Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1896-Accepted, 7th Mar., 1896

page_text: Fig. 11 is a similar view to Fig. 10 with the top of the said box broken away,
and
Fig. 12 is a side elevation of the top of the said hox showing the hand lever for
reversing and that for starting and stopping the motor.
Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one of the operating levers.
Fig. 14 is a side elevation of one of the auxiliary wheels showing the means for
cleaning snow and dirt from the same.
The electric motor used for propelling the car is not shewn, it being omitted in
order to avoid unnecessary complexity in the drawings, almost any of the well-known
types of electric motor gearing for street cars being adapted for use in connection
with my invention. Moreover I make no claim herein to any specific motor to be
used in connection with my invention.
A represents the platform of the car, which is supported in the ordinary way, not
shewn, upon the truck B mounted on any desired number of wheels B2.
Spanning the sides of this truck, or transversely disposed thereon are two grooved
tracks B' in which run the wheels c of the carriage C from which the magnets D
or D are suspended. This truck C with the magnets D', or the corresponding
track at the opposite end of the car with its magnets D, is moved automatically in
a transverse direction relative to the axis of the truck whenever the car goes
around curves, or by hand whenever it is desired to reverse the direction of the car,
as will be hereinafter described.
E represents a feed wire approximately parallel to the traffic rails G, between
which traffic rails or at one side thereof, if preferred, is placed the interrupted
conducting rail F.
This conducting rail F has its various segmenta connected seriatim with the feed
conductor E by means of the leading-in wires e and e', and the pivoted double
armature h. The wire e is connected to the stud i made of conducting material,
while the wire el is connected to the base I on which the armature H is pivoted,
the other end of which wire is connected to the corresponding section of the rail F.
The pivoted armature H has symmetrical end and 4, one of which, as A, is
limited in its downward motion by insulating stops it while the other end A', is
adapted to make contact with the conducting stud i. A very weak leaf spring
may be used both to make better contact between the armature H and its conducting
support 12, and also to prevent any oscillations of the armature after it has been
brought into the position for either closing the circuit or breaking the same;
though the armature should preferably be balanced and the spring would not
ordinarily be required.
The box I should preferably be made of insulating material and its cover I' of
non-magnetic material of sufficient strength to form part of the road bed.
By an inspection of Fig. 5, it will be seen that if the magnet D' shewn in dotted
lines, were to attract the end h of the armature H, then the opposite end would
make contact with the conducting stud i, and the current would flow along the
wire through the lug i, into the armature and thence to the spring, and the
base piece 1, whence it would be carried through the wire e' to the rail F, or in
other words the circuit would be closed. If, however, the magnet D, shewn in
full lines in Fig. 5, attract the end h' of the armature H, then the circuit will be
. broken.
By having these armatures H arranged along the track with connections as
shewn, it will be obvious that if the magnets D and D', placed at opposite ends
of the car, follow the lines 1-1 and 2-2 as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3, then the
circuit will be intermittently closed and broken and the collecting devices carried
by the car could take the electricity from the interrupted rail F and carry it to the
motor as required.
It would be obvious that to run the car in different directions would require a
shifting of the magnets D and D' from their respective paths represented by the
lines 1-1 and 2-2 to the corresponding path of the other magnet. Also it will
obvious that the rigidity of the car truck will cause one end of the car

page_text: to tend to project beyond the circumference of a curve in the track, and
that if these magnets be placed near the ends of the car, there would be a
tendency for the magnet to be projected beyond the proper position for operating
the armature H.
Since the lengths of the segments of the interrupted rail F will depend upon the
distance apart of the magnets D and D', and it is desirable to make these segments
as long as possible, it, therefore, becomes desirable to place these magnets as far
apart as possible, in other words at or near the ends of the car.
In order to provide for reversing the motor by moving the magnet, and also to
provide an adjustment for the position of the magnets in going around curves, I
have invented the hereinafter described mechanism.
Since the mechanism is substantially the same at each end of the car, I will
describe that at one end in detail, and then point out any differences between the
two ends.
