceberg begins to come apart, throwing Dragan into the sea. Lorenz, Hella and Nakinak are rescued by the Inuit. The three survivors later are aboard a ship bound for home, but Lorenz is haunted by the deaths incurred in his misguided expedition.
Sources: Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
The incredible views of Biscayne Bay’s Aqua Waters may make you
forget that you are at the epicenter of Miami’s urban business
district. Located on Brickell’s easiest access thoroughfare, 1001 Brickell Bay’s office views draw you in from the moment you step into its grand lobby, continue out onto the bay’s edge to its landscaped plaza, an ideal place to meet a colleague or hold a casual meeting. Once inside, the tenant-focused amenities abound along with high-end office space for any size company, making 1001 Brickell Bay a coveted Brickell office address.
Other companies involved:
Construction company: Hardin Construction Company
Consultant: Jimenez McDowell Engineering Consultants Inc.
Facade Consultant: Miami Curtain Wall Consultants Corp.
Mechanical systems installation: Trimec Plumbing Contractor
Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:
www.emporis.com/buildings/122323/brickell-bay-tower-miami...
www.1001brickellbay.com/building/
© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.
Portrait session with Swedish consultants in studio.
Lighting info
Main light from a Profoto ComPact 600R in a 5 foot Octabox (150 cm) very close to models, just out of frame camera left. Added a fill screen on the other side to lighten up the shadows a bit. Behind model I placed another Profoto Compact with a grid to act as hairlight.
More studio portraits from the same session here
Lighting setup diagram based on Kevin Kertz design. www.kertzdesign.com
More of everything: www.stefantell.se
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LocationSan Francisco Bay, California
Coordinates37°49′36″N 122°25′24″W[1]
StatusClosed (now a museum)
Security classMaximum
Capacity312
Opened11 August 1934; 85 years ago
Closed21 March 1963; 57 years ago
Managed byFederal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice
Director
Wardens[2]
James A. Johnston (1934–48)
Edwin B. Swope (1948–55)
Paul J. Madigan (1955–61)
Olin G. Blackwell (1961–63)
The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary or United States Penitentiary, Alcatraz Island (often referred to as Alcatraz or The Rock) was a maximum security federal prison on Alcatraz Island, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) off the coast of San Francisco, California, United States, which operated from 11 August 1934, until 21 March 1963.
Alcatraz had been the site of a fort since the 1850s; the main prison building was built in 1910–1912 as a United States Army military prison. The United States Department of Justice acquired the United States Disciplinary Barracks, Pacific Branch, on Alcatraz on 12 October 1933, and the island became a prison of the Federal Bureau of Prisons in August 1934 after the buildings were modernized and security increased. Given this high security and the island's location in the cold waters and strong currents of San Francisco Bay, prison operators believed Alcatraz to be escape-proof and America's strongest prison.
Alcatraz was used to hold prisoners who continually caused trouble at other federal prisons. One of the world's most notorious and best known prisons over the years, it housed some 1,576 federal inmates, including some of America's most ruthless, such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the "Birdman of Alcatraz"), George "Machine Gun" Kelly, Bumpy Johnson, Rafael Cancel Miranda,[3] Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. "Doc" Barker, Whitey Bulger, and Alvin "Creepy" Karpis (who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate). The Bureau of Prisons' staff and their families lived on the island as well. 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts during the prison's 29-year history; most notable were the violent attempt of May 1946 called the "Battle of Alcatraz" and the possibly successful June 1962 attempt by Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin, which was marked by careful planning and execution. Faced with high maintenance costs and a poor reputation, Alcatraz closed on 21 March 1963.
The three-story cellhouse included the four main cell blocks, A-block through D-block, the warden's office, visitation room, the library, and the barber shop. The prison cells typically measured 9 feet (2.7 m) by 5 feet (1.5 m) and 7 feet (2.1 m) high. The cells were primitive and lacked privacy, with a bed, desk, and washbasin, and a toilet on the back wall, and with few furnishings except a blanket. African-Americans were segregated from other inmates in cell designation due to racial abuse. D-Block housed the worst inmates, and six cells at its end were designated "The Hole," where badly behaving prisoners would be sent for periods of often brutal punishment. The dining hall and kitchen extended from the main building. Prisoners and staff ate three meals a day together. The Alcatraz Hospital was above the dining hall.
Prison corridors were named after major U.S. streets such as Broadway and Michigan Avenue. Working at the prison was considered a privilege for inmates and many of the better inmates were employed in the Model Industries Building and New Industries Building during the day, actively involved in providing for the military in jobs such as sewing and woodwork, and performing various maintenance and laundry chores.
Today, Alcatraz is a public museum and one of San Francisco's major tourist attractions, attracting some 1.5 million visitors annually. Now operated by the National Park Service's Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the timeworn former prison is being restored and maintained.
