Improvements in the Conduit System of Electric Railways.
Year: 1895

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Conduit System of Electric Railways.
1. JOHN LA BURT, of No. 94 Moffat Street, in the City of Brooklyn, County
of Kings and State of New York, United States of America, Inventor, 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:
This invention relates to clectric railway systems in which the conveyor for the
electric current is located below the street surface.
I will describe an electric railway system embodying my invention and then
point out the novel features in the appended claims.
In the drawing
Figure 1 is a partial section-and partial elevation of an electric railway system
embodying my invention.
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section, on an enlarged-scale, showing a conduit
and operating parts.
Figure 3 is a front view of a contact piece employed.
Figure 4 is a face view of a contact piece adapted to engage with the contact
picce shown in Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a detail showing the manner of insulating the trolley hanger.
Figure 6 is a section showing the joint connection of the contact line and
Figure 7. shows the pivotal connection of rock levers employed.
n
Referring to the drawing, A designates a. portion of the truck of a car having
depending from it a trolley hanger A' designed to extend through a slot opening
in a conduit and having at its lower end trolley wheels a, designed to engage a
contact line in the conduit as will be hereinafter described. The hanger A is here
shown as attached to a rod a pivotally connected to the truck A, and connected
at its opposite end with a pivoted angle lever a² on the platform of a car.
construction it is evident the trolley wheels a may be raised or lowered with
relation to the contact line as occasion may require.
By this
The conduit B which is located below the road bed comprises a wall section b,
which also serves as a track, and the wall section 6. These sections b, are
attached at their base portions to a string piece C, by means of bolts 2 and at
the street or railway level there is a slot opening or space between the sections
for the passage of the trolley hanger.
The lower end of the hauger A' is provided with arms which have vertically
elongated slots in which the journals of a rotary brush B engage. This brush,
carried by the hanger, is designed to clean the conduit of water, dirt or snow which
may be carried off by pipes 6". The wall sections may be braced by rods d'
extended from them to suitable anchors in the ground. The hanger A at the
point immediately within the slot is provided on its opposite sides with metal
plates, which are insulated from the hanger by insulating material bª.
C designates a metal contact line located in the conduit B, and consisting of
tubular sections connected together at the ends by joint plugs e of insulating
material which are shown as having tapered portions extended into the sections
so that there may be a swinging movement of one section relatively to another.
The tubular sections, for the purpose of giving strength may be provided with
wooden cores as indicated in the drawing. These contact line sections are supported
ou rock levers C which are pivotally connected to but insulated from the track
1

page_text: sections as iudicated. The upper ends of these rock lovers, supporting the contact
line sections, are extended through openings in the vertical wall of the track
sections, and the lower ends of these rock levers have rode extended from them
into air and water tight boxes C' attached to the string pieces C. These rods c',
extend through covers C, of yielding material, such, for instance, as rubber
having the edges c curved around Banges on the outer ends of the boxes. To
the inner ends of the rods c' contact plates are attached and these contact plates
are adapted to engage with yielding contact fingers, having alectrical con-
nection with a main current conductor C' located in an insulating current d, in
a channel D formed in the lower side of the string pieces C³.
The rock levers Care located at suitable distances apart and the said levers
and their connected parts are located in man holes D' provided with covers D³, 80
that the parts may be easily reached for the purpose of repairing or adjustment.
Beneath the string pieces Care boards which are here shown as resting on
cross-tires 7.
The main conductor, it will be seen, is located outside and isolated from the
cunduit so that no danger may arise therefrom and the contact line sections are
designed to be about the length of a car and therefore the sections forwards or
rearwards of a car will not be energized and dangerous to persous touching the
same in any manner.
In operation when the trolley wheels are in engagement with the sections C,
the current will be from the wire C, through the parts e, c', C, and the
sections C to the trolley hanger and thence by a suitable connection through the
motor on a car to a return circuit which may be a wire or a track. As the trolley
pusses from one section to another the rear section will fall by gravity and break
the contact of the parts c', c.
It is obvious that the main wire C' may be otherwise located, and in fact the
conduit may be located between the two tracks of a railway without departing
from the spirit of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
Lion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is:-
1. In an electric railway system the combination of a track section and a section
at one side thereof formning the walls of a conduit, a contact line in said conduit,
rock levers supporting said contact line and having insulated pivotal connection
with the track section, contact plates carried by the lower portion of said lock
levers, a main conductor located outside the conduit, and the contact pieces having
connection with the conductor.
2. In an electric railway system, the combination with a track forming a wall of
a conduit and means for supplying an electric current, of a trolley hanger extended
into said conduit, arms depending from the trolley hauger and having vertically
elongated bearings and a cylindric rotary brush having trunnion bearings
therein.
3. In an electric railway system, a track section and a section at one side thereof
forming the walls of a conduit for an electric contact line, a string piece to which
said conduit sections are secured, a main wire located in said string piece and
connections between said main wire and contact line.
4. In an electric railway system, the combination with a track and a section
adjacent thereto forming a conduit and a main conductor located outside said
conduit, of contact pieces having connection with said conductor, a contact line in
the conduit, rock levers having pivotal connection with the truck and supporting
said contact line at their upper ends, plates supported by the lower ends of said
levers and adapted to engage with the contact pieces which have connection with
the main conductor.
5. In an electric railway system, the combination with a track and a section.
adjacent thereto forming a conduit, of a contact line in said conduit, a main

page_text: conductor isolated from and below the conduit, the rock levers having pivotal
connection with the track and supporting the contact line, the contact plates
carried by the levers and the contact fingers having connection with the main
conductor.
6. The combination with the track, the contact line and the main conductor, of
the rock levers, the contact plates on arms extended from the levers, the boxings,
the outer walls thereof of spring or yielding material and the annular series of
contact fingers.
7. In an electric railway system, a contact line consisting of sections and joints
for said sections consisting of plugs of insulating material having tapered portions
extended into the sections whereby there may be a swinging movement of one
section relatively to another.
Dated this 14th day of October 1895.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.