Improvements relating to Street Railway or Tramway Cars, and to Head-lights therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Apr., 1896--Accepter1, 6th June, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Street Railway or Tramway Cars, and to
Head-lights therefor.
I, FRANKLIN ELIAS HUNTRESS of No. 324 Elm Street, Somerville, Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, Merchant, 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 a headlight for railway cars of that class provided at
its opposite ends with an upright frame or dash board, usually made of one
continuous plate or sheet of metal, and is especially applicable to railway cars of
the class referred to, which are propelled by electricity.
Prior to this invention, it has been customary to provide railway cars of the
class described, with a headlight consisting of a casing containing a lamp and a
reflector located behind the lamp, the said casing being hung or suspended from
the top of the dash board by suitable straps which embrace or fit over the dash
board, so that the headlight is detachably secured to said dash board and can be
readily removed therefrom to permit the car to be used in the day time without
carrying the headlight, which, as now commonly constructed, is unsightly and
highly objectionable, and also to permit the said headlight to be detached from
one dash board and to be attached to the dash board at the opposite end of the
car, when the direction of travel of the car is reversed.
In order to obtain a proper lighting of the track in front of the car, including
both rails and the roadbed between the said rails, the reflector is located behind
the lamp at or near its focus, which requires the casing of the headlight to be
made of considerable depth or length, which is objectionable, as the said casing,
when attached to the dash board, projects in front of the car beyon! the bunter
with which such cars are usually provided, and in case of collision between two
cars or between a car and a wagon, the headlight receives the full force of the
collision and is usually destroyed or damaged to such extent as to render it
worthless and unfit for further use.
When the car is propelled by electricity, the headlight is provided with an
incandescent lamp, supplied with current from the trolley wire and connected
in circuit with the lamps, which light the interior of the car.
As now commonly practised, the lamp of the headlight is connected in circuit
with the lamps within the car by a flexible cord, which is detachably connected with
the lamp in the headlight.
This invention has for its object to provide railway cars of the class referred to,
with a headlight which is carried by the dash board in a manner as will be
described, as will overcome the objectionable features above referred to and permit
the said headlight to be permanently secured to the dash board without danger of
injury by collision and without rendering the front of the car unsightly in the day
time, and also without covering any of the lettering usually placed upon the dash
board to designate the route of the car.
The invention further has for its object to provide electrically propelled cars of
the class referred to, with a headlight permanently secured to the dash board and
connected in circuit with the lamps in the car in such manner as will avoid the
objectionable features attending the use of a flexible and detachable connection as
now commonly used and above referred to.

page_text: These various objects, I am enabled to accomplish by providing the dash board
with a hole or opening of such size as will permit of the reception of the rear
portion or end of the light-containing casing, and thereby permit the said casing to
be permanently secured to the dash board and yet be made of the desired or
required length to obtain the proper lighting of the track as will be described,
without projecting in front of the dash board such a distance as will render it
liable to destruction in case of collision, the said casing when secured to the dash
board increasing the strength of the same.
These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claims at
the end of this Specification.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a sufficient portion of a railway car provided with
a dash board having a headlight permanently secured thereto, to enable this
invention to be understood.
Fig. 2, is a vertical section and elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the dash
board and the headlight being shown in section, and
Fig. 3, a detail to be referred to.
Referring to. Figs. 1 and 2, A represents the body of a car provided at its
opposite ends with platforms 4, and with dash boards or upright frames 2, usually
made of one continuous plate or sheet of metal, erected upon the said platforms and
extending from side to side of the said platform to form a closed end for the same,
only one end of the said car being herein shown, the said parts being of any usual
or suitable construction such as now employed on street railways.
The car is provided as shown with the usual brake rod 3 and with the bunter 5
secured to the car platform and projecting in front of the dash board.
