Improvements in and relating to Conduits for Electric Conductors.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 12th Mar., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Conduits for Electric Conductors.
I, JOHN CHARLES LOVE of 18 West Túlpohocken Street Germantown
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Mechanical 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in underground conduits for electric
conductors and to means for supporting the conductors within such conduits, and it
consists in the matters hereinafter described and set forth in the appended claims.
The invention is more especially designed for use in connection with electric
railways but some of the improvements herein described may be applied to
;
other uses.
In the accompanying drawings:
•
Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a conduit section embodying my
invention.
Figure 2 is a plan view of a part of the conduit section with the top plates or
slot-rails removed.
Figure 3 is a cross section of the same taken upon line 3-3 of Figure 2.
A conduit embodying my invention consists, as shown in the accompanying
drawings, of a plurality of trough shaped sections A A which are secured together
end to end and which have open tops closed by means of flanged bars or slot
rails B B which rest upon and form the top of the conduit and which are set at a
proper distance apart to form a central slot between them for the passage of the
travelling contact-making devices attached to the cars of the railway. The conduit
sections A A are of U-shape in cross sectional form and are provided at suitable
intervals with external transverse stiffening ribs of flanges d'a of which those at the
ends of the section are flush with the end surfaces thereof and are provided with
bolt holes to receive bolts for holding the flanges in contact with the similar flanges
of adjacent sections and thereby securing the sections together. Attached to the
inner surface of the side walls of the conduit at the top of the same are inwardly
extending rigid arms or brackets A' A' the top .surfaces of which are flush with
the upper edges of said side walls and which are preferably but not necessarily cast
integral with said side walls. The slot rails B B are provided with external
depending flanges which extend over the upper margin of the side walls of the
conduit when said slot rails are in place upon the conduit, and said slot rails are
also provided at their inner or adjacent edges with depending flanges 262 which
are preferably made considerably deeper than the external flanges 1. Preferably
the side walls of the conduit are provided with external recesses or rabbets a¹ a¹ to
receive the flanges of the slot rails so that the side edges of the slot rails are
flush with the sides of the conduit when the rails are in place upon the conduit,
but this construction is not essential and the said recesses or rabbets may be
omitted with practically the same result. The arms or brackets A' A' serve to
rigidly support the inner parts or adjacent edges of the slot rails and are placed at
suitable distances apart to afford the necessary support for the said slot rails;
commonly however, when the conduit sections are made of relatively short lengths,
as shown in the drawing, the said arms or brackets will be located at the ends of
the sections only. The inner or free ends of the said arms or brackets are adapted
to engage the inner surfaces of the depending flanges 662 when the slot rails are in
proper position upon the conduit, so that said brackets prevent the rails from being
moved or shifted outwardly while at the same time the engagement of the
depending exterior flanges ¹¹ of the slot rails with the outer surface of the

page_text: conduit walls prevents the slot rails from being moved or shifted inwardly.
The construction described therefore insures the holding of the slot rails from
lateral displacement under shocks and blows which are likely to come upon them
by the impact of wheels of vehicles and otherwise. The overlapping of the
external flanges upon the upper margins of the side walls of the conduit
furthermore tends to deflect surface water to the outside of the conduit instead of
permitting it to easily enter the same.
The deep inner depending flanges obviously serve to give strength and
rigidity to the inner edges of the slot rails so that said inner edges will be rigidly
and strongly supported in their parts between the brackets A'A'. By the presence
of said deep flanges therefore the said brackets may be located at a considerable
distance apart while at the same time providing the necessary unyielding support
for the inner edges of the slot rails.
As far as the features of the invention above described are concerned any suitable
means may be employed for securing the slot rails from being lifted from their
places upon the conduit, but as a further and separate improvement I have pro-
vided a construction for this purpose as follows: A2 is a lug or projection cast
upon the external surface of the conduit near the top of the side wall thereof, and
provided with a vertical opening a². C is a metal bar adapted for insertion through
the lug A and made hook shaped upon its upper end and provided with a laterally
., projecting arm or head adapted to engage the slot rails. A. wedge e is inserted
through a suitable opening in the bar C below the lug A, and by tightening said
wedge the bar may be drawn firmly down against the slot rail and the latter
thereby held from displacement. Fastening devices of the character described are
located at suitable intervals along the conduit so as to hold the slot rails properly
in place. Said slot rails are shown as provided with lugs or projections on their
upper surfaces to give proper foothold for horses, and the lugs or projections on the
upper ends of the fastening bars Care conveniently arranged to enter between
adjacent lugs, in the manner shown, so as to avoid the possibility of bending the
..said holding bars C.
+
D D' are electric conductors located within the conduit. As shown in Figure 1
said conductors are both insulated, but in Figures 2 and 3 one, D, is insulated
while the other, D', is in metallic connection with the conduit. Both conductors in
Figure 1 and the conductor D in Figures 2 and 3 are supported within the conduit
by means of insulating connections arranged at intervals, and each of which embraces
a tongue & which is soldered or brazed or otherwise secured to the conductor and
passes through a vertically apertured insulating block E sustained in the upper
part of the conduit beneath the slot rail; the said tongue being provided at its
upper end with a lateral hook or projection d¹ which engages with the upper edge
of one side of the block (Figure 3) and is held in engagement therewith by means
of a key inserted in the opening of the block at one side of the tongue. The
said insulating block E is held in position upon the conduit by means of two parallel,
longitudinally arranged bars G G which are provided on their inner faces with
ribs g g engaging grooves or notches in the opposite sides of the said block. The
external bars G and G' may be cast upon the wall of the conduit, but preferably
bars are cast in one piece with two arms or cross-bars G G2 which are bolted to
the wall of the conduit as shown. The ribs gg which engage the notches or grooves
..in the insulating blocks E terminate at a distance from one of the cross pieces G
equal to or somewhat greater than the length of the insulating block, so that when
the block is slipped along endwise until free from the said ribs it may be entirely
disengaged from the conduit.
As a separate and further improvement I make the said ribs or flanges con-
siderably longer than the block, instead of the same length as heretofore thereby
enabling the block to be moved bodily endwise of the conduit a considerable
distance in either direction without liability of disengaging it from the said sup
porting ribs.or. flanges. This construction is of great advantage for the reason that
it enables the tongues attached to the conductor, together with the insulating blocks

page_text: in which the said tongues are secured, to move bodily a short distance-in either
direction when making taut the conductor after it has been placed within the
conduit and the tongues thereon have been engaged with the insulating, blocks.
This construction is of great advantage furthermore for the reason that it renders
unnecessary great accuracy in the placing of the tongues upon the conductors pit
being obvious that if the insulating blocks were not movable end wise of the conduit
great care would be required to insure the placing of the tongues in position to
exactly correspond with the location of the insulating blocks and any error in the
placing of the tongues would prevent the conductor being drawn taut when placed
within the conduit.
The bars,G.Gwhich sustain the insulating block, in the manner hereinbefore
described, are, as shown in the drawing, sustained from the-side wall of the conduit
ins such manner that: an opening or airspace is left between the bar which is
nearest the said sideswall and the said side wall, the said bars G G being connected
with the side walls solely by the transverse vend pieces gor, brackets, G²G? herein-
before referred to. By this construction, a more perfect insulation is secured for
the reason that any water which may enter at the side of the conduit will 'flow down
the side wall past the inner bar Ġ and there will thus be no possibility of water
reaching the insulating block.
Of the two conductors. D D illustrated, one, D, is, insulated from the conduit, in
the manner above described, while the other, D', is uninsulated, this conductor
forming the return conductor of the system. As a means of supporting the said
conductor D' the latter is provided with tongues secured thereto at proper
intervals and each tongue is adapted to be inserted through a longitudinal slot h
formed in a horizontal support or projection H cast upon or attached to the inner
wall of the conduit near the upper part thereof. The tongue d' is provided with a
hook or projection ³ at its upper end and is held in engagement with the support H
by means of a key I, in the same manner that the tongue d is held in engagement
with the insulating block E. By providing a longitudinal sloth for engagement
with the tongue d³, in the manner described, provision is made for endwise movement.
of the said tongue at the time of inserting and stretching the conductor D', it being
obvious that after said conductor has been inserted and drawn taut the keys I may
be tightened to secure the tongues in any position at any point in the groove at
which they may happen to be located. It will of course be understood that the
keys will not be tightened but will either be left out entirely or inserted loosely
until the conductor has been stretched taut and the several tongues have been
brought to the positions in the slots which they will finally occupy.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1The combination with the side walls of a conduit provided with rigid,
inwardly extending brackets, of slot rails provided with depending flanges on both
margins and adapted to extend over the upper edges of the said side walls with
their outer flanges engaging the outer surfaces of the side walls and their inner
flanges engaging the said brackets, substantially as described.
2: The combination with an electric conductor and a stationary support
therefor, of a tongue attached to the conductor and having longitudinally sliding
connection with said support, substantially as described.
3: The combination with an electric conductor and a stationary support
therefor, of an insulating block attached to the conductor and having longitudinally
sliding connection with said support, substantially as described.
4: The combination with an electric conductor and a stationary support
therefor, of an insulating block having longitudinally sliding connection with the
support, and a tongue attached to the conductor and secured in said insulating block,
substantially as described.
5: The combination with an electric conductor and a stationary support

page_text: therefor provided with parallel bars having opposite flanges or ribs, of an insulating
block having grooves or notches to engage said flanges or ribs, and a tongue upon
the conductor attached to the said insulating block, the said ribs or flanges being
made longer than the insulating block to afford longitudinal movement in the latter,
substantially as described.
6: The combination with the side walls of a conduit and slot rails resting upon
the top of the side walls thereof, of locking devices consisting of apertured lugs or
projections upon the outer surfaces of the side walls, locking bars engaged with the
slot-rails at their upper ends, and wedges for holding the bars in place, substantially
as described.
7 The combination with the side walls of an electric conduit and a conductor
therein, of a support for the conductor attached to the said side wall of the conduit
and consisting of an insulating block supporting the conductor and parallel bars
which sustain the block and which are separated from the said side wall of the
conduit by an air space, substantially as described.
Dated at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day of October. A.D. 1891
JOHN CHARLES LOVE.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.