Improvements relating to Conductors and Collectors for Electric Railways.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 10th Dec., 1898.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Conductors and Collectors for Electric
Railways.
I, CHARLES HENRY MYERS, of 172, Edward Street, in the City of Buffalo, County
of Erie, State of New York, United States of America, Inventor, 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 electric railways especially designed
for use in elevated and overhead railways and for suburban service where the
track is not subject to any considerable amount of surface traffic except at the
crossings of roads and highways; and the object that I have in view is to provide
an improved means for affording protection to a conductor rail laid between the
wheel-rails and designed to prevent persons afoot from stepping on the conductor.
rail, to be subject to a shock from the current in said rail.
A further object of the invention is to so construct the rail-protecting appliance
as to permit of ready accessibility to the conductor-rail for the purpose of inspec-
tion and repairs.
A further object of the invention is to provide an inproved means for supporting
the trolley and for reversing the same at the end of the route.
With these ends in view, my invention consists in the novel combination of
devices, and in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be herein-
after fully described and claimed.
To enable others to understand my invention, I have illustrated a preferred
embodiment of the same in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this
specification, and in which:-
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation showing one of the cross-ties and other parts of
a track, also a trolley and a conductor-rail protector appliance constructed in
accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the parts shown by Fig. 1, with part of the rail-protector
appliance broken away.
Fig. 3 is a detail view showing the conductor-rail and a part of the protector
appliance thrown back out of the way to permit access to be had to the conductor-
rail.
Like numerals of reference denote corresponding and like parts, in all figures
of the drawing.
The ties and rails of an ordinary railway track are indicated in a general way
at 1, 2, respectively, in Figs. 1 and 2, of the drawing. A conductor-rail for the
current of electric energy is indicated at 3, and this rail is arranged midway
between the track-rails, 2. This conductor-rail 3, is seated in a chair 4, which is
attached to the ties in any approved manner, and said conductor-rail may be
insulated in the chair, or the chair itself may be of insulating material to in-
solute the conductor-rail from the track.
The chair may be continuous substantially as shown by Fig. 2, or a series of
the chairs may be provided at suitable intervals for the proper support and
insulation of the conductor-rails,

page_text: I have designed this track with the mid-rail conductor for use in elevated or
overhead railways, as well as for suburban traffic through sections of the country
where there not much surface traffic except at road crossings or highways, at
which crossings the track is designed to be protected in a substantial and per-
manent, manner to permit of the passage of vehicles, and the like, without exposing
animals and human beings to contact with the conductor-rail.
At other places, the conductor-rail is housed and protected by a sectional boxing
or housing, the members or sides of which are indicated at 5 and 6, in the drawings.
Each side of the box-like housing consists of a metallic piece, shaped to appro-
priate form to overhang the rail 3; and for this purpose, the sides of the boxing
or housing are flanged at their upper ends so as to have the flanges extend in-
wardly and form between them a slot or space, indicated at 7, for the reception
and travel of the wheel of the trolley, as shown by Fig. 1.
The sides or members of the housing are arranged on opposite sides of the con-
ductor-rail, and the lower edges of the housing-sides are hinged or pivoted, as at 8,
to brackets or plates 9, which are fastened to the ties of the track. The hinges
or pivots that attach the housing-sides to the places or brackes, are arranged to
permit the housing sides to abut or bear against the ends of the brackets or
plates 9, and thus the housing-sides are limited in their inward movement toward
the conductor-rail, so as to be held or maintained in proper relation thereto.
The sides of the housing or boxing are arranged to be thrown backward and
away from the conductor-rail, to permit ready access thereto for inspection or
repairs, or for cleaning the conduit of accumulations of dirt and refuse. To
attain this end, I construct each side of the boxing or housing in suitable lengths,
hinge each length in the manner described, and provide means for locking the
lengths of each side of the boxing or housing. One means for locking the adjust-
able housing is shown in the drawings as consisting of the stay or brace rod 10.
and a locking contrivance 11. Each brace or stay is pivotally attached, at its
inner end, to the boxing or housing, at at 12, while the other end
of said brace or stay, is constructed to engage with, a staple or keeper 13,
with which the lock 11, may be engaged to confine the brace or stay to the keeper
I would have it understood that I do not, however, strictly confine myself to
this means for fastening the stay or brace in place, as I am aware that other
devices may be substituted for the construction herein shown and described.
The trolley is indicated at 15 in the drawing, and it consists of an arm 16, a
contact wheel or traveler 17, a hanger 18, in which the trolley arm is journaled,
a spring 19, for depressing the trolley arm to force the traveler or contact wheel
into the necessary frictional contact with the contact-rail, and means for raising
the trolley arm and its traveler against the tension of the spring.
I have shown the hanger as consisting of a pair of bracket-shaped lugs, and
the trolley-arm as cast in a single piece to provide a fork at its lower extremity
and a tubular cross-head 16*, at its upper end. This tubular cross-head of the
trolley-arm is adjusted between the bracket-lugs or plates, and a pivotal bolt 20,
passes through the hanger-brackets or lugs and the tubular cross-head of the
trolley-arm in order to pivotally attach the trolley-arm to the hanger; but it is
evident that other means may be resorted to for supporting the trolley arm on
the hanger.
The spring 19, is made, preferably, of a single piece of stout spring wire bent
into a peculiar form to enable it to be supported on the cross-head of the trolley-
arm, and to engage with said trolley-arm and the hanger. This spring is firs
doubled upon itself to form a central loop 19, then bent, or coiled to form the
coils or eyes 19b, and thence the ends are extended to provide the arms 19°, the
loop or spring is adjusted to bear or press against the trolley-arm at one side of
its pivotal attachment to the hanger. The coils of the springs fit on the tubular
cross-head of the trolley arm, while the extending spring arms bear against the
hanger, all as shown by Figs. 1 and 2. The spring is thus supported in operative

