Improvements in Electric Railways of the Sectional Conductor Type,
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Jan., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 27th Oct,, 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways of the Sectional Conductor Type,
A communication from abroad by FREDERICK CARLETON ESMOND, of 488, Fourth
Street, Brooklyn, in the County and State of New York, United States of
America, Electrical Engineer.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I.Mech. E., of Norfolk House, Norfolk
Street, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention (as communicated to me from abroad) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to electric traction systems in which current is supplied
to the moving car by means of brushes or contact pieces which make electrical
connection with conducting sections in the roadway. In such systems the
conducting sections are usually arranged in lengths, successive lengths being
insulated from one another and supplied with current from the main supply
conductor by means of switches which are put in operation as the car moves
forward. It is important that the sectional conductors immediately beneath the
car at any moment should be the only ones connected to the main supply con-
ductor, and that when the car passes on, these sectional conductors should be
disconnected. For, since these sectional conductors are exposed and easily
accessible, they constitute a source of danger if left connected to the main supply
conductor after the car has passed on. Hence in such systems devices have been
introduced for the purpose of cutting out sectional conductors after the car has
passed. It sometimes happens however that these devices fail to act in con-
sequence of some part of the mechanism becoming disarranged, and the switches
stick and fail to disconnect at the right moment.
The present invention overcomes this difficulty and secures that in the event
of the cutting out device fauing to act the corresponding sectional conductor
is automatically disconnected from the main supply conductor and remains dis-
connected until the defect in the cutting-out device has been remedied.
39
In carrying out my invention I make use of an electro-magnet with two
armatures which I may for the purpose of description call the upper armature
and the lower armature, although I do not thereby intend to confine myself to
placing them in any such relative position. I arrange the connections in such
a way that both the upper and lower armatures have to be in the on position
in order that current may pass from the main supply conductor to the corre-
sponding sectional conductors. The connection of successive sectional con-
ductors with their corresponding switches is such that when the car passes off
any section the two armatures in the corresponding switch should both go back
of the "off" position.
In case the lower armature should stick, I arrange in my invention that the
upper armature on returning to its "off" position completes a circuit through
the lower armature in its " on position so as to connect the main supply
conductor directly with the ground, and thereby blow a fuse in the said circuit
39

page_text: and completely cut off the switch and the corresponding sectional conductor from
the main supply conductor.
I shall now proceed to describe in what manner I may carry out my invention,
at the same time referring to the accompanying drawings for illustration.
In Figure I, 1 is the main supply conductor, and 2, 2, 3, 3, and 4, 4 are
successive pairs of sectional conductors in the roadway. 5 is an electro-magnet
in the switch which controls the sectional conductors 2, 2. The switches con-
trolling the sectional conductors 3, 3, 4, 4, are not shown in the drawing. 6 and 7
are the upper and lower armatures respectively. 8 and 9 are contact pieces
connected therewith. Contact piece 8 is pivotted at 10, and when not attracted
by the magnet is forced by a spring not shown against a stud 11 thereby connecting
stud 11 with a pivot 10. When attracted by the magnet, 8 disconnects from 11 and
connects with the stud 12, thereby connecting 12 with the pivot 10. Contact
piece 9 in the "
off" position as shown in the figure rests against the stud 13,
against which it is pressed when not attracted by the magnet by means of a
spring not shown in the figure. When in the " on position contact piece 9
rests against the studs 14 and 15 thereby making electrical connection between
them. I have shown the electro-magnet 5 wound with two windings 16 and 17,
the end common to the fwo windings being connected to the stud 12, the free
end of 16 is connected to one sectional conductor 2 and the free end of 17 is
connected to the other sectional conductor 2. The double winding herein referred to
is more fully described in the Specifications accompanying the Letters Patent
No. 7694 of 1896 and No. 21,249 of 1897. Studs 11 and 13 are both connected
to the ground at 18. Stud 14 is connected to the pivot 10 and stud 15 is
connected to the main supply conductor through the fuse 19.
