Improvements in or relating to the Conduits and Collectors for Electric Railways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 23rd May, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Conduits and Collectors for
Electric Railways.
I, ARTHUR PETZENBÜRGER of Lankwitzerstrasse Great Lichterfelde, near
Berlin, in the Empire of Germany, Architect, 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 :-
The object of the present invention is an underground conductor for street and
railroad vehicles and the like.
The invention is illustrated in-and will be hereinafter fully described with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a cross section through the conduit.
Fig. 2 shows the connection of the covering plank in plan.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of the conduit.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section through same.
Fig. 5 shows the contact carrier in vertical section through the longitu linal axis
of the rails and vehicle.
Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the contact carrier.
Whilst the systems hitherto employed for supplying the current to electrically
driven vehicles are either difficult of access or if this is endeavoured to be avoided
are excessively costly to fix up; the present invention has for its object not only to
attain great economy combined with facility of access but also to permit of the use
of the same conduit from both sides.
In order to construct an electric conduit according to this invention a
channel A (Figs. 1 and 5) of about 17 centimetres in depth (or other suitable size)
is made in the paving or surface of the road which channel is then filled up with a
mixture of Portland cement and fine mortar sand in slabs or lengths of about three
metres until the bottom B of the same is only about 10 centimetres below the
surface C (Fig. 5). In single line systems the conduit is placed outside the track
and in two line systems midway between the two inner rails.
The bottom of this cement conduit is made of such a section as to form in its
centre a bearing for the covering beam or plank D which is so shaped as to leave a
space of about 2 centimetres between it and the sides or walls of the conduit which
spread out in an upward direction thus forming two slits for the reception of the
contact carriers.
In order to protect these openings against the entry of mud and the like from
the street, leather strips E are fixed to the planks D which strips are also adaptéd
to be a protection against escaping sparks; the strips cover these openings as
the cover D is raised some 35 centimetres above the level of the crown of the
road.
This arrangement will not hinder the circulation of the traffic in any way
seeing that in streets when tramways or railways already exist either hollows or
ridges of 5 to 6 centimetres in depth generally exist for the greater part of their
length.
Ou both sides of the above mentioned bearing a channel or gutter F is formed
to receive the water draining from the street. This is then carried away by means
of drain pipes placed at suitable intervals say about 50 metres the channels sloping
down to them on either side for say 25 metres.
In order to prevent as much as possible mud from reaching these channels the

page_text: paving or surface of the road is given a downward slope of say 1 in 10 away from
each channel (see Fig. 5) and in addition drops sharply a height of 1 centimetre at
a distance of say 15 centimetres from the edges of the conduit.
The cover D fits necurately into the bearing surface of the conduit A and is
thus firmly supported for its whole length and is capable of taking all ordinary
loads with very little strain. In order however to still better enable it to
withstand shocks from vehicles passing over it the covering is in addition firmly
held by supports G (Fig. 4) at intervals of about 5 metres or 3 metres at
crossings these supports being securely fixed in the bed of the conduit at their
lower extremities whilst the upper are fastened to the covering by means of angle
irons H.
The covering beams D are covered on their outer surface with roughened
wrought iron plates J these being supported at intervals of about 1 metres by
light Tirons K inserted in the beams.
These roughened plates are firmly fixed to and as it were made one with the
beams by means of the angular surfaces L given to them (see Fig. 1) and also by
the use of strong wood serewa and the covering thus rendered capable of withstanding
both compressive and side strains; at the same time however it can readily be
removed without interruption of the working of the line should it be desired to
cleanse the channels or test or repair the conductors.
The conductor is fixed in insulators or insulator channels M (Fig. 4) placed at
intervals of 10 to 15 metres in the usual manner. Every second insulator is
carried by a spiral spring N (Fig. 1) fastened to the cement bottom of the conduit
by means of screws or otherwise, the object of these springs being to allow the
conductor to respond to the oscillations to which the contact piece is exposed and
so allow of an uninterrupted contact between the said contact maker and the current
conductor,
At the points where the insulators are fixed the covering beam is cut away
so that for a breadth of say 10 centimetres the iron plate alone forms the
covering.
The covering beams are further provided on both sides with semi-circular
grooves O along their whole length to receive the current conductor and to afford
sufficient play for its vibrations."
The contact carrier (Figs. 5 to 6) consists of a wrought iron tube P which
carries at its lower extremity the insulated contact piece Q; by means of this
contact carrier the current is supplied from the contact piece to the dynamo
machine or motor. The tube P is not only adjustable in the direction of its
length but also rotatable in the socket R (Fig. 5) so that the driver of the vehicle
can move the contact piece up and down and also turn it in the socket R by means
of the handle S when he desires to direct it into the groove and bring it in contact
with the current conductor.
The contact carrier is preferably arranged mid-way between the ends of the
vehicle as it is in that position least affected by the oscillations of the same;
the springs arranged at the points of support R & T are also designed to reduce the
vibration to a minimum.
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. In current conductors for electric railways or the like a conduit such as A
arranged outside the track or in double line systems between the two inner rails
the said conduit being provided with drainage slits or openings and having its walls
flared or opening diagonally outwardly towards the top in combination with a
covering such as D which permits of the conduit being used from both sides at
the same time substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore set
forth.
2. In an electric current conductor as in Claim 1 a contact carrier carrying a

page_text: contact piece having a tube such as P adjustably and rotatably attached to the
vehicle in spring-supported bearings in such a manner that it is capable of being
actuated and contact made or broken from a point on the vehicle midway between
its ends substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this 6th day of March 1896
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.