Improvements connected with Collectors for Electric Railways.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th July, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 6th May, 1899-Accepted, 17th June, 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements connected with Collectors for Electric Railways.
I, HARRISON GATES TAYLOR, of No. 32, Hutchinson Street, in the City of
Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec, Dominion of
Canada, Mechanical Superintendent, and ROBERT GARDNER, of No. 40, Nazareth
Street, in said City of Montreal, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
cur said invention to be follows:-
This invention has for its object to produce a trolley base that will have greater
efficiency and durability than trolley bases heretobefore known as well as render-
ing the pole easier to handle when the trolley is off the wire.
The invention may be said, briefly, to consist in providing an improved pivotal con-
nection between the swinging pole carrying plate and the stationary base of such
a nature that anti-friction bearings may be used therein; also in providing
a buffer for the pole to strike against when the trolley accidentally leaves the wire
and thus relieve the parts from considerable shock; and also in connecting the
usual operating springs with the pole and its carrying parts that when the former
is drawn down to a horizontal position such springs will be practically in a dead
centre line and the strain upon the pole consequently reduced to a minimum
besides other improved details of construction hereinafter described.
More specifically speaking the base plate is preferably of circular form and has
a central vertical trunnion, provided with a vertical screw-threaded boring
extending through the outside surface of said trunnion having a series of longi-
tudinal grooves to receive graphite or other lubricant, while its foot is encircled
by a shoulder having a groove concentric of said trunnion.
This trunnion receives upon it a sleeve-like hub formed integrally with and
centrally of the upper surface of the swinging-pole carrying plate. The central
opening through this hub corresponds in size to the circumference of the trunnion
and has its upper end extended in thickness in order to provide space in which to
form a groove concentric thereof.
A circular cap corresponding in circumference to the circumference of the
extended upper end of the hub, and grooved upon its underside to correspond
with the groove in the upper end of the said hub, is perforated centrally to allow the
passage therethrough of a screw bolt adapted to take into the screw-threaded
boring of the trunnion.
The underside of the swinging plate has a boss, formed thereon concentric of
the hub opening, and corresponding in circumference to the shoulder encircling
the base of the trunnion and having a groove similar to that cut in the face of said
shoulder.
Each contiguous pair of these grooves forms a runway for a series of balls acting
as ball bearings to facilitate the movement of the hub about its trunnion, while
the vertical longitudinal grooves, as before mentioned, adapted to be filled with
graphite or the like for lubrication purposes, and if desired the particular portions
of the parts in which the ball-bearing runways are formed, can be made of
hardened steel to assist in resisting the wear.
On one end of the upper side of the swinging plate a bracket is rigidly mounted
and provided with a horizontal boring adapted to receive a screw-threaded arm

page_text: of a T-shaped section, the other two arms whereof extend horizontally towards
each side of the swinging plate, and have their ends bent to form hooks while the
threaded arm is held in place in the bracket by a pair of jam-nuts adapted to take
upon said arm one on each side of the bracket.
To the opposite end of the swinging plate an arm is pivotally connected and has
its outer end made of cylindrical form and recessed to form a socket to receive
the inner end of the trolley pole. Upon this arm and preferably cast in one
therewith is formed, adjacent to said socket a curved cross-piece, the ends
whereof are laterally off-set to form a pair of hooks in the same vertical planes as
the hooked end of the T-shaped section, and between these latter and said hooks
are connected the operating spiral springs. The tension of these springs may be
reduced or increased by adjusting the screw-threaded arm (by means of the
jam nuts) toward or away from said trolley pole socket while in position of the
rear hooks relatively to the longitudinal axis of the trolley pole enables the springs
to be brought into a line parallel to the dead centreing line of the trolley-pole
relatively to its carrying plate when the pole is lowered to a horizontal position
and thus reduce to a minimum the strain upon the pole when being held down for
any purpose.
It has frequently happened when the trolley has slipped or been displaced,
from the trolley wire, that the tension of the springs upon the trolley-pole has
caused it to spring back with such force that the pivot pin or some other part has
been broken and the pole not infrequently completely detached from its base.
To obviate this defect is a further object of my invention and to that end I mount
a buffer section upon said swinging plate and immediately in line with the trolley
pole socket, in order that when the springs are allowed to exert their full retractile
strength upon the pole, the arm of the socket will strike upon the buffer and thus
relieve the pivot pin of all but a very small proportion of the strain.
This buffer is located upon the swinging plate and preferably cast in one there-
with, adjacent to the trolley pole socket and preferably consists of a hollow cylinder
portion having one end closed and perforated. This cylinder receives a second
cylinder also having one end closed and perforated and the outer face thereof of
convex form and the inner face provided with a short hub having a perforation
of slightly smaller diameter than the perforation through the closed end.
A spiral spring is carried within the inner cylinder and adapted to bear between
the inner face of said inner end and outer cylinders, and the extent of movement
of said inner cylinder out of said outer cylinder is limited by a bolt having its
head located in the perforation in the convex head of the inner cylinder and
bearing upon the hub within the said cylinder while the end of the bolt projects
through the perforation in the closed end of the outer cylinder and receives a
nut thereon.
Improvements connected with Collectors for Electric Railways.
We, HARRISON GATES TAYLOR, of No. 32, Hutchison Street, in the City o
Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec, Dominion o

page_text: Canada, Mechanical Superintendent, and ROBERT GARDNER, of No. 40, Nazareth
Street, in said City of Montreal, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
our said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
Our invention has for its object to produce a trolley base that will have greater
efficiency and durability than trolley bases heretofore known as well as rendering
the pole easier to handle when the trolley is off the wire.
The invention may be said, briefly, to consist in providing an improved pivotal con-
nection between the swinging pole-carrying plate and the stationary base of such a
nature that anti friction bearings may be used therein, also in providing a buffer
for the pole to strike against when the trolley accidentally leaves the wire, and
thus relieve the parts from considerable shock, and also in so connecting the
usual operating springs with the pole and its carrying plate that when the former
is drawn to a horizontal position such springs will be practically in a dead-centre
line and the strain upon the pole consequently reduced to a minimum, besides
other improved details of construction hereinafter described and pointed out in
the claims.
In order that our invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried
into practical effect we have appended hereunto a double sized sheet of drawings
upon which we have illustrated examples of our improvements.
Figure 1 is a plan view of a trolley base constructed according to our inven-
tion and with the pole carrying section in its vertical position.
Figure 2 a side elevation thereof but with the pole carrying section in its
horizontal position.
Figure 3 a longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof taken on line 3-3 Figure 1
and
Figure 4 a section on line 4 4, Figure 2:
The base plate 5 is preferably of circular form and has a central vertical trun-
nion 6 provided with a vertical screw threaded boring 7, extending there through,
the outside surface of said trunnion having a series of longitudinal grooves 8
to receive graphite or other lubricant, while its foot is encircled by a shoulder
having a groove 10, concentric of said trunnion. This trunnion receives upon it
a sleeve like hub 11, formed integral with and centrally of the upper surface of
the swinging pole carrying plate 12. The central perforation a through this
hub corresponds in size to the circumference of the trunnion and has its upper
end extended in thickness in order to provide space in which to form a groove 13,
concentric thereof. A circular cap 14 corresponding in circumference to the
circumference of the extended upper end of the hub and groovod, as at 15, upon
its under side to correspond with the groove in the upper end of said hub, is
perforated centrally, as at b, to allow the passage there through of a screw bolt 16,
adapted to take into the screw threaded boring 7 of the trunnion. The underside
of the swinging plate 12 has a boss 17 formed thereon concentric of the perfora-
tion a and corresponding in circumference to the shoulder 9 and having a groove 18
similar to that cut in the face thereof. These grooves 13 and 15 and 10 and 18,
respectively corresponding with one another each form a runway for a series of
balls 19, acting as ballbearings to facilitate the movement of the hub about its
trunnion while the vertical longitudinal grooves S are, as before mentioned, adapted
to be filled with graphite, or the like for lubrication purposes, and, if desired the
particular portions of the parts in which the ball bearing runways are formed,
can be made of hardened steel to assist in resisting wear. On one end of the
upper side of the swing plate 12 a bracket 20 is rigidly mounted and provided
with a horizontal boring adapted to receive a screw threaded arm 21, of a
T shaped section, the other two arms whereof extend horizontally toward each
side of the plate 12 and have their ends bent to form hooks 22 while the threaded
arm 21 is held in place in the bracket 20 by a pair of jam nuts 23 adapted to take
upon said arm 21, one on each side of bracket. To opposite end of the
plate 12 an arm 24 is pivotally connected, as at 25, and has its outer end 26* made

page_text: of cylindrical form and recessed as at 27 to form a socket to receive the inner end 28
of the trolley pole.
