Improvements in Troшеy Poles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 14th June, 1895-Accepted, 20th July, 1895
Improvements in Troшеy Poles.
We LAWRENCE COPELAND SEELYE, of Fort Edward, County of Washington,
and State of New York, Inventor, and GEORGE WASHINGTON BURNHAM, of
Luzerne, County of Warren, State of New York, U.S.A. Merchant 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:-
Our invention relates to improvements in trolley stands and poles such as are
used with the overhead system of electric railways. The usual trolley poles are
pressed against the trolley wire in such a way that when the trolley leaves the wire
the poles project upward over the wire and are likely to come into injurious contact
with the cross arms which support the trolley wire. The object of our invention is
to produce a trolley stand and pole which is arranged in such a way that the pole
is pressed vertically against the wire, as it has been found more desirable to have a
vertical than an oblique pressure, which has means for automatically dropping the
pole in case the trolley leaves the wire, which has a device controlled from the
ends of the car by which the pole may be made to drop towards the rear end of
the car in the event above referred to, and which is arranged and constructed in
such a way that the trolley easily follows the curves of the wire, rises and falls
according to the height of the wire, and holds the trolley wheel against the wire
with an even pressure.
To these ends our invention consists of certain features of construction and
combination of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the views.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved trolley stand and pole, showing the
trolley wheel in position against the trolley wire ;
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same;
Figure 3 is a broken side elevation of the apparatus showing the trolley pole in
its lower or dropped position ;
Figure 4 is a broken plan view of the apparatus ;
Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and
Figure 6 is a detail sectional view, showing particularly the manner in which the
trolley is hung on the trolley pole.
The trolley stand is provided with a suitable base 10 which has legs 11 adapted
to be secured to the top 12 of a car, and the base has a central opening 13 in
which is journaled a supporting cross bar 14, the bar being journaled in boxes 15
and the length of the bar is parallel with the car. The cross bar 14 is provided
with a depending arm 16 to opposite sides of which are secured springs 17 which,
at their outer ends are fastened to lugs, 18 on the base 10, as shown clearly in
Figure 2, and the tension of the springs is such as to hold the cross bar normally
level and maintain the pole which it carries in an upright position, but the springs
will yield when necessary so that the oscillations of the car will not cause the pole
to be removed from beneath the trolley wire.
The cross bar 14 has on its upper side a lug 19 to which are pivoted the forked
lower ends 20 of the lower toggle arms 21, which at their upper ends are pivoted,
as shown at 22, to the upper toggle arms 23, and these at the top are pivoted
together, as shown at 24, and have as their pivot a bolt 25 through which extends

page_text: vertically the shank 26 of the fork 27 in which is journaled the trolley wheel 28
which runs in the usual way on the trolley wire 29. The shank is at its lower end
pivotally connected with the lower ends of the links 30, which at their upper ends
are pivoted to collars 31 on the toggle arms 23..
The lower toggle arms 21 are normally pressed together so as to lift the upper
toggle arms and hold the trolley wheel against the wire 29 by a spring 32, which
is arranged between collars 33 on the toggle arms 21 and is provided with a turn
buckle 34 or equivalent device by means of which its tension may be regulated.
It will be noticed that the tension of the spring 32 will serve to pull the elbows of
the toggle arms together so as to lift the trolley arm, and this tension is sufficient
to cause the trolley wheel to shoot high above the trolley wire in case it leaves the
wire, and this action releases certain supports to be described presently and permits
the whole trolley pole to fall over the rear end of the car, thus throwing it out of the
way of any cross arms or other overhead obstructions.
The lower toggle arms 21 have near their lower ends elongated staples or
sideways 35 on which are slide rings 36 which connect with springs 37, and these
have at their lower ends hooks 38 which engage staples or catches 39 on the base 10.
The tension of the springs 37 serves to hold the trolley pole in a vertical and
central position, and also steadies the movement of the pole and at the same time
permits it to yield forward or backward to a necessary extent; but in case either
spring 37 is released the other spring will pull the trolley pole over.
hooks 38 are connected by chains 40 with the forks 20 of the trolley arms 21, and
in case the pole is suddenly extended upward as described, the chains 40 are pulled
upon and the hook 38, which is not locked, is pulled from its staple 39.
The
The hooks 38 are alternately locked in a staple 39 by means of a slide 41, which
moves on the base 10 and has arms 42 arranged opposite the staples 39, as shown
clearly in Figure 4. The slide 41 moves beneath suitable guides 43 and is held
down at one corner by a flat spring 44 which holds a pin 45 on the under side of
the slide in engagement with a recess 46, see Figure 5. Any suitable catch or
lock may be substituted for the slide 41 without departing from the principle of
the invention. The slide 41 is adapted to be moved backward and forward so as
to lock either of the hooks 31 in its staple 39, and the slide is moved by a lever 47
which is fulcrumed in the base 10, as shown at 48 and is provided with operating
cords 49 which extend lengthwise of the car to the ends thereof, and by pulling on
one or the other of the cords 49 the lever may be swung and the slide moved.
When the trolley pole and stand are used, the slide 41 is moved so as to lock the
rear spring 37 to the staple 39 and unlock the forward spring so that in case the
trolley wheel leaves the wire 29 and the trolley pole is extended upward the chains 40
will be pulled upon, but only the forward hook 38 will be released, and when this
occurs the rear spring 37 pulls down the trolley pole to the position shown in
Figure 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:
1. The combination of the vertically extensible trolley pole, the trolley carried
at the upper end thereof, and a device actuated by the upward extension of the
trolley pole to pull the pole over, substantially as described.
2. The combination, with the trolley pole, comprising oppositely arranged spring-
pressed toggle armis, the trolley wheel carried at the upper end of the toggle arms,
and a device actuated by the upward extension of the trolley pole to pull the pole
over, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the trolley pole, comprising the oppositely arranged
spring-pressed toggle arms, of the springs secured to opposite toggle arms and to
an adjacent support, a device actuated by the swinging of the toggle arms to
disengage the springs, and a lock to alternately fasten the springs, substantially as
.described.

page_text: 4. The combination, with the oppositely arranged toggle arms pivoted together
at top and bottom, of the trolley wheel, the supporting fork of the same having
its shank extending downward through the upper pivot of the toggle arms, and the
links pivotally connected to the shank and to the toggle arms, substantially as
described.
5. The combination, with the extensible trolley pole of the base supporting
it, the springs, connected with the opposite sides of the pole and with the base,
releasing chains connecting the lower ends of the springs with the trolley pole,
and a slide to alternately lock the springs, substantially as described.
6. The combination, with the base, the oscillating cross bar thereon and the
trolley pole mounted on the cross bar and comprising oppositely arranged spring-
pressed toggle arms, of the springs connected with the opposite toggle levers and
hooked to staples on the base, and the slide mounted on the base and adapted to
alternately lock the hooks to the staples, substantially as described.
7. The combination, with the base and the trolley pole comprising oppositely
arranged spring-pressed toggle arms, of the springs secured to opposite toggle
arms and hooked to staples on the base, the chains connecting the spring hooks with
the toggle arms, and the slide movable on the base and adapted to alternately lock
the springs to the staples, substantially as described.
8. The combination, with the trolley pole, its supporting base, the springs secured
to the pole and connected to the base of the slide to lock the springs to the base,
of the lever fulcrumed on the base and connected with the slide, and the oppositely
extending cords to work the lever, substantially as described.
Dated this 14th day of June 1895.
HUGHES, SON & Co.,
38 Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.