Motor impulse

“ The motor mechanism is that which puts the whole in motion. It either generates its own motive power, like the steam-engine, the caloric engine, the electro-magnetic machine, etc., or it receives its impulse from some already existing natural force, like the water-wheel from a head of water, the windmill from wind, etc. ”

“ A changing of orientation is a common accompaniment, with statements of the feeling of the impulse to turn in various directions. For F., who is predominantly of the motor type, we have an example where the rhythmic ticking of [Pg 470] a clock fades into the rhythmic watching of a boat rising and falling on the water.
The notes would seem to indicate that there is no idea without a motor fringe, and also that these elements of incipient impulses to movement may accompany the elements of transition, and are observed introspectively by the subjects. They are therefore data for psychology. ”

“ MOTORS WITH MORE THAN ONE CYLINDER
Engines with two cylinders have the advantage of two impulses for every two revolutions of the fly-wheel, whereas a single-cylindered engine only has one impulse for every two revolutions of the fly-wheel. The timing of the firing stroke depends upon the angle at which the cranks on the crankshaft are set. ”

“ Thus, an impulse which originally spread its effects over the whole body, or at least over many of its movable parts, is gradually determined to a single definite organ, in which it effects the contraction of a few limited muscles. In this change the thoughts and perceptions which start the impulse acquire more and more intimate causal relations with a particular group of motor nerves. ”

“ Moreover, when the nervous current, whether sensory or motor, involves the establishment of new connections between cells, as when one first learns combinations of numbers or the movements involved in forming a new letter, a relatively greater amount of resistance is met or, in other words, a greater amount of nervous energy is expended. On the other hand, when an impulse has been transmitted a number of times through a given arc, the resistance is greatly lessened, or less energy is expended ”

“ The mixture, the ignition of which causes the impulse which drives the engine, is formed from the vapour which rises from petrol or motor-car spirit when mixed in proper proportions with air in other words, when this air is carburetted. The chamber in which this mixing takes place is consequently called the carburetter. ”

“ The "weaker and purer" sensory currents furnish "ideas of the environment," while the "motor feelings" only furnish "ideas of the organism." What he means by motor feelings as distinguished from motor impulses following normally upon the discharges of the sensori-motor centers it is difficult to see. He seems to think there can be motor without sensory phenomena, and to forget that all sensory currents, whether peripheral or internal may produce motor effects. ”

“ Taking the sequence of the first cylinder from a to b (1) a charge is drawn in; from b to c (2) it is compressed in the combustion chamber; from c to d (3) the charge is ignited and a working stroke obtained; while from d to e (4) the burnt gases are expelled. In the second cylinder it will be noticed that the sequence is directly opposite to that in the first, and in order to make this clear without particular reference to the diagram, the cycle is laid out as follows:
From the above it will be seen that one working stroke immediately follows the other, so that an even impulse is
Fig. ”

“ The particular function of the elements which are substituted for geometrical symmetry has been made clear; their presence lends variety and richness to the balance of motor impulses. But the natural motor response to stimulation has another characteristic which belongs to us as individuals. The motor response must be balanced, but also unified. In a picture, therefore, there must be a large outline in which all the elements are held together, corresponding to this requirement of unity. ”

“ Assuming a vehicle with running gear complete and motors mounted and geared to the driving-wheels, the motors have to be fed with energy in order that the car may be propelled— that is to say, we must in addition to the motors have a source of electric current present. A car with body, running gear, and motors geared in position, is a potentiality only. ”

“ By the same device the motor can run at reduced speed, although with a considerable loss of energy in the rheostat; it is indeed, as a rule, difficult to get effective speed variation in motors of any kind without serious loss of energy. ”

“ I am like a motor set in motion at a speed of too many revolutions per second; the bearings have become too hot, and in one more minute the molten metal will begin to drip and everything will go to the devil. ”

“ The motors may fail from various causes. The most common of these is burning up, due in general to forcing too much current through them either to get up a steep and muddy hill, or less generally in an attempt to run the vehicle up to or beyond the due limit of speed. ”

“ In all the foregoing chapters we have been considering only the muscular engines of the human machine, counting them over and comparing their construction and their mechanism with those of the internal-combustion engine of a motor cycle. But of the levers or crank-pins through which muscular engines exert their power we have said nothing hitherto. Nor shall we get any help by now spending time on the levers of a motor cycle. We have already confessed that they are arranged in a way which is quite different from that which we find in the human machine. ”

“ On the other hand, as a great multitude of motor tracks can open simultaneously in this substance to one and the same excitation from the periphery, this disturbance may subdivide to any extent, and consequently dissipate itself in innumerable motor reactions which are merely nascent. Hence the office of the brain is sometimes to conduct the movement received to a chosen organ of reaction, and sometimes to open to this movement the totality of the motor tracks, so that it may manifest there all the potential reactions with which it is charged, and may divide and so disperse. ”

“ For example, when travelling on a level road at top speed, if the driver wishes to slow down to pass a vehicle, he does not necessarily change his gear, but operates the accelerator, so as to alter the speed of the engine. The car will then slow until the pressure on sleeve c c is once more increased by means of the lever. ”

“ The exact effects upon the human frame of the rapid motion, of the vibrations, of the presence of the electric current and escaping gas have never been adequately investigated—though 41 sundry ill consequences of motor-driving have been noted without any diminution of the practice. ”

