Improvements in Electric Railways and Tramways on a Road Contact System.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1898--Accepted, 9th Apr., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways and Tramways on a Road
Contact System.
I, CARL FRIEDRICH PHILIPP STENDEBACH, of Plagwitzerstrasse 4511, Leipzig,
in the Empire of Germany, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in electrical conducting apparatus for
tramways, railways, and the like, in which contact is operated mechanically, and
the current is received by the motor in the middle of the track.
In the annexed drawing:-
Figs. 1 to 3 illustrate a form of construction of the invention suitable for street
or public road railways, and
Figs. 4 and 5 the construction for railways having private running ways, or
tracks.
Fig. 1 is a cross section through the track, the contact point, channel and contact
apparatus when out of circuit.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the channel with its rails, and a longitudinal section
through the contact apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the channel, and shows the part (lying in
the channel) of the operating device of the contact apparatus, in the operating
position, as well as a side view of the current receiver in the form of a brush.
Fig. 4 is a cross section of the contact apparatus with current receiver and current
closer for railways having private ways, as well as a cross section of part of the
railway track itself.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the track and apparatus.
Fig. 6 is an alternative form of contact closer which can be used in connection
with either construction but with different operative mechanism from that shown
in Fig. 3, namely one consisting of two short pieces, of which the one hangs on
the front part and the other on the back part of the carriage. The contact closers
and current receivers are arranged separately.
This manner of construction not only offers the advantage of limited dimensions
of the channel in street railways, but also great safety of working, as the necessary
distances between out and return conductors can be controlled more easily, which
is necessary, to avoid short circuiting: also a contact of the current conducting
parts due to carelessness is impossible.
It is also absolutely impossible for current supply to remain at the contact points
after the carriage has passed.
Along the track there are arranged at distances of 3, 4, or 5 meters cast iron
cases 1, Fig. 1, which are closed from the street by movable lids 2 and are thus
made accessible

page_text: These cases which are constructed also as chairs or carriers for one side of the rail
line, form in their under part simultaneously the receiver for the contact apparatus.
The current admission cable 3 and the transmission cable 4 are introduced in
such a manner through the bottom or lower part of the sides of these cases 1 that
the ends of these two cables can be formed into spring operated contacts 5, which
can be closed by the contact bow.6, whereby the current is conducted from the
cable 3 to the cable 4 and from there to the contact point 19, in the middle of the
track.
The contact bow 6 is seated in an insulated piece 7, which is connected with the
operating device 8 in such a manner, that this bow is lowered and brought into
contact with the contacts 5, as soon as a pressure is effected on the lever 9 in the
channel 10.
The lifting of the contact bow 6 is effected automatically as soon as the pressure
on the lever 9 ceases, the lever 9 being pivoted on an axle 11 is influenced in such
a manner by the counter weight 12 and the spring 13, see Fig. 2, that it must
always resume a vertical position in the channel Fig. 1.
The counter weight 12 can also be arranged in the case 1 instead of in the
channel 10.
The transmission of the turning movement of the axle 11 to the operating
device 8 is effected by the cam 14, which in the frame of the operating device finds
an abutment in both turning directions in consequence of its formation.
The contact places 5 are provided with a cast iron or glass case 15 the open or
under part of which dips in mercury Q.
The interior of the channel 10 consisting advantageously of steel plate is made
accessible from the interior of the case 1 by means of a door 16, Fig. 2.
The operation of the whole is effected by the contact closer 17 Fig 3, which holds
the lever 9 of the one apparatus or case in operative position until it operates the
lever 9 of the following apparatus lying next in the travelling direction.
The current is conducted in such a manner to a current receiver 18 suspended
beneath the car while the receiver slides over the heads of the contact points 19,
and whilst the contact apparatus is operated by means of the contact closer 17 the
interruption of the contact between the current receiver and the operated contact
apparatus is effected by the current receiver 18 and the latter has moved already
about 200 mm. from the contact point 19, before the lever 9 belonging to the
contact point is released by the contact closer 17, consequently sparking at the
contact places 5 is avoided, but may occur at the contact point 19. Permanently
good working of the contact apparatus is thus secured and short circuits are avoided.
The form of construction represented in Figs. 4 and 5 shows for example the appli-
cation of the invention to railways with private ways, where a channel for receiving
the lever 9 can be dispensed with..
The casing 1 here also consists of cast iron and has two fastening plates 1ª by
means of which the whole arrangement is bolted on the sleepers 21 of the railway
track.
こ
The introduction of the admission cable 3 is here also effected as before described
whilst the transferring cable 4 is guided directly through the cover 15* of the
case 15, which latter carries directly on the top the contact point 19...
The contact place 5 lies horizontally and is immovable within the insulated
covering 7, which is fixed in the interior of the case 15.
The contact bow 6 with a loose counter contact secured in it is influenced by
the operating device 8 and makes a horizontal movement, when the operating
device 8 turns round its turning point 22 under-the influence of the angular lever 9.
The current is thus closed at the contact place 5.
For interrupting the contact 5 there is provided a counter weight 12 and also
a spring, which guide the lever 9 back into its normal position shown in Fig. 4,
when the same is rendered free by the current closer 17, whereby the operating
device 8, which is connected by the joint 24 with the lever 9, must follow this move-
ment of the lever 9.

