Improvements in the Conduits for Electric Railways.
Year: 1895

page_text: Complete Specification Left, 23rd July, 1896--Accepted, 29th Aug., 1396
Improvements in the Conduits for Electric Railways.
I, ALFRED PHILIPPI of No. 4 Heinrickestrasse, Essen-on-the-Ruhr, in the
German Empire, Engineer, do hereby declare, the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Jn. all subterranean electrical plants for railways, it is necessary to provide
meaus for, the discharge of the muddy.water which is apt, by passing through the
slot extending along the line, to find its way into the case or receptacle in which
the conductor and contact roller are located. To attain this object, conductor-
channels of. such a large size have hitherto been constructed, that they can be
used at the same time for conveying the superfluous water discharged in the course
of the day to the road-pipes or drains. Such an arrangement, however, is attended
with somewhat serious drawback,, especially in those cases where the direction of
the slope of the street or road line is the reverse of favourable to the satisfactory
operation of such discharge channels, and as the arrangement necessitates frequent
repairs, the interruptions in the operation of the electrical railway must be also
frequent and bound up. with considerable outlay. Besides, the subterranean
conductors of electrical current, as hitherto used, have been arranged between the
rails of the line, so that where it was desired to convert, say, the line constructed
for a street railway driven by steam or for tram-cars, into an 'electric railway line,
it, was absolutely necessary to break up or remove the rails all along the line and
then to restore it again to its normal condition.
All these inconveniences are avoided by the employment of the conductor-case
or box constructed in accordance with this invention, and for this purpose such
box or case is constructed separately from the water-discharging or draining
channels, and consists. of parts each of which have to be freed from the superfluous
water singly, the, bottom, of, such box differing, as regards the direction of its own
slope or incline, from that of the road as well as from that of the roof of the, box;
such bottom being, indeed, arranged with a rather steep incline, so that the muddy
water descending through the slot along the line and entering such box or case,
may be conducted away, for sections of the line at a time into special mud
interceptors, whence the water is further .conveyed into a separate or auxiliary
drain, placed alongside or underneath the.said conductor-box or case.
These improved conductor-boxes may be built into the surface of the road
either, between the rails or side by side with the railway line, and therefore a street
railway or tram-line may be readily converted into an electric railway line with a
subterraneous supply of current, without its being necessary to remove the
rails.
Dated this 24th day of 100z
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings; London, WC., and
13, Temple Street;, Birmingham, Agents.

page_text: Improvements in the Conduits for Electric Railways.
1, ALFRED PHILIPPI, of 4 Heinrickestrasse Essen-on-the-Ruhr, in the German
Empire, 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 :—
In all subterranean electrical plants for railways, it is necessary to provide
means for the discharge of the muddy water which is apt, by passing through the
slot extending along the line, to find its way into the case or receptacle in which
the conductor and contact roller are located. To attain this object, conductor
channels of such a large size have hitherto been constructed, that they can be
used at the same time for conveying the superfluous water discharged in the course
of the day to the road-pipes or drains. Such an arrangement, however, is attended
with somewhat serious drawbacks, especially in those cases where the direction of
the slope of the strect or road line is the reverse of favourable to the satisfactory
operation of such discharge channels, and as the arrangement necessitates frequent
repairs, the interruptions in the operation of the electrical railway must be also
frequent and bound up with considerable outlay. Besides, the subterranean
conductors of electrical current, as hitherto used, have been arranged between the
rails of the line, so that where it was desired to couvert, say, the line constructed
for a street railway driven by steam, or for tramcars, into an electric railway line,
it was absolutely necessary to break up or remove the rails all along the line and
then to restore it again to its normal condition.
All these inconveniences are avoided by the employment of the conductor-case
or box constructed in accordance with this invention, and for this purpose such
box or case is constructed separately from the water-discharging or draining
channels, and consists of parts each of which have to be freed from the superfluous
water singly, the bottom of such box differing, as regards the direction of its own
slope or incline, from that of the road as well as from that of the roof of the
box; such bottom being, indeed, arranged with a rather steep incline, so that the
muddy water descending through the slot along the line and entering such box or
case, may be conducted away, for sections of the line at a time into special mud
interceptors, whence the water is further conveyed into a separate or auxiliary
drain, placed alongside or underneath the said conductor-box or case.
These improved conductor boxes may be built into the surface of the road
either between the rails or side by side with the railway line, and therefore a
street railway or tram line may be readily converted into an electric railway line
with a subterranean supply of current, without its being necessary to remove the
rails.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,
in which
Figure 1 shows two conductor cases connected together, being a side elevation
thereof, partly in longitudinal section;
Figure 2 is a top view or plan of the same, the box being fitted with its roof or
lid, shown in plan;
Figure 3 is a cross section comprising a representation of the drain or water
removing channel constructed underneath the conductor box ;
Figure 4 is a cross section with a laterally arranged water removing channel.
One side wall a of the case or box A is situated a short distance from the rail,
while the other supports the roof or lid d level with the road and provided with
a tongue projecting downwards into the interior of the box or case, such tongue
leaving the slots free between it and the side a. Through this slot an arm is
extended, which carries the contact roller, or contact carriage or slide, connected

page_text: with the vehicle by some flexible means of connection such as a cord or chain and
adapted to supply current from the conductor enclosed in the box or receptacle to
the electro-motor.
In order to enable the muddy water to be discharged for certain sections or
lengths of line at a time, as it drips down through the slot s, the bottom b of
the said box A is sloped or inclined in a different direction from that in which the
lid d is inclined, viz.; towards the point a¹. From this point a¹ the mud water
collected may be discharged into special mud collectors E and thence into the
drain K which, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4, may be situated beside the
conductor receptacle A, or, as shown in Figure 3 below such receptacle.
The contact roller (or contact carriage or slide, as the case may be) is not shown
in the drawings; but the angle iron represented at w serves as a guide rail for
such roller or slide to move along.
By forming this conductor-case or box of short portions A, each capable of
getting rid of the water independently, the system is as effectively as possible
protected from short circuiting, as a result of the admission of rain water or
similar impurities.
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.
A conductor box or receptacle for electrical railways operated by means of
subterranean conductor box or conduit the main feature of which is that it is
formed of a number of parts or compartments, such as A, adapted to get rid of
mud water separately and independently from the main water removing channel or
drain, the bottom, such as b, of such box differing, as regards its slope or incline,
from the incline of the road as well as from that of its own lid or roof, such as d,.
in a vertical direction and offering a somewhat steep slope, so that the mud water
that happens to enter the said box through the slot, such as s, running along the
line, passes from the lowest point of the slope into a separate drain or channel,
such as K, for the purpose of preventing the system from being at any time short
circuited by rain-water or the like and so that the said box or case may be located
either within or without the railway line, the result being that, when it is situated
outside of the metals, it is independent of the same and may be kept in repair
without ever necessitating the breaking up or removal of the rails.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., and
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents.