A New or Improved System, Comprising a Method of and Means for making Connection between an Underground Conductor and Vehicle Motor, such as a Tramcar or the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1898 ..
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved System, Comprising a Method of and Means
for making Connection between an Underground Conductor and
Vehicle Motor, such as a Tramcar or the like.
I, HARRY LOUIS BUTLER, of 91, High Street, Stoke Newington, London,
Gentleman, 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 a new or improved system of making connection
between an underground conductor and a vehicle motor, such as that of a tramcar
or the like, the principal objects of this improved system being to drive tramcars
by electricity, the current being supplied by an underground conductor, thereby
doing away with weighty secondary batteries and unsightly and dangerous
overhead conductors, while with regard to future lines, to dispense with
underground conduits, which are not only extremely costly, but always
constitute an element of danger, and further, in the case of existing lines, to
provide an inexpensive means of converting a
"horse" or
"electric" road, and to enable this to be done without stopping the running of the
cars and therefore the earning powers of the line, and to utilize the existing rolling
stock with alterations involving only a minimum of expense.
steam" road into an
In carrying my invention into practical effect, under the car is suspended a
curved electro-magnet, consisting really, of a series of electro-magnets but which
may be considered as practically constituting only one electro-magnet, having its
ends dipping almost to the rail level said ends being of north and south polarity,
while the centre of said magnet is some inches higher and well above the rail level,
and therefore above all surface water, wet mud, and the like.
The ends of this electro-magnet, or the electro-magnets forming the ends of
what may be practically considered as one electro-magnet, are more powerful than
the intermediate electro-magnets, as they have lifting work to do, while the series
of magnets forming practically one continuous electro-magnet are connected with
a suitable switch in such a manner that the current may be sent round the cores of
the one, two or more magnets constituting each end of the said whole magnet in
either direction, so that they may be of either north or south polarity alternately as
required, according to in which direction the car is travelling, while the intermediate
electro-magnets forming the central portion of said whole magnet remain always
positive, and thus, while the said intermediate electro-magnets are always positive,
the leading electro-magnet is also always of positive polarity and the trailing
electro-magnet always of negative polarity.
An underground cable or insulated conductor is laid by the side of one of the
running rails and at intervals along the line, (the distance of which is governed by
the length of the electro-magnet beneath the car), metal boxes are bolted or
otherwise suitably secured to that running rail. The conductor is tapped at each
box and the current led into the boxes by insulated connections.

page_text: Each box contains a vertical plunger comprising a metal top and inner spindle
which is insulated from the rest of said plunger.
As the leading electro-magnet, or the leading end of the electro-magnet
considered as a whole, comes over one of the said boxes, the plunger is drawn up
and following the curve given to the end of the said electro-magnet, it attains its
maximum height, which is several inches above the rail level, the top of said
plunger, through which the current has to pass to the car motor, being thus well
above all surface water, wet mud and the like, which would otherwise cause a
leakage of the current. The movable plunger gathers the current when it has
risen about half its travel by means of a projection on the spindle of the said
plunger coming into contact with the connection or an extension of the connection
carrying the current into the box, at the same time it comes into contact with an
insulated conductor carried beneath the aforesaid electro-magnet or electro-magnets
arranged beneath the car, the current travelling thence through the coils of the
electro-magnets to the motor, being returned through the wheels to the running
rails.
The leading electro-magnets or the leading end of the electro-magnet considered
as a whole, therefore lifts the plunger in the box, which in rising gathers the
current, communicating it to a receiver conductor on the car at a height of several
inches above the rail level.
The intermediate electro-magnets or the intermediate part of the electro-magnet
considered as a whole, has only to retain the plunger in its elevated position and
hold it in contact with the conductor on the car. The trailing electro-magnet or
the trailing end of the electro-magnet considered as a whole, and which is of
opposite polarity to that of the leading end, repulses the plunger, driving it back
into its box, and this downward travel of the plunger is further assured by the
curved shape of the electro-magnet at this end, which alone would be sufficient to
physically force the plunger back, thus assuring the road being left closed, safe and
entirely free from current, the plunger, about halfway on its backward travel,
losing its current in a similar manner as at about halfway on its forward travel it
gathered it.
In order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will now proceed to
describe same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which :---
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section showing the arrangement of the
principal parts of my improved system,
Fig. 2 being a plan of a portion of the road.
Fig. 3 is a central cross section through one of the boxes and the mechanism
contained therein,
Fig. 4 being a cross section taken at right angles to Fig. 3, these two views
being drawn at an enlarged scale as compared with Figs. 1 and 2.
Fig. 5 is a cross section of the electro-magnet and insulated conductor.
According to my invention, a curved electro-magnet a is suspended beneath the
car, said magnet really consisting of a series of electro-magnets and comprising
the end magnets a³, a², and the intermediate magnets a³. For practical purposes
the series of magnets a¹, a² and a³ may be considered as forming one whole
magnet having its its ends c, d, bent to, or nearly to the rail level as shown, with
its central part a some inches higher and well above the rail level.
The connections from the whole of the magnets a¹, a², and a³ are connected with
a suitable switch such as shown at b (Fig. 1) which enables the current to be thrown
round the cores of the end electro-magnets a¹, a², in either direction so as to
produce a positive or negative polarity in either end as required, and according to
the direction in which the car is travelling while the current flows round the cores
of the intermediate electro-magnets as in such a manner as to always produce
positive polarity.
The ends c, d, or the electro-magnets a² and a² forming the said ends of what
may be practically considered as one electro-magnet, are more powerful than the
intermediate electro-magnets a³ forming the central part a, as they have lifting