page_text: 25, 26, 27 are steel rollers, which allow an easy working of the single parts.
The rails 28 serve in all cases as earth conductor.
The device represented in Fig. 6 is intended for use with railways, where a moving
contact closer 17 shall or can not be used, but where the closing and interrupting
of the contacts 5 is had by means of two short iron plates or pressure rollers, which
are guided on the front and on back of the carriage respectively and of which the
one behind reaches lower than the one in the front.
The device, Fig. 6 consists therefore for this purpose of the steel bolt 31 provided
with the roller 30 and movable downwards under the action of the plates.
The roller 30 slides along the face of the operating lever 8 to the position a shown.
by dotted lines causing the operating lever 8 to make a turning movement round
the axle 22, whereby the contact is closed at 5.
Simultaneously the detent 32 standing under spring pressure engages the nose 33
of the operating lever and thus prevents the interruption of the contact, when the
roller 30 returns into its starting position.
At the second lowering of the bolt 31, by the back pressure plate of the carriage,
the roller 30 slides down as far as the dotted position b, and operates upon the
projection 34 of the lever 36 pivoted at 35 and pulls back the bolt 38, which is pro-
vided with the nose 37 and is connected at 39 with the lever 36, until the bolt 38
springs into the abutment 40.
The detent 32 is thus lifted out by means of its projection 41 and releases the
nose 33, whereupon the operating device 8 at the second return of the bolt 31
returns into its first position and interrupts the contact at 5.
At the second return of the bolt 31 a projection 42 of the bolt 31 pushes against
the bolt 38 and lifts the same from its abutment 40, whereby the lever 36 and the
bolt 38 return to their original positions under the action of the spring 43.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In electric railways with underground current conduction a contact apparatus,
the casing 1 of which serves simultaneously as carrier of the rail 28 and of the
channel 10, whilst the chamber 15 containing the contact parts is arranged fixedly
in the casing 1 and dips with its open under end into the mercury seal Q.
2. In electric railways with under ground current conduction in the casing 1 as in
Claim 1, an operating device, comprising a lever 9, Fig. 1 a U shaped operating
device 8 independent from the case 15 and lowered by the effect of an eccentric 14
Fig. 2 for closing contact in the interior of the case 15 by putting a conducting
bow 6 on the movable contacts 5, the peculiar form of the eccentric 14.
3. In electric railways with underground current conduction, within an iron
case 1 Fig. 4 a U shaped operating device 8, pivoted at 22 within a mercury seal Q
and is brought in such a manner into co-operation with the contact parts, that by
pressing down the lever 9 the contact plate 6 is moved in a horizontal direction,
against the fixed contact plate 5.
4. In electric railways with underground current conduction, a contact device,
as in Fig. 6 wherein by lowering a bolt 31 with the roller 30, the U shaped operat-
ing device 8 as in Claim 3 is kept by the pawl 32 for a time in a position closing
the contact parts and again by a second lowering of the bolt 31 under the co-opera-
tion of the lever 36, with which a bolt 38 is connected to co-operate, the pawl 32
is released whereupon the operating device 8 influenced by a spring 43 and the
lever 36 return into their starting position, as soon as the bolt 31 lifts the bolt 38
by means of its nose 42, in consequence of which the contact parts 5 and 6 are
removed from one another.
5. In electric railways with underground current conduction a current receiver 18,
Fig. 3, which co-operates in such a manner with the contact closer 17, that the
ourrent receiver breaks contact earlier with the current receiving points 19, before
current supply at the contact point 19 is interrupted by the operating device 8

page_text: influenced by the contact closer 17, for the purpose of avoiding the formation of
sparks in the contact closer parts 5 and 6.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1898.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant, 18, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., London.