Improvements in Electro-magnetic Devices for Increasing Wheel Adhesion on Railways.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1890-Accepted, 17th Jan., 1891
COMPLETE SIEUITUATION.
Improvements in Electro-magnetic Devices for Increasing Wheel
Adhesion on Railways.
I, MARK WESLEY Dewey, of 150 North Salina Street, in the City of Syracuse,
County of Onondaga, State of New York, United States of America, Electrician,
do hereby declare the nature of my 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 a new and improved apparatus for electro magnetically
increasing the traction of vehicles or cars moving upon a metallic track.
The object of my invention is to provide means for electrically increasing the
traction of vehicles when they are upon grades or curves or other portions of the
railway where an adhesive effect is necessary or desired between the track and wheels,
and without supplying and carrying upon each and every vehicle moving on the
railway, extra, heavy and expensive apparatus for this purpose. Usually the greater
portion of a railway is level or substantially so, and vehicles or cars travelling thereon
do not need increased traction, but when they are upon the steep grades of the railway,
such as those met with on opposite sides of canal-bridges, etc., increased traction is
necessary, and to supply railways having such grades with increased traction is the
purpose of my invention.
To this end my invention consists in the combination, in an apparatus for electrically
increasing the traction of a vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity,
coils distributed at intervals along the railway, a circuit leading from the source of
electricity and including the coils, stationary cores in the said coils, having their poles
connected to or in contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the vehicle.
My invention consists also in certain other combinations hereinafter described and
specifically set forth in the claims.
In the drawings
Fig. 1 indicates a side elevation of a railway at a grade supplied with my improved
apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.
Fig. 3 is another plan view of a portion of a railway showing similar apparatus, and
Fig. 4 shows an elevation of the wheels and axle of a vehicle on the track and a
cross-section of the road bed.
Referring specifically to the drawings, A represents the metal or iron track of the
railway and A' is a grade thereof upon which an electrically propelled car B is shown.
CC are suspended line working conductors arranged along the railway to supply
current to the electric motor D on the car through the movable contacts c c and the
electric connections c¹ c¹ carried upon the car, is the source of electricity connected
to the line conductors. The line conductors are shown or arranged overhead but it
will be obvious that they may be arranged in a conduit or other suitable position
along the railway. e indicates a current regulator in one of the connections c¹ to
control the current flowing through the motor D. The rails of the grade portion A'
of the railway may be separated from the rails of the other or more level portion by
some non-magnetizable material e e etc., and the rails of one side of the track are
preferably unconnected by magnetizable material with the rails on the other side of
the said track.
bbare electric conductors leading from the line working conductors CC to the
coils ddd in the road bed between the rails of the track. Said coils are distributed at
intervals along said track or a portion thereof, preferably equal distances apart, and
are provided with iron cores d' d' d¹ the poles of which extend to and are in contact
with, if not connected to the rails, on opposite sides of the track. The conductor

page_text: containing the coils with the conductors bb, constitute, in Figures 1 and 2 a shunt
circuit.
The coils d d d are preferably placed in circuit in series as shown. but they may be
placed in circuit in any other suitable manner if desired. The coils are so wound
that the north poles of their cores are in contact with the rails on one side of the track,
and the south poles with the other side, so that the line of rails on one side of the
track will have induced in them a north polarity while the line of rails on the other
side will have a south polarity, or the rails on opposite sides of the track will have
magnetism of unlike polarity.
The said rails may be magnetized at or just before the time the vehicle or car B
passes upon the track and demagnetized after the car has passed over the rails, or,
said rails may be continuously magnetized, which is preferred as then an attendant or
automatic appliances to open and close the circuit will be unnecessary, and as on many
roads the cars pass so often that there would be little or nothing gained by demag-
notizing the rails when no cars were upon them. 6 indicates an adjustable resistance
and circuit maker and breaker in one of the conductors to control the current as
desired through the coils. When the car is upon the magnetized rails its iron
wheels and axles h will make a complete magnetic circuit and a maximum effect
will be derived, but it will be obvious that some effect will be obtained if the axies are
not constructed of magnetic material.
The traction of other self propelled vehicles may be increased by my apparatus by
providing an electric generator for the coil circuit, Fig. 3 shows a dynamo G located
at the grade for the purpose of generating current for the coils. The said dynamo
may be run by any suitable power as for instance an electric motor. The said dynamo
may be located at a distance from the grate.
A storage battery H may be employed instead of the dynamo if desirable as shown
in dotted lines in the drawing. When alternating currents are to be utilized for the
purpose they may be rectified or changed into a direct current.
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-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at intervals
along the railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and including the
coils, stationary cores in the said coils having their poles connected to or in contact
with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the vehicle.
2-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a suitable source of electricity, coils distributed
at intervals along the railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and
including the coils in series, stationary cores for the said coils having their poles con-
nected to or in contact with the rails on both sides of the track, and the wheels and
axles of the vehicle.
3-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at equal
distances apart along the railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and
including the coils, stationary cores in the coils having their poles connected to or in
contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the vehicle.
4-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at intervals
along the railway and below the surface of the road bed, a circuit leading from the
source of electricity and including the coils, stationary cores in the said coils having
their poles connected to or in contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the
vehicle.
5-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at intervals

page_text: along the railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and including the
coils, means to regulate the current in the circuit, stationary cores in the said coils
having their poles connected to or in contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles
of the vehicle.
6-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon the railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at intervals
along a portion of the railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and
including the coils, stationary cores in the said coils having their poles connecte to
or in contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the vehicle.
7-The combination, in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, coils distributed at intervals
along a grade portion of a railway, a circuit leading from the source of electricity and
including the coils, stationary cores in the said coils having their poles connected to or
in contact with the rails, and the wheels and axles of the vehicle.
8-The combination of a vehicle, moving upon a railway, a source of electricity,
coils distributed at intervals along the railway or a portion thereof, line conductors
extending from the source along the railway, a shunt circuit of the conductors including
the coils, stationary cores in the said coils having their poles connected to the rails, the
wheels and axles of the vehicle, an electric motor for propelling said vehicle, and a
circuit including the motor in inovable connection with the line conductors.
9-The combination of a vehicle, moving upon a railway, a source of electricity,
coils distributed at intervals along a railway, or a portion thereof, line conductors
extending from the source along the railway, a circuit including the coils and cou-
nected to a line conductor, stationary cores in the said coils having their poles
connected to the rails, the wheels and axles of the vehicle, an electric motor for
propelling said vehicle, and a circuit including the motor in movable connection with
the line conductors.
10 The combination in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, a coil, a circuit leading
from the said source and including the coil, a stationary core for the coil having
one of its poles in contact with a rail, and one or more wheels of the vehicle travelling
upon said rail.
11-The combination in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, stationary means to
magnetize the rails of the railway connected to the source, and magnetizable wheels
for the vehicle.
12 The combination in an apparatus for electrically increasing the traction of a
self-propelled vehicle moving upon a railway, of a source of electricity, permanently
stationary means to magnetize the rails of the railway or a portion thereof connected
to the source, and magnetizable wheels for the vehicle.
1
1004
MARK WESLEY DEWEY.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.