Improvements in Conductors for the Distribution of Electrical Energy and in Apparatus connected therewith.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 17th June, 1891-Accepted, 18th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Conductors for the Distribution of Electrical
Energy and in Apparatus connected therewith.
We ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON of the Arc Works Chelmsford Essex,
Engineer, and WILLIAM ASHCOMBE CHAMEN of Crowley, Baker Road, Harlesden,
Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
Our improvements relate to the insulating and straining up of bare copper
conductors whether used in the manner described in Patent No. 7655 of the
25th May 1888 and No. 11,589 of the 20th July 1889 taken out by one of us, or
when such copper conductors are used for the purpose of transmitting electrical
energy for electric railways, tramways, travelling cranes and similar purposes. In
the above mentioned Specification it is set forth that the copper conductors consist
of one or more layers or thicknesses of copper tape supported and strained by
passing through notches in insulators, made of glass, porcelain or other suitable
material, the requisite tensile strain to prevent the copper strip from sagging to an
inconvenient degree being effected by various modes as described in the above
Specification.
One of our improvements consists in modifications of the anchoring and straining
devices for putting any desired tensile strain on the strip, to prevent its
sagging to an inconvenient extent. In one method we substitute for the double
transverse anchoring supports which require to be bridged by a metal bridge each
Supported by a pair of insulators, single tubular insulators which may be of any
desired form the exterior being corrugated or provided with projections so as to
increase the length of insulating surface and hence decrease the surface leakage of
electric current provided that the tubular opening through the centre of the
support be of sufficient size to allow the copper strip or strips to pass through it.
Also that the side walls of the tubular insulators will be of sufficient substance to
sustain the required compressive strain brought on to it by the straining gear. These
tubular insulators can be mounted in suitable recesses cut in the sides of single
anchoring supports or beams pierced for the required number of conductors. The
strain is transmitted from the strip to the tubular insulator by means of a suitably
formed cap made of gun metal or other material. In order to prevent the chipping
or crumbling away of the edges of the comparatively brittle material that is usually
used for such insulators we interpose at each end of the tubular insulator tubular
washers made of felt, rubber woodite or other material of an elastic or semi-elastic
nature not liable to cause corrosive action or to decay. The copper strips are
secured in the caps by pinching screws similar to those mentioned in the former
Specifications.
One form of straining device we employ consists of a separate or dummy clamp
fixed to the strip by pinching screws at a convenient distance from the face of
the tubular insulator. In this space intervening between the two an apparatus
consisting of two concentric nuts each in halves, so as to be easily removed from
the strip is arranged so that by operating these nuts by suitable tools one end
can be made to recede from the other and so tend to force the dummy clamp
further away from the insulator cap and thus gradually draw the strip through
the tube in the insulator. As soon as the screw has been extended to its full
stroke the pinching screws in the insulator cap are tightened down and the
screw is slacked back to the commencement of its stroke and the dummy clamp
is brought close to it and again pinched down on the strip and the operation is

page_text: repeated until the required degree of strain is brought on the strip, after which
the pinching screws in the insulator cap are finally tightened down and the
apparatus removed. In some cases I form the tubular insulator when seen in
section in end view of ring form; in other cases I make the corrugations or pro-
jections on the lower side rather deeper than above, so that the end section will
be of heart shaped form so that any moisture that collects has a tendency to
run to the point of the heart, and thus give greater length of insulating surface
in the corrugation or depression between each successive projection.
In some cases where we use this copper strip conductor for supplying current
to overhead travellers electric cranes, electric tramways, railways and like uses
we find it convenient to collect the current from the copper strip itself by means
of a sliding collector or contact shoe. In such cases it is of great importance
that the amount of sag or dip in the conductors between the successive
insulating supports should remain constant throughout considerable variations of
temperature.
We effect this by providing at suitable intervals an arrangement of double
roller insulators, which may be similar in form to those shown in Figures 19 and 20
of above mentioned Patent 7655 of 1888 over and between which the strip passes
and is kept strained to a sufficient and constant extent by suitably placed spiral
volute or slack springs of sufficient strength. In some cases we bring the strain
on to these springs and at the same time preserve the insulation of the line by
interposing the tubular insulators above described. In other cases we prefer to
support the whole body of each of the springs themselves on fixed insulators. The
continuity of the strip is preserved by a flexible connecting piece being clamped
to the two free ends. The continuity of the rubbing surface is preserved by a
light copper or bronze shoe which is made to lie in between the two roller insulators.