History
Construction
Alcatraz Cellhouse
The main cellhouse was built incorporating some parts of Fort Alcatraz's citadel, a partially fortified barracks from 1859 that had come to be used as a jail. A new cellhouse was built from 1910–1912 on a budget of $250,000, and upon completion, the 500 feet (150 m) long concrete building was reputedly the longest concrete building in the world at the time. This building was modernized in 1933 and 1934 and became the main cellhouse of the federal penitentiary until its closure in 1963.[4]:76 When the new concrete prison was built, many materials were reused in its construction. Iron staircases in the interior and the cellhouse door near the barber's shop at the end of A-block were retained from the old citadel and massive granite blocks originally used as gun mounts were reused as the wharf's bulkheads and retaining walls. [5] Many of the old cell bars were used to reinforce the walls, causing structural problems later due to the fact that many placed near the edge were subject to erosion from the salt air and wind over the years.[5][dubious – discuss]
Entrance
After the United States Army's use of the island for over 80 years, it was transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which hoped an escape-proof jail would help break the crime wave of the 1920s and 1930s.[6] The Department of Justice acquired the Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz on 12 October 1933, and it became a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in August 1934. $260,000 was spent to modernize and improve it from January 1934.[7][8] George Hess of the United States Public Health Service was appointed chief medical officer and Edward W. Twitchell became a consultant in psychiatry for Alcatraz in January 1934.[8] The hospital was checked by three officials from the Marine Hospital of San Francisco.[8] The Bureau of Prisons personnel arrived on Alcatraz in early February; among them was acting chief clerk Loring O. Mills. In April 1934, the old material was removed from the prison; holes were cut in the concrete and 269 cell fronts were installed, built using four carloads of steel ordered from the Stewart Iron Works.[8] Two of four new stairways were built, as were 12 doors to the utility corridors and gratings at the top of the cells. On 26 April, an accidental small fire broke out on the roof and an electrician injured his foot by dropping a manhole cover on it.[8] The Anchor Post Fence Company added fencing around Alcatraz and the Enterprise Electric Works added emergency lighting in the morgue and switchboard operations.[8] In June 1934, the Teletouch Corporation of New York began the installation of an "electro-magnetic gun or metal detecting system" at Alcatraz; detectors were added on the wharf, at the front entrance into the cellblock, and at the rear entrance gate.[8] The correctional officers were instructed how to operate the new locking devices on 30 July 1934, and both the United States Coast Guard and the San Francisco Police Department tested the new radio equipment on the same day.[8] Final checks and assessments were made on the first two days of August.[8]
Early history
Alcatraz laundry service
Alcatraz was intended for prisoners who continuously caused trouble at other federal prisons, a "last resort prison" to hold the worst of the worst who had no hope of rehabilitation.[9][10] At 9:40 a.m. on 11 August 1934, the first batch of 137 prisoners arrived at Alcatraz from the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, having travelled by rail to Santa Venetia, California. Before being escorted to Alcatraz, they were handcuffed in high-security coaches and guarded by some 60 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agents, U.S. Marshals, and railway security officials.[8][11] Most of the prisoners were notorious bank robbers, counterfeiters, murderers, or sodomites.[11] Among the first inmates were also 14 men from McNeil Island, Washington.[8] On 22 August 43 prisoners arrived from Atlanta Penitentiary and 10 from North Eastern Penitentiary, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.[8] On 1 September, one prisoner arrived from Washington Asylum and Jail and seven from the District of Columbia Reformatory in Virginia, and on 4 September, another batch of 103 prisoners arrived by train from Leavenworth.[8] Prisoners continued to arrive, mainly from Leavenworth and Atlanta, into 1935 and by 30 June 1935, the penitentiary's first anniversary, it had a population of 242 prisoners, although some inmates such as Verrill Rapp had already been transferred from Alcatraz some months earlier.[8] On the first anniversary, the Bureau of Prisons wrote, "The establishment of this institution not only provided a secure place for the detention of the more difficult type of criminal but has had a good effect upon discipline in our other penitentiaries also. No serious disturbance of any kind has been reported during the year." The metal detectors often overheated and had to be turned off. After the Teletouch Corporation failed to address the problem, their contract was terminated in 1937 and they were charged over $200 for three new detectors supplied by Federal Laboratories.[8]
On 10 January 1935, a severe storm caused a landslide on Alcatraz, causing the Model Industries Building to slide.[8] This began series of changes to the structures on the island. A riprap was built around Model Industries Building, it was strengthened, and a guard tower added to the roof in June 1936. That same month, the barracks building was remodeled into 11 new apartments and nine single rooms for bachelors; by this time there were 52 families living on Alcatraz, including 126 women and children.[8] The problems with the Model Industries Building and continuing utility problems with some of the old buildings and systems led to extensive updates in 1937, including new tool-proof grills on the ventilators of the cell house roof, two new boilers installed in the power house, and a new pump for salt water sanitation and guardrails added to stairways.[8] In 1939–40, a $1.1 million redevelopment was begun, including construction of the New Industries Building, a complete overhaul of the power house with a new diesel engine, the building of a new water tower to solve the water storage problem, new apartment blocks for officers, improvements to the dock, and the conversion of D-block into isolation cells.[8] The changes were completed in July 1941. The workshops of the New Industries Building became highly productive, making army uniforms, cargo nets, and other items in high demand during World War II. In June 1945, it was reported that the federal penitentiaries had made 60,000 nets.[8]
Alcatraz gained notoriety from its inception as the toughest prison in America, considered by many the world's most fearsome prison of the day. Former prisoners reported brutality and inhumane conditions which severely tested their sanity.[12][13][14] Ed Wutke was the first prisoner to commit suicide in Alcatraz. Rufe Persful chopped off his fingers after grabbing an axe from the firetruck, begging another inmate to do the same to his other hand.[14] One writer decried Alcatraz as "the great garbage can of San Francisco Bay, into which every federal prison dumped its most rotten apples."[15] In 1939, the new U.S. Attorney General, Frank Murphy, attacked the penitentiary, saying, "The whole institution is conductive to psychology that builds up a sinister ambitious attitude among prisoners."[8] The prison's reputation was not helped by the arrival of more of America's most dangerous felons, including Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz," in 1942. He entered the prison system at age 19, and never left, spending 17 years at Alcatraz. Stroud killed a guard, tangled with other inmates and spent 42 of his 54 years in prison in solitary confinement. Despite its reputation, with many former inmates calling it "Hellcatraz," some prisoners reported that the living conditions there were much better than most other prisons in the country, especially the food, and many volunteered to come to Alcatraz.[6]
On 3 December 1940, Henri Young murdered fellow inmate Rufus McCain. Running downstairs from the furniture shop to the tailor's shop where McCain worked, Young violently stabbed McCain's neck; McCain died five hours later.[8] Young had been sent to Alcatraz for murder in 1933, and was later involved in an escape attempt during which the gangster Doc Barker was shot to death. He spent nearly 22 months in solitary confinement as a result, but was eventually permitted to work in the furniture shop. Young went on trial in 1941, with his attorneys claiming that their client could not be held responsible for the murder, since he had allegedly been subjected to "cruel and unusual punishment" by prison guards prior to the act. The trial brought Alcatraz into further disrepute.[8] Ultimately, Young was convicted of manslaughter and his prison sentence was only extended by a few years.
