Improvements in Electric Railways on the Conduit System.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Mar., 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electric Railways on the Conduit System.
I, WILLIAM SHARKEY HULL, of Dallas, in the County of Dallas, and State
of Texas, United States of America Gentleman, 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 electric railways on the conduit
system.
I provide a conduit with guides for the travelling switch one of said guides being
a continuous one and the other a sectional one, one being insulated from the
conduit and from the other guide strip. A travelling switch consisting of one or
more hollow balls is adapted to move in the conduit and upon the under sides of
said guides. The conduit is of that form which is made in sections and the
arrangement being such that only one section is "live" and that the one over which
the car is passing, there being no ground in the other sections.
In its preferred form the invention embodies a tubular insulated section with the
conductors in the form of segments of circular planes, there being no wires and
the conductors being bare and erected to be contacted directly by the traveller.
The sectional conductor comes in contact with the upper outside member of the
conduit, which is also in sections, the other conductor is insulated from everything
and runs to the power-house. The hollow, spherical traveller is held up by the
attraction of the magnet carried by the car and rolls between the conducting
guides which are of any suitable material, one of said guides or conductors being a
continuous one, while the other is in sections.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and
the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings which
with the letters of reference marked thereon form a part of this Specification
and in which :-
Figure 1 is a transverse section through the conduit and the traveller, the latter
being shown held up in contact with its guides, and
Figure 2 is a transverse section on a similar scale showing a slightly modified
form of construction.
Like letters of reference indicate like parts in the different views.
Referring now to the details of the drawing by letter, in Fig. 1, which is the
preferred form, A designates the brackets provided at their upper ends with the'
inwardly-extending, horizontal portions or flanges a, as shown, and these brackets
are designed to be bolted by suitable bolts b, to the wood timber or sleeper C.
which is designed to be fastened to the cross ties not shown, in any suitable manner.
The brackets with their inwardly-extending flanges or portions are designed for
bolding down the conduit which in this instance comprises the lower substantially.
semi-circular portion D having the horizontal flanges d, as shown, resting on the
lugs c, of the sleeper. E is the upper section of the conduit having a central.
curved portion e, with the horizontal flanges e terminating in the outwardly-
extending horizontal portions E 2. Between the upper faces of which and the
under faces of the inwardly-extending horizontal portion a, of the brackets are
inserted wedges F or analogous means for holding down the upper section of the:
conduit. G is a tube of insulating material arranged within the space enclosed
by the upper and lower sections of the conduit, and provided with the horizontal

page_text: extensions g, which are confined between the flanges d, of the lower section of the
conduit and the horizontal portions E of the upper part thereof.
Within this ring or tube G is another tube H of insulating material which is
water-tight. I is the continuous conductor, which, as shown, is in cross section
in the form of a segment of a circle. It is held in position within the conduit by
rivets I or other suitable means which are insulated from the cover of the conduit.
J is the other conductor which is formed in sections and is secured in position by
rivets or analogous means J' which, however, extend through both insulating tubes
and contacts with the cover or upper section E of the conduit. This conductor is
in cross section similar to that of the conductor I.
K is the travelling switch in the form of a hollow sphere and although in this
instance only one is shown it is evident that more than one may be employed,
where found necessary. In practice the traveller is held up by the attraction of
the magnet on the car and rolls along hetween the superimposed guides I and J,
the former of which is insulated from everything, and runs to the power-house.
In the drawing, the ball is shown as held up in operative contact with the
conductors. It will of course be understood that when not under the influence of
the magnet it drops to the bottom of the space within the insulating tube. It will
be observed that in this form there are no wires necessary. In Fig. 2 I have
shown a form in which the conduit is composed of the outer section L, the
upright L' having the bevelled flange l, and the projection on which the
trolley L2 runs. The plate L3 being provided with the tapered projection
is secured in position by the bolt L4 with nut . Insulating material L5 is
arranged between the upright L' and the adjacent portion of the outer section L
and by the bolt M 2 which secures the opposite vertical portion to the upright L
there being an interposed layer of insulating material M 3 as shown. Within this
conduit is the main wire N and the return wire N¹ both covered with insulating
material n. Above this lower conduit is the upper conduit O. Within the upper
conduit is a conductor P the under face of which is inclined with relation to a
vertical line and held against the inclined inner face of the upper conduit,
insulating material P' being arranged between the vertical side thereof and the
vertical side of the upper conduit, while. a feed wire Q leads from the main wire
to its conductor. R is the other conductor disposed similarly to the conductor P
and connected by connection R' with the upright L' as shown.