Upon this arm 24 and preferably cast in one therewith, is formed adjacent to
said socket a curved crosspiece 25 the ends whereof are laterally off set to form
a pair of hooks 26 in the same vertical planes as the hooked ends 22 of the
Tshaped section, and between these latter and said hooks 26, the operating spiral
springs 27 are extended with their ends secure to same.
The tension of these springs may be reduced or increased by adjusting the
screw threaded arm 21 (by means of the jam nuts 23) toward or away from said
trolley pole socket, while the rearward position of the hooks 26 relatively to the
longitudinal axis of the trolley pole enables the springs to be brought into a line
parallel to the dead centreing line of the trolley pole relatively to its carrying
plate 12 when the pole is lowered to a horizontal position, as shewn clearly in
Figure 2 and thus reduce to a minimum the strain upon the pole when being
held down for any purpose. It has frequently happened when the trolley has
slipped or been displaced from the trolley wire that the tension of the springs
upon the trolley pole has caused the same to spring back with such force that the
pivot pin or some other part has been broken and the pole not unfrequently com-
pletely detached from its base. To obviate this defect is a further object of our
invention, and to that end we mount a buffer-section upon said swinging plate
and immediately in line with the trolley pole socket in order that when the springs
are allowed to exert their full retractile strength upon the pole the arm of the
socket will strike upon the buffer, and thus relieve the pivot pin of all, but a
very small portion of the strain. This buffer preferably consists of a hollow
cylindrical portion 30 (having one end closed as at 31 and perforated) located
upon the swinging plate 12 and preferably cast in one therewith and adjacent to
the trolley pole socket. This cylinder 30 receives a second cylinder 32, also
having one end closed and perforated and the outer face thereof being preferably
of convex form and the inner face provided with a short hub 33 having a perfora-
tion of slightly smaller diameter than the perforation through the closed end.
A spiral spring 34 is carried within the inner cylinder and is adapted to bear
between the inner faces of said inner and outer cylinders, and the extent of move-
ment of said inner cylinder out of said outer cylinder is limited by a bolt 35 having
its head located in the perforation in the convex head of the inner cylinder and bearing
upon the hub 33, while the end of the bolt projects through the perforation in the
closed end of the outer cylinder and receives a nut thereon.
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;-
CLAIMS.
First. In a trolley base a base plate presenting an upwardly projecting trunnion
and having a groove to receive anti friction bearings; a swinging pole carrying
plate provide with a hub adapted to take over said trunnion and presenting upper
and bearing surfaces having grooves to receive anti friction bearings and a cap
having grooves for antifriction bearings on its underside and adapted to fit over
said hub antifriction balls within said grooves and a centre retaining bolt passing
through said cap and screwing into said hub for holding said swinging plate in
place as shewn and described."
Second. In a trolley-base, a base plate presenting an upwardly projecting
trunnion a swinging pole carrying plate provided with a hub adapted to take over
said trunnion; a cap adapted to fit over said trunnion and hub, bearing surfaces
having grooves to receive anti-friction bearings between said cap and hub and
between said hub and base plate and a central retaining bolt passing through said
cap and screwing into said hub for holding said cap in place upon such bearings.
Third. In a trolley base, the combination with the frame having a vertical
projection at one end and a pivoted socket section for the trolley-pole at the other

page_text: end, said socket section having a pair of integral arms of curved hook form pro-
jecting therefrom at a point between its pivot-point and free end, of springs
adapted to normally yieldingly hold said trolley pole in its working position and
means comprising an integral T-shaped section having its cross arms of curved
hook form to receive the ends of the springs and its central arm screw threaded to
work in a screw threaded horizontal boring in said vertical projection with jam
nuts on either side, for adjusting said springs, the latter having their ends con-
nected to the hooked arms of the pole section and to the hooked arm of the said
T-shaped section; and a spring buffer carried by said frame adjacent to said trolley
pole socket and adapted to receive the impact of and to limit the distance said pole
may be drawn by said springs, as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. A trolley base comprising a stationary base-plate said base plate having
a vertically projecting trunnion formed integrally with and concentric thereof
and having a central vertical screw threaded perforation extending vertically and
centrally therethrough and through the swinging plate the upper end of said
hub being extended in thickness and grooved concentrically of the vertical per-
foration therethrough, a boss formed on the lower side of said swinging plate, said
boss and the face of the base plate being correspondingly grooved to form a runway
concentric of the said vertical perforation, for a series of balls; a circular cap of
a circumference equal to the circumference of the upper end of the hub, and grooved
correspondingly in order to form, with the groove in the upper end of said hub,
a runway for a series of balls, a headed screw threaded bolt adapted to pass freely
downwardly through a perforation in said cap and take into the vertical screw-
threaded perforation in the trunnion, said swinging plate carrying the trolley-
pole normally yieldingly held in a vertical position and means for holding said
pole substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.