By the 1950s, conditions at Alcatraz had improved, and inmates were gradually permitted more privileges, such as playing musical instruments, watching movies on weekends, painting, and radio use; the strict code of silence became more relaxed, and prisoners were permitted to talk quietly.[14] However, it was by far the most expensive prison in the United States, and many still perceived it as America's most extreme jail.[16][8] In his annual report for 1952, Bureau of Prisons director James V. Bennett called for a more centralized institution to replace Alcatraz.[8] A 1959 report indicated that the facility was over three times more expensive to run than the average American prison; $10 per prisoner per day compared to $3 in most other prisons.[17] The problem was made worse by the buildings' structural deterioration from exposure to salt spray. It would need $5 million to fix. Major repairs began in 1958, but by 1961 engineers evaluated the prison as a lost cause. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy submitted plans for a new maximum-security institution at Marion, Illinois.[8] The June 1962 escape from Alcatraz led to acrimonious investigations. Combined with the major structural problems and expensive operation, this led to closure on 21 March 1963.[17] The final Bureau of Prisons report said of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary: "The institution served an important purpose in taking the strain off the older and greatly overcrowded institutions in Atlanta, Leavenworth and McNeil Island since it enabled us to move to the smaller, closely guarded institution for the escape artists, the big-time racketeers, the inveterate connivers and those who needed protection from other groups."[8]
Today a museum and one of San Francisco's major tourist attractions, Alcatraz drew some 1.5 million visitors annually (2010).[18][19] Visitors arrive by boat, and are given a tour of the cellhouse and island, and a slide show and audio narration with anecdotes from former inmates, guards and rangers on Alcatraz.[20] The atmosphere of the former penitentiary is still considered to be "eerie", "ghostly" and "chilling".[20] Protected by the National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places, the salt-damaged buildings of the former prison are now being restored and maintained.[21]
According to the prison's correctional officers, once a convict arrived on the Alcatraz wharf, his first thoughts were on how to leave.[22] During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed that no prisoner successfully escaped. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, two drowned, and five are listed as "missing and presumed drowned".[23]
The first escape attempt was made on 27 April 1936, by Joseph Bowers, who was assigned to burn trash at the incinerator. He was scaling a chain link fence at the edge of the island when noticed. When he refused orders of the correctional officer located at the West Road guard tower to come down he was shot. He was seriously injured in the fall from over 15 m (50 ft) and consequently died.[6]
The second escape attempt was on 16 December 1937, by Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe. During their work assignment in one of the workshops, they cut the flat iron bars of the window and climbed into the bay. It was a stormy day and the sea was rough. They were thought dead by the prison authorities, who believed that they drowned in the bay and their bodies were swept out to sea.[6]
The most violent escape attempt occurred on 2–4 May 1946, when a failed attempt by six prisoners led to the Battle of Alcatraz, also known as the "Alcatraz Blast out". Bernard Coy, Joseph Cretzer, Sam Shockley, Clarence Carnes, Marvin Hubbard and Miran Thompson daringly took control of the cell house by overpowering correctional officers, and were able to enter the weapons room, where they then demanded keys to the outside recreation door. A quick-thinking guard, William Miller, turned over all but the key to the outer door, which he pocketed. The prisoners' aim was to escape by boat from the dock, but when they were unable to open the outside door, they decided to battle it out. They held Miller, and a second guard hostage. Prompted by Shockley and Thompson, Cretzer shot the hostages at very close range. Miller succumbed to his injuries while the second guard, Harold Stites, was also killed at the cell house. Although Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes returned to their cells, the other three, Coy, Cretzer and Hubbard, persisted with their fight. The U.S. Marines intervened to help the correctional officers and killed the three prisoners. In this battle, apart from the guards and prisoners killed, 17 other guards and one prisoner were also injured. Shockley, Thompson, and Carnes were tried for the killing of the correctional officers. Shockley and Thompson were sentenced to death via the gas chamber, which was carried out at San Quentin in December 1948. However, Carnes, who was only 19 years of age, was given a second life sentence.[6][24]
On 11 June 1962, Frank Morris, John Anglin, and Clarence Anglin, in contrast, attempted to escape using careful planning. Behind their cells in Cell Block B was an unguarded 3-foot (0.91 m) wide utility corridor. The prisoners chiseled away the salt-damaged concrete from around an air vent leading to this corridor, using tools such as a metal spoon soldered with silver from a dime and an electric drill improvised from a stolen vacuum cleaner motor. The noise was disguised by accordions played during music hour, and the progress was concealed by false walls which, in the dark recesses of the cells, fooled the guards.[6]
Side view of model head found in Frank Morris's cell
The escape route led up through a fan vent; the prisoners removed the fan and motor, replacing them with a steel grill and leaving a shaft large enough for a prisoner to enter. Stealing a carborundum abrasive cord from the prison workshop, the prisoners then removed the rivets from the grill. In their beds, they placed papier-mâché dummies made with human hair stolen from the barbershop. The escapees also made an inflatable raft over many weeks from over 50 stolen raincoats, which they prepared on the top of the cell block, concealed from the guards by sheets which had been put up over the sides. They escaped through a vent in the roof and departed Alcatraz.[6][24]
The FBI investigation was aided by another prisoner, Allen West, who was part of the escapees' group but was left behind. West's false wall kept slipping so he held it in place with cement, which set. When Morris and the Anglins accelerated the schedule, West desperately chipped away at the wall, but by the time he got out, his companions were gone. Hundreds of leads and theories have been pursued by the FBI and local law enforcement officials in the ensuing years, but no conclusive evidence has ever surfaced favoring the success or failure of the attempt. The FBI's investigation from 1962 to December 1979 was finally treated as closed.[25] The official report on the escape concludes that the prisoners drowned in the cold waters of the bay while trying to reach the mainland, it being unlikely that they made it the 1.25 miles to shore due to the strong ocean currents and the cold sea water temperatures ranging between 50 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit.[6][24]
The U.S. Marshals Service case file remains open and active, however. Morris and the Anglin brothers remain on its wanted list.[26] Circumstantial evidence uncovered in the early-2010s seemed to suggest that the men had survived, and that contrary to the official FBI report of the escapee's raft never being recovered and no car thefts being reported, a raft was discovered on nearby Angel Island with footprints leading away, and a 1955 blue Chevrolet had been stolen on the night of the escape by three men, who could have been Morris and the Anglins, and that officials then engaged in a cover-up.[27] Relatives of the Anglin brothers presented further circumstantial evidence in the mid-2010s in support of a longstanding rumor that the Anglin brothers had fled to Brazil following the escape; a facial recognition analyst concluded that the one piece of physical evidence, a 1975 photograph of two men resembling John and Clarence Anglin, did support that conclusion.[28][29]
