Improvements in and relating to Electric Railway Vehicles.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Electric Railway Vehicles.
I, MARK WESLEY DEWEY, of the City of Syracuse, in the County of Onondaga,
in the State of New York, United States of America, Electrician, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 improvements in electric railways.
The object of my invention is to enable the conductor of a car or the passengers
thereon to communicate easily and instantly with the motorman when it is desired to
have the car started or its speed increased or decreased or to have the car stopped, and,
to effect such communication by means of suitable electric signaling devices in a
shunt-circuit around the motor for propelling the car, both the motor and signaling
devices being supplied with current through electric connections with the working-
conductors arranged along the track.
The object of my invention is also to avoid the employment of primary or secondary
batteries for signaling purposes as they are more or less unreliable and inconvenient,
and, when the car is already supplied with current to propel, light, or brake the same,
to supply also the signal circuit from the same source.
And the invention consists essentially in supplying an electric motor on a car, with
electricity to propel the same, from stationary electric supply or working conductors
arranged along the track or roadway, and also supplying a signaling circuit on the car
with electricity from the same source for signalling purposes.
The invention consists further in so connecting the signal circuit with the conductor
on the car that the signal devices therein may be operated independent of the condition
of the motor circuit, for, when the circuit to the motor is open, as, for instance, when
the car is standing still, it will be necessary to signal to the driver or motorman, to
start the car, which could not be accomplished if the current supply to the signal
circuit was cut off when the motor circuit was opened. Again, in order to economize
in current, and for the reason that the signaling circuit requires but a small portion of
the current supplied to the car, a rheostat of very high resistance is inserted in the
signaling circuit, and, to perfectly control the strength of the current to flow there-
through the rheostat is made adjustable. Besides the intermittent signaling bells at
each end of the car a continuous ringing bell is so connected with the signaling
circuit as to be in circuit with the said rheostat, and in operation at any time without
interfering with the other signaling mechanism.
Means are provided, hereinafter described, for cutting out and in any or all of
said bells.
It will be obvious that the electric connections may be such that the motor can be
controlled by the motorman from either end of the car as usual, and as it is only
necessary to operate the bell on the end of the car where the motorman is stationed, this
bell is placed in circuit and the other cut out, then, when the direction of the movement
of the car is to be changed and the motorman and conductor change places, the cutting
out devices of the bells are reversed. These signal bells are ordinary intermittent or
single tap bells. The continuously ringing or vibrating bell is a danger signal which
is preferably of a different tone from the other bells and may be operated continuously
or only when the car is in motion, and as a call to notify people in the neighbourhood
of the car at the terminus of the road, that said car is nearly ready to start. A
suitable circuit maker and breaker is provided for opening the circuit to said bell when
desired and may be arranged to be operated from either end of the car, or a separato
maker and breaker for that purpose may be located at both ends of the car.
Referring to the drawings,
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an electric railway car supplied with current

page_text: from an overhead conductor and returning through the track, and equipped with my
invention.
Figure 2 is a diagram showing the arrangement of circuits on the car, and
Figure 3 is a section of an ordinary push-button adapted to be employed as a circuit
maker and breaker in the signal circuit.
A represents the car or vehicle, B and B' the stationary electric supply or line-
working conductors arranged along the track or roadway. C the conductor or
electrical connection with the line conductors B and B and E the source of
.electricity.
I do not limit myself to the location of the line conductors as the same may both
be contained in a suitable conduit beneath the road-bed, overhead or alongside of
the track, neither do I limit myself to the form of contacts travelling on the said
conductors.
•
C is a current reverser and C" an adjustable resistance in the conductor C for
controlling the motor D. F is the shunt circuit or signal circuit connected with the
motor circuit C in proximity to the travelling contacts c so as to shunt the motor D
and its controlling devices. F is the adjustable rheostat in said shunt-circuit.
Another rheostat shown in Fig. 2 in the form of an incandescent lamp may bo
also included in said shunt to provide a resistance of a certain number of olims
required continually in circuit and occupying but little space.
