Improvements in Electric Railways on a Road Contact System.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 13th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways on a Road Contact System.
I, STEPHEN EDWARD GUNYON, of 115, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
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 a system of electrical conductors for actuating elec-
trical motor carriages, which conductors act with certainty under all circum-
stances. On reference to the diagram Figure 1 it will be seen that the various
contact makers C, C1, C2, etc, can only deliver current when their cover plates a, a¹
and a², which are hinged at the points ? p¹ p², are pressed down by a receiving
rail A carried by the lower part of the electric motor carriage, and through which
a current passes.
The contact makers are, as will be seen from the drawing,
so laid in the ground between the rails, that they only project a few centimetres
above the street pavement, and are only so far apart that before the receiving
rail A leaves the one apparatus C it will be in contact with the other appara-
tus C¹, by which means an uninterrupted taking up of the current takes place.
If from any cause a contact maker should fail to act, the current through the
receiving rail would be broken and the motor would not then be put into action.
To prevent this occurring there is situated in the motor carriage a supplementary
source of electricity B which may consist of a sufficiently large battery of small
cells for example. This battery B is connected by its + pole with the receiving
rail A, whilst its - pole is connected to a switch S. If the electric motor M is
switched off by means of the starting apparatus R, and the switch S is closed, a
connection will be formed from the
pole of the battery B through the motor
to the supplying conductor. A current coming from + of the battery B now
flows through the receiving rail A, the cover plate a of the contact maker C in
question, and passes in consequence of the contact formed at 6 through the sole-
noid (exciting the relay), through the or return conductors or wires, the
motor, M and switch S, back to the battery B. The electro-magnet being
excited and the connection formed between + and the cover plate a and receiv-
ing rail A, the motor can be switched on at the starting apparatus R and the
switch S.
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The mode of action of the contact makers C, C¹, C², etc, is shown diagrammat-
ically in Figure 2. The cover plate a, hinged at p is pressed down so far by the
receiving rail, that the contact plate h which is conductively connected with a,
touches the contact plate h¹ thereby causing contact to be made at b. A current
will immediately pass from the receiving rail (connected by means of the pre-
ceding contact maker with the + pole) through a h and h¹ to the supplementary
electro-magnet c connected with the pole. The electro-magnet c overcomes
the power of the spring m of the armature ₫ of the relay lever, and in doing so

page_text: the ends of the fork g and g dip into the mercury cups i and i and form the
connection between the + conductor and the receiving rail through the cover
plate a. When the receiving rail leaves the contact maker the cover plate a
will be raised by the spring F, and the contact at b will be thereby broken. The
current no longer passes through the electro-magnet and the relay lever g is
drawn by the spring m into its former position, whereby the connection between i
and or between + and the cover plate a will be broken without sparking. A
pressing down of the cover plate a by any heavy body will consequently not
cause a connection with the + pole.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
is claimed is;-
-
First. Electrical conductors for electrical railways in which the sectional
conductors or cover plates a can only give out current, when they are pressed
down by a conducting receiving rail A and close at b the circuit of the electro-
magnet which by its armature a closes the chief current circuit at g, i, gl, i,
substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Second. Electrical conductors arranged in accordance with the first claiming
clause in which a carriage battery B can be connected by means of a switch S
with the receiving rail A and the return conductors or wires for the purpose
of exciting the electro-magnet r when starting or in case of a contact maker
failing to operate, substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
Dated this 5th day of December 1899.
S. E. GUNYON,
Applicant, 115, Cannon Street, London, E.C.