Editing Transformer (section)

===Westinghouse improvements===
[[File:Blachy transformatorowe.jpg|thumb|E-shaped plates for transformer cores developed by Westinghouse]]

Building on the advancement of AC technology in Europe,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brusso |first1=Barry|last2=Allerhand |first2=Adam |date=January 2021 |title=A Contrarian History of Early Electric Power Distribution|volume= |issue= |doi= 10.1109/MIAS.2020.3028630|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9292399 |journal=IEEE Industry Applications Magazine |page=12 |publisher=IEEE.org |s2cid=230605234 |access-date=January 1, 2023|archive-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212083429/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9292399 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[George Westinghouse]] founded the [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse Electric]] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 8, 1886.<ref name="Tinicum Township">{{cite book|title=History of Tinicum Township (PA) 1643–1993|publisher=Tinicum Township Historical Society|year=1993|url=http://tthsdelco.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/History%20of%20Tinicum%20Twp.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423202458/http://tthsdelco.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/History%20of%20Tinicum%20Twp.pdf|archive-date=April 23, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The new firm became active in developing alternating current (AC) electric infrastructure throughout the United States.  
The [[Edison Electric Light Company]] held an option on the US rights for the ZBD transformers, requiring Westinghouse to pursue alternative designs on the same principles. George Westinghouse had bought Gaulard and Gibbs' patents for $50,000 in February 1886.<ref>{{cite book|author=William R. Huber|title=George Westinghouse Powering the World|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|year=2022|page=84|isbn=9781476686929|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UdBcEAAAQBAJ&dq=Westinghouse+purchased+the+patent+rights+to+the+Gaulard%E2%80%93Gibbs+system+in+February+of+that+year&pg=PA84}}</ref> He assigned to [[William Stanley, Jr.|William Stanley]] the task of redesign the Gaulard and Gibbs transformer for commercial use in United States.<ref name="Skrabec">{{cite book|last=Skrabec|first=Quentin R.|title=George Westinghouse: Gentle Genius|publisher=Algora Publishing|year=2007|page=102|isbn=978-0-87586-508-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3GYdiFM41oC&pg=PA102}}</ref> Stanley's first patented design was for induction coils with single cores of soft iron and adjustable gaps to regulate the EMF present in the secondary winding (see image). This design<ref name="Coltman2002">{{harvnb|Coltman|2002}}</ref> was first used commercially in the US in 1886<ref name="IEC History">{{cite book |author = International Electrotechnical Commission |author-link = International Electrotechnical Commission |title = Otto Blathy, Miksa Déri, Károly Zipernowsky |work = IEC History |url=http://www.iec.ch/cgi-bin/tl_to_htm.pl?section=technology&item=144 |access-date = May 17, 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206042832/http://www.iec.ch/cgi-bin/tl_to_htm.pl?section=technology&item=144 |archive-date = December 6, 2010 }}</ref> but Westinghouse was intent on improving the Stanley design to make it (unlike the ZBD type) easy and cheap to produce.<ref name="Coltman2002"/>

Westinghouse, Stanley and associates soon developed a core that was easier to manufacture, consisting of a stack of thin 'E‑shaped' iron plates insulated by thin sheets of paper or other insulating material. Pre-wound copper coils could then be slid into place, and straight iron plates laid in to create a closed magnetic circuit. Westinghouse obtained a patent for the new low-cost design in 1887.<ref name="Smil"/>