Improvements connected with the Electric Conductors of Electric Railways.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Nov., 1334-Accepted, 15th Dec., 1894
[Communicated from abroad by JOHN PLATT, of Westfield, in the State of
New Jersey, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer.]
Improvements connected with the Electric Conductors of Electric
Railways.
I ALFRED SLATER of Horton Lawn, Gloucester in the County of Gloucester,
Manager to the Gloucester Railway Carriage & Wagon Company Limited 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 :-
The invention relates to that class of electric railways, in which electric wires
or conductors are located in conduits, and are connected to the cars by any suitable
form of trolley.
In the construction of this class of railways, great difficulty has been encountered
on account of leakage from electric conductors, and on account of various short
circuits which have arisen through the presence of moisture and other unfavorable
conditions incident to the location of the conductors.
The object of the invention is to provide an improved electric railway system, in
which the electric wire or conductor is entirely enclosed in an insulating envelope,
the envelope being provided with means for intermittently making contact; and to
these ends, the invention consists in the parts and combinations of parts as
hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims at the end of
this Specification.
In the accompanying two sheets of drawings:
-
Fig. 1 is an isometric view of a section of the tracks and underground conduit
constructed according to the invention.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, showing one form of trolley
which may be employed.
Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, and
Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, illustrate modified forms of construction.
Referring to the drawings, and in detail, A designates the tracks or rails, and, as
shown in the drawings, the rails may be of the ordinary grooved form, and may be
located flush with the pavement or surface of the road.
The rails A are supported by suitable chairs or supports B, which rest upon and
are fastened to the ordinary sleepers C.
The form of conduit which is employed in this improved electric railway system,
is preferably comparatively shallow, and may simply rest upon or be supported by
the ordinary sleepers, but a deeper conduit can be used, if preferred.
As shown most clearly in Fig. 1, the conduit is constructed of a base or plate, 10,
having side plates, 11 and 12, cast integrally therewith or secured thereto, the side
plates being strengthened or stiffened by means of the ordinary flanges or
webs 13.
The side plate 12 is bent or extended over, and is provided with a lip or
downwardly extending portion 14, which forms one side of the groove or slot for
receiving the trolley, the lip 14 being stiffened and supported by suitable small
webs or flanges 15.
Extending up from the base plate 10, and connected to the side plate 11, are
provided suitable webs or flanges 16, which extend up, and are arched over, to
support suitable top plates or covers 17, which preferably are formed in short
sections, and form the removable cover plates for the conduit.

page_text: Resting in the bottom of the conduit, and secured in place by the lugs or
ridges 20 formed with the base plate 10, there is secured an electric conductor,
which is constructed of an insulating envelope 21, having an electric wire or
conductor 22 located therein, the envelope 21 being provided with contact strips
or pieces 23, for making an intermittent connection with the conductor 22.
With a conduit thus constructed, any desired or approved form of trolley or
slider may be employed. The form of trolley which is preferably employed is
shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3.
In these figures, 24 designates a suitable guide plate or bracket, which may be
secured to any convenient part of the car, and which is braced or stiffened by
means of the brace rods 240.
Mounted in and guided by slots in the guideway 24, is provided a trolley plate
or bracket 25.
A yoke or equalizer 26 is pivotted to the trolley plate 25, as shown, and suitable
springs 27 and 28 are connected to the equalizer and to the guide plate for normally
forcing down the trolley plate 25.
In order to prevent the water and moisture which may collect upon the trolley
plate 25 from running down and following the same, so as to interfere with the
electric connections, the trolley plate 25 is offset or bent down, and provided with
suitable drainage orifices, as 250, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3.
A yoke or bracket 29 is secured to and supported by the trolley plate 25, but is
properly insulated therefrom, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3.
Mounted or journalled in the bracket 29, are provided a series of trolley wheels a,
the exterior or end trolley wheels being located slightly above the centre trolley
wheels, in order to provide an easy movement as the trolleys run over the
compressible electric conductor.
In order to prevent the trolley wheels from being thrown off of the contact
strips of the conductor by any slight lateral or swaying motion of the trolley, the
trolley wheels are preferably fitted loosely into the bracket 29, and may have a
short transverse motion upon their arbors, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3.
As shown in the drawings, the wire for taking the current from the conductor
passes through a suitable pipe 30, which is supported by the trolley plate, and is
connected at its end to the insulated bracket or bearing piece 29.
The conduit of the improved railway system may be drained in any of the
ordinary or preferred manners, and, as shown in Fig. 3, there may be provided
drainage pipes D, as shown by dotted lines, which may be connected with the sewer
in the ordinary manner.
The operation of the improved system is obvious, and need not be explained at
length.
The trolley, which is secured to the car, presses down or compresses a section of
the improved conductor, and one or more of the contact strips 23 are brought into
contact with the electric wire or conductor 22.
As soon as the car has passed, the conductor again assumes its normal position, and
the electric conductor or wire is maintained in an insulated condition until the
trolley again passes over it.
In Fig. 4 is illustrated the construction which is preferably employed when a
two-wire or return circuit system is desired.
In this construction, instead of utilizing the tracks or ground for completing the
circuit of the electric railway system, there is provided a return wire or conductor,
which is of a similar construction to that heretofore described.
In Fig. 4, the current passes from the electric wire or conductor 22, enclosed in
an envelope 21, as heretofore described, through the contact pieces, the trolley
wheels a, and through an insulated wire, which is enclosed in a pipe 30, the circuit
being completed through the car, and through an insulated wire which is brought
down through a pipe 300, and is connected to the trolley wheels a', which
co-operate with a second or return conductor formed by the electric wire or
conductor 220 mounted in the compressible envelope 210.