Administration
Admin offices of Alcatraz
The prison initially had a staff of 155, including the first warden James A. Johnston and associate warden Cecil J. Shuttleworth, both considered to be "iron men".[11] None of the staff were trained in rehabilitation but were highly trained in security.[11] The guards' and staff's salaries varied. A new guard arriving in December 1948 was offered $3,024.96 per year, but there was a 6% deduction for retirement taxes a year (amounting to $181.50).[30] The guards typically worked 40-hour weeks with five 8-hour shifts.[30] Guards who worked between 6 pm and 6 am were given a 10% increase and guards doing overtime had to be reported and authorized by the warden.[30] Officers generally had to pay 25 cents for meals and were charged $10 to rent an apartment on the island, to include laundry service, although larger families were charged anything from $20–43 a month for larger quarters and charged additional for laundry.[30] In 1960, a Bureau of Prisons booklet revealed that the average prison population between 1935 and 1960 was 263; the highest recorded was 302 in 1937 and the lowest recorded was 222 in 1947.[31]
The main administration center was at the entrance to the prison, which included the warden's office. The office contained a desk with radio and telegraph equipment, typewriter, and a telephone.[32] The administrative office section also had the offices of the associate warden and secretary, mail desk, captain's desk, a business office, a clerk's office, an accounting office, a control room which was added with modern technology in 1961, the officer's lounge, armory and vault, and a visiting area and restrooms. The basement of Alcatraz prison contained dungeons and the showers. The main stairway to the dungeon lay along Sunrise Alley at the side of A-Block, but the dungeons were also accessible by a staircase in a trapdoor along the corridor of D-Block. All visits to Alcatraz required prior written approval from the warden.[33]
A hospital had originally been installed at Alcatraz during its time as a military prison in the late 19th century.[34] During its time as a federal penitentiary, it was located above the dining hall on the second floor. Hospital staff were U.S. Public Health Service employees assigned to the Federal Prison Service at Alcatraz.[35] Doctors often lasted fewer than several days or months at Alcatraz, because few of them could tolerate the violent inmates who would often terrify them if they failed to be given certain drugs.[35] Prisoners in ill health were often kept in the hospital, most famously Stroud and Al Capone, who spent years in it.[36][37]
Security
When the Bureau of Prisons established the Federal Penitentiary on 1 January 1934, they took measures to strengthen the security of the prison cells to make Alcatraz "escape-proof", and also to improve living conditions for their own staff. Up-to-date technologies for enhancing security and comfort were added to the buildings. Guard towers were built outside at four strategic locations, cells were rebuilt and fitted with "tool-proof steel cell fronts and locking devices operated from control boxes", and windows were made covered with iron grills. Electromagnetic metal detectors were placed at the entrances of the dining hall and workshops, with remote controlled tear gas canisters at appropriate locations, remote controlled gun galleries with machine gun armed guards were installed to patrol along the corridors. Improvements were made to the toilet and electricity facilities, old tunnels were sealed up with concrete to avoid hiding and escape by prisoners, and substantial changes and improvements were made to the housing facilities of guards, wardens and Captain to live with their families, with quality relative to rank. Warden Johnston, U.S. Attorney General Homer Cummings, and Sanford Bates first Director of the Bureau of Prisons, collaborated very closely to create "a legendary prison" suited to the times, which resulted in the Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary being nicknamed "Uncle Sam's Devil's Island.'[38]
Guards of Alcatraz
Despite Alcatraz being designed to house the "worst of the worst" of criminals who caused problems at other prisons, under the guidelines and regulations set by the strict prison administrators, courts could not direct a prisoner to be directly sent to Alcatraz, however notorious they were for misbehavior and attempted escape from other prisons.[38] Prisoners entering Alcatraz would undergo vigorous research and assessments prior to their arrival. Security in the prison was very tight, with constant checking of bars, doors, locks, electrical fixtures, and other physical security.[39] Prisoners were normally counted 13 times daily, and the ratio of prisoners to guards was the lowest of any American prison of the time.[40][41] The front door was made of solid steel, virtually impossible for any prisoners to escape through.[42] The island had many guard towers, most of which have since been demolished, which were heavily guarded at various points in the day at times when security may have been breached; for instance, there were guard towers on each of the industry buildings to ensure that inmates didn't attempt to escape during the work day shifts. The recreation yard and other parts of the prison had a 25-foot fence around it topped with barbed wire,[12] should any inmates attempt to escape during exercise. One former employee of the jail likened his prison job to being a zoo keeper or his old farm job, due to the fact that prisoners were treated like animals, sending them out to "plough the fields" when some of them worked during the day, and then counting them up and feeding them and so on.[39] He referred to those four years of his life working in the prison as a "total waste of his life".[39] The corridors were regularly patrolled by the guards, with passing gates along them; the most heavily trafficked corridor was "Broadway" between B and C Block, due to its being the central corridor of the prison and passed not only by guards but other prison workers.[43]
At the end of each 20-minute meal in the dining hall, the forks, spoons and knives were laid out on the table and carefully counted to ensure that nothing had been taken as a potential weapon. In the earlier years as a prison, prisoners were forbidden from talking while eating, but this was later relaxed, provided that the prisoners communicated quietly.[39] [44]
The gun gallery was situated in the Recreation Yard and mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior walls.[45] There was a metal detector outside of the dining hall for security purposes. The dining hall had tear-gas canisters attached to the rafters of the ceiling which could be activated by remote control, should prisoners riot or attempt to escape.[46][13] The first warden, James A. Johnston, always entered the dining hall alone and unarmed, due to heavy guarding around him.[47] Several riots did break out in the dining hall during Alcatraz's history. Those prisoners who were not involved in the fighting hid under the dining hall tables to escape possible gunfire.[48]
Wardens
James A. Johnston.jpg James A. Johnston 1934–48 James Aloysius Johnston (1874–1954) (nickname "Old Saltwater") [49] was the first warden of Alcatraz. The former Warden of Folsom and San Quentin, Johnston was instrumental to the creation of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary from conception to design. He was considered to be a highly strict disciplinarian and a devout reformist who imposed a number of rules upon the prison including a strict code of silence, which led to him being nicknamed the 'Golden Rule Warden' from his San Quentin days.[49] However, he was relatively popular among inmates and guards, known as "Old Saltwater" to the inmates, and is credited with challenging the barbaric tactics used in the prison when he was there, including strait jackets and solitary confinement in darkness and working towards the general improvement of the lives of prisoners. In 1937 he was attacked by Burton Phillips from behind in the dining hall who beat him in anger at a worker's strike, but he continued to attend meals unguarded.