“ In lifting an object in the hand I can discover no sensation of volitional energy. I perceive in the first place a slight tension about the head, but that this results from a contraction in the head muscles, and not from a feeling of the brain-discharge, is shown by the simple fact that I get the tension on the right side of the head when I move the right arm, whereas the motor discharge takes place in the opposite side of the brain.... ”

“ As Bryan well says, "The efficiency of a machine depends so far as we know upon the maximum force, rate, amplitude, and variety of direction of its movements and upon the exactness with which below these maxima the force, rate, amplitude, and direction of the movements can be controlled." The motor efficiency of a man depends upon his ability in all these respects. Moreover, the education of the small muscles and fine adjustments of larger ones is as near mental training as physical culture can get ”

“ The circuit which connects any one single perception with action, through sensory nerve, sensory centre, motor centre, motor nerve and muscle, is as purely mechanical as that of an electric circuit. Reflex motions such as breathing, and even more complex motions which by repetition have become reflex or instinctive, are also mechanical and involve no exercise of will. ”

“ The employment of multipolar motors secures in this system an advantage much desired and unattainable in the continuous current system, and that is, that a motor may be made to run exactly at a predetermined speed irrespective of imperfections in construction, of the load, and, within certain limits, of electromotive force and current strength. ”

“ An electric vehicle may be regarded as consisting of a body, a running gear, with one or two motors mounted on it and arranged to operate the driving wheels of the vehicle through speed reduction gearing, of a battery of accumulators carried on the car itself, of connections between this battery and the motors, and of a controller, the functions of which will be explained. ”

“ The current in the alternating motor depends, not on the ohmic resistance alone, but upon the impedance and upon the geometrical difference between the applied and motor electromotive forces. At a given applied electromotive force, and an armature impedance assumed constant, the fundamental variables in the motor are the output, motor electromotive force, and motor current. ”

“ The electric motor is a machine which transforms the energy of an electric current into mechanical energy or motion. The direct current motor consists of the same essential parts as a direct current dynamo, viz., the field magnet, armature, commutator and brushes. ”

“ On heavy loads, as when going uphill, the increased magnetic intensity produced by the increased current passing through the windings of the field magnets increases the torque, and at the same time tends to check the actual speed of the motor, thereby giving what may be looked upon as an electric gearing effect. ”

“ That the motor cycle is still far from perfect almost goes without saying; but every year sees a decided advance in its design and efficiency. The messy, troublesome accumulator will eventually give way to a neat little dynamo, which is driven by the engine and creates current for exploding the cylinder charges as the machine travels. ”

“ Thus, a sensation is propagated along the sensory nerve to the sensory nerve-centre, whence it is transmitted to the motor-centre, which acts as an accumulator of stored-up energy, a large flow of which is sent through the large conductor of the motor-nerve to the muscle, which it causes to contract and thus produces motion. It is thus that the simpler involuntary actions are produced by a process which is purely mechanical. In the more complex cases, in which consciousness and will are involved, the process is essentially the same, though more complicated. ”

“ Operation of Motors.—The speed of a direct-current motor is always such that the counter e.m.f. of the motor becomes nearly equal to the impressed e.m.f. of the line. In order to speed up a motor it is necessary to weaken the fields; and conversely, to slow it down we must strengthen the fields. The above methods are necessary if the motor is to run at a nearly fixed speed with a variable load. The speed can also be controlled by a variable resistance placed in the armature circuit. ”

“ The complications may be such as actually to double the reaction time in the case of a sensory reaction, and yet a motor reaction, under precisely the same conditions as far as they may be the same for a motor, shows no increase in time. The "set" of the attention in the motor reaction is, no doubt, such a change in the order of succession of the parts of the process that some of those, which come after the stimulus is received in the case of the sensory reaction, are made to come before the stimulus in the motor. ”

“ Remaining seated in one position, with little or no opportunity of moving the lower limbs, renders them very liable to stiffness or cramp, especially in the case of elderly drivers, whose joints are less mobile and flexible than those of the young. The exhilaration which accompanies driving in a motor is particularly helpful to people who are somewhat enervated. I have known instances of ladies suffering from defective nerve power who have derived great benefit from the invigorating and refreshing effect of meeting a current of air caused by driving in an automobile. ”

“ Many physiologists claim that these cells are only excitable by the will. For the theory of motor centers they substitute that of psycho-motors. Reserving this discussion for another time and place, we may say that, whether we excite the cells or the fibers that arise from them, the result is the same.
All stimulation, whatever its nature or origin, acts upon a nerve according to its functions. Excite a motor nerve at any point of its course, and you produce movement; excite a sensory nerve, and the subject will feel a sensation which will vary with the nature of the nerve. ”

“ If the contact be suddenly broken when the motor is making seventeen hundred revolutions a minute, the electric current will remain cut off until the speed of the motor has become reduced to about fifteen hundred. ”

“ The solution was found by making the two wheels move by means of a timing fork, which vibrates with the same speed everywhere, and under all conditions.
Electric Motor.—The direct current electric motor depends for its action on the principle that likes repel, and unlikes attract. The commutator so arranges the poles that at the proper points, in the revolution of the armature, the poles are always presented to each other in such a way that as they approach each other, they are opposites, and thus attract, and as they recede from each other they repel. ”