"
The action is as follows: When the car is over the sectional conductors 2, 2, the
electro-magnet 5 attracts the two armatures 6 and 7 thereby permitting current to
pass from the main supply conductor through stud 15, contact piece 9, stud 14,
pivot 10, contact piece 8, stud 12, and the magnet windings to the sectional
conductors 2, 2. As soon as the car passes off the sectional conductors 2, 2
and on to the sectional conductors 4, 4, the switch corresponding to sections 4. 4
admits current from the main supply conductor to the car, and electro-magnet 5
is rendered inoperative, the armatures 6 and 7 are released and if everything
is in good order the contact pieces 8 and 9 will immediately go to the "off"
position as shown in the figure. If however the contact piece 9 should stick
and contact piece 8 return to the "off" position, then there will be a direct
connection from the main supply conductor through stud 11 to the ground, the
fuse 19 will be immediately blown and the sectional conductors 2, 2 entirely
cut off. These sectional conductors will remain cut off until the defect in the
switch has been remedied.
I have not here specially described the way in which the electro-magnet 5
is rendered inoperative when the car passes off the sectional conductors 2, 2
as such does not form part of the present invention. For the purpose of
explanation however I may allude to one way in which this is done. Before the
car leaves sectional conductors 2, 2 a current is sent through the electro-magnet
similar to, and immediately ahead of, electro-magnet 5, thereby closing the
circuit from the main supply conductor to sectional conductors 4, 4. This has
the effect of short-circuiting the electro-magnet 5 which being thus weakened
releases the armatures 6 and 7. The circuit to each pair of sectional conductors
is thus automatically broken when that to the sectional conductors immediately
ahead is made.
In Figure I it will be seen that the circuit connecting the main supply con-
ductor with the sectional conductors is broken by each of the contact pieces S
and 9. I anticipate that this arrangement will be of value when it is desired
to take special precautions to avoid sparking at the moment when this circuit is
broken. In Figure 2, a different arrangement is shown in which the main circuit
is broken only by the lower armature.

page_text: In this figure, 1 is the main supply conductor. 2, 2, 3, 3, are the sectional
conductors in the roadway. A and B are the switches controlling sectional
conductors 2, 2, and 3, 3, respectively. 4 and 5 are the electro-magnets of
switches A and B, 6 and the upper contact pieces and 8 and 9 the lower contact
pieces respectively. The double windings of the electro-magnets are connected,
as shown, to the sectional conductors, while the middle points of the windings
are connected to the lower contact pieces of the two switches, which are in this
When in the "on
case pivotted at the points 10 and 11.
position as shown
in switch A the lower contact piece touches the two studs 12 and 13 thereby
connecting the sectional conductors directly to the main supply conductor through
When in the off"
the fuse 20 and the windings of the electro-magnet 4.
position the lower contact piece touches the stud 14 thereby connecting the
sectional conductors to the ground in a manner which will be hereinafter ex-
plained. The upper contact piece when in the "off" position touches the two
studs 15, 16, while its pivot 17 is connected directly to the ground at 18. When
in the on
position the upper contact piece rests against a stop 19. Studs 12
and 16 are connected to one another. Stud 15 is connected to the stud 21 in
switch B corresponding to stud 14 in switch A.
"
"
".
The action is as follows:-When the car is on the sectional conductors 3, 3
the two armatures of switch B will be in the "on" position and current will
pass from the main supply conductor direct to the sectional conductors through
the lower contact piece and one of the magnet windings. Directly the car leaves
the sectional conductors 3, 3 the two armatures should immediately return to
the "off" position by means of springs shown in the figure. If now for any
reason the lower armature should stick and the upper armature return to the
off"
position, it will be seen from the figure that there will be a direct con-
nection between the main supply conductor and the ground through the upper
and lower contact pieces. This will blow the fuse and cut off the sectional
conductors from the line thereby rendering them harmless. It will be observed
that the sectional conductors 3, 3, are connected to the ground through the
contact piece 9 of switch B and the contact piece 6 of switch A when both
switches are in good order and the car is not present on either of these pairs of
sections. That is to say by this arrangement I secure that all sectional conductors
in the road are grounded except those on which the car happens to be and those
immediately preceding them, so that the street sections are normally grounded
and only temporarily connected to the main supply conductor.