Edwin B. Swope.jpg Edwin B. Swope 1948–55 Edwin Burnham Swope (1888–1955) (nickname "Cowboy") was the second warden of Alcatraz. His earlier posts as warden included New Mexico State Prison and Washington State's McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary. He was described as being approximately 1.73 meter (5 feet 9 inches) tall, of slender build, and was a fan of horse racing who dressed like a cowboy off-duty.[50] He was a strict disciplinarian but unlike his predecessor was considered the most unpopular warden of Alcatraz with his officers and the inmates.[51]
Paul J. Madigan.jpg Paul J. Madigan 1955–61
Paul Joseph Madigan (1897–1974) was the third warden of Alcatraz. He had earlier served as the last Associate Warden during the term of James A. Johnston. He was the only warden who had worked his way up from the bottom of the ranks of the prison staff hierarchy, having worked originally as a Correctional Officer on Alcatraz from the 1930s.[52][51] In 21 May 1941, Madigan was the key to quashing an escape attempt after being held hostage in the Model Industries Building, which later led to his promotion as associate warden.[53] He was a stout, ruddy-faced, pipe-smoking, devout Irish Catholic.[54] Unlike his predecessors, Madigan was known for being more lenient and softer in his approach to administering the prison and was better liked by the prison staff.[52]
Olin G. Blackwell.jpg Olin G. Blackwell 1961–63
Olin Guy Blackwell (1915–1986) was the fourth and final warden of Alcatraz. Associate Warden to Paul J. Madigan from April 1959,[53] Blackwell served as warden of Alcatraz at its most difficult time from 1961 to 1963 when it was facing closure as a decaying prison with financing problems, coinciding with the timing of the infamous June 1962 escape from Alcatraz. At the time of the 1962 escape he was on vacation in Lake Berryessa in Napa County, and he didn't believe the men could have survived the waters and made it to shore.[55] Blackwell was considered to have been the least strict warden of Alcatraz, perhaps in part due to him having been a heavy drinker and smoker, nicknamed "Gypsy" and known as "Blackie" to his friends.[53] He was said to have been an excellent marksman who had earlier served as Associate Warden of Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary.
Prison life and the cells
An inmate register reveals that there were 1,576 prisoners in total held at Alcatraz during its time as a Federal Penitentiary, although figures reported have varied and some have stated 1557.[56][57] The prison cells, purposefully designed so that none adjoined an outside wall,[13] typically measured 9 feet (2.7 m) by 5 feet (1.5 m) and 7 feet (2.1 m) high.[58] The cells were primitive with a bed, a desk and a washbasin and toilet on the back wall and few furnishings except a blanket.[58] An air vent, measuring 6 inches (150 mm) by 9 inches (230 mm), covered by a metal grill, lay at the back of the cells which led into the utility corridors. [58] Prisoners had no privacy in going to the toilet and the toilets would emit a strong stench because they were flushed with salt water. Hot water faucets were not installed until the early 1960s, shortly before closure.[58]
The penitentiary established a very strict regimen of rules and regulations under the title "the Rules and Regulations for the Government and Discipline of the United States Penal and Correctional Institutions" and also a "Daily Routine of Work and Counts" to be followed by the prisoners and also the guards; copies of these were provided to the prisoners to read and follow. Inmates were basically entitled to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Anything else was seen as a privilege. Inmates were given a blue shirt, grey pants (blue and white in later years[56]), cotton long underwear, socks and a blue handkerchief; the wearing of caps was forbidden in the cellhouse.[58] Cells were expected to be kept tidy and in good order. Any dangerous article found in the cells or on inmates such as money, narcotics, intoxicating substances or tools which had the potential to inflict injury or assist in an escape attempt was considered contraband and made the prisoners eligible for disciplinary action.[56] It was compulsory for prisoners to shave in their cells three times a week. Attempting to bribe, intimidate, or assault prison officers was seen as a very serious offense.[56] African-Americans were segregated from the rest in cell designation due to racial abuse being prevalent.[59] Toilet paper, matches, soap, and cleanser were issued to the cells on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and inmates could request hot water and a mop to clean their cells.[56] The bars, windows and floors of the prison were cleaned on a daily basis.[59] In earlier years there was a strict code of silence but by the 1950s this had relaxed and talking was permitted in the cellhouse and dining hall provided conversations were quiet and there was no shouting, loud talking, whistling or singing.[56]
Prisoners would be woken at 6:30 am, and sent to breakfast at 6:55 am. After returning to the cell, inmates then had to tidy their cell and place the waste basket outside.[56] At 7:30 am, work started in the shifts for those privileged enough to do so, punctuated by a whistle, and prisoners would have to go through a metal detector during work shifts.[39] If assigned a job, prisoners had to accept that line of work; prisoners were not permitted to have money in their possessions but earnings went into a prisoner's Trust Fund.[56] Some of the prisoners were assigned duties with the guards and foremen in the Laundry, Tailor Shop, Cobblers Shop, Model Shop etc. and in gardening and labor. Smoking, a privilege, was permitted in the workplace providing there wasn't any hazardous condition, but inmates were not permitted to smoke between the recreation yard and work. Lunch was served at 11:20 am, followed by a 30-minute rest in the cell, before returning to work until 16:15.[39] Dinner was served at 16:25 and the prisoners would then retire to their cells to be locked in for the night at 16:50, and lights went off at 21:30.[39][60] After being locked in for the night, 6 guards usually patrolled the four cell blocks.[59] Many prisoners have compared their duration at Alcatraz to hell and would have preferred death to continued incarceration.[61]
Alcatraz Library was located at the end of D-Block. Upon entering Alcatraz, every inmate was given a library card and a catalog of books found in the library; inmates could place orders by putting a slip with their card in a box at the entrance to the dining hall before breakfast, and the books would be delivered to and from their cell by a librarian.[62][63][60] The library, which utilized a closed-stack paging system, had a collection of 10,000 to 15,000 books, mainly left over from the army days.[64][63][60] Inmates were permitted a maximum of three books in addition to up to 12 text books, a Bible, and a dictionary.[60] They were permitted to subscribe to magazines but crime-related pages were torn out and newspapers were prohibited.[63] Sex, crime and violence were censored from all books and magazines, and the library was governed by a chaplain who regulated the censorship and the nature of the reading material to ensure that the material was wholesome.[60][64] Failure to return books by the date given made the inmate liable to removal of privileges.[60] The average prisoner read 75 to 100 books a year.[65] Every evening, inmates would generally read books loaned from the library and usually an hour or 75 minutes was allocated to the practicing of musical instruments, from the guitar to the accordion. A prison band often practiced in the dining room or auditorium above it; Al Capone famously practiced the banjo in the shower block, although most prisoners were limited to playing in their cells alone.[66]
