Improvements in and relating to Electric Dispatch Systems and Carriers therefor.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Aug., 1892-Accepted. 19th Nov., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Electric Dispatch Systems and
Carriers therefor.
I, ANDREW BRYSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at
No. 18, West Twenty-first Street, in the City, County and State of New York.
one of the United States of America, Civil Engineer, and Member of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, 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 :-
The object of the invention is to provide a carrier for despatch systems having
its own electrically propelled motor, and adapted to have its direction controlled
from the start, whereby it will automatically be switched off and the circuit broken
or maintained, as the case may be, at any predetermined station or branch, and
this carrier is particularly adapted for use in tubes employed for pneumatic
dispatch, although it is not limited to such tubes as it can be readily employed on
any way, channel, duct, or conduit where it is desired to send the carrier by
electrical energy and to control its direction or the circuit from the sending station.
And the carrier consists of a carriage or receptacle provided with adjustable hooks
adapted to engage with guides placed at suitable locations in the way, and having
an electric motor secured to the carrier, to which the electric current is supplied by
means of suitable contacts between the carrier and a conductor in its path.
In the accompanying drawings is shown a carrier and way fitted with hooks and
guides, though the invention is not limited to the particular form of hooks and
guides as shown.
Figure 1 is a side view of the carrier;
Figure 2 is a plan view, and
Figure 3 a rear view of the same;
Figure 4 is a view on the line 4-4 of Figures 1 and 2, and
Figure 5 is a plan view of the way showing an arrangement of the conductors
and guides at the various branches, receiving and sending stations.
A, is the tube or way, B, is the carrier, C, are the hooks on the carrier which
engage with the guides, D, on the way. r, c, are apertures for adjusting the hooks
for the different guides at the various branches and stations. E, is a frame firmly
bolted to the carrier. F, is an electric motor having its armature keyed to the
axle, G, in a well-known way. Axle, G, turns in bearings, g, g, in the frame E,
and carries keyed to it the wheels, H, H. The motor, F, is swung from the
frame, E, by means of the bolts, I, 11, passing through the cross-heads, e, e, and
is suspended between the rubber collars or spiral springs, i, i, on the bolts, I, I, in
order to take up the sudden tension when the carrier is started, like a Westinghouse
gearless motor. K, are wheels to serve as friction rollers should the carrier be
thrown up against the top of the conduit, and the wheels, K', K', are centering
rollers to ensure the engagement of the guides. L, is an electric conductor in the
path of the carrier, and 1, an insulator interposed between the conductor and
the way. M, is a metal brush in constant contact with the conductor to convey the
current to the motor. The return current passes through the axle and the wheels
to ground, return wire, or to the metallic way if the latter is used.
The bearings of the vertical friction wheels, K, K, are shown adjustable by
means of bolts and washer which secure them to the frame, E, in order to take up
wear. If desired, all bearings exposed to any wear may be made adjustable.
Where the carrier leaves the main line to enter a branch, the conductor may be
dipped to clear the outside wheels, as at, n, Figure 5, when the latter form part of
the return circuit, the momentum of the carrier being more than sufficient to carry

page_text: it across, and where the branch is short to its destination without further pull of the
motor. But where desirable the conductor may be carried by a branch from the
main line to the required distance.
It is thus seen that the hooks and guides permit of the carrier and motor being
switched from the main line at any predetermined point, and the circuit with the
main line broken as also of their being switched onto and the circuit established
with a branch line or with an independent circuit without any break in the main
conductor or its branches, without the introduction of any movable part in the
conductor, way, or carrier, and without diminishing the impetus of the carrier or
stopping the motor during the operation.
The invention is not limited to the particular mode of connecting the receptacle
and motor, or the manner of suspending the latter.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In an electric dispatch system, the combination with a way and its branches,
of an electric motor, a carrier, a guide, located at each of said branches, means on
the carrier adjustable at the option of the sender to engage automatically with a
predetermined guide, and a continuous conductor for supplying a current to the
motor, substantially as described.
2. In an electric dispatch system, the combination with a way and its branches,
of a carrier, an electric motor, a continuous conductor located in the main way for
supplying a current to the motor, and mutually engaging guides fixed to the carrier
and the way for automatically and mechanically changing the path of the carrier
at said branches, and breaking the contact between the motor and the conductor,
substantially as described.
3. The combination of the tube, A, provided with guides, D, the carrier, B,
provided with the hooks, C, the frame, E, secured to the carrier, the motor, F,
having its armature keyed to the axle, G, and suspended by bolts, I, I', and
collars,,, from the frame, the contact, M, the conductor, L, the wheels, H, H,
and the wheel, K, substantially as described.
4. In an electric dispatch system the combination with a way and its branches,
of a carrier, an electric motor, a continuous conductor located in the main way and
in the branches for supplying a current to the motor and mutually engaging guides
fixed to the carrier and the way for automatically and mechanically changing
the path of the carrier at said branches without permanently interrupting the
circuit between the motor and the conductor, substantially as described.
Dated this 16th day of August 1892
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, W.C., Patent Agents.