Auguste de Méritens

Baron Auguste de Méritens was a French electrical engineer of the 19th century.

[1] Similar magneto generators had been produced earlier by Nollet; de Méritens' innovation was to replace the rotor coils previously wound on individual bobbins, with a 'ring wound' armature.

[2] These windings were wound on a segmented iron core, similar to a Gramme ring, so as to form a single continuous hoop.

However it was widely used commercially, for welding lead plates to manufacture storage batteries.

De Méritens produced this welding equipment with an enclosed hood and fume extraction pipe, to control the hazardous lead oxide fumes from the hot lead.