Photo above: a Johnson Magnetic Motor prototype under construction
"We don't grant patents on perpetual motion machines," said the examiners at the U.S. Patent Office. "It won't work because it violates the law of Conservation of Energy," said one physicist after another. But because, inventor Howard Johnson is not the sort of man to be intimidated by such seemingly authoritative pronouncements, he now owns U.S. Patent No. 4,151,431 which describes how it is possible to generate motive power, as in a motor, using only the energy contained in the atoms of permanent magnets. That's right. Johnson has discovered how to build motors that run without an input of electricity or any other kind of external energy!
The monumental
nature of the invention is obvious, especially in a world facing an
alarming, escalating energy shortage. Yet inventor Johnson is not
rushing to peddle his creation as the end-all solution to world- wide
energy problems. He has more important work to do. First, there's the
need to refine his laboratory prototypes into workable practical
devices -in particular a 5,000-watt electric power generator already in
the building. His second and perhaps more difficult major challenge:
persuade a host of skeptics that his ideas are indeed practical.
Johnson, who has been coping with disbelievers for decades, can be very
persuasive in a face-to-face encounter because he can do more than
merely theorize; he can demonstrate working models that unquestionably
create motion using only permanent magnets. When this writer was urged
by the editor of SCIENCE & MECHANICS to make a thousand mile
pilgrimage to Blacksburg, Virginia, to meet with the inventor, he went
there as an "open-minded skeptic" and as a former research Scientist
determined not to be fooled. Within two days, this former skeptic had
become a believer. Here's why.
Doing the Unthinkable. Howard
Johnson refuses to view the "laws" of science as somehow sacred, so
doing the unthinkable and succeeding is second nature to him. If a
particular law gets in the way, he sees no harm in going around it for
a while to see if there's something on the other side. Johnson explains
the persistent opposition he experiences from the established
scientific community this way: "Physics is a measurement science and
physicists are especially determined to protect the ‘Law’ of
Conservation of Energy. Thus the physicists become game wardens who
tell us what laws' we can't violate. In this case they don't even know
what the game is. But they are so scared that I and my associates are
going to violate some of these laws, that they have to get to the pass
to head us off!"
The critics say Johnson offers a "free lunch"
solution to energy problems, and that there can be no such thing.
Johnson demurs, reminding repeatedly that he has never suggested that
his invention provides something for nothing. He also points out that
no one talks about a "free lunch" when discussing extraction of
enormous amounts of atomic power by means of nuclear reactors and atom
bombs. In his mind, it's much the same thing.
Johnson is the
first to admit he doesn't actually know where the power be has tapped
derives. But he postulates that the energy may be associated with
spinning electrons, perhaps in the form of a "presently unnamed atomic
particle." How do other physicists react to Johnson's suggestion that
there may be an atomic particle so far overlooked by nuclear
physicists? Says Johnson: "I guess it’s fair to say that most of them
are revolted." On the other hand, a few converted scientists, including
some who are associated with large and prestigious research
laboratories, are intrigued enough to suggest that there should be a
hunt for the answer, be it a "particle" or some other as yet
unsuspected characteristic of atomic structure.
This article is
prefaced with the foregoing brief summary of the ongoing controversy so
that, in fairness to the inventor, we might all view his claims with
open minds, even if it means temporary setting aside of cherished
scientific concepts until more complete explanations are forthcoming.
The main question to be answered here and now is this: Does Johnson
permanent magnet motor work?
Before providing the answer, we
need to face up to another question that undoubtedly nags in the minds
of many readers: Is Johnson a bona fide researcher, or merely a "garage
mechanic" mad inventor? As the following brief summary suggests, the
inventor's credentials appear to be impeccable. Following seven years
of college and university training, Johnson worked on atomic energy
projects at Oak Ridge, did magnetics research for Burroughs company,
and served as scientific consultant to Lukens Steel. He has
participated in the development of medical electrical products,
including injection devices. For the military he invented a ceramic
muffler that makes a portable motor generator silent at 50 feet; this
has been in production for the past 18 years. His contributions to the
motor industry include: a hysteresis brake; non-locking brake materials
for anti- skid application, new methods of curing brake linings; and a
method of dissolving asbestos fibers. He has also worked on silencers
for small motors, a super charger, and has perfected a 92-pole no-brush
generator to go in the wheel of Lincoln automobiles as a skid control;
that last item reduced the cost to one-eighth of the cost of an earlier
design by utilizing metal-filled plastics for the armature and field.
In all, Johnson is connected with more than 30 patents in the fields of
chemistry and physics.
Sticky Tape Scientist. Despite his
impressive credentials, this amiable and unpretentious inventor likes
to characterize himself as a "Sticky tape" scientist. He sees no virtue
in wasting time building fancy, elaborate equipment when more simple
assemblies serve as well to test new ideas. The prototype devices shown
in the photographs in this article were assembled with sticky tape and
aluminum foil, the later material being used mainly to keep individual,
permanent magnets packaged together so that they do not fly apart.