page_text: In the single wire system and in the double wire system thus far described, the
improved compressible conductor has been shown as secured in the bottom of the
conduit, and the trolleys have been arranged to press down the contact strips,
carried by the compressible envelope into contact with the electric wire or
conductor which is enclosed therein.
In some cases, it may be desirable to maintain the contact strips in a straight
line, and to intermittently move the electric conductor into contact with the
contact strips, and such constructions are illustrated in Figs. 5 to 7, inclusive.
In Fig. 5 there is illustrated a single wire system showing this modified form of
construction.
In the drawings, 21 designates the compressible envelope for the electric
conductor, which is constructed as heretofore described, and is hung from the side
of the conduit by means of suitable supports b secured to a flange in the side of the
conduit, the supports 6 being maintained in a properly insulated condition.
The trolley wheels a and their connections are substantially the same construction
as that heretofore described, except that the trolley wheels are set in line, and need
not again be described at length.
The trolley plate 25 is extended, however, to near the bottom of the conduit, as
shown at 31, and is provided with a bracket in which are pivotted one or more
idler rollers or compressing wheels, which are journalled in spring-pressed boxes,
as shown most clearly in Fig. 7, and are adapted to engage the underside of the
compressible conductor, and to raise the electric wire or conductor into contact
with one or more of the contact strips, which are maintained in the same
horizontal line.
This construction is considered especially desirable, as the trolley wheels will
not be obliged to travel over an uneven surface, as in the construction heretofore
described.
It is also to be noted, that in this construction, the base or bottom of the conduit
is vacant, and may be brushed or scraped out by any of the ordinary implements
which are used for this purpose.
In Fig. 6 there is illustrated a similar construction applied to a two-wire
system.
Referring to this figure, there is provided a return conductor 210, which is
carried by. insulated arms or supports b¹, and co-operates with suitable trolley
wheels a', and with suitable idler rollers or compressing wheels 320, the circuit
being completed from the conductor 22, through the trolley wheels a, an insulated
wire enclosed in the tube 30, through the car, and through an insulated wire passing
down through the tube 300, and connecting with the trolley wheels a', which
co-operate with the return conductor 210.
The feed or supply wires for an electric railway system constructed according to
the invention may be located or connected in any of the ordinary or approved ways,
and need not be herein shown or described at length.
It will be understood that changes may be made in the construction of the
improved railway system by those who are skilled in the art, and the invention,
therefore, is not to be limited to the exact details shown and described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me from
abroad, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
1. The combination and arrangement of the electric conductor or conductors,
contact strips, and trolley, substantially as shewn and described.
2. In an electric railway system, the combination of a compressible resilient
insulating envelope, an electric conducter enclosed therein, and a travelling trolley
plate having a downwardly-extending perforated offset portion for shedding water,
said plate carrying a series of trolley wheels co-operating with said conductor,
substantially as described.
3. In an electric railway system, the combination of the compressible resilient

page_text: insulating envelope 21, having an electric conductor 22 mounted therein, a travelling
trolley plate 25 having a downwardly-extending offset portion provided with the
drainage orifices 250, and carrying an insulated bracket 29, having a series of
trolley wheels mounted therein, substantially as described.
4. In an electric railway system, the combination of a compressible insulating
envelope, an electric conductor mounted therein, a series of contact strips carried
by said envelope, a travelling trolley plate, and a series of trolley wheels journalled
on fixed arbors carried by said trolley plate, the exterior or end trolley wheels being
journalled slightly above the central trolley wheels, and arranged to co-operate with
the contact strips, substantially as described.
5. In an electric railway system, the combination of a compressible insulating
envelope, an electric conductor mounted therein, a series of contact strips carried
by said envelope, a travelling trolley plate having a downwardly-extending offset
portion for shedding water, and a series of trolley wheels journalled on fixed arbors
carried by said trolley plate, and mounted to have a free lateral movement upon
their arbors, substantially as described.
6. In an electric railway system, the combination of a travelling bracket 24, a
vertically-movable trolley plate 25 supported in and guided by said bracket, the
equalizing yoke 26, and the springs 27 and 28 for forcing said trolley plate down,
and a series of trolley wheels mounted upon said trolley plate to co-operate with
a series of contact strips carried by a resilient compressible conductor, substantially
as described.
Dated this 10th day of November 1894.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.