Improved Means for Making Electrical Connections upon Railway Trains.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 8th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 12th Nov., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Making Electrical Connections upon Railway
Trains.
We, WYNFORD BRIERLEY, Registration Agent, of Carr Hall Villa, Nelson, and
ROBERT FOSTER, Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, of St. James Hall, Burnley,
both in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows;-
-
These improvements relate principally to the means for making the electrical
connections for signalling between the various carriages and the engine and
guard's van or for electric lighting or other similar purposes upon such trains as
are fitted with vacuum brakes, the principal object of the invention being so to
construct and arrange the connections of the electric wires of each carriage that
the mere fact of coupling up the vacuum tubes shall at the same time make the
necessary metallic connections between the electric conducting wires of all the
carriages on the train.
For the purposes of our invention we fix round the coupling at each end of each
hose pipe a ring which embraces the coupling and also surrounds the end of the
hose pipe. For convenience of fixing we preter to make this ring in two halves
hinged together at one side and provided with lugs and screws or bolts at the
other so that it can readily be slipped on and then fixed firmly by the screws
or bolts without altering the brake couplings.
"
This ring is fitted preferably with two (or more) electric spring pushes
projecting from the face of the ring at diametrically opposite points outside
the coupling in such a way that upon coupling-up the vacuum hose pipes the
pushes "shall be forced together compressing the springs.
The inner ends of the pushes are connected to the connecting wires which
pass along the side of the carriage and communicate in the usual way with
pushes or switches in each compartment of the carriage, a chamber (or cham-
bers) being made through the ring for the wire or wires to pass through, such
chamber or chambers being fitted at the back of the ring with a flexible metallic
or other suitable tube lying parallel with and close to the outside of the hose-pipe.
When the electric signal fittings on the carriage are made upon the double wire
system the two wires pass through the same tube and the passage inside the
jointed ring is divided so as to conduct the two wires each to its own particular
'push," but in cases where the rails are employed for the return current a single
wire and one push" may be used.
To ensure that the " pushes" which make the electric contact shall always
come exactly opposite to each other. stops or projections are fitted to the rings
which come against the horns of the couplings, and thus correctness of position
of the hinged ring is in all cases ensured.
£ Tonuo 1900
GEO, DAVIES & SON,
Agents for the Applicants, 4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Making Electrical Connections upon Railway
Trains.
We, WYNFORD BRIERLEY, Registration Agent, of Carr Hall Villa, Nelson, and
ROBERT FOSTER, Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, of St. James Hall, Burnley,
both in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
These improvements relate principally to the means for making the electrical
connections for signalling between the various carriages and the engine and
guard's van or for electric lighting or other similar purposes upon such trains as
are fitted with vacuum brakes, the principal object of the invention being so to
construct and arrange the connections of the electric wires of each carriage that
the mere fact of coupling up the vacuum tubes shall at the same time make the
necessary metallic connections between the electric conducting wires of all the
carriages on the train.
For the purposes of our invention we fix round the coupling at each end of each
hose pipe a ring which embraces the coupling and also surrounds the end of the
hose pipe. For convenience of fixing we prefer to make this ring in two halves
hinged together at one side and provided with lugs and screws or bolts at the
other so that it can readily be slipped on and then. fixed firmly by the screws
or bolts without altering the brake couplings.
"
This ring is fitted preferably with two (or more) electric spring "pushes
projecting from the face of the ring at diametrically opposite points outside
the coupling in such a way that upon coupling-up the vacuum hose pipes the
pushes" shall be forced together compressing the springs.
66
"
The inner ends of the "pushes are connected to the connecting wires which
pass along the side of the carriage and communicate in the usual way with
pushes or switches in each compartment of the carriage, a chamber (or cham-
bers) being made through the ring for the wire or wires to pass through, such
chamber or chambers being fitted at the back of the ring with a flexible metallic
or other suitable tube lying parallel with and close to the outside of the hose pipe.
When the electric signal fittings on the carriage are made upon the double wire
system the two wires pass through the same tube and the passage inside the
jointed ring is divided so as to conduct the two wires each to its own particular
push," or pushes, but in cases where the rails are employed for the return
current a single wire and one "push" may be used.
"
To ensure that the " pushes" which make the electric contact shall always
come exactly opposite to each other, stops or projections are fitted to the rings
which come against the horns of the couplings, and thus correctness of position
of the hinged ring is in all cases ensured.
The annexed drawings illustrate in detail the manner in which our invention
may be carried into practical effect.
Fig. 1 is a horizontal section of a clip or ring carrying our electrical connections
and made according to this invention and applied to an ordinary brake coupling
with horns.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the clip or ring and connections detached. Fig. 2
is a face view of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a similar view of the clip and connections
detached from the coupling.
On the drawings the vacuum tube coupling is marked a and the hose-pipe or
tube a¹.

page_text: b is the clip or ring fitted behind the horns a² a³ of the coupling, the said clip
being hinged at 61 and tightened upon the hose and coupling by the lugs b
and screws b³.
This clip or ring is provided with spring pushes c c¹. Two pushes are shewn on
the drawings but in cases where it is necessary that the wires should not be con-
nected to either pole indiscriminately we use four pushes as indicated by dotted lines
at cc on Fig. 1, so that should the carriage be reversed, the poles of the wires
would not be reversed as they would be if only two horizontally fitted pushes
were used. In this case (shewn dotted) we should connect the two upper pushes c*
to one wire and the two lower ones c** to the other wire.
The conducting wires marked d d³ connected to c c respectively pass through
the ring or clip 6 along the passage 6 to the flexible tubular casing b lying
parallel with and close to the hose pipe or tube a¹.
66 67 are stops or projections fitted or formed on the ring or clip b which come
between and against the horns a² a³ of the couplings and thus ensure the correct
positions of the spring pushes to make contact when two couplings are joined
together.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is:-
-
1. The improved means for making electrical connections upon railway trains
consisting of a clip or ring adapted to be fastened to each part of the existing
couplings of the vacuum tubes, each clip or ring being provided with a suitable
push or pushes connected to the wire or wires of the electric circuit so that the
inere fact of coupling up the tubes shall at the same time make the necessary
metallic connections between the conducting wires of every carriage of the train
substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The improved means for making electrical connections upon railway trains
constructed and applied substantially as herein before described and illustrated
by the annexed drawings.
3000
VIDEO CV day or
1030.
GEO. DAVIES & SON,
Agents for the Applicants, 4, St. Ann's Square, Manchester.