Improvements in Trolley-heads for Electric Railways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 30th June, 1897-Accepted, 18th Sept., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trolley-heads for Electric Railways.
I CARL AUGUST ASTRÖM of 59 Union Road, Clapham, London, S.W., Engineer'
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is principally to prevent a trollyhead and trollypole
to foul the trollywire, brackets, spanwires, or any other object, in case of the
trolly wheel leaving the trolly wire and to facilitate the reconnection when the wheel
has left the wire.
The annexed drawing indicates, in Fig. I and II, how it may be carried out.
The fork A. carrying the trollywheel C. is made spherical, or nearly so, so that
in turning it is always equally close to the trollyhead D. and always presents a
smooth surface, where nothing can catch. The top B. of the trolly fork A. and the
trollyhead D. are connected to one end each of the spring H. for holding the groove
in the wheel A. in line with the pole E. and this top also carries a lever E. with the
rope G for bringing the wheel and trollyhead into any desired position when laying
the wheel on to the wire.
Dated this 30th day of September 1896.
CARL AUGUST ASTRÖM,
Engineer.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trolley-heads for Electric Railways.
I, CARL AUGUST ÅSTRÖM, Engineer, of 59, Union Road, Clapham, in the County
of Surrey, and 83, Cannon Street, in the City of London, 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 :-
The principal object of my invention is to provide a trolley head and pole head
for electric Railwaya which will not foul or be fouled by the trolley wire or by the
brackets, span wires or the like supporting the conductor, or by any other object in
case of the trolley wheel leaving the trolley wire; and a further object of my
invention is to provide simple and handy means for facilitating the reconnection of
the wheel with the wire when the wheel has left same from any cause. To accomplish
these ends I mount the axle of the trolley wheel in a turning fork or head made of
bronze or good conducting material, and of spherical or nearly spherical or globular
shape or partly spherical and partly concaved shape; it is pivotted upon a bracket
a part of which has a correspondingly shaped cavity so as always to fit closely
around and embrace a segment or part of the said spherical surface; thus in
whatever position the trolley wheel may be in relation to the trolley pole the
spherical head and its bearing bracket must in turning always present smooth

page_text: surfaces without any projecting parts or obstacles by which the trolley wire or other
object could catch or become fouled. Secondly, I provide in connection with such
spherical turning head, a lever arm and flexible connector so that the attendant can
at any time regulate the position of the wheel in regard to the trolley wire. I will
fully describe my invention in reference to the accompanying drawings in which
the wheel is shown at right angles to the pole for convenience of illustration.
Fig. 1 is a vertical central section of the trolley head and part of the pole. Fig. 2 is
an internal elevation partly in section with the wheel removed and Fig. 3 is a plan
of Fig. 1. Similar letters indicate similar parts in all of the figures. C is the
trolley wheel which is intended to under run the conductor W; its axle cis mounted
in the bearings 8 8 formed in the spherical or globular-shaped hollow head D and
secured by end pins 81 8¹. The head D has a pivot d mounted in a socket B forming
part of the bracket or trolley head T the other part T¹ of which is concaved and
made to fit closely to and embrace, with only the necessary clearance for free
movement, a portion or segment of the spherical or curved surface of the head D.
E is the trolley pole carrying the head T and e the electric conductor therein.
FF are copper spring conductors making contact between the trolley wheel and
the said pole conductor e. The upper part of the head D may be spherical or it
may be concaved as shown in dotted lines at D¹. This latter construction is better
adapted for clearing "frogs" at changes of direction of the trolley wire and is
therefore desirable and preferred. By this construction it will be seen that during
turning or while at rest the spherical head D is always equally close to the trolley
head and always presents smooth surfaces where nothing can catch or be caught,
thereby minimising the danger of fractures and derangements.
In some cases I may provide in connection with the head above described a
spring such as is dotted at b Fig. 1 arranged so as to act upon the pivot B of the
head D and hold it in proper position, tending also to return it to same if moved
therefrom, but I do not find a spring necessary in general use and I make the
pivot d a good fit in the socket B as shown in Fig. 2; for the purpose of manipulating
the position of the head as required I fix an arm or lever A to the base of the
pivot d and to the end of same I fix a rope (or the like) by which the attendant can
turn the head and wheel as desired and bring same into any required position in
regard to the wire.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is-
1. A trolley head for electric railways in which the part carrying the wheel is
made of spherical or globular form or nearly so, or partly spherical and partly
concaved as specified, and the pole head has a correspondingly shaped cavity so as
to always fit closely over a portion of the surface of the head, substantially as and
for the purposes herein set forth.
2. The use in connection with a trolley head such as above referred to of a lever
and connections for bringing the wheel and head into any desired position in regard
to the wire, substantially as described.
3. A trolley head for electric railways constructed and arranged as above
described in reference to and shown in the drawings.
For the Applicant,
J. C. CHAPMAN,
70 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.