A Method and Apparatus for Conducting Electricity to Moving Vehicles.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Nov., 1886.
Complete Left, 28th July, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 13th Sept., 1887.
RESERV
A Method and Apparatus for Conducting Electricity to Moving
Vehicles.
We, CHARLES POLLAK, and GUSTAV BINSWANGER, both of No. 5 Great St. Thomas
Apostle in the City of London, Electrical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to a method and apparatus for conducting electricity to a
moving vehicle such as a tramcar carrying an electric motor, employing for that
purpose magnetic attraction in such a manner that the main conductor can be entirely
closed in without permitting access of dirt or moisture to it and without allowing
short circuiting by accidental conduction. For this purpose, we lay an insulated
conductor under the road level, which may be entirely enclosed in a suitable water-
tight casing. Successive portions of the upper part or cover of the casing are made
of metal, each portion insulated, and immediately under them, within the casing which
encloses the conductor, are contacts made of or attached to iron pieces and mounted
on springs or counterbalanced in such a way that usually they remain out of contact
with the metal of the casing. On the vehicle to which electricity has to be conducted
we provide a powerful magnet or solenoid which terminates in a roller or rubber
running along or very near to the metal of the casing. As this passes over the parts
in the neighbourhood of the contact pieces they are successively attracted towards the
metal cover and thus make contact so that electricity can pass from the cased in
conductor through the cover and the roller or rubber to the electric motor on the
vehicle.
Dated this 2nd day of November 1886
ABEL & IMRAY,
28, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: COMI DEIE
A Method and Apparatus for Conducting Electricity to Moving
Vehicles.
We, CHARLES POLLAK and GUSTAV BINSWANGER both of No. 5 Great St. Thomas
Apostle in the City of London, Electrical Engineers 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 :-
Our invention relates to a method and apparatus for conducting electricity to a
moving vehicle, such as a tramcar carrying an electric motor, employing for that
purpose magnetic attraction in such a manner that the main conductor can be entirely
closed in without permitting access of dirt or moisture to it, and without allowing
short circuiting by accidental conduction. We will explain the method which we
adopt, referring to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a convenient form of
apparatus whereby our invention can be carried into effect. Fig. 1 is a part longi-
tudinal section and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a tramway and the lower part of a
car thereon. Fig. 3 is a perspective diagrammatic view to an enlarged scale shewing
the electrical connections, Fig. 4 is a side view, and Fig. 5 a plan looking from below,
of one of the contacts. Under the road level we lay a continuous insulated con-
ductor c which may be entirely enclosed in a suitable watertight casing. Successive
portions of the upper parts or cover of the casing are made of metal, each portion
insulated. Practically we find a convenient construction, as shewn in the drawings,
is to fix along the centre of the tramway two iron rails R with wood between them,
these rails being made in lengths separated by cross pieces of wood W, so that each
length is insulated from the next. To the underside of the rails R we fix contact
boxes K, preferably two of these under each length of the rails R. Each of these
contact boxes K, which is preferably made quite airtight and partly filled with
petroleum, contains an iron arm m jointed to a fixed piece of iron n and partly
supported by a spring r. The arm m and the rail R above it have suitable contacts
facing each other and the iron piece n is connected by an insulated wire w to the main
conductor c. On the car which runs along the tramway we fix a powerful magnet, or
it may be an electromagnet or solenoid. A convenient form of permanent magnet is
that shewn in the drawings of horse shoe form with its two poles N, S, presented near
to but not touching the rails R, and extending over a considerable length, so as to
give time for their action even when the car moves rapidly. We fix also on the car,
preferably between the poles of the magnet, collectors 6 which are wire brushes
mounted on springs which cause them to rub along the faces of the rails R. As the
magnet N S passes along each rail portion R magnetising it by induction, the iron
arm m in the box K is attracted up to the rail R making contact with it, and thus an
electric current is transmitted from the main conductor c through w n m R to the
brushes and thence to the electro machine on the car with which the brushes b are
connected, the return current passing from the vehicle to a return wire or to the

page_text: running rails and earth. The brushes 6 are in duplicate, the one placed some distance
in front of the other and the contact boxes K are placed sufficiently near to each other,
and the magnet N S is made sufficiently long to ensure that contact is made for each
length of rail R before it is broken for the previous length, and thus to avoid
destructive effects of sparking at the successive breaks of contact. Obviously the
form and position of the magnet N S, of the rail lengths R and of the contact boxes K
and contacts in might be varied in many ways so long as the construction is such that
a magnet carried by the vehicle causes by attraction the movement of successive
contacts whereby a main insulated conductor is electrically connected with successive
lengths of conductor during the time that collectors carried by the vehicle are bearing
upon these successive lengths.
We are aware that, in order to communicate electricity from a main continuous
conductor to a moving vehicle, it has been proposed to lay down conductors in
successive lengths insulated from each other and exposed in such a manner that
collectors carried by the vehicle bear upon them, and various modes have been pro-
posed of bringing these lengths of conductors successively into connection with the
main conductor as described in the Specifications No. 783 of 1881, No. 3380 of 1882,
No. 4718 of 1882 and No. 2395 of 1883; we therefore make no general claim to the
communication of electricity to a moving vehicle through separate lengths of exposed
conductor which are successively connected to a main conductor as the vehicle moves
along them, but,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
1. The herein described method of conducting electricity from a continuous con-
ductor to a moving vehicle by providing a discontinuous conductor in insulated
lengths on which successively bear collectors carried by the vehicle whilst the
attractive influence of a magnet or solenoid also carried by the vehicle causes successive
magnetic contacts to put the continuous conductor in communication with the parts
of the discontinuous conductor then in contact with the collectors.
2. Apparatus for conducting electricity to a moving vehicle arranged and operating
substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
TL 10th
JT11007
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.