Alcatraz cellhouse had a corridor naming system named after major American streets and landmarks. Michigan Avenue was the corridor to the side of A-Block, and Broadway was the central corridor in which the inmates would assemble as they massed through Times Square (an area with a clock on the wall), before entering the dining hall for their meals. Broadway separated Block-B and Block-C and prisoners kept along it had the least privacy in the prison.[67] The corridor between Block-C and the library was called Park Avenue.[67] The corridor in D-Block was named Sunset Strip. Gun galleries lay at the end of each block, including the West and
A-Block was never modernized, so retained its "flat strap-iron bars, key locks and spiral staircases" from the original military prison.[68] No inmates were permanently held there during the years Alcatraz was a federal penitentiary. Several inmates, however, were held briefly in A-Block before a hearing or transfer.[68] In the later years, A-Block was mainly used for storage. A law library was set up at some point, where inmates could type legal documents.[68] A small barber's shop was located at the end of A-block where inmates would have a monthly haircut.[68]
B-Block
Most new inmates at Alcatraz were assigned to the second tier of B-Block.[69] They had "quarantine status" for their first three months in confinement in Alcatraz, and were not permitted visitors for a minimum of 90 days.[69][70] Inmates were permitted one visitor a month, although anybody likely to cause trouble such as registered criminals were barred from visiting. Letters received by inmates were checked by prison staff first, to see if they could decipher any secret messages.[10][71] Frank Morris and his fellow escapees escaped Alcatraz during the June 1962 escape from Alcatraz by entering a utility corridor behind B-Block.[4]:120
D-Block gained notoriety as a "Treatment block" for some of the worst inmates, with varying degrees of punishment, including Isolation, Solitary and Strip.[72] Prisoners usually spent anywhere from 3 to 19 days in Solitary.[72] Prisoners held here would be given their meals in their cells, were not permitted to work and could only shower twice a week. After a 1939 escape attempt in which Arthur "Doc" Barker was killed, the Bureau of Prisons tightened security in the D-Block. The Birdman of Alcatraz inhabited cell 42 in D-Block in solitary confinement for 6 years.
D-Block
The worst cells for confinement as a punishment for inmates who stepped out of line were located at the end of D-Block in cells 9–14, known as "The Hole".[73] Inmates held in the hole were limited to just one 10-minute shower and an hour of exercise in the yard a week.[74][72] The five cells of "The Hole" had nothing but a sink and toilet and the very worst cell was nicknamed "The Oriental" or "Strip Cell", the final cell of the block with nothing but a hole in the floor as a toilet, in which prisoners would often be confined naked with nothing else for two days.[67][72] The guards controlled the flushing of the toilet in that cell.[8] After completing the punishment in the hole, the prisoner could then return to his cell but be tagged; a red tag, third grade, denoted a prisoner who was restricted from leaving his cell for perhaps 3 months.[39] At second grade the prisoners could receive letters, and if after 30 days they remained behaved, they would then be restored full prison privileges.[39]
Its size was approximately that of a regular cell-9 feet by 5 feet by about 7 feet high. I could just touch the ceiling by stretching out my arm ... You are stripped nude and pushed into the cell. Guards take your clothes and go over them minutely for what few grains of tobacco may have fallen into the cuffs or pockets. There is no soap. No tobacco. No toothbrush, The smell – well you can describe it only by the word 'stink.' It is like stepping into a sewer. It is nauseating. After they have searched your clothing, they throw it at you. For bedding, you get two blankets, around 5 in the evening. You have no shoes, no bed, no mattress-nothing but the four damp walls and two blankets. The walls are painted black. Once a day I got three slices of bread—no—that is an error. Some days I got four slices. I got one meal in five days, and nothing but bread in between. In the entire thirteen days I was there, I got two meals ... I have seen but one man get a bath in solitary confinement, in all the time that I have been there. That man had a bucket of cold water thrown over him.
Alcatraz Dining Hall, often referred to as the Mess Hall, is the dining hall where the prisoners and staff ate their meals. It is a long wing on the west end of the Main Cellhouse of Alcatraz, situated in the center of the island.[76] It is connected to the block by a corridor known as "Times Square", as it passes beneath a large clock approaching the entrance way to the dining hall.[4]:93 This wing includes the dining hall and the kitchen beyond it. On the second floor was the hospital and the auditorium, which was where movies were screened to the inmates at weekends.[77]
Dining hall protocol was a scripted process, including a whistle system to indicate which block and tier of men would move into and out of the hall at any given time, who sat where, where to place hands, and when to start eating.[78] Prisoners would be awakened at 6:30 am, and sent to breakfast at 6:55 am.[39] A breakfast menu is still preserved on the hallway board, dated 21 March 1963. The breakfast menu included assorted dry cereals, steamed whole wheat, a scrambled egg, milk, stewed fruit, toast, bread, and butter. Lunch was served in the dining hall at 11:20 am, followed by a 30-minute rest in the cell, before returning to work until 16:15.[39] Dinner was served at 16:25 and the prisoners would then go to their cells at 16:50 to be locked in for the night.[39] Inmates were permitted to eat as much as they liked within 20 minutes, provided they left no waste; waste would be reported and may make the prisoner subject to removal of privileges if they made a habit of it.[79][40]
Each dining table had benches which held up to six men, although smaller tables and chairs later replaced these which seated four.[44] All of the prison population, including the guards and officials would dine together, thus seating over 250 people.[44][80] The food served at Alcatraz was reportedly the best in the United States prison system.[79]
The Recreation Yard was the yard used by inmates of the prison between 1934 and 1963. It is located opposite the dining hall south of the end of D-Block, facing the mainland on a raised level surrounded by a high wall and fence above it.[81][82][83] Guard Tower #3 lay just to the west of the yard.[84] The gun gallery was situated in the yard, mounted on one of the dining hall's exterior walls.[45]
In 1936, the previously dirt-covered yard was paved.[85] The yard was part of the most violent escape attempt from Alcatraz in May 1946 when a group of inmates hatched a plot to obtain the key into the recreation yard, kill the tower guards, take hostages, and use them as shields to reach the dock.[86]
