Improvements in or relating to Electric Railways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 16th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 17th May, 1897-Accepted, 16th July, 1897
Date of Application. 16th July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 17th May. 1897-Accepted, 16th July, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Electric Railways.
We, ARCHIBALD H. BRINTNELL of 58 City Road, in the County of London,
Electrician and GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER of 58 City Road aforesaid, and Willesden
Junction, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to electric railways, and concerns the switching-devices
employed to effect in the desired order and at proper times the energization
of track electro-magnets; it comprises also certain improvements in the disposition
of the car armatures relatively to the track electro-magnets. These track electro-
magnets and car armatures are of the kind employed in systems of electric traction
wherein magnets disposed along the track are employed to draw the car along by
acting on the armatures attached thereto. The invention also includes reversing
apparatus to be employed in conjunction with the switching devices aforesaid.
According to this invention a source of electric energy carried on the car is in
connection with contact making slides or skates attached beneath the car. These
slides or skates are carried in such a position as to make electrical contact in the
manner hereinafter described with projections in groups along the track, each
group being allotted to one of the improved automatic switches, there being one
Switch to each track electro-magnet.
Assuming that a bogie car is employed, the truck of the bogie carries preferably
for each amature three longitudinal bar insulators each having an upper conductive
facing; similar but shorter bars with lower conducting faces are suspended from
the longer bars above them by conducting stirrups or equivalent devices: This
mode of suspension is adopted in order that the lower bars may be easily caused
to slide from each end to end of the upper bars without any interruption of their
electrical connections when the motion of the car is to be reversed; the movement
of these slides or skates as described effects the reversal by putting out of action
the particular magnet which happens to be in advance of, say, the forward side
of the attracted part of the car and bringing into action the magnet at the rear side
of the attracted part, or vice versa that is to say the movement of the slides or
skates effects a selection of the road bed magnet in accordance with the direction
in which it is desired that magnetic attraction should be exerted upon the car.
The disposition of the contact plates or surfaces on the underside of the slides
or skates may conveniently be as follows:-
One slide or skate say the middle one is faced with conducting material through-
out its length; another say that at the right hand of a person facing in the
direction in which the car is travelling, has conducting material at its ends only;
the third slide having conducting material over the middle portion of its length.
These slides or skates are arranged side by side, and the tract contacts aforesaid
are in groups of three each three being disposed transversely to the track.
Thus in the motion of the car the middle slide makes continuous contact for a
short period with the central track projection, and during this period the right-

page_text: in a special manner, so that the tractive effort of the magnets which are disposed
at equal intervals along the track is exerted on the car armatures in such succession
as to make their propulsive action more or less continuous instead of intermittent
or pulsatory. For example if the track magnets he spaced at intervals of seven
feet from centre to centre, one convenient arrangement of car armatures for the
purpose described will be to have a leading armature followed at a distance of
three feet six inches by a second armature, which in turn is succeeded by a third
armature at a distance of four feet eight inches from the second, a fourth armature
being three feet six inches further back and a fifth armature four feet eight inches
from the fourth and sixth, three feet six inches from the fifth.
In an alternative arrangement the spaces between successive armatures would
be, in order, four feet, five feet, four feet, four feet, five feet, four feet.
The series of armatures first described could be carried on the axles of three
four-wheeled bogies and in the alternative arrangement the armatures may be
carried on the axles of a pair of leading wheels followed by a four-wheeled bogie,
succeeded by a second pair of wheels again followed by a second four-wheeled bogie
track and which is followed by a pair of trailing wheels.
Dated this 16th day of July 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or relating to Electric Railways.
We, ARCHIBALD H. BRINTNELL of 58 City Road, in the County of London,
Electrician and GEORGE SAMUEL BAKER of 58 City Road aforesaid, and Willesden
Junction, in the County of 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:-
This invention relates to electric railways, and concerns the switching-devices,
employed to effect, in the desired sequence, and at the requisite period the energiza-
tion of track electro-magnets: it comprises also certain. improvements in the
disposition of the car armatures, relatively to the track electro-magnets. These
track electro-magnets and car armatures are of the kind employed in systems of
electric traction, such as that described in Brintnell's Specification No. 9375 of
1895; wherein magnets, disposed along the track, are employed to draw the car
along by acting on the armatures attached to the axles of the car. The invention
also includes reversing apparatus to be employed in conjunction with the switching
devices aforesaid.
According to this invention, a source of electric energy, preferably consisting
of a few accumulator cells, carried on the car, is in connection with contact-making
slides or skates, attached beneath the car. These slides or skates are carried in
such a position as to make electrical contact in the manner hereinafter described,
with groups of projections at intervals along the track; each group being allotted
to one of the improved automatic switches placed conveniently near, and controlling
a track electro-magnet.
