Year: 1887

page_text: I, WILLIAM EDWIN IRISH, of Howard Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of
America, Electrician, 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:
My invention relates to improvements in closed conduits which, through the agency.
of an elastic material, of which the conduit is partly or wholly composed, will admit.
of the opening or closing of an electric circuit on pressure, or release from pressure,
at any point or points in the system, in combination with circuit closing rails for
communicating electrically with moving objects, such as Railway cars, for the purpose
of propelling them through the agency of electric motors, or for operating any other
electrical machine, appliance or device for lighting, signalling, braking, heating, or other
purpose, from a fixed to a moving object, or from one moving object to another, with
or without a conduit for holding telegraph, telephone, or other electrical wires.
To this end the invention consists, first, in a sealed elastic or flexible tube containing
an otherwise uninsulated electrical conductor or line wire, and sectional metallic
pieces in said tube to make connection with the electrical conductor or line wire.
Second; in an unwrapped or uninsulated line wire or electrical conductor con
tained in a sealed elastic tube, in combination with circuit closing rails making contact
through the elastic tube.
j
Third in an elastic tube carrying a line wire or electrical conductor sealed water.
tight therein, circuit closing rails to make contact with the line wire or conductor
successively as they are depressed, and means communicating with the car or other
moving object whereby the electric current is conveyed through appliances therein, to
propel, light, or otherwise electrically operate the same, as hereinafter more fullly
described.
Fourth; in contact wheels or their equivalents attached to the car or other object,
and connected through electrical devices therein to operate the same as hereinafter,
described, with sectional rails making connection through an otherwise sealed and
insulating elastic tube, and a line wire or electrical conductor in said tube normally
out of contact with the sectional rails.

page_text: Fifth in an elastic tube sealed water-tight and carrying loosely therein an
unwrapped electrical conductor or line wire, contact rails outside of the tube, and
contact bars inside thereof, bolted together metallically at intervals through the
elastic tube.
Sixth; in a tube sealed water-tight and carrying a sectional line wire or electrical
conductor having sleeves or their equivalent, surrounding and overlapping the ends of
the wire in the sleeve, and electrically connecting the same.
Seventh in a railway track having running longitudinally therewith conduits
containing elastic or yielding tubes sealed water tight throughout their length, and
conducting wires or rods in said tubes, with contact pieces within and without said
tubes, and wheels on the car electrically connected through a motor or other apparatus
thereon and running in contact with the pieces on the outside of the elastic tubes,
whereby a current of electricity may be sent through a motor on a moving car and
the same be kept in motion, as hereinafter more fully described.
-
Eighth; in a spring pressed wheel connected with a moving object as a car, said
wheel running upon the contact pieces which establish connection with the main line,
said wheel having springs on either side between its bearings to permit diversion
out of a straight line, and a combined brush and track cleaner in advance of the
wheel.
;
Ninth in a pair of contact wheels connected with a moving object, as a car, and
electrical connection between them through a motor or other apparatus in a car or
other moving object, with track cleaners and mechanism, substantially as described,
whereby said wheels and track cleaners may be reversed, and raised and lowered,
substantially as hereinafter more fully described.
Tenth; in an elastic tube containing the main line or electrical conductor, and
having contact pieces inside and contact rails outside in pairs, said rails and pieces
being connected through the tube by conducting material, and said pairs being insulated
from each other, whereby one pair may be depressed and make contact with the main
line without interfering with the others as hereinafter more fully described.
Eleventh in a line wire conduit and parts connected therewith laid in sections and
removable, as hereinafter more fully described, in combination with a conduit for
telegraph, telephone, electric light and other wires, located beneath said first named
conduit and covered thereby.
Twelfth; in a flexible insulating coupling formed by the walls of the conduit for
the line wire between the sectional rails secured to said conduit or tube, the walls of
which permit of the depression of one section into contact with the line wire, while
the adjoining sections are out of contact.
Thirteenth; in combination with a conduit for a line wire or electrical conductor
for railway cars located flush with the surface of the ground, a conduit for telegraph,
telephone, electric light and other wires located beneath the aforesaid conduit and
covered thereby in sections, substantially as hereinafter described.