Inmates were permitted out into the yard on Saturdays and Sundays and on holidays for a maximum of 5 hours.[87][88] Inmates who worked seven days a week in the kitchen were rewarded with short yard breaks during the weekdays.[88] Badly behaved prisoners were liable to having their yard access rights taken away from them on weekends.[88] The prisoners of Alcatraz were permitted to play games such as baseball, softball and other sports at these times and intellectual games such as chess.[87] Because of the small size of the yard and the diamond at the end of it, a section of the wall behind the first base had to be padded to cushion the impact of inmates overrunning it.[89] Inmates were provided gloves, bats, and balls, but no sport uniforms. In 1938, there were four amateur teams, the Bees, Oaks, Oilers, and Seals, named after Minor League clubs, and four league teams named after Major League clubs, the Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, and Tigers.[90] Many of the inmates used weekends in the yards to converse with each other and discuss crime, the only real opportunities they had during the week for a durable conversation.[91]
The Warden's House is located at the northeastern end of the Main Cellblock, next to Alcatraz Lighthouse. The 3-floor 15-room mansion was built in 1921 according to the Golden Gate National Recreational Area signpost,[92] although some sources say it was built in 1926 or 1929 and had 17 or 18 rooms.[93]
Between 1934 and 1963, the four wardens of Alcatraz resided here, including the first warden, James A. Johnston. A house of luxury, in stark contrast to the jail next to it, the wardens often held lavish cocktail parties here.[94] The signpost at the spot shows a photograph of a trusted inmate doing chores at the house for the warden and that the house had a terraced garden and greenhouse.[92] The mansion had tall windows, providing fine views of San Francisco Bay.[93] Today, the house is a ruin, burned down by Native Americans during the
Building 64 Residential Apartments was the first building constructed on the island of Alcatraz, intended entirely for the purpose of accommodating the military officers and their families living on the island.[95] Located next to the dock on the southeastern side of the island, below the Warden's House,[96] the three-story apartment block was built in 1905 on the site of a U.S. Army barracks which had been there from the 1860s. It functioned as the Military Guard Barracks from 1906 until 1933. One of its largest apartments in the southwest corner was known as the "Cow Palace" and a nearby alleyway was known as "Chinatown".[95]
The Social Hall, also known as the Officers' Club, was a social club located on the northwestern side of the island. Located in proximity to the Power House, water tower and Former Military Chapel (Bachelor Quarters), it formerly housed the post exchange.[97] The club was a social venue for the Federal Penitentiary workers and their families on the island to unwind after a hard week's work dealing with America's most hardened criminals after they'd been locked up at 17:30.[98][99] It was burned down by Native Americans during the Occupation of Alcatraz in 1970, leaving a shell which still remains.
The club had a small bar, library, large dining and dance floor, billiards table, ping pong table and a two-lane bowling alley, and was the centre of social life on the island for the employees of the penitentiary.[100][101][102] It regularly hosted dinners, bingo events, and from the 1940s onwards showed movies every Sunday night after they had been shown to the inmates during the day on Saturday and Sunday.[100][4]:128 The club was responsible for organizing numerous special events on the island (held either in the hall or the Parade Grounds) and the fundraising associated with it, anything from ice cream and watermelon feasts to Halloween fancy dress and Christmas parties.[100][103]
The Power House is located on the northwest coast of Alcatraz Island. It was constructed in 1939 for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million modernization scheme which also included the water tower, New Industries Building, officers quarters and remodeling of the D-block.[69] The white powerhouse smokestack and lighthouse were said to give an "appearance of a ship's mast on either side of the island".[104] A sign reading "A Warning. Keep Off. Only Government permitted within 200 yards" lay in front of the powerhouse to deter people landing on the island at the point.
Between 1939 and 1963, it supplied power to the Federal Penitentiary and other buildings on the island. The powerhouse had a tower duty station which was guarded with a "30-caliber Winchester rifle with 50 rounds of ammunition, a 1911 semiautomatic pistol with three seven-round magazines, three gas grenades, and a gas mask."[105]
The water tower is located on the northwestern side of the island, near Tower No. 3, beyond the Morgue and Recreation Yard.[106] The water tank is situated on six cross-braced steel legs submerged in concrete foundations.[dubious – discuss][107]
As Alcatraz had no water supply of its own, it had to import it from the mainland, brought by tug and barge.[108] During the island's military years, there were in-ground water tanks and water tanks were situated on the roof of the citadel.[109] The water tower was built in 1940–41 by the Federal Bureau of Prisons,[110] after the island received a government renovations grant to supply the majority of the island's fresh water.[109][dubious – discuss]
It is the tallest building on the island, at a height of 94 feet (29 m) with a volume of 250,000 US gallons (950 kL) gallons of fresh water. It was used to store potable water for drinking, water for firefighting, and water for the island's service
The Model Industries Building is a three/four-story building on the northwest corner of Alcatraz Island. This building was originally built by the U.S. military and was used as a laundry building until the New Industries Building was built as part of a redevelopment program on Alcatraz in 1939 when it was a federal penitentiary. As part of the Alcatraz jail, it held workshops for inmates to work in.[112]
Inmates working in the sewing room
On 10 January 1935, the building shifted to within 2.5 feet from the edge of the cliff following a landslide caused by a severe storm. The warden at the time, James A. Johnston, proposed extend the seawall next to it and asked the Bureau for $6500 to fund it; he would later claim to dislike the building because it was irregularly shaped.[69] A smaller, cheaper riprap was completed by the end of 1935. A guard tower and a catwalk from Hill Tower was added to the roof of the Industries Building in June 1936 and the building was made secure with bars from old cells to bar the windows and grill the roof ventilators and to prevent inmates from escaping from the roof.[69] It ceased use as a laundry in 1939 when it was moved to the upper floor of the New Industries Building. Today the building is heavily rusted after decades of exposure to the salt air and wind, and neither the guard tower on top of the building nor the Hill Tower still exist.
The New Industries Building was constructed in 1939 for $186,000 as part of a $1.1 million modernization scheme which also included the water tower, power house, officers' quarters and remodeling of the D-block.[8]
The ground floor of the two-story 306 ft long building contained a clothing factory, dry cleaning plant, furniture plant, brush factory, and an office, where prisoners of the federal penitentiary could work for money.[8] They earned a small wage for their labour which was put into an account, known as a Prisoner's Trust Fund, which would be given to them upon leaving Alcatraz.[113] They made items such as gloves, furniture mats, and army uniforms.[112] The laundry room occupied the entire upper floor, the largest in San Francisco at the time.[8][112] Each window has 9 panes and there are 17 bays on each floor on either side.