G and G are the signal devices or single tap signal bells located one at each end of
the car.
ggare the switches for cutting in or out the said signal bells by shunting
them, and g the circuit makers and breakers or push-buttons that remains
normally open between the contact-points d and d by spring e and may be closed
by a slight pressure of the finger on the button & bringing the said contact points
together, closing the shunt-circuit through the said signal bell or bells in
the circuit. One of said push-buttons may be located on the exterior at each end
of the car, and others between the windows on both sides of the car on the
interior, the latter are for the convenience of the passengers. The said buttons are
arranged in parallel or multiple are between the conductors of the shunt-circuit,
while the resistance F¹ F" and bells G and G₁ are in series; by this arrangement
there is no waste of current as said current is permitted to flow through the said
shunt-circuit only when a button is depressed.
In the drawings the bell G is shown in circuit and G₁ cut out of circuit or
shunted.
The adjustable resistance F¹ in the shunt-circuit may be operated by hand or
automatically in any suitable and well known manner to keep the current supply
constant and even in said shunt.
His a signal device or bell adapted to ring continuously when the current is
permitted to flow through the branch conductor H in which said bell is connected.
This bell is an ordinary vibratory electric bell not necessary to be specifically
described herein. A suitable circuit maker and breaker his located in the said branclı'
to prevent the ringing of the bell when desired.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the railway, a
vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection between
said motor and working conductor, a shunt-circuit around the motor on the vehicle,
an electric signal device at each end of the vehicle and connected in the shunt-circuit
in series, means to cut one or the other of said signal devices out of circuit, and'
a plurality of circuit makers in multiple are connection with the shunt-circuit and
distributed equal distances apart through the interior of the vehicle.
2. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the railway, a
travelling vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection
between said motor and working conductor, a normally open shunt-circuit around

page_text: the motor on the vehicle, an electric signal bell in said shunt-circuit, and a plurality
of circuit makers in multiple arc connection with said shunt-circuit and distributed
through the interior of the vehicle.
3. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the railway, a
traveling vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection
between said motor and working conductor, a shunt-circuit around the motor on
the vehicle, a plurality of electric signal devices in circuit and located at each end
of the vehicle, a plurality of circuit makers and breakers in multiple are connection
with said shunt-circuit and distributed through the interior of the vehicle, and means
to cut one or more of the said signal devices out of circuit.
4. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the track, a
travelling vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection
between said motor and working conductor, a normally open shunt-circuit around
the motor on the vehicle, an intermittent electric signal. device, a plurality of
circuit makers and breakers, and a rheostat in said shunt-circuit, a normally closed
branch of said shunt-circuit, an electric signal device adapted to operate continuously
in said branch, and means to cut the latter device out of circuit to prevent the
operation of the same as set forth.
5. In an electric railway, an electrically propelled vehicle, an electric motor to
propel said vehicle connected with the vehicle conductor, a source of electric energy,
a normally open shunt-circuit around the motor on the vehicle, a plurality of
electric signal devices in said shunt-circuit in series and located at each end of
the vehicle, and a plurality of circuit makers and breakers in multiple are connection
with said shunt-circuit and distributed through the interior of the vehicle as
set forth.
6. In an electric railway, an electrically propelled vehicle, an electric motor to
propel said vehicle connected with the vehicle conductor, a source of electric energy,
a normally open shunt-circuit around the motor on the vehicle, a plurality of
electric signal devices in series in said shunt-circuit, a plurality of circuit makers
and breakers in multiple are connection with said shunt-circuit, and a shunt path
containing a circuit maker and breaker around each of the signal devices as
set forth.
7. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the railway, a
vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection between
said motor and working conductor, a shunt-circuit around the motor on the vehicle,
an electric signal device at each end of the vehicle and connected in the shunt-
circuit in series, means to cut one or the other of said signal devices out of circuit,
and a plurality of circuit makers in multiple are connection with the shunt circuit
and distributed equal distances apart through the interior of the vehicle and on each
side of the same.
8. In an electric railway, a working conductor arranged along the railway, a
vehicle, an electric motor to propel said vehicle, an electric connection between said
motor and working conductor, a shunt-circuit around the motor on the vehicle, an
electric signal device connected in the shunt circuit; and a plurality of circuit makers
in multiple are connection with the shunt-circuit and distributed equal distances apart.
through the interior of the vehicle, and on each side of the same.
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THIS ICH day
MARK WESLEY DEWEY.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.