page_text: work to do, while, as before stated, the whole of the magnets have their connections
to the switch 6 arranged in such a manner that the leading end c (supposing the
car to be travelling in the direction of the arrow) is always of positive polarity;
while the trailing end d is always of negative polarity, the central portion a
remaining always of positive polarity.
An underground cable or insulated conductor e is laid by the side of one of the
running rails f and at intervals along the line metal boxes g (Figs. 1 & 2) are
bolted or suitably secured to the said running rail.
Each box contains a vertical plunger g¹ comprising a metal top g² and inner
metal spindle g3 which is suitably insulated from the outer part g' of said plunger
as shown.
As the leading electro-magnet, or the leading end c of the electro-magnet
considered as a whole, comes over one of the said boxes, the plunger g' (Figs. 1 & 2)
is drawn up and following the curve given to the end of the said electro-magnet,
it attains its maximum height, which is several inches above the rail level, the
top g² of the said plunger, through which the current passes to the car motor,
being thus well above all surface water, wet mud and the like which would other-
wise cause a leakage of the current.
The movable plunger g¹ gathers the current when it has risen about half its
travel, by means of a projecting arm h on the spindle g³, which is in connection
with a metallic ring j, the latter coming into contact with a corresponding metallic
ring with which the extension of the connection k² carrying the current into the
box, is in electrical contact. At the same time as the plunger in rising gathers the
current, it comes into contact with the insulated conductor m, (Figs. 1 & 5) which
is arranged beneath the electro-magnet carried under the car, the current travelling
thence through the coils of the electro-magnets to the motor, being returned through
the wheels to the running rails.
As will readily be seen from Figs. 3 and 4, the plunger gathers the current when it
has risen to about half its travel, but it is obvious that it may be so arranged as to
gather the current at any other part of its travel, while the extension % of the
connection 2 leading the current into the box, is preferably arranged spirally
around the plunger as shown, in such a manner as to readily rise and fall with the
travel of said plunger. No special method of connection is claimed, but the end k
of the extension k, may be kept in close contact with the connection ², leading the
current into the box, by means of a spiral spring such as k³.
Any suitable packing may be employed between the plunger g¹ and sides of the
box g, such for instance as a ring or washer of india-rubber or the like as shown
at n (Figs. 3 and 4).
The operation and action of the various parts is as follows:-
The leading electro-magnets a', or the leading end c of the electro-magnet
considered as a whole, lifts the plunger g¹, arranged within the box g, which in rising
gathers the current as herein before described, communicating it to the receiver
conductor m upon the car at a height of several inches above the road level.
The
The intermediate electro-magnets a³, or the intermediate part a of the electro-
magnet considered as a whole, has only to retain the plunger g¹ in its elevated
position, so as to keep it in close contact with the conductor m on the car.
trailing electro-magnets a², or the trailing end d of the electro-magnet considered
as a whole, and which is of opposite polarity to that of the leading end c, repulses
the plunger g¹, driving it back into its box g and this downward travel of the
plunger is further assured by the curved shape of the electro-magnet as shown,
which is sufficient, in itself, to physically force the plunger g¹ back.
The trailing portion of the electro-magnet may be dispensed with from an
electrical point of view, if however it is used electrically, I rely upon the residual
magnetism in the plunger being sufficient to cause the repulsion of same, but over
and above this I rely upon the form or shape of the trailing portion of the electro-
magnet to do this work physically as before stated.
In order to keep the width of the working face of the electro-magnet within

page_text: reasonable proportions and still maintain contact with the head of the plunger when
rounding a curve, the said magnet is preferably formed in two or more parts
swivelly connected together as shown at r (Fig. 1).
The box g containing the vertical plunger g¹ and its connections, may be of any
suitable construction and need not therefore be described in detail.
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 :-
1/. The new or improved method of and means for making connection between
an underground conductor and a vehicle motor, substantially as herein described
and shown, and for the purposes specified.
2/ In a method of and means for making connection between an underground
conductor and a vehicle motor, the employment of vertical plungers such as g¹,
contained within suitable boxes g arranged at suitable intervals along the line, in
combination with electro-magnets such as a¹, a² a³ forming practically one whole
magnet, carried on the car, and designed to raise the aforesaid plungers by means
of its leading end, retain them in their elevated position by means of its
intermediate portion and to repulse the said plungers by means of its trailing
end, the whole arranged and operating, substantially as herein described and
shown, and for the purposes specified.
3/. In a method of and means for making connection between an underground
conductor and a vehicle motor, the employment of movable plungers, designed to
be raised by an electro-magnet or electro-magnets, said plungers gathering the
current at about half their forward travel and imparting it to an insulated conductor
beneath the car, when well above the road level, and consequently above all surface
water, wet mud and the like, substantially as herein described and shown, and for
the purposes specified.
Dated this 14th day of January 1898.
F. G. CASSELL,
(Of Cassell & Co.),
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London, W.,
Agent for the Applicant.