Arthur Barker.jpg Arthur R. Barker ("Doc") #268 1935–39 Arthur Barker (4 June 1899 – 13 January 1939) was the son of Ma Barker and a member of the Barker-Karpis gang along with Alvin Karpis. In 1935, Barker was sent to Alcatraz Island on conspiracy to kidnap charges. On the night of 13 January 1939, Barker with Henri Young and Rufus McCain attempted escape from Alcatraz. Barker was shot and killed by the guards.[114]
Acaponeh.jpg Alphonse "Al" Gabriel Capone ("Scarface") #85 1934–39 When Al Capone (17 January 1899 – 25 January 1947) arrived on Alcatraz in 1934, prison officials made it clear that he would not be receiving any preferential treatment. While serving his time in Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, Capone, a master manipulator, had continued running his rackets from behind bars by buying off guards.[38] Capone generated major media attention while on Alcatraz, though he served just four and a half years of his sentence there[38] before developing symptoms of tertiary syphilis and poor mental health before being transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution at Terminal Island in Los Angeles in 1938. He tried his best to seek favors from warden Johnston, but failed, and was given work in the prison performing numerous menial jobs. Capone was involved in many fights with fellow prisoners, including one with an inmate who held a blade to his throat in the prison barbershop after Capone attempted to jump the queue. He was released from jail in November 1939 and lived in Miami until his death in 1947 at 48 years of age.[38][115]
Mickey Cohen.jpg Meyer Harris Cohen ("Mickey") #1518 1961–63 Mickey Cohen (4 September 1913 – 29 July 1976) worked for the Mafia's gambling rackets; he was convicted of tax evasion and sentenced to 15 years in Alcatraz Island.[116] He was transferred to the United States Penitentiary in Atlanta shortly before Alcatraz closed permanently on 21 March 1963. While at Atlanta, on 14 August 1963, fellow inmate Burl Estes McDonald clobbered[117] Cohen with a lead pipe, partially paralyzing the mobster. After his release in 1972, Cohen led a quiet life with old friends.[118]
BumpyJohnsonAlcatrazPrisonCropped.jpg Ellsworth Raymond Johnson ("Bumpy") #1117 1954–63 "Bumpy" Johnson (31 October 1905 – 7 July 1968), referred to as the "Godfather of Harlem", was an African-American gangster, numbers operator, racketeer, and bootlegger in Harlem in the early 20th century. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1954 and was imprisoned until 1963. He was believed to have been involved in the 1962 escape attempt of Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin.[119]
Alvin Karpis.jpg Alvin Francis Karpavicz ("Creepy Karpis") #325 1936–62 Alvin Karpis (10 August 1907 – 26 August 1979) was Canadian, of Lithuanian descent. He was nicknamed "Creepy" for his sinister smile and called "Ray" by his gang members. He was known for being one of the three leaders of the Ma Barker-Karpis gang in the 1930s; the other two leaders were Fred and Doc Barker of the Ma Barker Gang. He was the only "Public Enemy #1" to be taken personally by J. Edgar Hoover. There were only four "public enemies" ever given the title of "Public Enemy #1" by the FBI. The other three, John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Baby Face Nelson, were all killed before being captured.[120] He also spent the longest time as a federal prisoner in Alcatraz Prison at 26 years. Karpis was credited with ten murders and six kidnappings apart from bank robbery. He was deported to Canada in 1971 and died in Spain in 1979.[115][121][122]
MachineGunKelly.jpg George Kelly Barnes ("Machine Gun Kelly") #117 1934–51 "Machine Gun Kelly" (18 July 1895 – 18 July 1954) arrived on 4 September 1934. At Alcatraz, Kelly was constantly boasting about several robberies and murders that he had never committed.[123] Although his boasts were said to be tiresome to other prisoners, Warden Johnson considered him a model inmate. Inmate #139, Harvey Bailey was his partner. Kelly was returned to Leavenworth in 1951.
Robert Garcia visiting Rafael Cancel Miranda.jpg Rafael Cancel Miranda #1163 1954–60 In July 1954, Rafael Cancel Miranda (18 July 1930 – 2 March 2020) was sent to Alcatraz, where he served six years of his sentence. At Alcatraz he was a model prisoner,[3] where he worked in the brush factory and served as an altar boy at Catholic services. His closest friends were fellow Puerto Ricans Emerito Vasquez and Hiram Crespo-Crespo. They spoke Spanish and watched out for each other. On the recreation yard he often played chess with "Bumpy" Johnson.[3] He also befriended Morton Sobell; they developed a friendship that lasts to this day.[3]
His family made trips to San Francisco to visit him, but he wasn't allowed to see his children. His wife was allowed to talk to him through a glass in the visiting room, using a phone. They were not allowed to speak in Spanish and had to speak in English.[124] He was transferred to Leavenworth in 1960.
RobertStroud.jpg Robert Franklin Stroud ("Birdman of Alcatraz") #594 1942–59 Robert Stroud, who was better known to the public as the Birdman of Alcatraz (28 January 1890 – 21 November 1963), was transferred to Alcatraz in 1942. At a young age he took to pimping and was involved in a murder during a drunken brawl. After terms in McNeil Island and Leavenworth Federal Prison, where he had killed Officer Andrew Turner, he was transferred to Alcatraz, with his sentence extended.
A self-taught ornithologist, he wrote several books. His Digest on the Diseases of Birds is considered a classic in Ornithology. He was confined to D-Block in solitary confinement for most of his duration in Alcatraz.[125] and after a term in the prison hospital, was transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, due to seriously detioriating health.[6] Although he was given the name "The Birdman of Alcatraz", he was not permitted to keep birds in his prison cell at Alcatraz, as he had at Leavenworth, because it was prohibited. He died in 1963.[6][24][126][127]
The Native Americans mentioned the evil spirits they purportedly encountered on the island long before it became a military prison.[128] Mark Twain visited it, found the atmosphere of the island eerie, and described it as "being as cold as winter, even in the summer months."[129] The alleged haunting of the prison has been documented in numerous paranormal television series.[130]
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Sowrya Consultancy is a best overseas education consultants in Hyderabad. We are providing study abroad consultants services for USA , Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, UK
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The client mouse is resting, when I use my personal MacBook setup. Luckily, my client also use Macs so I don't need to switch OS mindset all the time ....