K is the hollow spherical travelling switch which is held up in rolling contact
with the conductors in a manner similar to the switch in the form shown in Fig. 1.
In this form the current passes from main wire N through feed wire Q to the
conductor P, through the switch K to the conductor R, and by connection R' to
the upright L to the trolley.
Modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of
my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination with the conduit and metallic guides, one of which is an
electrical conductor, of a hollow ball switch adapted to move in contact with said
guides, substantially as described.
2. In a conduit, metallic superimposed guides, one of which is continuous, the
other an electrical conductor, combined with a hollow spherical switch adapted to
travel bodily through the conduit in contact with said guides, substantially as
described.
3. The combination with the conduit and superimposed metallic guides within
the same, one of which is continuous and the other a sectional electrical conductor,
of a hollow metallic switch adapted to be held up and moved bodily in contact with
said guides, substantially as described.
4. The combination with the conduit, of a continuous metallic conductor, and a

page_text: sectional metallic conductor laid upon the upper interior walls thereof and insulated
from the same, and from each other, and a hollow metallic spherical switch adapted
to travel bodily through the conduit in contact with said guides substantially as
described.
5. In a conduit, a continuous metallic conductor and a sectional metallic conductor
laid upon the upper interior walls thereof with their faces oppositely inclined and
insulated from each other and from the conduit, and a hollow metallic spherical
switch adapted to move bodily through the conduit in rolling contact with said
conductors, substantially as described."
6. A conduit composed of an upper and a lower section, and an enclosed insulating
tube having lateral portions confined between the upper and lower sections of the
conduit, substantially as described.
7. A conduit composed of an upper and a lower section having horizontal flanges,
an inner insulating tube having horizontal portions held between said flanges and an
inner insulating tube, substantially as described.
8. A conduit composed of an upper and a lower section having horizontal flanges
an inner insulating tube, having horizontal portions held between said flanges and an
inner insulating tube, and metallic guides and conductors held within the inner tube,
substantially as described.
9. A conduit composed of an upper and a lower section having horizontal flanges,
an inner insulating tube having horizontal portions held between said flanges and an
upper insulating tube, and metallic guides and conductors held within the inner tube,
one being insulated from the conduit and the other in electrical contact therewith,
substantially as described.
10. A conduit composed of an upper and a lower section having horizontal flanges,
an inner insulating tube having horizontal portions held between said flanges and an
inner insulating tube, and metallic guides and conductors held within the inner tube,
one being insulated from the conduit and the other in electrical contact therewith,
combined with a hollow spherical switch adapted to travel bodily through the inner
tube in direct contact with said conducting guides, substantially as described.
11. The combination with the brackets having inwardly-extending horizontal
portions at their upper ends, of a lower semi-circular conduit section, an upper
curved conduit section having depending portious and horizontal flanges and
wedges interposed between said flanges, and those of the brackets, substantially as
described.
12. The combination with the brackets having inwardly-extending horizontal
portions at their upper ends, of a lower semi-circular conduit section, an upper
curved section having depending portions and horizontal flanges and wedges
interposed between said flanges and those of the brackets, and an insulating tube
within the conduit having horizontal portions held between the flanges of the upper
and lower conduit sections, substantially as described.
13. The combination with the brackets having inwardly-extending horizontal
portions at their upper ends, of a lower semi-circular conduit section, an upper
curved conduit section having depending portions and horizontal flanges and wedges
interposed between said flanges and those of the brackets, and an insulating tube
within the conduit having horizontal portions held between the flanges of the upper
and lower conduit sections, and an inner insulating tube and conducting guides
having inclined faces, and one secured to the inner tube and insulated from the
conduit, and the other secured to both tubes and in electrical contact with said
conduit, substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of March 1896
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.