Improvements in or connected with Electric Railways and Vehicles.
Year: 1894

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Electric Railways and Vehicles.
I. JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by Malone Wheless, of Corcoran Building,
corner of 15th and F Streets, N.W., in the City of Washington, in the District.
of Columbia, United States of America, Electrician,) 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 this invention is to provide a system of electric street railway
traction, which avoids the necessity of carrying the electric current in a charged
overhead conductor, and obviates the inconvenience and expense attendant upon
operating vehicles from a conductor carried by a subway or conduit.
The manner in which this result is attained according to this invention can
best be explained and understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in
which :-
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation and Figure 2 is a vertical section of one of the
pockets containing the circuit closing devices.
Figure 3 is a bottom plan and Figure 3A is a top plan of the circuit closing and
conducting pin.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation of part of a track equipped in accordance with
this invention, together with the railway truck or carriage to co-operate with the
track devices.
Figures 5 and 6 represent a modified arrangement which will hereinafter be more
particularly referred to, and Figure 5 is a detail view.
Referring to Figures 1 to 4, a lead covered insulated cable D is laid the entire
distance of the road, this cable being of a size suitable to the number of vehicles
to be operated. The cable is preferably laid in a terra-cotta tubing of about four
inches diameter, and is placed several inches below the paving of the road.
From this cable, at a distance of say about twenty feet apart, are led out feeder
lines n n of a suitable diameter, (and also insulated,) which extend to water-tight
iron boxes H situated in the middle of the track at say about twenty feet apart
from one another.
Each feeder line » enters a box at a water-tight joint a, Figure 1, and thence
winds around the soft iron pin b, and is connected to the binding screw c of the
carbon facing or plate d. There is a similar carbon plate d' on the opposite side
of the pin b. The two carbon plates d d' are separated from each other, and are
insulated from the pin b. The plates d d' are insulated one from the other and
from the pin by the circular insulating strip e, which is forced tightly over the
end of the soft iron pin b. The binding screw c¹ of the plate dis in electrical
connection with the pin through a conductor o.
Lying under the end of the pin b is a block of carbon f. Inside of this carbon is
moulded a piece of iron a¹ preferably an iron ball. The iron ball does not extend,
in dimension, to the extremities of the carbon block, thereby preventing a metallic
contact with the carbon plates on the pin 6 when the lower carbon is in contact
with the end of the pin b.
The carbon block fin which the ball a' is imbedded, rests in the bottom of the
iron pocket H and is prevented from any lateral motion by a socket y lined with
insulating material which surrounds it. The bottom of the socket g is a plug g¹
which is screwed or equivalently secured into its position so as to keep the
TI

page_text: In Figure 2 there is shewn a steel head screwed into the soft iron pin band
intended to take the wire of the contact shoe under the bottom of the vehicle.
Whenever this head i becomes worn, it can be readily removed and replaced by a
new one.
The pin is forced down through the metal top or cover k of the pocket through
an insulation which surrounds the pin and which extends in the form of a
shoulder on the surface of the top k under the head of the pin & so that the pin bis
kept insulated from the top k.
The cover in which the pin bis imbedded is approximately 7 x 10 inches in
area, and is situated in the centre of the track. The steel head i, as shown in
Figure 34, is oblong in shape having a length of approximately 3 inches, and is set
crosswise of the line of track. The pin head i is given this convenient length of
3 inches so as to allow the shoe r (Figure 4) to be conveniently in contact with it
from the bottom of the car notwithstanding slight lateral movement of the car.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the truck to which is attached the steel shoc r.
On the bottom of this shoe is, or may be, fastened a piece of copper wire s.
This wire is bolted to the shoe preferably by counter-sunk bolts and is intended
to take the current from the pins, transport it to the steel shoe and thence along
the line to the terminal of the motor. From the opposite terminal of the
motor the current is grounded through the line a by being made to pass into
the iron frame of the truck and thence along the wheels to the rails as is usually
now done in electric railway construction.
Hanging in a ball and socket bearing from the end of the truck frame is a
magnet which is energised either in series with the current which supplies the
motor or in multiple with the motor. This magnet extends down within close
proximity to the heads of the pins b. The object of thus hanging the magnet is
to allow it to yield to obstructions on the track.
The shoe is fastened to a bar y' by arms y which, as shown in Figure 5ª, are
insulated from the bar y', thus insulating the shoe from the truck frame.
On the opposite end of the truck frame from the magnet is a like magnet
which is used for running the car in the opposite direction, and is wired in the
It is easily understood that either magnet can by an ordinary switch
be thrown into connection with the circuit from the motor. This switch may be
attached to the rheostat arm at either end of the car.
same way.
Having thus explained the construction of the essential parts of the arrangement
according to this invention a description of the operation is as follows:
The boxes H described are situated a distance apart equal to less than the length
of the vehicle. The contact shoe is therefore always resting upon one of the
contacts or heads i. In Figure 4 the shoe is shewn as being in contact with the
head of pin 1, and as approaching the head of pin 2. It will be seen that
the carbon block constituting the armature of the pin 1, is in contact with the
wo carbon plates d, d, on this pin and is performing its function of letting the
current pass from the feeder cable D to the pin. The current which is flowing
through the pin and into the motor is also energising the magnet and is thereby
keeping this magnet ready to perform its function of closing the carbon armature
at pin 2, which is done in the following way :-
As the magnet passes over pin 2, its proximity to the pin magnetizes it very
powerfully. The pin in return exerts its magnetic influence upon the iron ball on
the interior of the carbon block flying under it and draws up the said carbon
block against the two carbon plates d d¹. Before the magnet has passed entirely
over the pin and while the armature is still subjected to the magnetic stress, the
copper wire s, on the bottom of the shoe comes into contact with the head of the
pin and lets the current pass into the motor as before described. As soon as
the current finds a circuit through the motor, the pin being of soft iron and the
current flowing around it as it enters the motor, a powerful electro-magnet is
temporarily created, of which the pin is the core, and the wrapping of the con-
ductor n the coil, which keeps the carbon armature in contact with the carbon

