A Current Collector for Electrically Propelled Railway or Tramway Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 6th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1896
[Communicated from abroad by Messrs. SIEMENS & HALSKE, of Berlin, in the
German Empire, Electrical Engineers.]
A Current Collector for Electrically Propelled Railway or Tramway
Vehicles.
We, SIEMENS BROS. & CO. LIMITED, of 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to means of collecting current for an electrically propelled
railway or tramway vehicle from a fixed underground conductor.
For this purpose there is mounted on the vehicle a thin hollow arm which
projecta down through a continuous slot formed in or at the side of the rail, into
an underground conduit to the roof of which is fixed the conductor preferably of
inverted T form. To the lower part of the thin arm is hinged a lever which
carries at its end a rubber. In one position this lever stands out horizontally
from the hollow arm pressing its rubber against the flat underface of the con-
ductor. In another position the lever with the rubber is folded close into the
arm so that the whole can be withdrawn from the slot by swinging the hollow arm
ou a horizontal axis by which it is mounted on the vehicle. The rubber lever is
moved to either of its attitudes by a rod which extends up the hollow arm and is
connected through a sliding sleeve to contacts so arranged that only when the
hollow arm is vertical and the rubber in contact with the conductor do these contacts
come together.
When the rubber is moved out of contact with the conductor and the hollow arm
is swung out of its vertical attitude, the contacts are separated. The connections
to the contacts are provided with springs so as to allow for oscillations of the
vehicle without breaking contact.
Dated this 21st day of March 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants..
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Current Collector for Electrically Propelled Railway or Tramway
Vehicles.
We, SIEMENS BROS. & Co. LIMITED, of 12 Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the sanie is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
This invention relates to means of collecting current for an electrically propelled
railway or tramway vehicle from a fixed underground conductor.
For this purpose there is mounted on the vehicle a thin hollow arm which
projects down through a continuous slot formed in or at the side of the rail, into
au underground conduit to the roof of which is fixed the conductor. To the
lower part of the thin arm is hinged a lever which carries at its end a rubber.
ro..... 031

page_text: In one position this lever stands out horizontally from the hollow arm pressing its
rubber against the underface of the conductor. In another position the lever
with the rubber is folded close into the arm so that the whole can be withdrawn
from the slot by swinging the hollow arm on a horizontal axis by which it is
mounted on the vehicle. The rubber lever is moved to either of its attitudes by
a rod which extends up the hollow arm and is connected through a sliding sleeve
to contacts so arranged that only when the hollow arm is vertical and the rubber
in contact with the conductor do these contacts come together.
When the rubber is moved out of contact with the conductor and the hollow
arm is swung out of its vertical attitude, the contacts are separated.
The connections to the contacts are provided with springs so as to allow for
oscillations of the vehicle without breaking contact.
The accompanying drawings shew current collectors constructed according to
the above described invention.
Fig. 1 shews a front view of one construction of the apparatus,
Figs. 2 to 6 shew another construction, Fig. 2 being a vertical longitudinal
section, Fig. 3 a vertical transverse section with the contact piece or rubber
protruded, Fig. 4 a front view, Fig. 5 a vertical transverse section with the con-
tact piece drawn inwards, and Fig. 6 a horizontal section on line C D Fig. 4 of
the casing carrying the current collector.
The apparatus consists of a hollow arm b, pivotted on an axis a carried by the
casing Z, or it may be fixed to the axis, which can be turned from the conductor's
platform by means of a lever c, so that when not in use, the arm can be made to
assume the position shewn in dotted lines at Fig. 2, while when it is in use it is
turned into the vertical position shewn in full lines. The casing Z is fixed to the
vehicle as shewn at Figs. 3 and 6 the arm b is of such small transverse width
that it can pass in and out of the continuous slot at the side of the rail. At its
lower end the arm 6 has a contact piece or rubber h, adapted to slide in contact
with the continuous conductor x.
;
In the arrangement shewn the rubber h is carried by one end of a lever g which
is pivotted to two links n, the upper ends of which are pivotted to the arm b.
The other end of the lever, which is made of non-conducting material, is pivotted
to a rod that can be slid up and down within the arm b, and which at its upper
end may be enclosed in a sleeve f¹ to which the rod fis connected by a helical
spring 1, bearing with its lower end against the head of the rod f and with its
upper end against the closed end of 1. The rod f is by preference made tubular
and provided, above the shaft a, with a branch opening o through which the
conductor is passed for connecting to the rubber h.