The
In accordance with this invention, the upright frame or dash board 2, which is
usually made of one continuous plate or piece of sheet iron, is provided substantially
at its center with an opening preferably located above and in line with the bunter 5,
and intermediate of the sides and top and bottom of the said dash board, and
which may be made by cutting out a portion of the dash board 2, of a size us will
permit of the reception of the rear end or portion of the casing 8 of a headlight,
and preferably the said opening will be made of a diameter substantially equal to
the diameter of the casing 8, the body portion 9 of which, for the best results, is
made of cylindrical shape and open at its front end and closed at its rear end 10,
which latter may be provided on its inner side with a reflecting surface 12 if desired,
or the rear end of the chamber formed by the casing 8, may contain within it a
parabolic or other reflector 13 secured in said casing in any suitable manner.
body 9 and the rear end 10 of the casing 8, may and preferably will be made of
metal and cast in one piece, and the front end of the casing, which is normally
open, is closed by a transparent medium, such as a plate or disk 15 of glass, of
flat shape or made in the form of a lens as indicated by dotted lines Fig. 2, the
said glass being preferably attached to the casing by means of a clamping ring 14
having its ends provided with ears 18, united by means of a bolt 19, fast to one
ear and sliding through the other ear (see Fig. 3) and connected to a cam lever 20,
by turning which the ears 18 may be brought together to clamp the ring 14 onto
the body portion 9 of the casing. The casing 8 is permanently secured to the
dash board with its front or glass-containing end located on the front side of the
dash board, and with its rear end located on the back or rear side of the dash
board, and this permanent attachment may and preferably will be accomplished by
providing the body portion 9 of the casing with an annular web or flange 16, which
in the present iustance makes contact with the back side of the dash board, and by
means of a removable ring 16¹, which fits over the front end of the casing and is
secured to the dash board and to the ring 16 by bolts 17.
The dash board is materially increased in strength when the headlight casing is
permanently secured thereto.
The casing 8 contains within it a lamp 21, which, in the present instance, is
represented as an incandescent lamp, the rays of which are focussed on the
reflector 13 and are transmitted or reflected back through the glass front 15 as a

page_text: solid unbroken body of light, which illuminates in a highly satisfactory manner
both rails of the track and the road bed between the same, the opening in the
dasher permitting the rear end of the light-containing casing to be extended
preferably a sufficient distance from the rear or back side of the dasher, as will
permit the reflector to be placed in the focus of the lamp, and yet have the front
portion of the casing project a minimum distance from the front side of the dash
board, so that, the said headlight projects in front of the dash board a less distance
than the bunter 5. Danger of breaking or otherwise injuring the heallight from
collisions is thus avoided or reduced to a minimun, and the objections raised against
permanently carrying the old style of headlight on the dash board as above set
forth, are entirely removed, and a neat and effective headlight permanently
secured to the dash board is obtained.
The wires or conductors joined to the terminals of the lamp 21 and not herein.
shown, are led into the casing 8 through a short metal pipe 23 extended through
or resting on the platform 4, and the said pipe protects the conductors or wires
from injury and from atmospheric influences.
To prevent the glass 15 from sweating, air apertures 25 are made in the casing,
which permit of the circulation of air through the said casing and thus convey
away the hot air and prevent the casing from becoming heated. The electric
lamp of the headlight is included in the circuit of the lamps within the car, and
may be controlled by a suitable switch, not shown, which will include the lamp of
the headlight on one dash board, and cut out the lamp of the headlight on the
other dash board, under the present plan of lighting electric cars on systems
employing a current of five hundred volts, five lamps of one hundred volts being
lighted at one time and usually four lamps being located within the cars.
The headlight herein shown has been described as permanently secured to the
dash board in contradistinction to one designed to be detached from the dash board
at the end of the route, and by the term "permanent," I desire to be understood
as meaning a headlight, which remains a fixed part of the dash board after once-
being secured thereto.
