Improvements in Trolley Systems of Electric Propulsion, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application. 22nd July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 22nd May, 1896-Accepted, 8th Aug., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Trolley Systems of Electric Propulsion, and in
Apparatus therefor.
I, ANTHONY GEORGE NEW, of Palace Chambers, Bridge Street in the City of
Westminster, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
1
My invention relates to improvements in trolley systems of electric propulsion
and in apparatus therefor my system being arranged for the propulsion of
vessels which in their passage through the water are always. more or less close
to a bank, such as canal boats or vessels passing through narrow or shallow
waters.
In such cases it is of course necessary that the boats should be able to overtake
and pass others going in the same direction and is also desirable for the purpose of
saving a number of conductors that one conductor only shall answer the purpose
for boats going in opposite directions. These conductors may be carried on the
bank on posts or in other ways.
For the purpose of enabling the trolleys travelling on the conductor therefore to
pass one another at any point I provide said trolleys with guides or tracks in
such a manner that a trolley coming up behind can ride completely over (or it
may be under) the one in front of it owing to the construction of the track or
guide carried by the front trolley. This track is preferably in one part an
inclined plane of similar section or approximately similar section to the conductor
and is constructed in such a manner as to enable the overtaking trolley to again
join the conductor in front. The conductor may be made either a single pole
using an earth return or a double pole as desired.
The construction of the trolleys is also such that a trolley meeting another will
pass under (or over) same without fouling either themselves or the leads connecting
them to the boats the conductors trolleys and supports being suitably arranged
and constructed to this end.
Various construction of trolleys may be employed. In one form two sets of
conducting wheels or sliding contacts may travel in continuous grooves made in or
constituting the conductor one set being on one side of the conductor and one set
on the other these wheels or slides being held together by means of a spring or
springs and levers arms or parts which allows them to move out and apart when
they require to travel over a similar trolley on the conductor and brings them
down again into their proper places on the conductor and secures good contact.
The object of moving the springs outward as well as apart is to enable the
corresponding springs or other parts outside the trolley being passed over to be
avoided. In a double pole arrangement of conductor one (insulated) wheel may
press ou one pole and the other on the other pole.
As regards the arrangement which decides automatically which trolley shall
pass over and which shall be passed over, this may be done in the following
manner as soon as the rule of the road or navigation is decided upon. If a boat
overtaking another boat has to pass on the right hand side and if the conductor is
on the left then the leads may join on to the trolleys at their centres or there-
abouts and for the trolley of the overtaking boat to go over the top of the other
oue, in this case it is only necessary (assuming that the track were only used for

page_text: trolleys travelling in the one direction) for all the trolleys to be fitted with guides
shaped like the conductor in section, which press down on the conductor behind
but are clear from it in front such guides being fitted however with springs and
pivoted in such a way to their trolleys as to be able to rock over with the other
trolley and also join the track when the overtaking trolley has passed over their
centres. Assuming now that it is necessary to enable the same conductor to be
used for trolleys coming in the opposite direction, the actual construction of all the
trolleys may be identical as in the other case but in order to render it feasible for the
boats and trolleys to pass without fouling advantage is taken of the fact that the boats
in all cases pull the trolleys and consequently that a certain amount of tension is
always existing on the conductors;-and-this tension is made to slightly rock over
the guides to just such an extent as to regulate the passing over or passing under of
other trolleys according to requirements. It is obvious that the arrangement may
be also employed in connection with road vehicles.
Dated the 22nd day of July 1895.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.
Improvements in Trolley Systems of Electric Propulsion, and in
Apparatus therefor.
I ANTHONY GEORGE NEW of Palace Chambers Westminster Electrical
Engineer 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. :-
My invention relates to improvements in trolley systems of electric propulsion
and in apparatus therefor my system being arranged for the propulsion of vehicles
or vessels which in their passage through the water are always more or less
close to a bank, such as canal boats or vessels passing through narrow or shallow
waters.
In such cases it is of course necessary that the boats should be able to overtake
and pass others going in the same direction and is also desirable for the purpose of
saving a number of conductors that one conductor only shall answer the purpose
for boats going in opposite directions. These conductors may be carried on the
bank on posts or in other ways.
For the purpose of enabling the trolleys travelling on the conductor therefore
to pass one another at any point I provide said trolleys with guides or tracks in
such a manner that a trolley coming up behind can ride completely over (or it
may be under) the one in front of it owing to the construction of the track or
guide carried by the front trolley. The track is preferably in one part an inclined
plane of similar section or approximately similar section to the conductor and is
constructed in such a manner as to enable the overtaking trolley to again join the
conductor in front. The conductor may be made either a single pole using an
earth return or a double pole as desired.
The construction of the trolley is also such that a trolley meeting another will
pass under (or over) same without fouling either themselves or the lead connecting
them to the boats, the conductors trolleys and supports being suitably arranged
and constructed to this end.
In order that my invention may be the more readily understood I refer to the
accompanying sheets of drawings in w
which
Fig. 1 is a side view and partial sections of one such double-pole trolley running