Perhaps the best way to describe what these three gadgets do is by reciting this writer's personal experiences during the interview demonstration. That way I will not merely be telling what the inventor says they do, but I will reveal what happened when I tried the experiments myself. When we start talking about how and why the things work as they do, well have to rely on the inventor’s explanations.
The first item consists of more than a dozen foil-wrapped magnets
assembled to form a broad arc. Each magnet is extended upward slightly
at each end to form a low U-shape, the better to concentrate magnetic
fields where they are needed. The overall curvature of the mass of
magnets apparently has no particular significance except to show that
the distance between these stator magnets and the moving vehicle is not
critical. A transparent plastic sheet atop this magnet assembly
supports a length of plastic model railroad track. The vehicle,
basically a model railroad flatcar, supports a foil-wrapped pair of
curved magnets, plus some sort of weight, in some cases merely a rock.
The weight is needed to keep the vehicle down on the track, against the
powerful magnetic forces that would otherwise push it askew. That 'is
all there is to the construction of this representation of a "linear
motor."
I was prepared to develop eye strain in an effort to
detect some sort of motion in the vehicle. I need not have been
concerned. The moment the inventor let go of the vehicle he carefully
placed at one end of the track, it accelerated and literally zipped
from one end to the other and flew onto the floor! Wow!
I tried the experiment myself, and could feel the powerful magnetic forces at work as I placed the vehicle on the track. I gently eased the vehicle to the critical starting point, taking great care not to exert any kind of forward push, even inadvertently. I let go, Zip! It was on the floor again, at the other end of the track. Knowing that I would be asked if the track might have had a slant, I reversed the vehicle and started it from the opposite end of the track. It worked just as effectively in the reverse direction. In fact, the vehicle can even navigate a respectable upgrade. In light of these tests, and considering the remarkable speed of the vehicle, you can discount any notion that this was a simple "coasting" effect.
Incidentally, the photograph
shows the vehicle about half ways along the track. It was "frozen"
there by the electronic flash used to make the picture; there is no way
of "posing" the vehicle in that position short of tying it down.
The second device has the U-shaped magnets standing on end in a rough
circular arrangement oddly reminiscent of England's Stonehenge. This
assembly is mounted on a transparent plastic sheet supported on a
plywood panel pivoted, underneath, on a free turning wheel obtained
from a skateboard. As instructed, I eased the 8-ounce focusing magnet
into the ring of larger magnets, keeping it at least four inches away
from the ring. The 40 pound magnet assembly immediately began to turn
and accelerated to a very respectable rotating speed which it
maintained for as long as the focusing magnet was held in the magnetic
field. When the focusing magnet was reversed, the large assembly turned
in the opposite direction.
Since this assembly is clearly a
crude sort of motor, there's no doubt that it is indeed possible to
construct a motor powered solely by permanent magnets.
The third
assembly, which looks like the bones of some prehistoric sea creature,
consists of a tunnel constructed of rubber magnet material that can be
easily bent to form rings. This was one of the demonstration models
Johnson took to the U.S. Patent Office during his appeal proceedings.
Normally the patent examiners spend only a few minutes with each patent
applicant, but played with Johnson’s devices for the better part of an
hour. As the inventor was leaving, he overheard one sideline observer
remark: "How would you like to follow that act?!"
It took
Johnson about six years of legal hassling to finally obtain his patent,
and he has been congratulated for his ultimate victory over patent
office bureaucracy as well as for his inventiveness. One sign that he
left the patent office more than a little shaken by the experience was
the inclusion of diagrammatic material in the printed patent that does
not belong there. So if you look up the patent, pay no attention to the
"ferrite" graph on the first page; it belongs in some other patent!
The tunnel device of course worked very well in the inventor's office
during my visit although Johnson observed that the rubber magnets are
perhaps a thousand times weaker than the cobalt samarium magnets used
the other assemblies. There's just one big problem with the more
powerful magnets: they cost too much. According to the inventor, the
magnets used to construct the Stonehenge rotating model are
collectively worth more than one thousand dollars. But there's no need
to depend solely on mass-production economies to bring the cost down to
competitive levels. Johnson and U.S. Magnets and Alloy Co. are in the
process of developing alternative, relatively low cost magnetic
materials that perform very well.
How do they work? The drawing
that shows a curved "arcuate" armature magnet in three successive
positions over a line of fixed stator magnets provides at least highly
simplified insights into the theory of permanent magnet motive power
generation. Johnson says curved magnets with sharp leading and trailing
edges are important because they focus and concentrate the magnetic
energy much more effectively than do blunt-end magnets. These arcuate
magnets are made slightly longer than the lengths of two stator magnets
plus the intervening space, in Johnson's setups about 3+1/8 inches long.