Assuming that a bogie car is employed, every bogie truck carries, preferably
for each armature mounted thereon, three longitudinal bar insulators, each having
a conductive facing. Similarly disposed but shorter metallic bars, acting as
current distributing shoes or skates, are suspended from the longer bars above
them, by conducting stirrups, or equivalent devices. This mode of suspension
is adopted in order that when the motion of the car is to be reversed, or the speed

page_text: hand slide has left the projection, the central and left-hand slides come into play
to send a current from the car through the other solenoid; which is readily accom-
plished,
as there is no such gap in this circuit as in that of the first solenoid.
The second solenoid now raises the bar carrying the conducting pieces; thus
completing the circuit from the mains through the track electro-magnet and
simultaneously closing by means of the conducting bridge the gap in the circuit
of the first solenoid. By the closure of this gap the right-hand slide which as soon
as the track electro-magnets have been energized for a sufficient period again makes
contact with the track projection is enabled to complete the circuit from the car
through the first switch solenoid which immediately replaces the bar previously
lifted by the second solenoid and so disconnects the track magnet and again
opens the gap in its own circuit. The conducting bridge for closing the said gap
is preferably made elastic, and so disposed as to assist gravity and the solenoid in
returning the bar to its normal position.
The main electro-magnetic circuit in the switch preferably comprises one or
more pairs of brushes, pivotted at the lower ends and meeting at their upper ends,
so arranged as to make good electrical connections with a conducting bar which
rises up between them carried upon the bar attached to the solenoid
core, as
already described. The brushes of each pair are normally kept together by springs
or otherwise and the conducting bar may be hinged or otherwise arranged on the
lifting bar with a certain amount of play, so as to ensure its taking up an ap-
proximately central position between the two brushes and making good contact
with both. This refinement is however not essential.
In proximity to selected pairs of the brushes, blow-out electro-magnets are
preferably arranged to prevent sparking.
An alternative form of brush or contact is one in which a jaw is employed whose
contact face is serrated with manifold saw-cuts; the pair of jaws having if desired
an elastic connection between them.
Preferably the stirrups by which the slides or skates under the car are carried
have springs interposed between them and the guide bars on which they slide so
that they may adjust themselves to meet irregularities in the motion of the car,
or in the construction of the track, and also preserve a good sliding contact with
their said guides.
The relative positions of the slides or skates can be maintained by insulating
distance-pieces of such box-like construction that, whilst preserving the correct
interval between the said parallel slides they will permit the vertical play
necessitated by jolting, and also allow the horizontal adjustment of the slides, as
a whole on their guide bars requisite for the control of speed and direction of
running.
The improvements in the disposition of the car armatures (which armatures are
preferably of the kind, described in Specification 9375/95) relatively to the track-
electro magnets consist in so placing them at varying distances apart that the
tractive effort of the magnets which are distributed evenly along the track, is
exerted on the car armatures in such succession as to make their populsive action
more or less continuous, instead of intermittent or pulsatory.
The spacing of the electro-magnets in the track being uniform, that of the series
of armatures carried by the car is such that the centre line of the foremost thereof
coinciding with the central plane of any one magnet in the track,-the successive
armatures differ from coincidence with successive magnets by distances increasing
in arithmetical series, unit difference being a suitable fraction of the pitch of
the magnets. The effort of the track magnets may thus be transferred auto-
matically from one armature to another in such a manner that an approximately
constant tractive force shall be exerted, despite the change in position of any arma-
ture relatively to the track magnets. For example, if the track magnets be spaced
at uniform intervals of seven feet, froni centre to centre, one convenient arrange-
ment of car armatures for the purpose described will be to have a leading armature
followed at a distance of three feet six inches by a second armature, which in turn

page_text: of one side panel of the box or casing A, constituting its insulating framework;
or "stirrup" so that it may be slid laterally from the guides.
As the car proceeds and the skate A comes over the block M the middle slide A³
and the track projection M2 come into rubbing contact and remain so until the
skate A has entirely passed beyond the blocks M. In the meantime, firstly,
electrical contact is established between the slide A' and the track projection M',
thereby rendering the studs M' and M2 operative; next, the slide A touches the.
stud M³, and the studs M2 and M are now the "live" pair; but an instant later
the studs M and M2 are again "alive" as the slide A2 engages with the
projection M.
"L
Coming now to the consideration of the automatic electric switch, this is con-
tained in a cast iron box N preferably buried at the side of the track, having an
air-tight dover plate, as depicted in Fig. 4.
:
.The complete details of the switch and box are illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section upon the section plane 5-5 of Fig. 6,
which renders the left-hand portion of the former practically an out-side elevation
of the switch mechanism and the right-hand half a central plane section.
:
Fig. 6 shows plans of the box and its entire contents and the cable connections
to the feeder mains 01, 02 carried in the troughing 03 filled with bitumen and
buried along side the track. The horizontal planes in Fig. 5, at which the sectional
plans of Fig. 6 are taken, are 2-2 for the right-hand half of Fig. 6; 3-3 for the
top left-hand corner; and 4-4 for the bottom left-hand corner; which last is
therefore a simple plan after removing cover. The table plate supporting the
solenoids P, Q, as described below, is almost entirely broken away on the left of
the centre line of Fig. 6, so as to expose the fundamental core R, (which is of
iron at its upper and brass at its lower portion), and bar S, with the spring
"bridge" Tall otherwise hidden; whilst on the right of centre line, the bar $
is itself broken away though its attachments V1 V2 are left in situ, so as to
exhibit the insulation buffer W2 which with Warrests the bar S in its fall after
the de-energization of the core supporting solenoid P.