This must be of such form as to facilitate the free motion of the contact shoe
when it passes over it. In cases such as street railways where it is not possible to
obtain sufficient vertical depth to apply this strain as above described by causing
the copper strips to dip down vertically over rollers, we sometimes cause the two
portions of the strip to deviate from the centre line of the strip when seen from
above in plan. They can then be strained over separate rollers but in this latter
case the straining device of one free end can be brought almost alongside the
standing part of the other portion and the same with the other end. As the
straining devices need only be depressed sufficiently below the upper level of
the strip so as not to interfere with the free movement of the contact shoe on
the upper surface of the strip the angle through which the strips are bent over the
rollers need be a very small one. In this latter case the contact shoe must
be wide enough to stride the two parts of the strip at the point where they lie
side by side.
As these breaks or interruptions of our own strip conductor and simple breaks
in continuity of other forms of conductor are liable to make the supply of the current
to the motor discontinuous, and to cause sparking and other troubles we prefer to
use for such strip a special form of contact shoe which we hereafter call the shoe.
This contact shoe consists of a metallic casting of sledge shape provided or armed
on its rubbing surface with bars of carbon. It is pivotted at the centre of its
length to its means of attachment or support which takes the form of a lever or
arm which I hereafter call the contact arm. This contact arm which we preferably
make of two strips of wood bolted or rivetted side by side a space being left between
them. We find this arrangement gives side rigidity combined with a certain
amount of freedom to allowing the arm to twist.
This contact arm is attached and pivotted at its upper end or at its centre to a
support projected from the body of the car and at the lower end carries the shoe.
It is attached to the latter by a special form of slit tube which connects the shoe
to the bar at or about the centre of its length allowing it to rock so as to follow
the varying slope of the conductor due to its sag with perfect accuracy. The
rubbing surface of the shoe which is generally the underside (although in some

page_text: cases it may be found convenient to rub on the side of the conductor or even on
portions of the underside of it, in which case of course the construction of the shoe
will be correspondingly modified) consists of a number of grooves into which rods
of cylindrical, hexagonal, octagonal or other suitable form of cross section may be
forced in such a manner as to be readily removed by hand so soon as the carbon
bars are worn down to the edges of the gun metal grooves. When first supplied
the carbon bars will project considerably from the end surface of the gun metal
ridges forming the sides of the grooves and the carbons can be allowed to wear to
the extent of this amount of projection. In order that the carbon bars may ride
easily over the interruptions in the copper strip we prefer to make these grooves
to the carbons at an angle so that the carbon bars themselves are not at right
angles to the axis of the strip. In some cases we provide the car with a double
set of contact arms and shoes, and in other cases we substitute for the contact arm
a steel wire or strip placed at an angle so as to draw the shoe along the strip it
being kept in its place by a vertical plunger or other means of attachment or
guidance, placed in a vertical position.
When two or more shoes are carried in this latter fashion it is sometimes con-
venient to connect them at or near the level of the conductor by a wire or other
form of attachment, and this wire may contain one or more springs, the object of
these springs being to keep the slanting wire at the leading end, and the slanting
wire of the trailing end of the car equally tight.
In order to lift the contact shoe at points or crossings we mount on the body of
the car a rocking shaft having attached to it various lever arms one or more of
which may be so placed and adjusted that at places where there are no crossings
they are clear of everything but when they come to a crossing they engage with
the surface of the rail at the crossing and so operate through the rocking shaft
lifting a system of links and levers which lift that shoe clear of the conductor and
drop it again after the point is passed over. The form of pivot we prefer to employ.
to connect the lower end of the contact arm to the shoe so as to make the latter
easily detachable may consist of a tube which may be either split or solid and be
provided with one or more slots openings or notches into which thumb catches
or other suitable means of readily freeing the tube can drop, the object being
that the catches can be raised with one finger and the tube withdrawn at a
single motion of the hand, the shoe then falls away clear from the contact arm.
In some cases we provide the shoes with side flanges or guides which may be of
insulating material or which may be made so as to insulate although lined with
wearing material such as steel at points where they are liable to rub against the
sides of the conductor, or against the supports of the conductor.