page_text: on two vertically superposed conductors of rectangular section (centrically insulated
from one another but mechanically connected at intervals by blocks of insulating
material K and countersunk screws rr).
Fig. 2 a top view and partial section of the same.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section through one of the insulated brackets attached to.
poles of the like and provided with channels or grooves formed by central guides.
above and below for holding and supporting the two conductors.
Fig. 4 is a top view of the same.
Fig. 5 represents a vertical section and partial side view of the two trolleys.
superposed in the position they assume when meeting or passing one another.
Fig. 6 is a side view of part of the casing of the lower trolley.
Fig. 7 is a section through the line -y Fig. 1.
Fig. 8 is a cord-grip for holding the duplex flexible conductor which transmits.
the current from the trolley to the boat or car.
Fig. 9 is an end view of part of one of the levers.
The trolley Fig. 1 consists of an upper and a lower portion each being provided
with two wheels, W, W and W', W₁, running in the grooves of the conductors
and respectively, but while the wheels of the upper portion of the trolley press.
down upon the grooved conductor the wheels W1 W₁ of the lower portions are
pressed up into the groove of conductor l.
Both the upper and lower parts of the trolley have hinged lever-arms A. and A
pivoted respectively at the points pp, p² c p³ the lever arms of the upper part of
the trolley being however alone shown in the drawings and provided further with
little guide-wheels w and w¹ running on the bottom and top of the grooves in.
conductors and 1.
These levers arms are provided throughout with grooves of the same width and
depth as that of the conductors and and are held down by the spiral springs s
and s¹. The top and bottom portions of the trolley are further connected and
pressed together by a system of pivoted and jointed levers H, H1, H2, H³, H8,
which when the upper and lower portions of the trolley are separated by anything
tending to increase their distance apart, expand both outwards and upwards as
shown by the position of the levers H, H', H2,-H8 Fig. 5. Pressure is exercised.
on these systems of levers by the spiral spring s, in such a manner as to tend to
cause the upper and lower portions of the trolley to approach one another.
The extreme end a¹ of the lever arm A¹ of the upper trolley and also the corre-
sponding arm of the lower part. (not shown) extends as may be seen from Figs. 1
and 7 to the extreme bottom of the groove in the upper conductors and to the
top of the groove in conductor l. On the other hand the extreme end of the
lever A extends only slightly below the top of the sides of the groove. It will
also be observed that the terminal T to which one of the wires of the flexible.
conductor is attached is entirely insulated from the lower carriage or trolley and
hence from the lower conductor by means of the insulating material ii while it
is conductingly connected with the upper trolley and consequently with the
upper conductor / by means of the screw-bolt 6 and the jointed system of
levers H, H' H* H³ &c.
The peculiar action of the apparatus which occurs when two of the trolleys
constructed as shown and described above meet or overtake one another is as
follows:-
Let it be assumed that the trolley shown in Fig. 1 is being overtaken by
another precisely similar trolley approaching it from the right. The raised end or
nose a of the lever A of the approaching trolley will run over the end a¹ of the
lever arm A and being hinged at will ride up it its wheel W being retained by
the guides in the groove in A-a precisely similar interaction taking place
between the lower portions of the two trolleys until the position shown in Fig. 5 is
reached. At the same time the system of levers H, H', H2 &c. of the trolley
which approaches and rides over the first trolley extend both vertically and
horizontally till they assume the position shown in Fig. 5 and so pass over without

page_text: fouling the system of levers H, H1 H2 &c., belonging to the trolley which is in
normal position on the conductors. Continuing on its course the wheels of the
upper trolley pass down between the guides of the lever arm A of the underlying
trolley when in virtue of the action of the springs S, s, s' the top and bottom
portions of the trolley resume their ordinary place upon the conductors and l
and the system of levers H, H'H' &c., revert to their original positions.
In the position shown on Fig. 5 both the sets of conductors T T' and tt' are
receiving current from the conductors 11, T', directly through the lower part of
the trolley and wheel W¹ from and T through the levers H, H¹ H2 &c. from the
upper part of the trolley through the wheel W similarly t¹ receives current through
the lower part of its own-trolley-and-its wheel W' from the insulated-lower-part of
the other trolley and hence from conductors C" and t receives current through the
levers H, H, H' &c. from the upper part of the interior trolley and hence from
the conductor l.
Should the trolley Fig. 1 instead of being overtaken by a similar trolley from
the right be itself moving towards the right till it overtakes another trolley then
the point al of the lever arm A' will pass under the nose of the lever arm of the
trolley which it is approaching tilting it up and passing underneath it till the
position of the one trolley relatively to the other becomes that shown in Fig. 5
though the process by which it is reached is the reverse of that described
above.
As will be seen from Fig. 5 the pairs of conductors (subsequently united in a
flexible cord) issuing from the terminals T T' and trespectively clear one
another and it is only necessary to arrange that the vessel or vehicle which is
connected with the trolley which rides over the other trolley shall pass the other
on the inside that is to say on the side nearest to the conductors 1 1.
In the above description a double pole trolley system namely one in which the
trolleys are arranged to run on and take current from two conductors insulated
from one another has been described. But it is obvious that the same construction
of trolleys capable of riding over or under one another may be employed with a
single conductor without essential alteration excepting the omission of the
insulating material ii which will then be superfluous.
Having now particularly described aud 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;-
The construction of the double trolleys for running on and taking current from
overhead conductors for the propulsion of boats, vehicles or the like and capable
of passing over and under one another while still conveying current to the boat
or vehicle with which they are connected essentially as shown and described.
Dated this gund dan of M... 1900