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

page_text: Date of Application, 9th July, 1898-Accepted, 20th Aug., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways and Tramways on a Road
Contact System.
I, NICOLAS FLECHTENMACHER, of Bucharest, in the Kingdom of Roumania,
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 an improved system of electric traction wherein one of the
rails of the track is formed of a material containing cellulose which does not conduct
electricity but is yet sufficiently resistant, such for example as papier-maché, xylolithe,
etc., and is provided at regular intervals with pieces of soft iron passing through
it from top to bottom, and wherein the vehicle or vehicles is or are provided with a
device adapted to magnetize the said pieces of soft iron during its passage over the
latter, the said pieces of soft iron being combined with devices designed to supply
electric current from a main conductor when they are influenced by the said pieces
of magnetized soft iron and with contact pieces designed to take the current thus
supplied to the said pieces of soft iron and to convey it to the motor or motors of the
vehicles, the said contact pieces being fitted to each vehicle in such a manner that at
least one of them is constantly in contact with a piece of soft iron on the rail
supplied with current.
In the accompanying drawing I have shewn my invention applied to a tramway or
street railway.
In the said drawing,
Figure 1 is a transverse section through the track;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on the line x-x Figure 1, the said figure also
indicating diagrammatically the current receiving devices arranged in front of the
vehicle; and,
Figure 3 is a view of a detail drawn to a larger scale.
The rail A of the track (Figure 1) may be any kind of metal rail whilst the rail
B is formed of a material containing cellulose which does not conduct electricity but
is yet sufficiently resistant such for example as papier-maché, xylolithe, etc. This
rail B is provided, at regular distances apart, with pieces of soft iron C of pyramidal
shape and passing through the said rail from top to bottom. The rail B is fixed by
means of bolts D to a longitudinal sleeper E of a material having the same properties
of insulation and resistance as the rail B. This sleeper E is provided with a longi-
tudinal groove or channel a which extends along the whole length of the rail B,
and to prevent wet or moisture penetrating to the said channel I provide a layer
of a suitable and insulating waterproof substance such as bitumen, asphalte, etc., on
each side thereof between the rail and the sleeper. The channel a contains the
conducting wire / which is fixed therein in any suitable manner and is in communi-
cation with the source of electricity supplying the track; and below each piece of soft
iron C of the rail, this conductor is connected by a spiral spring m with a contact
piece b also of soft iron, the said. springs m being of a strength and of a section
suitable for normally holding the contact pieces b away from the soft iron pieces C
and for resisting fusion when the current flows through them. Normally each spring
m draws the corresponding contact piece b against a ring n fixed in the channel a.
DQ27

page_text: c is a flat strip or bar separated from the rail B by distance pieces d which rest
against the rail into which they extend slightly and are screwed into the bar c in
such a manner as to support the paving, macadam, etc., of the intermediate space
and to hold, through the medium of the distance pieces d, the rail applied against
the part of the road outside the track.
The longitudinal sleeper E is fixed in any suitable manner upon the transverse"
sleepers to which the rail A is suitably secured.
The motor vehicles, provided with any suitable electromotor, are provided at their
front part, that is to say, below the front platform and directly above the rail B, with
a permanent horse-shoe magnet F of which each leg is wound with a coil f so that
the magnet F and the coils f together form a polarised electromagnet; the said
motor vehicle is also provided at its front part with two contact pieces or collectors H
connected to a common support and arranged in such a manner that at least one of
them is always in contact with a piece of magnetized soft iron C when the vehicle is
running upon the track.
i
The support of the collectors H is connected to one end of the coils f, the
other end of which is connected to the conductor I which supplies the electric
current to the motor of the vehicle, the said support also being connected to the
conductor I by a rheostat i which offers the same resistance to the flow of the
current as the coils f so that the said conductor I receives current of the same
tension through both fand i.
At its front end the vehicle may be provided with a brush K designed to clean
the rail B for ensuring good contact between the collectors H and pieces of
soft iron C.
The operation is as follows:-When the vehicle is upon the track its magnet F
will magnetize the pieces of soft iron C which are situated below it in such a manner
that the latter will attract to them, in opposition to the springs m, the correspond-
ing contact pieces b so that the current from the line will be conveyed by the
said contact pieces 6 and the corresponding pieces of soft iron C to the collectors H
and from the latter to the electromotor of the vehicle, the passage of the current
across the coils f ensuring the magnetization of the magnet F, and the rail A serving
as the return conductor. The operation is repeated along the rail as the advances
over the track, the contact pieces b being returned to their normal position
upon the rings n by their springs m as soon as the magnetization of the pieces of
soft iron C, which are arranged above them, is lost, that is to say, shortly after the
magnet F has passed the said pieces C.
It will be obvious that with the above described arrangement, the conductor h
need not be provided with an insulating covering. The brush K the polarized
electro-magnet F, f, f and the collectors H can obviously be fitted to the rear
of the vehicle.
In the case of vehicles which are to run in both directions each end will be
provided with a brush K and with a polarized electro-magnet F, f, f and
collectors H.
The distance between the pieces of soft iron C on the rail will vary according to
the length of the collectors H employed.
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 system of electric traction, wherein one of the rails of the track is formed
of a material containing cellulose which does not convey electricity but is yet
sufficiently resistant such, for example, as papier-maché, xylolithe, etc., and is
provided at regular distances apart with pieces of soft iron passing through
the rail from top to bottom thereof, whilst the vehicle or vehicles is or are provided
with a device adapted to effect the magnetization of the said pieces of soft
iron when passing over the latter, the said pieces of soft iron being combined
with devices designed to feed them with electric current from -the line when they

page_text: are influenced by the said pieces of magnetized soft iron and with collectors designed
to take the current thus conveyed to the said pieces of soft iron in order to supply
the motor or motors of the vehicles, the said collectors being fitted to each vehicle in
such a manner that at least one of them is always in contact with a piece of soft iron
which is supplied with current, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. In a system of the kind described in Claim 1, the arrangement wherein the
device placed upon each vehicle for effecting the magnetization of the pieces of
soft iron of the rail during its passage over the said pieces is formed of a polarized
electro-magnet placed directly above the said rail and the winding of which is
arranged so as to receive a portion of the current conveyed to the vehicle by the
collectors, for the purpose of ensuring the magnetization of the permanent magnet
of the said polarized electro-magnet, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. In a system of the kind described in Claim 1, the arrangement wherein the
devices, designed to convey the electric current from a line conductor to the pieces
of soft iron of the rail (which is made of a material containing cellulose) when the
said pieces of soft iron are magnetized, are formed of contact pieces of soft iron
which are connected by springs to the line conductor, arranged in a longitudinal
channel in a longitudinal sleeper of a material containing cellulose similar to that
of the rail, and normally rest upon rings fitted in the said channel in such a manner
that the said contact pieces can be attracted, in opposition to the said springs,
by the magnetized pieces of soft iron and can thus be brought into contact with
them and transmit the current to them, a layer of a suitable waterproof and
insulating substance such for example, as bitumen, asphalte, etc., being placed
at each side of the said channel between the rail and the sleeper for preventing
moisture and wet from penetrating to the said channel, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
ሰ
f T1 1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.