By providing the casing with a removable cover at one end, access to the
interior of the said casing may be had for repairs or other purposes. Furthermore,
it will be seen, that by providing the dash-board with a hole substantially central
with relation to the tracks upon which the car runs and intermediate of its sides
and the top and bottom of the same, and permanently securing the lamp-containing
casing to the dash board with its rear portion located in line with the said opening
on the back side of the dash board, and its front portion located in front of the
dash board in line with the said opening, a practical and desirable headlight for
street railway cars is obtained, for the following reasons:
1st. The front portion of the casing projects in front of the dash board a
minimum distance, thereby avoiding the danger of destruction by collision, and
removing the objection to permanently carrying headlights during the day time.
2nd. The casing can be made of the desired length to enable a reflecting surface
to be placed substantially in the focus of the lamp and thereby obtain a solid or
unbroken budy of light upon the tracks and the road bed between the same.
3rd. The rear portion of the casing behind the dash board does not project to
such extent as to interfere with the motorman or with the passengers getting on or
off the car.
4th. A sightly and ornamental headlight is obtained, which does not detract from
the appearance of the front of the car, und
5th. The dash board is not weakened, but on the other hand, is materially
strengthened, and in practice, the opening is located with respect to the top and
bottom of the dash board as to leave a continuous unbroken surface above the
opening for the reception of the usual lettering indicative of the destination of the
car, so that the light may be permanently applied to the dash boards of existing
street cars without objection.

page_text: 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. A street railway car provided with a dash board forming a continuous front
extending from side to side of the car platform and having a substantially central
opening or hole located below the upper edge of the dash board to leave a cou-
tinuous upper surface above the said hole or opening, and a headlight permanently
secured to the said dash board in line with the said hole or opening and consisting
of a light-containing casing having its rear portion located behind the dash board
in line with said opening and its front portion projecting in front of the said dash
board in line with said opening, for the purpose specified.
2. A street railway car provided with a dash board forming a continuous front
extending from side to side of the car platform and having a substantially central
opening or hole located below the upper edge of the dash board to leave a
continuous upper surface above the said hole or opening, and an electrically
illuminated headlight permanently secured to the said dash board in line with
said opening and consisting of a casing provided within it with an electric lamp,
and with a reflecting surface located behind said lamp substantially in its focus,
the said casing being extended through the said hole or opening, for the purpose
specified.
3. A street railway car provided with a solid or continuous sheet metal dash
board having a hole or opening substantially central with relation to the tracks
upon which the said car travels and located below the top edge of the said dash
board, and a headlight permanently secured to said dash board and consisting
of a metal casing composed of a body portion closed at its rear end and
normally open at its front end, a removable transparent cover for the front end,
an annular flange on the body portion intermediate of its ends, the said body
portion projecting through the opening in the dash board on opposite sides of the
same, and a clamping ring fitted over one end of the casing and secured to the dash
board and to the annular flange on the opposite side of the dash board, for the
purpose specified.
4. The combination with the solid or continuous sheet metal dash board of a street
railway car having a hole or opening made in the dash board substantially central
with relation to the tracks upon which said car travels and intermediate of the top
and bottom of the dash board, of an electrically illuminated headlight permanently
secared to the said dash board and consisting of a light-containing casing
closed at its rear end and provided at its front end with a light-transmitting
cover removably secured to said casing, the front portion of the said casing
being located in front of the dash board in line with said opening and the rear
portion of said casing being located on the back or rear side of said dash board in
line with said opening, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
5. The combination with the solid or continuous dash board of a street
railway car having a hole or opening for the reception of a headlight inter-
mediate of its sides and its top and bottom, of the said headlight permanently
secured to the said dash board and consisting of a casing having a body portion
closed at its rear end and normally open at its front end, a transparent cover
for the normally open front end removably attached to the said casing, the latter
having the rear end of its body portion located behind the dash board in line
with the opening therein, and having its front portion projecting in front of the
dash board in line with the opening therein, and means to permanently secure the
said casing to the dash board, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
לוני.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.