Note that the stator magnets all have their North faces upward, and
that they are resting on a high magnetic permeability support plate
that helps concentrate the force fields. The best gap between the end
poles of the armature magnet and the stator magnets appears to be about
3/8 inch.
As the armature north pole passes over a magnet, it is
repelled by the stator north pole; and there's an attraction when the
north pole is passing over a space between the stator magnets. The
exact opposite is of course true with respect to the armature South
pole. It is attracted when passing over a stator magnet, repelled when
passing over a space.
The various magnetic forces that come into
play are extremely complex, but the drawing shows some of the
fundamental relationships. Solid lines represent attraction forces,
dashed lines represent repulsion forces, and double lines in each case
indicate the more dominant forces.
As the top drawing indicates,
the leading (N) pole of the armature is repelled by the north poles of
the two adjacent magnets. But, at the indicated position of the
armature magnet, these two repulsive forces .(which obviously work
against each other), are not identical; the stronger of the two forces
(double dashed line) overpowers the other force and tends to move the
armature to the left. This left movement is enhanced by the attraction
force between the armature north pole and the stator south pole at the
bottom of the space between the stator magnets.
But that's not
all! Let's see what is happening simultaneously at the other end (S) of
the armature magnet. The length of this magnet (about 3+1/8 inches) is
chosen, in relation to the pairs of stator in magnets plus the space
between them, so that once again the attraction/repulsion forces work
to move the armature magnet to the left. In this case the armature pole
(S) is attracted by the north surfaces of the adjacent stator magnets
but, because of the critical armature dimensioning, more strongly by
the magnet (double solid line) that tends to "pull" the armature to the
left. It overpowers the lesser "drag" effect of the stator magnet to
the right. Here also there is the added advantage of, in this case,
repulsion force between the south pole of the armature and the south
pole in the space between the stator magnets.
The importance of
correct dimensioning of the armature magnet cannot be over-emphasized.
If it is either too long or too short, it could achieve an undesirable
equilibrium condition that would stall movement. The objective is to
optimize all force conditions to develop the greatest possible
off-balance condition, but always' in the same direction as the
armature magnet moves along the row of stator magnets. However, if the
armature is rotated 180 degrees and started at the opposite end of the
track, it would behave in exactly the same manner except that it would,
in this example, move from left to right. Also note that once the
armature is in motion, it has momentum that helps carry it into the
sphere of influence of the next pair of magnets where it gets another
push and pull, and additional momentum.
Complex Forces. Some
very complex magnetic forces are obviously at play in this deceptively
simple magnetic system, and at this time it is impossible to develop a
mathematical model of what actually occurs. However, computer analysis
of the system, conducted by Professor William Harrison and his
associates at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Blacksburg, Va.), provide
vital feedback information that greatly helps in the effort to optimize
these complex forces to achieve the most efficient possible operating
design.
As Professor Harrison points out, in addition to the
obvious interaction between the two poles of the armature magnet and
the stator magnets, many other interactions are in play. The stator
magnets affect each other and the support plate. Magnet distances and
their strengths vary despite best efforts of manufacturers to exercise
quality controls. In the assembly of the working model, there are
inevitable differences between horizontal and vertical air spaces. All
these interrelated factors must be optimized, which is why computer
analysis in this refinement stage is vital. It's a kind of information
feedback system. As changes are made in the physical design, fast
dynamic measurements are made to see whether the expected results have
actually been achieved. The 'new computer data is then used to develop
new changes in the design of the experimental model. And so on, and on.
That very different magnetic conditions exist at the two ends of the
armature is shown by the actual experimental data displayed in the
table and associated graph. To obtain this information, the researchers
first passed the probe of an instrument used to measure magnetic field
strengths over the stator magnets and the intervening spaces. We shall
call this the "Zero" level although there is a very tiny gap between
the probe and the tops of the stator magnets. These measurements in
effect indicate what each pole of the armature magnet "sees" below as
it passes over. the stator magnets.
Next the probe is moved to a
position just beneath one of the armature poles, at the top of the
3/8-inch armature-to-stator air gap. Another set of magnetic flux
measurements is made. The procedure is repeated with the probe
positioned just beneath the other armature pole.
Now "Instinct"
might suggest, and correctly so, that the flux measurements at the top
and bottom of the air gap will differ. But if "instinct" also suggests
that these differences are pretty much the same at the two armature
pole positions, you would be very much in error!
First study the
two tables that show actual flux density measurements. Note that in
this particular experiment the total magnetic flux amounted to 30,700
Gauss (the unit of magnetic strength) when the probe was held at the
"Zero" level under the north pole of the magnet, and a total of 28,700
Gauss when the probe was moved to the top of the 3/8-inch air gap. The
difference between these total 'measurements is 2,000 Gauss.