Fifth. A trolley base comprising a stationary base plate, said base plate having
a vertically projecting trunnion formed integrally with and concentric thereof,
and having a central vertical screw threaded perforation, a swinging-plate having
a hub formed centrally thereof and with a perforation extending vertically there-
through and through the swinging plate, said base and the face of the base plate
being correspondingly grooved to form a runway concentric of the said vertical
perforation, for a series of balls; a circular cap of a circumference equal to the cir-
cumference of the upper end of the hub and grooved correspondingly in order to
form with the groove in upper end of said hub, a runway for a series of balls; a
headed screw threaded bolt adapted to take downwardly through a perforation
in said cap and into the vertical screw threaded perforation in the trunnion, a
trolley-pole-carrying section pivotally connected to one end of said carrying-plate
one or more coiled springs connected to said trolley pole section and at the other
end to the opposite end of said carrying-plate, and a buffer consisting of a hollow
cylindrical section having one end closed, connect rigidly to said plate adjacent to
said trolley pole section a second hollow cylindrical section having one end closed,
adapted to slide within said first mentioned cylindrical section, a spiral spring
carried within said inner cylindrical section and adapted to bear between the
inner side of the closed ends of said cylindrical sections, and a bolt connected to
the closed end of the inner cylindrical section, and extending through a perforation
in the closed end of the outer cylindrical section and having a nut screwed thereon,
all substantially as described.
Sixth. In combination with a carrying plate a trolley pole pivotally connected
to one end of said carrying plate, a bracket formed upon the opposite end of said
carrying plate and horizontally perforated in line with said trolley pole, a
T-shaped section having its vertical arm screw threaded and adapted to take
through said perforation of said bracket, a pair jam nuts taking upon said screw
threaded arm and located one at each side of the said bracket the cross arms of
said T section being extended in a horizontal plane and having their ends hooked
a curved crosspiece formed upon said trolley-pole section and having its ends
hooked, and a pair of retractile spiral springs cach connected at one end to one

page_text: of the hooks of the T shaped section and at its other end to one of the hooks of
the trolley pole section substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Seventh. A trolley base comprising a stationary base plate said base plate
having a vertically projecting trunnion formed integrally with and concentric
thereof and having a central vertical screw threaded perforation, a swinging
plate having a hub formed centrally thereof and with a perforation extending
vertically therethrough and through the swinging plate, the upper end of said
hub being extended in thickness and grooved concentrically of the vertical per-
foration therethrough a boss formed upon the lower side of said swinging plate,
said boss and the face of the base plate being correspondingly grooved to form a
runway concentric of the said vertical perforation for a series of balls; a circular
cap of a circumference equal to the circumference of the upper end of the hub
and grooved correspondingly in order to form with the groove in the upper end of
the said hub a runway for a series of balls; a headed screw threaded bolt adapted
to take downwardly through a perforation in said cap and into the vertical screw
threaded perforation in the trunnion a bracket formed upon the opposite end of
the said swinging plate and horizontally perforated in line with said trolley pole
a T-shaped section having its vertical arm screw threaded and adapted to take
through said perforations in said bracket, a pair of jam nuts taking upon said
screw threaded arm and located one on each side of said bracket, the cross arms of
said T section being extended in a horizontal plane and having their ends
hooked, and a pair of retractile spiral springs each connected at one end to one
of the hooks of the T shaped section and at its other end to one of the hooks of
the trolley pole section and a buffer consisting of a hollow cylindrical section,
having one end closed connected rigidly to said swinging plate adjacent to said
trolley pole section, a second hollow cylindrical section, having one end closed
adapted to slide within said first mentioned cylindrical section a spiral spring
carried within said inner cylindrical section and adapted to bear between the inner
side of the closed ends of the said cylindrical sections and a bolt connected to the
closed end of the inner cylindrical section and extending through a perforation
in the closed end of the said outer cylindrical section and having a nut screwed
thereon, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
HARRISON GATES TAYLOR and
ROBERT GARDNER.
By George Barker,
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents,
Agent for Applicants,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham.