Improvements in or connected with Conduits for Electric or Cable Tramways or Railways.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Aug., 1897-Accepted, 30th Oct., 1897
Improvements in or connected with Conduits for Electric or Cable
Tramways or Railways.
I, WILLIAM GRIFFITHS, of 283 Kingsland Road, London, England, Stone
Merchant and Contractor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with conduits for electric
or cable tramways and has reference more particularly to electric tramways and
railways working on the open conduit system.
Now according to my invention I form the mouth of the conduit so that it
serves the purpose of one of the ordinary rails, the slot thereof being made as
narrow as possible at its lower part consistent with allowing the arm of the
contact or gripper to pass freely; while at its upper part it is widened to receive
the flanges of the wheels. I am thus enabled to obviate the increased liability
there would be of water and mud entering the conduit if the slot were as wide
at its lower part as at its upper part.
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My invention also comprises other features hereinafter more fully set forth.
And in order that the said invention may be readily understood I will proceed
to describe the same by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view, in perspective, of one construction of
my improved conduit, the same being shown as applied to an electric tramway
although it is equally applicable to a cable system.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the said conduit to a larger scale through the
mouth thereof, and
Figure 3 is a view of the inner side of one of the conduit walls.
Figure 4 is a corresponding transverse section to Figure 2 showing an alternative
arrangement.
Referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 3, a is the conduit in which are
arranged conductors a¹, and which is provided with a pair of L-shaped bars or
girders, the horizontal portions b of which rest upon brackets and serve as
covers for the conduit, while the vertical portions are arranged opposite each
other and constitute the walls of the mouth of the conduit. One of these walls
is formed with a head or enlargement 2 adapted to support the tread of the car
wheel, while the other is provided with a lateral projection 3 extending towards
the said head or enlargement but separated therefrom by the space necessary to
form the conduit slot d. The upper corner of this projection is grooved or cut
away as shown at 64 so widening the upper portion of the slot sufficiently to enable
the flanges e of the wheels to run freely therein.
It will thus be seen that by my improved construction the actual opening of
the slot need be no wider than is absolutely necessary to properly accommodate

page_text: the arm or rod carrying the contacts, thus diminishing as much as possible the
liability of dirt and refuse passing into the conduit, while by the aforesaid widening
of the upper portion thereof the said slot is made to serve efficiently also the
purpose of an ordinary rail groove.
In order to keep the vertical walls of the conduit rigid and to enable them to
effectually resist any tendency they might have to come together under the action
of heavy loads and so close the slot, I provide suitable tic bars or rods f, which
extend outward from the walls b¹, the tie bar of the inner wall extending across
the track to the second or ordinary rail of the tram line, while the tie bar of
the outer wall is connected to a projection 9 rising from the outer edge or shoulder
of the conduit yoke or frame.
The said tie bars may conveniently be flat so as to fit better between the courses of
the road paving and may be connected to the walls of the conduit mouth by means
of T-shaped projections or catches f¹, on their inner ends which can be passed
through elongated slots b in the said walls when the bars are held with their
flat surfaces horizontal and will engage when the bars are turned round their
axes with their flat surfaces vertical, that is to say into the position in which they
are to be when fixed between the courses of the paving as shown in Figures 1
and 2.
The outer ends of the said tie-bars may be tapered down and terminate in screw-
threaded ends or bolts 2 which can be secured in the projection and in the
second or ordinary rail 6 by means of clamping nuts f3 with which they are
respectively provided.
The arrangement shown in Figure 4 differs from that shown in Figures 1 to 3
only in the fact that the groove or cut away portion by which the increased
width in the upper part of the slot is obtained, is situated on the opposite side
of the slot d being formed in the head 2 instead of in the projection,
To guard as far as possible against any water or mud which may pass through
the mouth of the conduit dripping upon the conductors or the cable, I provide
the walls of the said mouth with projections be serving as drip guides and I provide
grooves or throatings 67 which prevent such water trickling back on the under-
sides of the portions 6 of the L-shaped bars or girders.
It will be obvious without further description that the features of construction
above described are equally applicable to conduits for electric and for cable
tramways.
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to any particular shapes,
sizes or materials in carrying out my invention.
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:-
1. A conduit for an electric or a cable tramway, or railway the slot of which,
at its lower part, is only sufficiently wide to accommodate the arm of the contact
or gripper, and is widened at its upper part to receive the flange of the wheel,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The combination, with a conduit having its mouth adapted to serve as a
rail, of a yoke having a projection adapted to be connected by a tie bar to one
of the walls of the said mouth for the purpose of rigidly supporting such wall,
substantially as described.
3. A conduit for electric or cable tramways or railways adapted to serve as a
rail having the walls of its mouth connected by tie bars to the ordinary rail and
to a projection on the yoke, substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. A conduit for electric or cable tramways or railways of the kind referred
to in Clause 1, having drip guides and throatings 67, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
5. My improved conduit for electric or cable tramways or railways, constructed
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the

page_text: accompanying drawings, or modified as described with reference to Figure 4
thereof for the purposes specified.
Dated this 21st day of August 1897.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.