The link K is connected to the magnet truck C as by means of the ear c', and this
link is pivotally connected to the long arm of the lever K pivoted by the pink to
one of the grooved transverse rails B.
The short arm of the lever K' is connected by the link O to the downwardly
projecting part af of the bent lever N.
This bent lever N, as shewn in Fig. 13, is formed with a straight back a bont
at right angles at each end as at n' and n, the end n' being bent downwardly as
at w, and the arm a terminating in a round end no, for a purpose to be hereinafter
explained. The arms n' and are perforated to form journal bearings for the
pin m which is mounted in the upwardly projecting legs m³ carried by the forked
lever M which is pivoted on the pink. One of the arms m of this lever is
connected by the rod P to the crank Q of the auxiliary reversing spindle Q', while
the other arm m¹ is connected by means of the rod P¹ to a similar lever M on the
opposite end of the car, which operates in a similar way. This auxiliary reversing
spindle Qis operated by hand crank g, and is held in the proper position by the
spring operated pawl q. This spindle Q' carries a segment q', meshing in the
segment of the reversing spindle R, which spindle carries a drum R' having
contact points r adapted to engage the brush R2. There are two of these points
for starting or reversing the motor, and the construction of the reversing gear is
well known in the art, and will not be described herein. The reversing gear is
preferably mounted in a box R° which also encloses the starting and stopping devices
operated by the hand lever R'; these devices are also well known in the art, and
will not be further described.
It will be seen that, by means of the hand lever q, the spindle Qis rotated,
operating the rod P, the lever M, at the near end of the car, and by means of the
rod P the corresponding lever M at the far end of the car. There should preferably
be one of the spindles Q at either end of the car, whereby the apparatus may be
operated from either end as may be desired. The lever M moves about the pin k
in a horizontal direction carrying with it the lever N and, through the link O moving
the lever K, and the link K, whereby the magnet carriage C is inoved from the
position indicated by the line 2-2 to that indicated by the line 1-1, or vice versa.
The same motion of the hand lever y also rotates the reversing drum R', and thus
shifts the direction of the current through the motor. Thus it will be seen that
a simple motion of the hand lever g will reverse the operation of the circuit
closing devices, and will reverse the current through the motor, whereby the car
can be run in opposite directions. The system of levers is so adjusted, that one of
the magnet trucks will always be on the line 1-1 while the other will be on the
line 2-2,-or vice versa. In order to effect this arrangement of the magnet trucks
when the car goes round a curve, I provide the automatic means shewn most clearly
in Fig. 1, but details of which are shewn in the other figures.
The boxes U are pivoted so as to turn horizontally but not vertically in the
forked ends of the bent levers S, and journalled in these boxes is the shaft U'
carrying the wheels U.

page_text: The shaft is held against longitudinal play in said boxes so that any longitudinal
motion of the said shaft, as in going round a curve, will swing the curved
levers S about their pivots . These pivots allow horizontal motion, but not
vertical play, to the said lever about its pivot, and vertical play is given by the
levers T, to which the said curved levers S are pivoted.
These levers T are drawn upwards by the coil spring T, connected by any
convenient means to the car truck, as by means of the arin T3 and the brace Ti,
as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2. The spring T will thus tend to hold the wheels Ui
firmly down on the track, and will cause them to follow closely any curve in the
track.
In suitable supports s and s¹ on each end of the car truck are journalled rock
shafts S, each having a downwardly projecting arm S¹ and a horizontal arm S³.
The arms S are connected to the curved levers S2 so that any horizontal
movement of the said curved levers caused by the wheels V turning on a curve
will rock the shaft S, and in order to rock the said shafts in the right direction,
the connections must be slightly different at the two ends of the car.
At the end X the arm S¹ is connected to the curved lever S2 by the connecting
roda. At the end Y, one of the curved levers S' is extended beyond its pivot
as at S, and connected by a link s, to one end of a lever S, the other end of
which is connected by a link s, to the arm S₁. Thus when the small wheels at
either end of the car turn on a curve, the rock shaft S at the same end will be
turned and the horizontal arm S³ thereof will be moved in a vertical direction.