page_text: plates of the pin, and allows the current to flow uninterruptedly through the
motor and the magnet. In the meantime the magnet will have passed beyond
the pin, but is nevertheless constantly and uninterruptedly kept energised to
repeat its magnetic display upon the next pin and in consequence the vehicle is
given a uniform current which can be governed by the attendant on the vehicle.
In lieu of having the pick up magnet on the vehicle it can be placed in the track
box. This modification is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 being a side
elevation of the car truck situated over two track boxes (shewn in longitudinal.
vertical section), and Figure 6 being an enlarged transverse vertical section of one
of the track boxes, together with a diagram of the vehicle circuits.
The boxes are shewn at H and the cable at D; n are the feeders from the cable.
In this modification the vehicle carries two shoes parallel with, and insulated
from, one another and from the car or truck-frame, which shoes are to run over
and in contact with two contacts or contact pins A A' made of conducting material,
set in the top of each box, but insulated therefrom. These pairs of pins are set a
distance apart about equal to the length of the shoes, so that the latter will come
into contact with one pair of pins by the time they leave the other as indicated in
Figure 5.
The feeder n is led off and attached to a metallic holder 2x which clamps a
carbon contact block 3, held to a slate or other non-conducting plate 4 by a bolt 5.
On the opposite end of the plate 4 is a similar carbon contact block 6 fastened to
the plate 4 in the same way and from the latter contact is led a wire 7 to the
external coil 8 on the soft iron core 10 of the pick-up magnet, the coil 8 communi-
cating at its other end by wire 11 with the pin A as shewn in Figure 6. The
pick-up magnet is secured to a slate or other non-conducting plate 12 attached to
the top of the box. It has two insulated coils, the external coil 8 and an internal
coil 9. The internal coil is connected at one end to a wire 1× which leads from
the pin A', and at its other end it communicates with the wire 11.
Below the plate 4 is another non-conducting plate 13. Both plates are suspended
from the top plate 12 by rods 14 upon which rods the plate 13 can move up and
down, to and from the plate 4. Upon the plate 13 are carbon contacts 15, 16
placed opposite to the contacts 3, 6, and having a connection 17 of conducting
metal. Between the contacts 15, 16, and just under the soft iron core 10 of the
pick-up magnet is the iron armature 18, which also is fastened to the plate 13.
On the car (as seen in the diagram part of Figure 6) there is in addition to the
motor and its connections, a battery cell B (it may be primary or storage) which is
connected electrically by wires 19, 20 to the shoes 7.
Normally the contacts in the box are open. When however the shoes r reach
the pins A A¹ of any box, an energizing circuit from the battery cell B through
the pins A A', wire coil 9, and connections, by which the pick-up maguct is
energized, with the effect of attracting its armature 18, and thus closing the
contacts 3, 15, 6, 16 of the motor circuit-this circuit being from the cable,
through the two pairs of contacts, the external coil 8, the pin A, right hand
shoe r, to and through the motor and thence out through the car wheels to the
track rail, as clearly indicated in Figure 6.
The operation of the devices just described is substantially similar to that
already described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The structural differences
between the two mainly are due to the difference in situation of the pick-up
maguet, which in the one case is on the car, and in the other case is in the
track box.
The track boxes are for protecting the working parts; they have no significance
electrically. The electrical instrumentalitics essential to the system according to
this invention are the series of contacts connected to feeders from the main cable
and set in the track or roadway at such intervals apart that the contact shoe on
the vehicle will reach one by the time it quits the other; normally open contacts
in the said feeder connections; armatures for closing the said contacts; a pick-up
magnet for controlling each armature; and circuit connections for the said magnet

page_text: (including a source of electrical supply) whereby when the car shoe meets each
successive track contact, a pick-up magnet will be energized with the result of
closing the feeder connection appropriate to that contact.
Having now particularly 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: :―
An electric railway system comprising the combination and arrangement of
instrumentalities substantially such as are herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings and whether the arrangement Figures 1 to 4 or
the arrangement Figures 5 and 6 be employed.
Dated thi 07th day of T... 1004
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.