Fourteenth the combination with the ends of a main conductor at a swing bridge
or the like, of a second conductor or shunt arranged to maintain connection with the
ends of the conductor when the bridge is drawn.
;
Fifteenth in an electrical regulator consisting of a tube provided with a chamber
containing a conducting liquid, and a series of contact points extending into said
chamber.
Sixteenth in an electrical regulator having an internal chamber, a series of contact
points in said chamber and connected with coils of wire, and a conducting liquid to
inake connection between the said contact points.
Seventeenth; in an electrical regulator having a chamber partly filled with a
conducting fluid and a series of contact points exposed in the chamber.
Eighteenth; in an electrical regulator containing a conducting liquid and a series
of contact points exposed to said liquid in certain positions of adjustment, in combina-
tion with adjusting mechanism for the regulator.
:
Nineteenth; in a tubular electrical regulator having an internal chamber, contact
points arranged in series lengthwise in said regulator, and a conducting liquid to make
I.

page_text: connections between said points, in combination with mechanism for adjusting the
regulator at different inclinations.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a car on which my
invention in part is represented.
Fig. 2, is a section of street surface showing two tracks with conduits between the
tracks.
Fig. 3, is a perspective of a section of the elastic conduits and the parts connected
therewith, a portion of the section being broken away to disclose the line wire and
sectional contact piece inside the elastic tube. Fig. 4, is an end elevation of a section
similar to that shown in Fig. 5, with a conduit for telegraph, telephone, or other wires
in sections beneath the same or covered thereby.
Fig. 5, is an enlarged view of the contact wheel and the combined brush and cleaner
shown on the car in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6, is a vertical section on line x, x Fig. 5, and looking toward the combined
brush and cleaner.
Fig. 7, is a section of railroad crossing taken on line of conduit running from right
to left, and showing how the line wire and tube are bent to pass a crossing track.
A longitudinal section of the telegraph and other wire conduit is also shown in
this view.
Fig. 8, is a vertical section of the contact wheel and its support.
Fig. 9, illustrates a longitudinal section of a joint in the line wire.
In Fig. 10, I show a main generator 20, which may be employed under my system
to furnish a current for a number of roads having a common terminus at or near the
generator, and diverging and crossing thence to traverse different streets. The dotted
lines indicate the conduit hereinbefore referred to.
Figs. 11 to 14, inclusive relate to my novel means of regulating the electrical energy
in a motor or other electrical device either automatically or by hand. Two forms of
regulator are shown. Fig. 11, represents one form, in which the mercury tube is
sectioned longitudinally and shown as connected by a series of wires with what are
intended to represent a series of coils on a motor, a generator being illustrated at the
left of the figure.
Fig. 12, is a longitudinal elevation of a tube wrapped with resistance coils and
showing the means of adjustment.
car is
Fig. 13, is a transverse section of the same, and Fig. 14 a longitudinal section.
Figs. 15 to 21 inclusive are to be considered more especially in connection with
my improved Block System hereinafter described. In Fig. 15, the rear
supposed to have become accidentally detached from the train, and a locomotive is seen
approaching and entering upon the same block. When this occurs the locomotive will
be automatically signalled from the detached car as hereinafter explained.
Fig. 16, is a longitudinal section of the signaling conduit and conductors and
the rail sections, as more clearly shown in the cross section of the same Fig. 17.
Fig. 18, shows a passenger car in which the contact mechanism is suspended and
out of contact.
Fig. 19, shows a rear elevation of the car with the contact wheel down. Fig. 20 is
a front elevation of the indicating and alarm apparatus. Fig. 21, is a longitudinal
section of the conduit above the conducting rails, showing how the said conductors
break joint, for a purpose hereinafter explained.
The invention is preferably illustrated and described in connection with a motor in
a car for propelling the same, but it has a wider scope than this and may be employed
also for lighting, braking, and heating the car, or with other moving objects in which
an electric current for any reason is desirable.
In the drawings A represents an elastic or yielding conduit, preferably of soft
rubber, which will yield to the pressure of the contact wheel and react with sufficient
force to clear the conducting wire when the pressure is removed; but in any case
the material must be non-conducting and the sides of the tube or conduit flexible or
elastic so that when the pressure is on and the circuit closed the sides will yield and
permit contact of the metallic parts, and when the pressure is taken off the sides will

page_text: expand and open the circuit. Furthermore the tube or conduit should be closely
sealed throughout its length so as to exclude water or moisture and to prevent metallic
contact at any point except as provided for through the proper connections. A suitable
channel b for carrying the tube is formed in a line of timber or blocks of stone or other
material B, said channel being shown as having flat parallel sides and an open top.
The timbers or blocks carrying the tube are laid along the railway track, usually
between the rails flush with the surface of the roadway, two lines thereof being used,
one to carry the outgoing conductor, and the other the return conductor. The tubes A
carry the line wires or conductors Cat the bottom of the oblong opening therein. These
wires or conductors are uncovered and uninsulated except as the rubber tube A forms
covering and insulation therefor, so that contact may be made at any point in their
length. Attached to the tube along its upper surface are short rail pieces D, preferably
having small flanges d at their sides which rest on shoulders on the tube and when
in their normal position are flush with the roadway and top of the timber.
Inside of the tube A, and corresponding to the rail pieces D in length, are contact
pieces E, flanged laterally at the top as at ee, and having a central portion e' which
rests in the tube above the line wire or conductor C, and normally out of contact
therewith.
The rail and contact pieces are insulated from each other by the rubber tube except
where they are connected by screws or their equivalent by which they are firmly
united. The short rails and inside contact pieces are arranged in pairs, and the pairs
are insulated from each other by having a sufficient space between them at the ends.
This will allow one section or pair to be depressed without interfering materially with
the next on either side, the rubber to which they are secured being sufficiently flexible
for this purpose.
H. H. represent two contact wheels, similar in construction, attached to the platforms
on the ends of the car, and connected electrically with the motor or other appliance to
be operated upon. These wheels are each pivoted on a frame or turn table, I, which is
arranged to be reversed upon the car according as the direction the car is to travel, and
to be raised or lowered according as the wheel is to be thrown into or out of contact
with the track. In Fig. 5, the full lines show the wheel down in contact with the
rail, and the dotted lines show it up out of contact. In Fig. 6 is shown more clearly
the mechanism by which the several movements are effected. Thus the position of
the table, I, and its attachments is reversed by means of a rod K rigidly fixed thereto,
and having a crank lever K at the top, and it is raised and lowered by means of the
tube L having a hand wheel and working inside the sleeve standard M which
supports the parts on the platform of the car. Of course this construction may be
varied and still serve my purpose, but that shown is sufficient to illustrate the inven-
tion. The contact wheel H is hung in a pivoted frame N on a shaft O on which it
has some lateral play to adapt it to travel on a track that may be somewhat out of
alignment, and the wheel has a concave tread which will enable it more certainly to
keep the track. P is a tension spring bearing upon the wheel frame N with such
pressure that as the wheel passes over the sectional track it will depress the sections'
thereof successively so as to bring the inside pieces E in contact with the main wire
within the tube. The wheels H act alike in this particular. The moment a wheel
depresses a section sufficiently, the circuit is closed through that section, the screws
connecting the short rails and the inside contact pieces being the medium for the
passage of the current through the rubber tube, and as one section is not cleared before
connection is established through the next succeeding section by the wheel passing
from one section to another, the flow of the current is made continuous while the
contact wheel is down. When the sections have been passed by the contact wheel, the
elasticity of the rubber carries them back successively to their original position. It
will be understood that the line wires are connected to a suitable generator at some
point in the system.
1. The lines wires or conductors in the bottom of the rubber tubes may be coupled
together in sections in suitable lengths by means of a variable expansion joint which
will allow of the expansion and contraction of the conductors under varying tempera-

page_text: ture without to any appreciable degree altering or affecting the electrical resistance.
One satisfactory way of doing this is by placing a sleeve Q, Fig. 9, over the ends of
the conductors where they meet, inside of which is a spiral spring 7 which bears against
the ends of the conductor.
This spring is compressed by the expansion of the conductor, and elongated when
the conductor is contracted; but always makes effective contact with the conductor
and with the sleeve. The sleeves have about the same resistance as the conductor, bat the
contact between the sleeves and conductor or line wire is more or less imperfect and this
imperfect contact is made up by the springs. In front of the contact wheel is a combined
brush and scraper R, supported upon the same frame with the contact wheel and
designed to run in front of said wheel and clear the exposed sectional surface rail of
dirt, snow, and other obstructions, so that perfect contact may be made with the rail or
track, and a free flow of the electric current obtained. The combined scraper and
brush is free to move laterally upon its bearings so as to conform to any divergence
of the rail sections out of a straight line, and vertically to avoid obstructions it cannot
remove. At intervals about its periphery and between the brushes proper are short
projections which have concave working edges and serve as scrapers for the track,
running in advance of the brushes, and clearing away the heavier obstructions. The
wheel is not designed to rotate except to ride over obstacles that the scrapers cannot
remove, and the scrapers are so set with reference to the shaft that their resistance is
opposite to the direction of the rotation.
In Fig. 7, is illustrated a method of crossing a railway track or the like with my
electrical system.
It will be seen that when a cross track or the like is reached it is only necessary to
carry the elastic conduit with its contained line wire or conductor down beneath said
rails or bar as shown at S, Fig. 7, and then up again between the rails, until the next.
rail is reached when the conduit or tube is dipped again as before. This enables
contact to be made with the sectional track between the rails of the crossing track
without material break in the electric connections. In case a draw-bridge or the like
is to be crossed with my system I can employ a second conductor, as a shunt, in the
main circuit, to be laid overhead or underground as shall be found most convenient.
The conduit proper would cross the bridge as usual, suitable contact being made at
each end of the bridge for connecting the main conductors when the bridge was
closed. When the bridge is open, the circuit, which is a wire spanning where the
bridge crosses, and above or below it, maintains the connection between the conductors
on both sides of the bridge. When the bridge is closed the current would divide and
pass through the main and secondary conductors, but sufficient current would pass
through the main line to carry the car over the bridge.
Connected with the conduit hereinbefore described and beneath the same and
carried thereby, is a second conduit V, preferably of cylindrical outline, with a
V shaped opening longitudinally in its top and having lateral flanges v¹ by which it
is bolted to the timbers or blocks carrying the first named conduit. The conduit V
is designed to carry telegraph, telephone, electric light, and other wires, and has a
V shaped covering W underlaid by a sheet of packing to such, as soft rubber, which
extends laterally over the flanges of the conduit and is tightly compressed by the
securing bolts between the flanges and upper conduit timbers. By unscrewing the
top, the wires can be reached at any point, and the tube can again be perfectly sealed
by screwing the top into position. This conduit may be used independently of the
railway conduit or in conjunction with it as shall be preferred. Its location as here
shown is convenient, as ready access thereto is effected through the sectional
conduit and parts by which it is covered and which lie along the surface of the
roadway.
A is the mercury tube, which usually will be enclosed and supported by a suitably
constructed case, as Ba, which may be placed in any convenient position on a car or
wherever the motor is stationed. Two forms of the tube are shown in the
drawings. In one, Fig. 11, the tube has an interior opening, concave in longi-
tudinal section, and a pivot, for example as a b, on which it may be adjusted.to

page_text: give it any desired inclination. As shown, the tube is resting in a horizonal plane.
This throws the mercury into the centre. Now, supposing the series of wires cd, to
extend into the tube, as they do, and to make connection with corresponding coils on
the field magnets of a motor, as D*, when the mercury lies as shown in Fig. 11, all of
the coils on the motor whose wires c d are covered by the mercury, would be cut out,
and only those would be charged whose wires are not so covered and connected.
The charging of the field magnets and the amount of electrical energy therein is,
therefore, under convenient and easy control through the tube Aª.
Obviously if the said tube were tilted to the left it would convey the mercury
forward and thus make connection between one set of contact points after another
until at last, if carried far enough, the entire field would be cut out and the motor
would stop.
On the other hand the entire energy of the current may be thrown into the
motor by making the extreme adjustment to the right, and relieving the contact points
of the connecting fluid.
In the other figures, a somewhat different construction is shown but having the
same effects practically as in Fig. 11. Here we have the mercury tube provided with
a longitudinal bore bb, which is suitably plugged to prevent the escape of mercury,
and wrapped with a series of resistance coils dd. Each coil of course has two contact
points and all the coils are connected.
In this instance the contacts are made by screws ee which are connected with
the wires between the coils, and extend through the shell of the tube into its bore.
There they are subject to contact and connection by the mercury the same as the
points of the wires c d in Fig. 11. When in one extreme of its adjustment all the
resistance coils may be thrown in, and when in the other extreme all may be cut
out, and any intermediate adjustment may be made according as more or less energy
is desired.
The means of adjustment are not material. In Figs. 12 and 13, I have shown the
tube A swung centrally on horizontal pivots hh, and adjustable at one end by a
quick screw and nut kk. Any convenient and speedy method may be adopted,
especially when hand adjustment alone is employed. When the adjustment is to be
automatic, and the tube is used on a vehicle or car, the tube may be arranged with
reference to grades, and set in such way that when the car inclines, say forward, as
in descending a grade, the coils on the motor (Fig. 11) will be cut out, and the
resistance coils (Figs. 12, 13, 14) will be thrown into resistance, the effect in both
cases being a diminution of the electrical energy in proportion to the declination of
the grade and the corresponding position of the mercury with reference to the contact
points. The reverse of this would follow if the car were ascending a grade, in which
case more electrical energy would be needed, and the coils of the field magnets
would be thrown in, and the resistance coils cut out according to the elevation of the
ascent.
The resistance coils may be made so as to practically cut off the flow of the electrical
current; which is equivalent to cutting out the field magnets of the motor, and by
arranging said coils in series the measure of resistance, and hence the amount of
electrical energy, can be regulated to a nicety in this way.
When mercury is used, and the tube is not first exhausted of air, a liquid which
will prevent oxidation should be used with the mercury. But any liquid which will
close the circuit between the contact points and has not too high resistance may be
substituted for the mercury.
The form of the tube A is not material, it only being necessary that the tube
should be provided with a cavity, or bore, or chamber of suitable form containing a
quantity of good conducting liquid and a series of contact points through which may
be governed the amount of electrical energy conveyed to a motor or other electrical
machine or apparatus.
It will be understood that the tube may be connected to the engine governor which
will operate it and regulate the flow of current through the dynamo.
In Figs. 15 to 21, I show a railway block system, and a conduit constructed

page_text: substantially as hereinbefore described connected with said system. In this conduit O*
are two otherwise uncovered rails or rods P*, laid along the bottom of the conduit and
insulated from one another by any non-conductor such as rubber, or other material, or
an air space may be left between them for this purpose. In the preceding description
it will be seen that the conductor is unbroken throughout its length. In the present
case the conductors are broken at intervals, the divisions thereof breaking joint with
each other as seen in Fig. 21. If the rails or rods are say one mile in length, then
they will break joint every half mile, the other half overlapping the next half mile.
The other portions of the conduit and surface and intermediate rails by which contact
is made remain unaltered, the only difference of consequence between the two
conduits being that one has a continuous conductor or conductors while the other
has sectional ones.
In working this block system every engine carries its own battery, indicator, alarm,
contact wheel and brush, and the circuit is from one pole of the battery through the
indicating and alarm apparatus to the earth by the traffic rail, or returns to the battery
by a second conduit service which is such as is employed on the electric railway with
a suitable contact wheel, short surface sections, and intermediate contact pieces and
sectional conductors.
The contact wheel on the locomotive as the train travels presses constantly upon
the short surface rails, depressing them and the intermediate contact pieces in contact
with the two sectional rails. It will be seen that so long as one train only is on a section
the current remains open unless closed by the pulling of a signal cord, which passes
from end to end of each car and thereby releasing a contact wheel carried under the
car and closing the electric circuit in the section as a wheel on another engine would
do, but causing the pointers of the indicator to be deflected in a different direction to
that caused by the entrance in the section of another train. It will also be seen that
by depressing the rails suitably at any point on the line, the line may at any time be
blocked, as for instance at the breaking down of a bridge or other accident on the
line. The indicator may be any instrument which will answer the purpose, but the
one illustrated, R, Fig. 20, consists of two coils wound differentially with magnetic
needles as pointers. The alarm simply consists of any suitable electric bell.
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 :-
-
i. A tube sealed water-tight throughout its length and having flexible walls, in
combination with a line wire or electrical conductor uninsulated except by said tube
and metallic pieces secured to the inside of the tube to make contact with the line
wire or conductor as set forth.
2. A tube made of insulating material water-tight throughout its length and having
flexible sides, in combination with an otherwise uninsulated electrical conductor in
said tube and contact pieces within and without the tube having metallic connection
through the tube substantially as set forth.
3. An elastic tube
or
conduit carrying an electrical conductor or line
wire, rails on the outside of the tube and metallic connections between the rails and
the conductor for making electrical contact through the tube, and means to convey
the current from the track to the car or other moving object, substantially as set
forth.
4. Contact wheels or their equivalent attached to a car or other moving object, and
connected with electrical..appliances therein, in combination with sectional rails,
secured to a flexible tube, and a line wire or main conductor in said tube normally
out of metallic contact with the sectional rails, substantially as set forth.
5. An elastic tube of non conducting material sealed water-tight throughout its
length and carrying therein an otherwise uninsulated main conductor, contact rails
outside the tube and contact bars inside thereof, with metallic connections at intervals
between said rails and bars, whereby the current is conducted through the sealed tube,
substantially as set forth.

page_text: 6. A line wire or main electrical conductor made in sections and having sleeves
surrounding and overlapping the ends where the sections meet, with spiral or other
springs interposed between the ends of the wire inside the sleeves, as and for the
purpose set forth.
7. In combination, a railway track, conduits or tubes of flexible material carrying
conducting wires, contact rails and pieces secured to said tubes substantially as
described, and wheels on a car electrically connected through a motor or other
apparatus and travelling on the aforesaid rails, whereby a current of electricity may
be conveyed and utilized, substantially as set forth.
8. A tension regulated and automatically adjusted contact wheel, in combination
with an adjustable support on which the wheel is pivoted, substantially as set
forth.
9. A tension regulated contact wheel and a combined scraper and brush before the
wheel, in combination with a turn table to which said parts are attached, substantially
as set forth.
10. A wheel for making electrical contact with a current conveying track, said
wheel having a concave tread and laterally movable on its bearings with springs to
centre the wheel, substantially as set forth.
11. A tube having elastic sides and carrying a main line wire, in combination
with contact pieces inside and outside of said tube arranged in pairs, said pairs being
insulated froin each other at their ends, whereby one pair may be depressed into
contact with the line wire apart from the others, substantially as set forth.
12. A conduit laid in sections and carrying a sectional line wire, in combination
with a conduit for telegraph, telephone, and other wires located longitudinally beneath
said first named conduit and carried thereby, substantially as set forth.
13. A flexible insulating coupling between the rail sections formed by the walls of
the tube between the sections, the walls of the tube being flexible to form such
coupling and to permit of the depression of one section independently of the others,
substantially as set forth.
14. The combination with the ends of a main conductor at a drawbridge or the
like, of a second conductor or shunt arranged to maintain connection with the ends
of the conductors when the bridge is drawn, substantially as set forth.
15. An electrical regulator consisting of a tube provided with a chamber containing
a conducting liquid, and a series of contact points extending into said chamber,
substantially as set forth.
16. An electrical regulator having an internal chamber, a series of contact points
in said chamber and connected with coils of wire, and a conducting liquid to make
connection between the said contact points, substantially as set forth.
17. An electrical regulator having a chamber partly filled with a conducting fluid
and a series of contact points exposed in the chamber, substantially as set forth.
18. An electrical regulator containing a conducting liquid and a series of contact
points exposed to said liquid in certain positions of adjustment, in combination with
adjusting mechanism for the regulator, substantially as set forth.
19. A tubular electrical regulator having an internal chamber, contact points
arranged in series lengthwise in said regulator, and a conducting liquid to make
connections between said points, in combination with mechanism for adjusting the
regulator at different inclinations, substantially as set forth.
1007