The ends of the said arms S3 are slotted as at 3 to receive the rounded end nº of
the bent lever N. From the foregoing, it will be seen that while the car is on a
straight track, the arm S will remain in a horizontal position thus practically
locking the levers M, N, and K together, so that when the reversing handle is
turned they will all turn together about the pivotal pin K. But when the small
wheels U turn upon a curve, the rock shaft S will be turned and the arm S³ will
move the arm n³ vertically, thus turning the bent lever N, about the rod mo, and
through the link O, turning the lever K' upon the pin & while the lever M remains
in its position, thus the magnet truck C will be moved toward or from the centre
of the car, while the reversing handle remains stationary in either position. The
arrangement of levers is such that the movement of the magnets will be in
the proper relation to the transverse movement of the wheels U to cause the
magnet to follow the curve of the dotted lines 1-1 and 2-2 and thus pass over
their respective armatures as the car passes round the curve, (see Figure 3).
In cases where a long current collector is used, I may arrange the same as
shewn in Figure 1 in which W designates the central part of the collector which
is rigidly fixed to a convenient part of the car truck (not shewn), the two ends W
of the collector are pivoted to the ends of the central portion as at w, and are
provided with lateral arms w' near the said pivots. One of the curved levers S
at each end of the car is provided with an extension s or s' and these extensions
are connected to the lateral arms w¹ of the ends W₁ of the collector by connecting
rods formed of two pieces and insulated from each other by the insulators
thus when the small wheels turn on a curve the ends of the collector will be moved
about their pivots to approximately conform to the curve of the conducting rail F.
When necessary I provide a brush or scraper to clean snow or dirt from the
small wheels, the same being illustrated in Figure 13, referring to which
designates an arm bolted to the box V and extending over the tread of the wheel
terminating in a springy barrel u', in which the brush or scraper u² is placed, a
spring is arranged in the barrel u' to press the brush or scraper 2 against the
tread of the wheel.
Having thus particularly ascertained and described the nature of my said
invention, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination and arrangements of parts, substantially as herein described
and shewn in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, hereunto annexed.

page_text: 2. The laterally movable magnets, and means for automatically moving the
same as the car goes around a curve, substantially as herein described and shewn
in the drawings hereunto annexed.
3. The combination and arrangement of levers for moving the maguet carriages,
substantially as herein described and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
4. The means for shifting the position of the magnets by hand in combination
with the means for automatically adjusting the position of the magnets whenever
the car goes around a curve, substantially as herein described and shewn in the
drawings hereunto annexed.
5. The combination with the wheels U¹ and the boxes U, of the system of levers
connecting said boxes with the magnet carriage, whereby the position of the said
magnets is adjusted automatically whenever the car goes around a curve, sub-
stantially as herein described and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
6. The mechanism for simultaneously shifting the position of the magnet
carriages and reversing the direction of the current, substantially as herein
described and shewn in Figures 2, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 of the drawings hereunto
annexed.
7. The mechanism for automatically adjusting the position of the collectors of
electricity carried by the car, substantially as herein described and shewn in the
drawings hereunto annexed.
8. The combination with a wheel magnet carriage adapted to move transversely
relative to the truck, of means operated by the car for automatically adjusting
the position of said magnet carriage as the car goes around a curve, substantially
as described.
9. The combination with the wheels U and the boxes U of the collectors of
electricity carried by the car, and the system of levers connecting said boxes with
said collectors and automatically adjusting the position of said collectors when
the car passes over curved portions of the track, substantially as herein described
and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
10. The combination in an electric railway system having an interrupted
conductor with armatures adapted to connect the segments of said conductor with
a source of electricity, of a car truck carrying magnets adapted to operate said
armature, and means controlled by the car for automatically adjusting the position
of the said magnets in curved portions of the track, substantially as herein described
and shewn in the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this 19th den of Tan1904
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.