The sleeve may be dispensed with and the rod ƒ be carried up the full
height.
To the upper end of f¹, or off as the case may be, is attached a contact
piece either in the form of a roller p, or of a separate piece i to which the con-
ducting wire (not shewn) from the rubber h is also attached, and which, in the
vertical position of the arm b, is brought in contact with a suitable spring contact
piece kork to which the conductor leading to the motor of the vehicle is
attached. In Fig. 1 the tubular extension f is dispensed with and the rod f is
continued up to the contact piece p.
If the arm is moved out of the vertical position in which it is operative, as in
dotted lines at Fig. 2 and in full lines at Fig. 4, the rod is pushed upward to
such an extent by a spring m bearing with its lower end against a stop q in the
arm b, that the lever g and rubber h, are thereby turned in the direction of the
arrow Fig. 3, until they are both drawn into the arm in the position shewn at
Figs. 4 and 5. The contacts i, k, or p, k', can at the same time be made to move
out of contact.
For bringing the current collector, Fig. 1, into action, the arm 6 is turned
downwards from its horizontal position so as to pass through the slot by the rail,
until it assumes the vertical position.

page_text: Shortly before it attains this position, the contact roller p, which is insulated
from but connected to the conductor passing through o, bears against the contact
piece k, this being in a slanting position in order that during the last portion of
the motion of b it shall press downwards the rod f sufficiently far to cause the
lever g and rubber h to turn upwards out of b so as to make contact with the
conductor x. The contact piece k¹ which is connected with the motor by a
conductor is provided with spring action in order to insure a continuous and
uniform pressure of the rubber h against .
If, in travelling along, the arm b meets with an obstacle, or if it is turned
upward purposely by hand, the roller p will, after a slight motion of b, be brought
out of contact with k', and also, the rod f will be raised up sufficiently by the
spring m to bring the rubber h entirely within b.
The action of the arrangement at Figs. 2 to 6 is mainly the same as that of
Fig. 1. The only difference consists in that the arm b is provided with a rigid
branch d which, when the arm is turned from the position at Fig. 4 into that
shewn in full lines at Fig. 2, is made to turn an elbow lever, the arm e of which
presses and downwards by means of the roller against the action of spring m
until g and h are turned outward so as to make contact with x. The spring
interposed between f¹ and ƒ serves, as before stated, to insure that the rubber h
shall be continuously pressed against the conductor a notwithstanding any vertical
motion of the vehicle."
During the final downward motion of the arm 6 and of the rods f¹f the
contact piece i is also made to bear against the contact k.
If in this arrangement, the arm 6 meets with an obstacle or is turned upward by
hand, the rods ff will be pushed upward by the spring m as soon as b has
turned through a slight angle, as at Fig. 4, thus causing gh to be entirely with-
drawn into the arm b while i will also move entirely out of contact with k.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A current collector for electrical railways or tramways with subterranean
conductors, consisting of a hollow arm capable of turning on a pivot, so as to be
lowered through a slot in the permanent way, which arm contains within its lower
end a contact piece or rubber so arranged that when the arm is brought into its
lowered position the contact piece is protruded laterally therefrom so as to come
in contact with the subterranean electrical conductor, while on turning the arm
upward, the contact piece is withdrawn entirely within it so that it can pass through
the said slot, substantially as described.
2. In a current collector such as is referred to in the preceding claim, the com-
bination with the hollow arm of a rod sliding vertically within the same, the lower
end of which is connected to the contact piece while its upper end is adapted to
be depressed by a fixed or moveable abutment when the arm is in the vertical
position, whereby the rod is depressed and made to protrude the contact piece so as
to make contact with the subterranean conductor, substantially as described.
3. In a current collector such as is referred to in the preceding claims, con-
structing the abutment for depressing the rod carrying the contact piece as an
elbow lever, one arm of which is acted upon by a projection on the pivotted
tubular arm so as to cause the other arm of the lever to depress the rod for the
protrusion of the contact piece, substantially as described.
4. A current collector for electric railways and tramways, combined and
operating as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 6th day of December 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.