page_text: relation to the trolley-arm and the hanger in a manner to effectually overcome
any tendency of the spring to become displaced, and the described construction
of the spring enables it to be applied after the hanger and the trolley-arm have
been adjusted, because the wire can be bent around the parts with ease and
facility.
I have provided a turn-table indicated at 21, in the drawings, for the purpose of
reversing the trolley and its operative elements at the end of a route, in order
that the trolley-arm may trail in rear of its supporting and pivotal devices. This
turn-table is seated in a bearing ring 22, set flush with the car-floor or platform,
and on the turn-tables is mounted the trolley-hanger 18, and the adjusting device
for the trolley-arm to raise the latter in order to have its traveler or contact-wheel
free from the conductor-rail. This turn-table may be of any suitable construction,
and a locking catch may be provided, at diametrically opposite points thereof,
for holding the turn-table in either of its adjusted positions.
As one means for raising the trolley-arm against the tension of its depressing
springs, I have shown a sprocket wheel, pulley, or drum 23, mounted on a shaft 24,
to which is fastened one end of an adjusting lever 25, said lever carrying a spring
This
controlled dog 26 which is arranged to engage with a toothed segment 27.
segment is attached to the turn-table, and it serves as the supporting means for
The drum,
the adjusting wheel, drum or pulley 23, and the operating lever 25.
wheel, or pulley 23, is operatively connected with the trolley arm by a sprocket
chain, strap or cable 28 one end of which is attache,d to the trolley-arm at one
side of its pivot 20, while the other end is coiled or wound on the wheel, drum or
pulley, as shown more clearly by Fig. 2.
While I have shown the lever and its attached parts as the perfected. means for
raising the trolley-arm, I am aware that other devices can be substituted therefor
for adjusting the trolley, as for instance, a wheeled shaft which, however, I have
not deemed it necessary to illustrate.
Parts of my invention may be used without the whole, and minor changes in
the form and proportion of parts, and in the details of construction, may be made
by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit, or sacrificing the ad-
vantages of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination with a conductor-rail of a sectional boxing or housing
arranged to partially inclose the rail and having its sides movable away from said
rail, and means for locking the sides of said boxing or housing in place, for the
purposes described, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with a conductor-rail, of a sectional boxing or housing
arranged to partially inclose the conductor-rail and to provide a slot for a trolley-
traveler to have access to said conductor-rail, as and for the purposes described.
3. The combination with a conductor-rail, of a boxing or housing therefor,
said housing having hinged sides and means for locking the sides in position to
partially inclose the conductor-rail, as and for the purposes described.
4. The combination with a conductor-rail, of a boxing or housing having hinged
sides, braces or stays, attached to said sides of the boxing, and means for locking
the stays in position, as and for the purposes described.
5. The combination with a hanger, of a trolley-arm, pivoted thereto and carry-
ing a traveler, a spring connected with said trolley-arm and the hanger, and
means for adjusting the trolley-arm against the tension of its spring, as and for
the purposes described.
6. The combination with a hanger, of a trolley-arm having a cross-head, a bolt
which passes through said head and the hanger to pivotally attach the trolley-arm
thereto, a spring having the coils fitted on the cross-head and with its loop and

page_text: extending arms engaging with the trolley-arm and the hanger, respectively, and
means for adjusting the trolley-arm against the tension of said spring, as and for
the purposes described.
7. The combination with a. turn-table, of a hanger attached thereto, a spring-
controlled trolley-arm pivoted in said hanger, a segment mounted on said turn-
table, a wheel having a flexible connection with said trolley-arm, and a lever for
adjusting said wheel, as and for the purposes described.
Dated the 7th day of October. 1898.
CHARLES HENRY MYERS.