The form of underground channel or culvert we prefer to use for tramway or
street railway purposes is a rectangular cavity in the roadway one side of which
is formed by the rail itself which is of the bridge rail section, but the webs
sufficiently deep to form one side of the channel, the other side being formed by a
channel iron and the bottom by a plain plate connecting the channel iron and the
bridge rail together. The top is partly closed by the upper member of the
channel iron on which is superposed a covering piece consisting of an angle iron to
the upper surface of which suitable paving material is attached and which is
brought up near enough to the edge of the tread of the bridge rail to leave an
opening corresponding to the ordinary tramway groove but which also serves to
give access to the channel. This form of underground channel being entirely
constructed of wrought iron or steel, is extremely rigid and durable and adds greatly
to the strength of the roadway. The insulating supports for the copper strip are
carried by bracket arms from the channel iron side so as to leave the space
immediately underneath the continuous opening or slot quite free and thus enable
the brush or cleansing apparatus to sweep the bottom of the channel free of mud
or other foreign matters. In order to facilitate this we provide openings at suitable
intervals in the bottom the channel so formed that the sweeping arrangement can
pass over the edges of the openings without catching in them." In order to do this

page_text: we sometimes form these openings at an angle to the line of the conductor. The
mud from the openings may pass into sumps made of brickwork or metal from
which the mud can be readily withdrawn. For this purpose we provide special
pumping cars which can pass along the line and bring air ejecting apparatus into
each of these sumps in turn. In this form of underground channel the insulators being
protected by the overhanging member of the channel iron and its cover are not liable
to have their insulation impaired by the dropping on to them of water or mud
falling through the open slot. In order to insure this we sometimes provide at the
inner edge of the channel iron or its separate cover a continuous dropping piece or
deflecting sheet made of sheet metal or other suitable material so placed as to
deflect air, moisture or mud which falls through the slot in such a manner that it
has a tendency to fall against the rail side of the channel and thus keep clear of
the insulators.
As a continuously open slot forming the tram groove causes difficulties at the
points on account of the facing point being unsupported through a considerable
portion of its length we provide these facing points with a special form of cranked
pillar which can be turned into the right positions to allow the passage of the arm
and the shoe on the conductor. This cranked pillar being pivoted at its lower end
into a transversely sliding shoe the travel of which corresponds with the travel of
the end of the point above the upper end of the cranked pillar is similarly pivoted
into the under side of the moving point itselt.
Dated the 17th day of September 1890.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Conductors for the Distribution of Electrical
Energy and in Apparatus connected therewith.
We ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON of the Arc Works, Chelmsford, Essex,
Engineer, and WILLIAM ASHCOMBE CHAMEN of Crowley, Baker Road, Harlesden,
Middlesex, 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 :-
Our improvements relate to the insulating and straining up of bare copper con-
ductors where used in the manner described in Patent No. 7655 of the 25 May
1888 and in No. 11589 of the 20 July 18-9 taken out by one of us, or when such
copper conductors are used for the purpose of transmitting electrical energy, for
electric railways, tramways, travelling cranes and similar purposes. In the above
mentioned Specifications it is set forth that the copper conductors consist of one
or more layers or thicknesses of copper tape, supported and strained by passing
through notches in insulators made of glass, porcelain, or other suitable material
to the requisite tensile strain, to prevent the copper strip from sagging to an
inconvenient degree, being effected by various modes as described in the above
Specifications.
One of our improvements consists in the modifications in anchoring and straining
devices shown in Cromptons Specification No. 1158989 Sheet 1, Fig. 1. In place
of the bridge pieces & there shown we employ single tubular insulators which may
be of any desired form. Figs. 1 and 2 show in end view and side section one of
these forms. This insulator may be made of glass or porcelain or other insulating
material. We corrugate the exterior in the manner shown in order to increase the
length of insulated surface on the exterior and so decrease the surface leakage of
electric current. Another form of the same insulator is shown in Fig. 3 and 34.
We here build up the insulator of several circular or heart shaped perforated
sheets or stampings made of either enamelled metal or of any insulating material

page_text: possessed of sufficient strength and we space these apart so that the cross section
somewhat resembles that shown on Fig. 2 by a series of elastic washers also made
of hard indian rubber or other insulating material. The advantage we claim for
this latter form is that we not only lengthen the surface at the outer side of the
insulator but also at the inner side of the insulator. In this figure, A shows the
separating elastic washers and A' show the perforated sheets. In some cases we
prefer that both of the insulators as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 34 when seen in end
view, should be heart shaped. This is in order to lead the drops of moisture to
the lowest point and thus increase the distance between successive drops and hence
decrease the surface leakage.
Figs. 4 and 4 show the manner of mounting these tubular insulators in order to
resist the end strain brought on them by the straining up of the copper strip. In
these figures, C is the copper strip and B the transverse bar fixed in the culvert.
The insulator is shown in Fig. 4 in side section and in Fig. 4A in plan view
mounted in position. Fig. C₁ is the metal clamping cap which is clamped down
on the strip by the pinching screws C². A shews in side section and plan view
a form of straining device we employ which consists of a separate or demi
clamp formed in 2 halves. The inner portion of this which is threaded with a
male screw is temporarily clamped at a¹ by the pinching screw and clamping piece
shown at a¹ to the double strip C. On the inner portion a female screw or nut
formed in two pieces is put into position and screwed together by the 4 bolts shown
in such manner that when it is revolved so as to unscrew from the male portion
it will bring a strain on the copper strip and force the copper strip away from the
cross bar drawing it through the tubular insulator. As soon as the copper strip C
is sufficiently strained the tightening screws C2 in the permanent cap are tightened
down and the strip thus held in position. If however the length of screw thread
in the tightening device is insufficient to take up the whole of the slack of the strip
at one operation the pinching screw C² must be tightened down, the screw at a
and the tightening device must be slacked out and the tightening device moved
again to the left till it once more butts up against the surface of the clamp. The
tightening screw a must then be tightened down and the process repeated as often
as is necessary, the tightening screw C² being finally and permanently tightened
down before the tightening device can be finally removed.
In some cases where we use this copper strip conductor for supplying current to
overhead travelling electric cranes, electric tramways, railways and like uses, we
find it convenient to collect the current from the copper strip itself by means of a
sliding collector or contact shoe. In all such cases it is of importance that the
amount of sag or dip in the conductor between two successive insulating supports
should remain constant throughout considerable variations of temperature. We
effect this by providing at suitable intervals an arrangement of double roller
insulators which may be in form similar to those shown in Figs. 5 and 6 of Patent
No. 11589. The copper strip passes over a pair of these roller insulators as
shown in side view in Figs. 7 and 9 and in plan view, Figs. 8 and 10. In all these
figures C is the strip as before and F are rollers preferably made of insulating
material although this is not absolutely necessary and supported free to revolve on
the insulators F3 which in this case are placed in an angular position and are made
of any suitable insulating material such as glass, porcelain hard rubber etcetera.
The copper strip C after passing downwards over the rollers F is strained in the
manner shown either by the volute springs H H or by the arrangement of weighted
levers JJ and J³. The spring anchorage shown in Fig. 7 or the lever anchorage
shown in Fig. 9 is insulated from the supports by the vertical insulators G G. We
preserve the continuity of the strip by the flexible connecting piece I which is
held down by the spring arrangement shown in side view Fig. 7. Figs. 5 and 6
show in side view and Figs. 54 and 64 show in plan view various modes of straining
the copper strip C in cases where we are unable to obtain sufficient space under-
neath the strip to enable us to use the devices shown in Figs. 7 and 9. As will be

page_text: seen in Figs. 5ª and 6ª we accomplish this by letting the strips rest side by side on
the insulated rollers F and taking the strain in the manner which will be readily
understood from the drawings, by means of insulators G fixed to cross bars and
the strain maintained by volute springs as shown. As these straining devices need
only be depressed sufficiently below the upper level of the strip so as not to interfere
with the free movement of the contact shoe on its upper surface, the angle through
which the strip is bent need.be a very small one. It is evident when this latter
form of straining device is used the contact shoe must have a wide enough
surface to stride the two strips at the points where they lie side by side. As
these breaks or interruptions of the strip conductor and the simple breaks in
continuity in other forms of conductor are liable to make the supply of current.
to the motor discontinuous and so cause sparking and other troubles we propose to
use for this purpose a special form of contact shoe which we hereafter call the
shoe. Figs. 18 and 24 show in side view, Figs. 19 and 25 in plan view various
forms of these contact shoes. Figs. 13 and 15 shew in side view and Fig. 14 in plan
view the mode of attachment of these contact shoes to the body of the vehicle.
Figs. 16 and 17 give enlarged view of the arms by means of whcih the contact
shoes are attached to the vehicle. The body of the contact shoes themselves
consist of a metal casting on which are mounted rubbing pieces made of carbon
as shown at cc either placed diagonally as shown in Fig. 19 or at right angles to
the shoe as shown in Fig. 25. The cross section of these may be nearly cylindrical,
hexagonal, octagonal or trapezoidal form the last form being shown at c in
Fig. 26. The arm by which the shoe is carried is preferably made of wood
and in two parts as shown in plan view Fig. 17. Two strips of wood are bolted
to metal attachments of suitable form at the upper and lower ends respectively,
in such manner that the whole arm can rise and fall and so follow the movement of
the vehicle, being pivotted at its upper end on the rocking shaft & the shoe itself
being pivoted at the lower end of the arm at the point e. The pivot itself consists
of a split tube e which passes through the projections in the body of the shoe as
seen in plan view Figs. 19 and 25. When the bosses ' & ' at the lower end of
the lever arm are placed in correct position in the space between above mentioned
projections e the tube pivot e can be slid into place and is there locked by means of
a small spring shown in Figs. 18 and 19. The bolts hh serve as attachments for
flexible connection to carry the current from the shoe direct to fixed terminals on
the body of the vehicle. The boss g bolted to the upper end of the contact arm
has a claw g¹ projecting on one side of it and which engages in a similar claw
shown at in Fig. 14 and in enlarged plan and side view in Figs. 20 and 21 and
which is rigidly attached to the rocking shaft & which itself is supported by suitable
forgings or other means, attached to the bottom of the vehicle. Fig. 15 shows similar
arrangement but having the rocking shaft k supported by arms or forgings L' from
the axle box at L. The object of this latter arrangement is to preserve more
accurately the distance between the rocking shaft and the surface of the copper
strip and thus obtain greater steadiness of motion of the shoe as it slides over its
surface. In Figs. 13 and 14 it will be seen that the shoe is pressed down upon
the strip by means of a spring 12 one end of which is attached to the projection y
on the movable arm and the other end to an adjustable collar 1. By adjusting this
last named collar any desired tension may be given to the spring. The collar
after being adjusted is held in place by the set screw 14 and spectacle shaped collar
suspended from a shaft m placed horizontally above the rocking shaft k. To one
or both of the outside ends of the rocking shaft the levers n carrying rollers n
are attached. The object of these levers and rollers is to afford a means of lifting
the shoe out of contact with the strip conductor at crossings and other places where
such lifting is desirable. This is accomplished by providing at such places inclined
planes shown at M in Figs. 13 and 15 on which the rollers n' and 'n² engage and
when the vehicle arrives at the point where these inclined planes are fixed thus lift
the shoe clear of the strip conductor. In order to keep the rubbing surface of the

page_text: shoe as far as possible parallel to the surface of the copper strip a simple parallel
motion is provided consisting of a wooden lever; Fig. 13 pivotted loosely at one
end to the shaft m and attached at the other end to a metal lever h² and shewn in
enlarged view in Figs. 22 and 23. This lever has a boss at its lower end bored to
fit loosely over the gunmetal boss h¹. It carries the spring 3 attached to it which
bears against the two ends of the shoe. Figs. 27 and 28 are elevations and plans
respectively of shoe attachments in which a steel wire P is substituted for the
contact arms the two shoes being connected together and guided by the vertical
plungers o which are free to rise and fall in the cylinders P and P2.
In this case
the same arrangement of rocking shaft k and lifting arms n with rollers n' can be
applied to this form equally with the form that has been just described. O shows
springs provided to keep the wire tight as the plungers rise and fall in their
cylinders. In cases where we have to mount our conductors for tramway or straight
railway purposes so as to carry them insulated below the surface of the roadway we
prefer to use for this purpose a rectangular culvert one side of which is formed by
the rail itself which is of bridge rail section sufficiently deep for the purpose, the
other side of this culvert being formed by channel iron and the bottom by a plain
plate. This arrangement is shown clearly in section in Fig. 31. Here C is the
conductor supported on the insulators carried by bent frames bolted to the side of
the trough W. v has an arm projecting from the vehicle and carrying at its lower.
extremity the contact shoe.
ย
Q is the bridge rail forming one side of the culvert. Q¹ and Q³ are all built up
arrangements of bridge iron and angle iron to form the other side and Q is a plain
plate forming the bottom of the culvert.
The upper portion Q3 is so formed that paving material can be readily attached
to it. The whole arrangement of underground channel being entirely constructed
of wrought iron and steel is extremely rigid and durable and so adds to the strength
of the roadway, and has sufficient transverse rigidity to maintain the slot or opening
(through which the arm enters the culvert in which the wheel flanges run) of a
regular width.
In this form of culvert where economy of space is an object in place of the
insulators shown at Fig. 1A in Patent 11589 we prefer to use insulators made up of
a number of hat shaped washers made of enamelled metal or of other insulating
material of sufficient strength.