In Figure III, I show a modification of my invention which I may use when
I desire still more perfectly to protect the sectional conductors. In the said
modification 1 avail myself of an arrangement that forms the subject of an
application for Letters Patent filed by me on 4th January 1899 No. 216. In
the said application I described an arrangement by which each switch not only
controls the current passing to its corresponding sectional conductors, but also
protects sectional conductors behind it, so that in the event of any sectional
conductors having been left connected to the line, the passing of the car over
the sectional conductors controlled by the protecting switch, automatically cuts
off its connection with the line.
Now the aforesaid modification of my present invention consists in a com-
bination of the arrangement described in the specification accompanying the
said application with the invention hereinbefore described.
Figure III, illustrates the modification referred to.
In this figure, A, B and C represent three switches controlling three pairs
of sectional conductors. Each switch is provided with upper and lower armatures
and contact pieces as before, and the connections are arranged in such a way
so as to obtain not only the results herein before described whereby each switch
protects its own corresponding sectional conductors but also the results described
in the Specification accompanying may application No. 216 of 4th January 1899
whereby each switch protects sectional conductors at a distance from it.
Thus in switch C the current to the sectional conductors 1, 1 controlled by

page_text: "
the said switch passes from the main supply conductor 2 through the fuse 3 to
stud 4, through the contact piece 5 to stud 6, through electro-magnet 7 and thus
to the sectional conductors 1, 1. When the car has passed off the sectional
conductors 1, 1, both the upper and lower armatures should be drawn to the "off"
position by springs 8, 8. In the event of the lower contact piece sticking in-the
onl position, directly the upper contact piece 9 returns to the off" position
connection to the ground at 10 is established through the stud 11. The fuse 3
is immediately blown and the sectional conductors 1, 1 cut off from the main
supply conductor. So far then the arrangement embodies the principle herein-
before described.
"
"
"
Now I provide a stud 12 making contact with the upper contact piece 9
when the latter is in the "on" position. This stud 12 is connected to the stud 13
in the switch A, namely in the switch controlling the sectional conductors next
but one to those controlled by switch C. Now supposing the car is passing
from left to right in the figure, and that after leaving the sectional con-
ductors 14, 14 controlled by the switch A, the lower contact piece 15 of said
switch should for any reason remain in the "on" position, as shown in the
figure. Suppose also that the upper armature of the said switch should also
stick in the on position as shown in the figure. The sectional conductors 14, 14
will then be left connected to the main supply conductor and will not be cut off
therefrom as they would be if the upper armature of switch A returned to the
"off" position.
"
"
By however arranging the connections as shown in the figure, there will be
a direct connection established from the main supply conductor 2, through the
fuse 16, the studs 17, and 13 of switch A to stud 12 of switch C and thence to
the ground at 10. The fuse 16 will be blown and the sectional conductors 14, 14
which otherwise would have been left connected to the main supply conductor
will be cut off therefrom.
*
*.
By this means I obtain a double security in the event of any lower armature
sticking, namely (1) when the upper armature of the said switch returns to the
off" position the fuse of the said switch is immediately blown. (2) If the said
upper armature should also stick the fuse will be blown when the
upper armature
of the switch next but one to the aforesaid switch goes into the on" position.
The switches controlling the different sectional conductors or pairs of sectional
conductors may be placed at suitable intervals along the road in convenient switch
boxes or several switches may be grouped on a single switch board and placed in a
manhole in the road.
Dated this 27th day of Januar 1800
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E.,
Communicatee.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways of the Sectional Conductor Type.
A communication from abroad by FREDERICK CARLETON ESMOND, of 488, Fourth
Street, Brooklyn, in the County and State of New York, United States of
America, Electrical Engineer.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I.Mech. E., of Norfolk House, Norfolk
Street, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention (as communicated to me from abroad) and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention relates to electric traction systems in which current is supplied
to the moving car by means of brushes or contact pieces which make electrical
connection with conducting sections in the roadway. In such systems the
conducting sections are usually arranged in lengths, successive lengths being
insulated from one another and supplied with current from the main supply
conductor by means of switches which are put in operation as the car moves
forward. It is important that the sectional conductors immediately beneath the
car at any moment should be the only ones connected to the main supply con-
ductor and that when the car passes on these sectional conductors should be
disconnected. For, since these sectional conductors are exposed and easily
accessible, they constitute a source of danger if left connected to the main supply
conductor after the car has passed on. Hence in such systems devices have been
introduced for the purpose of cutting out sectional conductors after the car has
passed. It sometimes happens however that these devices fail to act in con-
sequence of some part of the mechanism becoming disarranged, and the switches
stick and fail to disconnect at the right moment.
The present invention overcomes this difficulty and secures that in the event
of the cutting out device failing to act the corresponding sectional conductor
is automatically disconnected from the main supply conductor and remains dis-
connected until the defect in the cutting-out device has been remedied.
23
In carrying out my invention I make use of an electro-magnet with two
armatures which I may for the purpose of description call the upper armature
and the lower armature, although I do not thereby intend to confine myself to
placing them in such relative position. I arrange the connections in such
a way that both the upper and lower armatures have to be in the on position
in order that current may pass from the main supply conductor to the corre
sponding sectional conductors. The connection of successive sectional con-
ductors with their corresponding switches is such that when the car passes off
any section the two armatures in the corresponding switch should both go back
to the "off" position.
"
::
In case the lower armature should stick, I arrange in my invention that the
upper armature on returning to its "off" position completes a circuit through
the lower armature in its on position so as to connect the main supply
conductor directly with the ground, and thereby blow a fuse in the said circuit
and completely cut off the switch and the corresponding sectional conductor from
the main supply conductor.
I shall now proceed to describe in what manner I carry out my invention, at the
same time referring to the drawings left with my Provisional Specification.
In Figure I, 1 is the main supply conductor, and 2, 2, 3, 3, and 4, 4 are
successive pairs of sectional conductors in the roadway. 5 is an electro-magnet
in the switch which controls the sectional conductors 2, 2. The switches con-
trolling the sectional conductors 3, 3, 4, 4, are not shown in the drawing. 6 and 7
are the upper and lower armatures respectively. 8 and are contact pieces
connected therewith. Contact piece 8 is pivotted at 10, and when not attracted
by the magnet is forced by a spring not shown against a stud 11 thereby connecting
stud 11 with the pivot 10. When attracted by the magnet, 8 disconnects from 11
and connects with the stud 12, thereby connecting 12 with the pivot 10. Contact
piece 9 in the off" position as shown in the figure rests against the stud 13,
against which it is pressed when not attracted by the magnet by means of a
spring not snown in the figure. When in the "on" position contact piece 9
rests, against the studs 14 and 15 thereby making electrical connection between
them. I have shown the electro-magnet 5- wound with two windings 16 and 17,
the end common to the two windings being connected to the stud 12, the free
end of 16 is connected to one sectional conductor 2 and the free end of 17 is
"
-

page_text: connected to the other sectional conductor 2. The double winding herein referred to
is more fully described in the Specifications accompanying the Letters Patent
No. 7694 of 1896 (dated 11th September 1895) and No. 21,249 of 16th September
1897. Studs 11 and 13 are. both connected to the ground at 18. Stud 14 is
connected to the pivot 10 and stud 15 is connected to the main supply conductor 1
through the fuse 19.
The action is as follows: When the car is over the sectional con-
ductors 2,2 the electro-magnet 5 (energised in one of the well known
ways) attracts the two armatures 6 and 7 thereby permitting current to
pass from the main supply conductor through stud 15, contact piece 9, stud 14,
pivot 10, contact piece 8, stud 12, and the magnet windings to the sectional
conductors 2, 2. As soon as the car passes off the sectional conductors 2, 2
and on to the sectional conductors 4, 4, the switch corresponding to sections 4, 4
admits current from the main supply conductor to the car, and electro-magnet 5
is rendered inoperative, the armatures 6 and 7 are released and if everything
is in good order the contact pieces 8 and 9 will immediately go to the
position as shown in the figure. If however the contact piece 9 should stick
and contact piece 8 return to the "off" position then there will be a direct
connection from the main supply conductor through stud 11 to the ground, the
fuse 19 will be immediately blown and the sectional conductors 2, 2 entirely
cut off. These sectional conductors 2, 2 will remain cut off until the defect in the
switch has been remedied, and the fuse replaced.
off
I have not here specially described the way in which the electro-magnet 5
is rendered inoperative when the car passes off the sectional conductors 2, 2
as such does not form part of the present invention.
For the purpose of
explanation however I may allude to one way in which this is done. Before the
car leaves sectional conductors 2, 2 a current is sent through the electro-magnet
similar to and immediately ahead of electro-magnet 5, thereby closing the
circuit from the main supply conductor to sectional conductors 4, 4. This has
the effect of short-circuiting the electro-magnet 5 which being thus weakened
releases the armatures 6 and 7. The circuit to each pair of sectional conductors
is thus automatically broken when that to the sectional conductors immediately
ahead is made.
In Figure I it will be seen that the circuit connecting the main supply con-
ductor with the sectional conductors is broken by each of the contact pieces 8
and 9. This arrangement is of value when it is desired to take special precautions
to avoid sparking at the moment when this circuit is broken. In Figure II,
I show a different arrangement in which the main circuit is broken only by the
lower armature.
In this figure, 1 is the main supply conductor. 2, 2, 3, 3, are the sectional
conductors in the roadway. A and B are the switches controlling sectional
conductors 2, 2, and 3, 3, respectively. 4 and 5 are the electro-magnets of
switches A and B, 6 and 7 the upper contact pieces and 8 and 9 the lower contact
pieces respectively. The double windings of the electro-magnets are connected,
as shown, to the sectional conductors, while the middle points of the windings
are connected to the lower contact pieces of the two switches, which are in this
case pivotted at the points 10 and 11. When in the on position as shown
in switch A the lower contact piece touches the two studs 12 and 13 thereby
connecting the sectional conductors directly to the main supply conductor through
the fuse 20 and the windings of the electro-magnet 4. When in the
off"
position the lower contact piece touches the stud 14 thereby connecting the
sectional conductors to the ground in a manner which will be hereinafter ex-
plained. The upper contact piece when in the off position touches the two
studs 15, 16 while its pivot 17 is connected directly to the ground at 18. When
in the " onl position the upper contact piece rests against a stop 19. Studs 12
and IG are connected to one another. Stud 15 of switch A is connected to the
stud 21 in switch B corresponding to stud 14 in switch A.
"
"
"

page_text: 66
on
33
The action is as follows: When the car is on the sectional conductors 3, 3
the two armatures of switch B will be in the position and current will
pass from the main supply conductor direct to the sectional conductors through
the lower contact piece and the magnet windings. Directly the car leaves
the sectional conductors 3, 3 the two armatures should immediately be returned to
the "off" position by means of springs shown in the figure. If now for any
reason the lower armature should stick and the upper armature return to the
off" position, it will be seen from the figure that there will be a direct con-
nection via the parts corresponding with 13, 12, 16, 15, 6, 17 of switch A
between the main supply conductor and the ground. This will blow the fuse
and cut off the sectional conductors from the line thereby rendering them harm-
less. It will be observed that the sectional conductors 3, 3 are copnected to the
ground through the contact piece 9 of switch B and the contact piece 6 of switch A
when both switches are in good order and the car is not present on either of
these pairs of sections. That is to say by this arrangement I secure that all
sectional conductors in the road are grounded except those on which the car
happens to be and those immediately preceding theni, so that the street sections
are normally grounded and only temporarily connected to the main supply
conductor.
In
In Figure III, I show a modification of my invention which I may use when
I desire still more perfectly to protect the sectional conductors. In the said
modification I avail myself of an arrangement that forms the subject of an
application for Letters Patent filed on 4th January 1899 No. 216.
the said application I describe an arrangement by which each switch not only
controls the current passing to its corresponding sectional conductors, but also
protects sectional conductors behind it, so that in the event of any sectional
conductors having been left connected to the line, the passing of the car over
the sectional conductors controlled by the protecting switch, automatically cuts
off its connection with the line.
Now this modification of my present invention consists in a com-
bination of the arrangement described in the specification accompanying the
said application with the invention herein before described.
Figure III illustrates the modification referred to.
In this figure, A, B and C represent three switches controlling three pairs
of sectional conductors. Each switch is provided with upper and lower armatures
and contact pieces as before and the connections are arranged in such a way
so as to obtain not only the results herein before described whereby each switch
protects its own corresponding sectional conductors but also the results described
in the Specification accompanying my application No. 216 of 4th January 1899
whereby each switch protects sectional conductors at a distance from it."
Thus in switch C the current to the sectional conductors 1, 1 controlled by
the said switch passes from the main supply conductor 2 through the fuse 3 to
stud 4, through the contact piece 5 to stud 6, through electro-magnet 7 and thus
to the sectional conductors 1, 1. When the car has passed off the sectional
conductors 1, 1, both the upper and lower armatures should be drawn to the "off"
position by springs 8, S. In the event of the lower contact piece sticking in the
on" position, directly the upper contact piece 9 returns to the "off" position
connection to the ground at 10 is established through the stud 11. The fuse 3
is immediately blown and the sectional conductors 1, 1 cut off from the main
supply conductor. So far then the arrangement embodies the principle herein-
before described.
Now I provide a stud 12 making contact with the upper contact piece 9
when the latter is in the "on" position. This stud 12 is connected to the stud 13
in the switch A, namely in the switch controlling the sectional conductors next
but one to those controlled by switch C. Now supposing the car is passing
from left to right in the figure, and that after leaving the sectional con-
ductors 14, 14 controlled by the switch A, the lower contact piece 15 of said

page_text: 59
switch should for any reason remain in the "on" position, as shown in the
figure. Suppose also that the upper armature of the said switch should also
stick in the on position as shown in the figure. The sectional conductors 14, 14
will then be left connected to the main supply conductor and will not be cut off
therefrom as they would be if the upper armature of switch A returned to the
off" position.
"
By however arranging the connections as shown in the figure, there will be
a direct connection established from the main supply conductor 2, through the
fuse 16, the studs 17 and 13 of switch A to stud 12 of switch C and thence to
the ground at 10. The fuse 16 will be blown and the sectional conductors 14, 14
which otherwise would have been left connected to the main supply conductor
will be cut off therefrom.
66
<
"
By this means I obtain a double security in the event of any lower armature
sticking, namely (1) when the upper armature of the said switch returns to the
off" position the fuse of the said switch is immediately blown. (2) If the said
upper armature should also stick the fuse will be blown when the upper armature
of the switch next but one to the aforesaid switch goes into the on position.
The switches controlling the different sectional conductors or pairs of sectional
conductors may be placed at suitable intervals along the road in convenient switch
boxes or several switches may be grouped on a single switch board and placed in a
manhole in the road.
I desire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to switch magnets wound
in the manner shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion (as communicated to me from abroad) and in what manner the same is
to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The methods of disconnecting the sectional supply conductors from the main
supply conductor after a car has passed substantially as set forth.
2. The means for disconnecting the sectional supply conductors from the main
supply conductor after a car has passed substantially as set forth.
3. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figure I.
4. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figure II.
5. The arrangement and combination of parts substantially as set forth with
reference to Figure III.
6. In apparatus of the type set forth the combination of
6
33
switchmagnet and
two armatures so arranged that when one armature is in its " off" position and
the other is in its on position the main supply conductor is connected directly
to earth through the connecting piece of the "off" armature so as to blow a fuse
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 27th day of October 1899.
J. G. LORRAIN, M.I.E.E.,
Communicatee.