Similar readings made at the air gap between the south pole of the
armature and the stator magnets indicates a total flux at "Zero" level
of 33,725 Gauss, and 24,700 Gauss at the top of the air gap. This time
the difference is a much larger 9,025 Gauss, or four and one half times
greater than for the north pole! Clearly, the magnetic force conditions
are far from identical at the two ends of the armature magnet.
The middle five pairs of figures from each table hive been plotted in
graphic form to make these differences more obvious. In the top "South
Pole" graph the dashed line connects, the "Zero" level readings made
over the stator magnets and over the intervening air spaces. Points
along the solid line indicate comparable readings made with the probe
just beneath the armature south pole. It is easy to see that there is
an average 43 percent reduction of the attraction between the armature
and stator magnets created by the air gap. Equally true, but perhaps
not so obvious, is the fact that there is an average 36 percent
increase of repulsion when the south pole of the armature passes over
the spaces between the stator magnets. The percentage increase only
seems smaller because it applies to a much smaller "Zero" level value.
The second graph shows that the changes are much less dramatic at the
north pole of the armature. In this case there's an average
11.7-percent decrease of attraction over the spaces, and a 2.4 percent
increase, of repulsion when the armature north pole passes over the
stator magnets.
As you study the data, be sure to note that the
columns are labeled differently. In the case of the north pole data,
the stator magnet areas repulse the armature north pole while the
spaces between the stator magnets attract. The conditions are exactly
the opposite for the south pole of the armature magnet. When the south
pole passes over a magnet, there is strong attraction; when it passes
over a space, there is repulsion.
The Ultimate Motor. A motor
based on Johnson's findings would be of extremely simple design
compared to conventional motors. As shown in the diagrams developed
from Johnson’s patent literature, the stator/base unit would contain a
ring of spaced magnets backed by a high magnetic permeability sleeve.
Three arcuate armature magnets would be mounted in the armature which
has a belt groove for power transmission. The armature is supported on
ball bearings on a shaft that either screws or slides into the stator
unit. Speed control and start/stop action would be achieved by the
simple means of moving the armature toward and away from the stator
section.
There is a noticeable pulsing action in the simple
prototype units that may be undesirable in a practical motor. The
movement can be smoothed, the inventor believes, by simply using two or
more staggered armature magnets as shown in another drawing.
What’s
Ahead? For inventor Howard Johnson and his permanent magnet power
source there's bound to be plenty of controversy, certainly, but also
progress. A 5000 watt electric generator powered by a permanent magnet
motor is already on the way, and Johnson has firm licensing agreements
with at least four companies at this writing.
Will we see
permanent magnet motors in automobiles in the near future? Johnson
wants nothing to do with Detroit at this time because, as he puts it:
"It’s too emotional - we’d get smashed into the earth!" The inventor is
equally reluctant to make predictions about other applications as well,
mainly because he just wants time to perfect his ideas and, hopefully,
get the scientific establishment to at least consider his unorthodox
ideas with a more open mind.
For example, Johnson argues that
the magnetic forces in a permanent magnet represent superconductance
that is akin to phenomena normally associated only with extremely cold
superconducting systems. He argues that a magnet is a room temperature
superconducting system because the electron flow does not cease, and
because this electron flow can be made to do work. And for those who
pooh- pooh the idea that permanent magnets do work, Johnson has an
answer: "You come along with a magnet and pick up a piece of iron, then
some physicist says you didn't do any work because you used that
magnet. But you moved a mass through a distance. Right? That's work
that requires energy. Or you can hold one magnet in the air
indefinitely by positioning it over another magnet with like poles
facing. The physicist will argue that because it involves magnetic
repulsion, no work is done. Yet if you support the same object with
air, they will agree in a minute that work is done!"
There's no
doubt in Johnson's mind that he has succeeded in extracting usable
energy from the atoms of permanent magnets. But does that imply that
the electron spins and associated phenomena that he thinks provide this
power will eventually be used up? Johnson makes no pretense of knowing
the answer: I didn't start the electron spins, and I don't know an way
to stop them - do you? They may eventually stop, but that is not my
problem."
Johnson still has many practical problems to solve to
perfect his invention. But his greater challenge may be to win general
acceptance of his ideas by an obviously nervous scientific community in
which many physicists remain compulsive about defending the law of
Conservation of Energy without ever wondering whether that "law" really
needs defending.
The dilemma facing Johnson is not really his
dilemma but rather that of other scientists who have observed his
prototypes. The devices obviously do work. But the textbooks say it
shouldn’t work. And all that Johnson is really saying to the scientific
community is this: here is a phenomenon which seems to contradict some
of our traditional beliefs. For all our sakes let’s not dismiss it
outright but take the time to understand the complex forces at work
here.
* "Science and Mechanics Magizine" is no longer published.