This is shown enlarged at V Fig. 32. The 4 hat shaped washers are here shown
surmounted by a casting to carry the conductor C. The reason why we prefer to
mount the insulating supports for the copper strip on the curved bracket arms W
instead of mounting them directly on the bottom of the culvert, is in order to leave
the space below them quite free and thus enable us to mount a brush carried by an
arm from the vehicle which brush will sweep and cleanse the bottom of the culvert
and in order to prevent the accumulation of mud or other material in front of the
brush we make the bottom plate Q2 not continuous. We leave transverse openings
which may either be at right angles or preferably at an angle of 45 or whatever
convenient angle to the line of culvert so that the brush itself may not be liable to
drop into the opening as is the case when the opening is at right angles. In order
to prevent any moisture dropping direct on to the insulators we sometimes place a
deflecting strip X as shown in Fig. 31 so that any mud or water dropping through
the slot may be deflected and so fall clear of the insulator V.
Figs. 29 and 30 show an arrangement by which a facing point is carried when
culverts shown in Fig. 31 are used.
In all such cases a great difficulty has been found in supporting the outer end of
such a facing point. We accomplish this by mounting it on a crank shaped
castings shown in side view Fig. 30 and in plan view Fig. 29. This crank shaped
casting is pivoted free to revolve on the fixed pivot arm and its other end is carried
by the frictional roller u which runs in a direction concentric to the pivot r on the
flat bottom of the culvert. In the figures the tongue is shewn in position for

page_text: straight main line traffic. When however it is desired to move the tongue into the
position for the vehicle to move into a branch line, i.e. when seen in plan to move
over to the left, the crank shaped casting is made to revolve by the action of the
pinion and axle gearing into the tooth shaped segments t.
In both positions
the crank shaped arm will be found to clear the arm v with its shoe. This move-
ment is effected by the relative position of the pivots R r, these being placed
eccentric to one another so that when the crank arm is rotated the pivot R moves
in the curved path round the centrer and in order to provide for this curved path
the hole in the tongue at the point R¹ takes the form of an elongated slot.
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―
In conductors for the distribution of electrical energy and in apparatus connected
therewith.
1. Tubular insulators of the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 substantially as herein
described and for the purposes herein set forth.
2. Tubular insulators built alternately of perforated sheets and elastic washers as
shown in Figs. 3 and 34 substantially as herein described and for the purposes
herein set forth.
3. A straining device shown in Figs. 4 and 44 used in combination with the
tubular insulators substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set
forth.
4. The method of maintaining the tension of copper conductors shown in Figs. 7
and 9 substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set forth.
5. The arrangement of straining devices maintaining a regular strain upon copper
strip conductors used for electric railways or tramways as shown in Figs. 5 and 6
substantially as herem described and for the purposes herein set forth.
6. The contact shoe with lifting gear used for electric railways or tramways
shown on Figs. 13, 14, 15 and 27 substantially as herein described and for the
purposes herein set forth.
7. The mode of forming a metallic culvert for the purpose of maintaining and
supporting underground conductors used for electric railways or tramways as shown
in Fig. 31 substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set
forth.
8. The use of the deflecting strip X so placed below the opening or slot in an
underground culvert in which conductors for carrying electrical energy are fixed
that the water, mud or other substances is deflected so as to fall clear of the
insulators substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set
forth.
9. The special form of insulator shown in Fig. 32 consisting of several super-
imposed separately insulated hat shaped washers used for electric railways or
tramways substantially as herein described and for the purposes herein set forth.
10. The method of supporting the point or tongue of a facing switch by means
of the pivot and cranked pieces shown in Figs. 29 and 30 substantially as herein
described and for the purposes herein set forth.
11. In electric railways having underground conductors and having the slot or
channel through which access is given to the conductor in the position usually
occupied by the groove of the tramrail the combination of the supporting device for
facing points consisting of the facing point itself, the crank pieces and the eccentric
arrangement of pivots shown in Figs. 31 and 30 substantially as herein described
and for the purposes herein set forth.
12. In underground culverts or channels used for the purposes of containing,
supporting and protecting insulating conductors, the use of openings placed
diagonally to the line of the culvert at regular intervals in such manner that a
sweeping device can be employed to sweep mud and water or other foreign matter

page_text: that falls into the culvert into some sort of receptacle connected with these
diagonally placed openings.
13. The various arrangements or combinations of parts of conductors and
apparatus therefore and their use substantially as and for the purposes herein
before set forth.
71
101
T
1001
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.