Improvements in Electric Contacts, suitable for Railway Signalling and other Purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in Electric Contacts, suitable for Railway Signalling
and other Purposes.
ROBERT BURN, Railway Signal Engineer, and ALFRED CHARLES BROWN, Elec-
trician, both of Winchester House, 50, Old Broad Street, City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to means for making contact and completing the electric
circuit on the passage of a locomotive, train or vehicle, over a given point or
section of a railway or tramway for all purposes where a rail contact is useful but
especially in connection with signals which require to be actuated only when the
locomotive or vehicle is on a particular part of the line. This part of the invention
is designed to overcome the difficulties which characterize the many forms of rail
contact heretofore in use.
The contact arrangement consists of a wire brush, or its equivalent, (such as a
strip, a bow or camber of steel) placed near one of the rails with wire tufts or
bunches of wire fixed in such a position as to make contact with the rims or flanges
of the wheels of the locomotive or vehicles as they pass and by this means to
complete an electric circuit through the wheels and preferably thence through the
rails to earth. The tufts may, in other cases, make contact with an insulated rim
or flange on the passing wheels for other electrical purposes such for instance as
the actuation of signals on the weather-board of an engine; or for the transmission
of power for motor and other purposes.
The various tufts of the brush are made of flexible conducting wire and may in
most cases be placed at a considerable distance apart; when, for instance, the brush
is used in connection with the flanges of the wheels which present a considerable
length of surface, with which each tuft in rotation remains for some time in contact.
In such cases we prefer to place the tufts of the brush at such a distance from
one another that each one will come in contact with the flange of the wheel before
contact is broken by its predecessor. By this method of construction the brush
can be made of considerable length with a small quantity of material.
The tufts of wire may be placed in a long stock of suitable material such as
wood, metal, dc., preferably so that each tuft can be easily renewed without dis-
turbing the remainder, as, for instance, by inserting the complete tuft into a
metallic socket connected with the conductor. The brush may, however, be made
in any other convenient manner so long as the separate wires are electrically
connected. The brush is then arranged to form part of any electric circuit which
it is desired to complete on the passage of a locomotive or vehicle.
For some purpose we may place in connection with this brush an electric
battery and an electric bell, or other audible or visual signal, so as to form a
01

page_text: localising signal on the passage of a train or we may place one or more of our
combined signal-cones, containing both bell and hooter (as described in our
Patent No. 28021/96) or any other signal arranged to indicate whether a section
of the line is clear or blocked.
For some other purposes we may use only one tuft, affixed to a stud or bracket
on the permanent way, projecting in such a manner as to make contact with the
wheel flanges.
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Improvements in Electric Contacts, suitable for Railway Signalling
and other Purposes.
We, ROBERT BURN, Railway Signal Engineer, and ALFRED CHARLES BROWN,
Electrician, both of 50, Old Broad Street, in the City of London, 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 means for making contact and completing an electric
circuit on the passage of a locomotive or train or vehicle over a given point or
section of a railway or tramway.
According to this invention the electric circuit is arranged to be completed
through the wheels of the locomotive or vehicles coming against wire tufts or
brushes or their equivalents fixed in a position near to one of the rails, either out-
side or inside, so as to make contact with either the side or flange of the wheel.
Ordinarily we place the brushes on the same side of the rail as that which the
flanges of the wheels bear against so that the flanges of the wheels may pass
down between the brushes and the rail.
Figure 1 is a cross section, and Figure 2 a plan view, of a portion of a railway
rail having a wire brush so fixed at a short distance from it.
A is one of the rails of a line of railway. B B are tufts or bunches of wire each
secured by a clamp C to an angle iron bar D which may be of any desired length
and have any desired number of tufts secured to it. E E are wooden blocks to
which the angle iron bar is secured and which are fixed to iron supports F secured
to the sleepers.
. We do not limit ourselves to this method of construction. The wire tufts, or
their equivalents, may be fixed in a variety of ways, the only conditions being that
they should be firmly held in such a position as to make effective contact with
some part of the wheel, as it passes, and that they be effectively insulated from
earth.
The tufts may be connected by the angle iron bar or other insulated conductor
through a sounding or other signalling instrument and through contact mechanism
opened and closed by the ordinary signal lever used for working the ordinary
signals to one pole of a battery and the rail to the other pole of the battery via earth
or a return circuit.
When the rim or flange of a wheel G, running on the rail, comes into contact with
one or other of the wire tufts a circuit may in this way be completed through any
electrically controlled sounding or signalling instrument-through one signalling
instrument when the signal lever is in one position and through another instrument
if the lever is in its other position.
The wire brush contacts brought into electrical connection with the wheels of

page_text: a passing locomotive or vehicle in the manner above described can also be utilized
for other purposes such for example as:-
(1). Automatically putting out-door signals to "danger" by a passing or stand-
ing engine or train, and locking them in that position until the engine or train
has passed well out of the section; the signals that may with safety be set free
are then automatically unlocked by the engine by means of a second contact in
advance.
(2). Locking and unlocking signal levers and block instruments in cabins.
(3). Actuating audible and visible signals in cabins for indicating (a) than an
engine or train is standing in the station or at a given stop signal; (b) that it has
passed out of the section.
(4). Actuating audible signals on the roadside in fogs, snowstorms, or emer-
gencies, etc.
(5). Actuating alarm bells at level crossings, stations, gates, etc., to give warning
of an approaching train, and for other purposes.
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:-
-
1. Electrical contact mechanism suitable for railway signalling composed of
wire tufts or like spring contact pieces fixed alongside of one of the rails and at
such a distance from it that the sides of the wheels of a passing or standing loco-
motive or vehicle come against them and thereby complete an electric circuit.
2. The combination of a wire brush, the wheel of a locomotive or railway vehicle
and the rail on which it runs as a means of completing an electric circuit.
3. Electrical contact mechanism suitable for railway signalling composed of
wire tufts or like spring contact pieces fixed near to that side of a rail against
which the flanges of the wheels of passing or standing locomotives or vehicles bear
and at such a distance from that side of the rail that the flanges of the wheels pass
down between them and the rail and form an electrical connection between them.
Dated this 31st day of October 1898.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.