Year: 1899

page_text: I, GEORGE HERBERT CONDICT, of 1684, Broadway, New York, U.S.A., Electrical
Engineer, 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 present invention is in connection with electrically propelled vehicles of
the type in which the motive current is supplied by storage batteries which are
removed when exhausted and replaced by others which have been charged. The
improvements relate to the vehicle itself, and to automatic electrical contacts
thereon, and to the tray or receptacle in which the storage batteries are contained
so as to be handled as a single unit.
The vehicle itself which may be of any desired or known type and construction,
is provided with an enclosed compartment which I have called the battery box.
This is preferably at the rear portion of the vehicle, although it may be else-
where, and is provided with a suitable door for loading and unloading the
batteries.
On account of the great weight of storage batteries sufficient to operate a
vehicle for any considerable length of time, the matter of handling and replacing
the spent battery is of great importance. I therefore arrange the desired number
of cells of battery in a tray where they are suitably connected to form a unit
sufficient for the purpose. The battery containing trays should be of substantially
similar outward dimensions and shape. In the interior of the battery box are
located a number of contacts which are placed in the same relative positions in
the different vehicles in order to automatically engage and make contact with
corresponding contacts on the trays, and there may be any desired number of
these contacts, four, however, being usually sufficient.
The trays with their load of battery are heavy and not very readily displaced,
yet it is exceedingly desirable to secure good electrical connections and also to
secure them so that they cannot be moved by the jolting of the vehicle. These
and other advantages are secured by constructing the trays so that on their
exterior they are wedge shaped, that is, narrower at their front end and increas-

page_text: ing in width towards the rear, and I have also so located the stationary contacts
in the battery box that when the tray has been inserted endwise and pushed in
into its final position, the corresponding contacts carried thereby are wedged
firmly against and between the contacts on the vehicle, automatically making a
perfect electrical connection and at the same time firmly holding the trays in
position, so that they have no latitude of movement and cannot be started by
jolting, since the contacts are all hard and fast against each other and all motion
of the battery tray is prevented. The insertion of the tray is also greatly
facilitated.
I have not considered it necessary to illustrate the electric propelling
mechanism of the vehicle in this application further than to show the lever by
which the flow of current is controlled and the lever by which the steering
apparatus is operated. Other details of construction will be hereinafter set forth
and pointed out and referred to in the appended claims.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing an electrically propelled vehicle, the rear
portion being broken away to show the interior of the battery box with batteries
in position.
Fig. 2 is a transverse cross section of the battery box on the line 2, 2, Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of a battery tray, showing also in dotted lines, a portion
of the battery box with contacts.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed view of one of the stationary contacts in the
battery box, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view thereof on the line 5, 5 of Fig. 4.
In the drawings, Fig. 1, A is an electrically propelled vehicle illustrated in
the form of a cab. B, which as shown is an extension of the rear end thereof,
is the battery box, which is closed by the hinged door C, and has the sides D D¹,
the top E and the bottom F. Two pieces of angle iron e f are secured to the
bottom F at the proper distance apart to form supporting and retaining tracks
and are arranged at an angle to receive the tray and to securely hold it when fully
inserted, that is, in its operative position. Gis the tray which is desirably con-
structed of insulating material, as wood, vulcanized fibre, hard rubber, or the
like, but as indicated, it is of wood. Its interior is preferably rectangular in
form, so as to contain a standard number of standard secondary battery cells H.
The exterior of the tray G is however made tapering or wedge shape in form,
being narrower at its front than at its rear end. In this instance, two tapered
bars of wood g g are interposed between the batteries and the sides of the tray
to hold them securely in position. Upon the exterior of the sides of the tray G
are secured two pairs of stationary metallic contacts I I', J J and these corre-
spond in position with and engage similar contacts K K L L' fixed to the
sides of the interior of the battery box. Handles or catches are attached to
the rear end of the battery box for connecting with mechanism for drawing it
out or pushing it in. Angle irons G1, G2 are secured to the lower corners of the
tray to correspond with and slide upon the angle irons e, f forming ways in the
bottom of the battery box.
The driver's seat is in an elevated position at the rear of the vehicle and
above the battery box, and is the handle of the controlling apparatus by which
the flow of current is regulated. The direction of travel of the vehicle is con-
trolled by steering apparatus operated through a lever a in front of the driver's
seat.
The contacts II', J J of the battery tray G are strips of good conducting
material which are fixed permanently thereto, and are provided with lugs i j
to which the cells are connected. The contacts K K, L L' of the battery box
are yielding or elastic in their construction and may vary considerably in form.
I find the construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 to be satisfactory in practice.
In said figures, M. is a piece of good insulating material, as for instance, porce-
lain. N is a frame of metal into which are fitted a pair of contact surfaces O P.
These surfaces are capable of lateral movement towards the block M and are held
outward by springs Q. Extending through the block are two metallic hous-

page_text: ings R, R, which, being hollow, admit the springs and hold them in position
as is more clearly apparent from the sectional view, Fig. 5. An adjusting screw
having a handler is screwed in at the rear of each of said housings and serves to
force them forward to increase the tension of springs Q, or vice versa.
The form and type of the secondary batteries H is not herein referred to since
that may be varied without in any way affecting the present invention, nor have
I mentioned the connections between the cells of the secondary batteries H for
the same reason. The circuit connections from the stationary contacts K K',
L L', of the battery box are preferably soldered into holes in the contact
pieces O P and extend to the controller which is operated by the hand lever b
and as these may vary, they are not specifically referred to. If preferred, the
contact devices upon the exterior of the battery box may be arranged, so as to be
substantially at equidistant positions and the contact upon the tray might also
be so arranged and the tray might be held in position together by the angle iron
ways between which it slides into position, but I find that the arrangement here
described possesses distinct advantages in practice, since as soon as the tray
begins to be withdrawn, the contacts separate and the danger of injuring them by
excessive friction is minimized. The insertion of a new tray of battery is also
greatly facilitated by having the entering end narrower than the ways between
which it is to move and this is more particularly true in view of the weight of
the battery and the desirability of handling it quickly in order to diminish the
time during which the vehicle is out of service."
While I have referred to secondary or storage batteries, that being the type
most desirably employed in this connection, it must be understood that the in-
vention is not limited thereto, but that any sort of batteries may be carried in
the tray G and instantly connected or disconnected with the working circuit on
the vehicle when the tray is inserted or removed.
It will be apparent that in view of the foregoing description the details of
construction may be varied without departing from the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination with a unit of electric battery cells, of a tray adapted
to contain the same, said tray having a tapering or wedge like exterior
dimension.
2. The combination with a unit of electric battery cells, of a tray adapted to
contain the same, said tray having an exterior dimension narrower at one end
than at the other and provided with one or more fixed electrical contact pieces
at the narrow end and at the wider end.
3. The combination with a battery box having an opening at its rear end and
provided with two or more sets of stationary contact pieces, of a battery con-
taining tray also provided with fixed contact pieces arranged on oblique lines and
adapted when said tray is inserted endwise into the battery box, to engage the
corresponding contacts in said box when the tray is in operative position.
4. The combination with an electrically propelled vehicle, of a battery box
having ways therein arranged at an angle and a tray adapted to contain storage
batteries and tapering in construction to conform to the angle of the ways.
5. The combination in an electrically propelled vehicle, of a battery box
having angle iron tracks or ways, a tray adapted to contain storage batteries and
provided with protective strips adapted to slide in the ways of the battery box.
6. The combination in an electrically propelled vehicle formed with a battery
box, of a plurality of yielding contacts and electrical connections extending
therefrom, of a tray adapted to contain the standard charged batteries, provided
with stationary contacts corresponding with those in the battery box. and adapted
when said tray is in position to engage and make contact therewith.
7. A battery tray adapted to contain storage batteries constructed in tapering

page_text: or wedge-like form and provided with fixed contacts upon its tapering portion,
in combination with a receptacle therefor, said receptacle provided with stationary
contacts, arranged to engage those on the tray when the latter is in operative
position.
Dated this 17th day or March 1899.
For the Applicant,
GEDGE & FEENY,
Chartered Patent Agents,
60. Queen Victoria Street. London, E.C.