The entire switch mechanism is mounted upon a base plate X, so as to be
readily removable from the buried containing-box N. Upon four short stan-
dards b, 62, 63, rising from the base is erected the table-plate Y, supporting the
two superposed solenoids P and Q, and also carrying the electro-magnetic "blow-
outs" and 72, by means of two vertical lugs Y₁ Y2 which tapering up, resolve
themselves into two divergent arms each, y', y and y³, y.
Electric circuit-closing jaws c¹, c and d', da arranged in pairs, and kept closed
by springs c, d, are threaded upon pins c, c and d d to the respective pairs
of which are connected the cables c, d. The pins c, and d', dare carried in,
yet carefully insulated from four similar tongues Y³, Y and Y, Yo respectively,
extending on each side from the table plate Y, Y' not being shown. The cables c, d
lead to the terminals of the track electro-magnet controlled by this switch their
ends being shown at c, d respectively.
Two more sets of circuit closing jaws or brushes el, e2 and fi fa, kept closed by.
springs e, f, are arranged vertically over the two lower sets, just described; being
carried in brackets y and h each of which is in electric continuity with its own
pair of jaws, but both of which are thoroughly insulated at their four supporting
lugs three of which are shown at g, g3 and h² from their supporting standards g³, g
and, respectively, rising from the base-plate X.
J
Similar vertical limbs U₁, U2 and V1, V2 of which U2 is not shown in the
drawings affixed in pairs at the extremities of the horizontal bar S, but insulated
therefrom by the vulcanite steatite or fibre washers as shown at u, u³, and 23, v
respectively, rise up within the aforesaid brackets; the limbs U1, U2 within the
brackets Y, Yand g, and the limbs V, V within the brackets Y, Y6 and h.
Contact-making metal rubbers U3, U and V3, Vpivotted between the limbs U!, Us
and V, Ve respectively, in two tiers corresponding to the vertical interval between
the lower and higher sets of bracket are inserted into the jaws c', c³, e', e

page_text: hand slide A2, M3 being simultaneously freed from A+ and M2 A3 remaining in
contact. As when the core R was raised. in the last operation, the spring T
bridged the gap between the solenoid contacts g1 g, and as the circuit is now
completely closed by the contact of the stud M and slide A2 the accumulator
current takes the course
B+ B 3 A2 M M* q q¹ T q² Q pq M5 M² A3 B B5
whereby the core R, with all its attachments, is forcibly drawn down by the
solenoid Q, and falls upon the stops WW2 the normal initial state of the
apparatus being restored ready for indefinite repetitions of the cycle, resulting in
uniform propulsion of the car.
In Figs. 7 and 8 M to M³ refer to the long range track electro-magnets, and A¹
to A to car armatures attracted thereby, and S designates the magnet spacing.
The first row of dimensions gives the spacing of armatures, the second row the
constant spacing of magnets, the third row, derived from these, gives the lag of
each successive armature, behind the magnet immediately in front of it, whilst
the fourth row expresses this lag, given absolutely in the third row, as fractions
of the constant magnet spacing.
It is to be noted that no electro-magnet becomes energized until the first suc-
ceeding armatures shall have advanced to within the effective maximum interval
over which the magnetic attraction can be exerted in this case established as 1/6
of this magnet spacing, and therefore amounting to 14 ins. This provision is
made so that no magnet can exert a potent retarding influence upon any armature
which has advanced over and beyond it, but is still within its range of attraction.
On consideration of Fig. 7 and the foregoing exposition thereof it will be perceived
that the order of operation of the electro-magnets on the respective armatures is
the following:-
(I) M having just been de-energized as the central transverse plane of A' coin-
cided with its own, A³ being just within the limit of the attractive range of M2,
is drawn towards the latter by reason of M2 being at that instant energized, through
the medium of the automatic switch allotted at A3; but the spacing of the
armatures is such that no other of the series comes within an energized magnets
range.
(II) When A³ is vertically over M2, M².is rendered inactive and A5 comes within
the range of M³.
(III) On A5 coming directly over M³, A2 comes under the influence of M¹.
(IV) Subsequently A is subjected to the attractive influence of M.
(V) A6 is attracted to M³.
(VI) A¹, will at such time, be distant just the fraction of the magnet spacing
which measures the attractive range limit, and will therefore be drawn forward
to Mo.
The cycle of magnet armatures attractions is now accomplished; and the relation
of arinatures and magnets is again that represented by Fig. 7. The cycle of
operation is then repeated indefinitely for the propulsion of the car.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
1. In an electric railway a double-pole double-break road-hed switch controlled.