US391447A - weight - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet; 1.

P. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 23,1888.

wHHH Q IHHI UIIH I! mm INVENTOR, Parmn Wr ght Byhtls flttoi'neys WITNESSES.

00 WWW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(No Model.)

Patented Oct. 23, 1888.

INVENTIOR, t?

N. PETERS. Pnoloumo n mr, Washin ton, Dv c.

Darren States Patent Oriana.

PARVIN VRIGHT, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

ELECTRlC RAE LWAY.

SPECIPECATION -c-rming part of Letters Patent. No. 391,447, dated October 23, 1888.

Serial No. 266,696. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PARVIN WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, county of Arapahoe, and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of electric railways in which the electric current to drive the motor of a vehicle traversing a track is derived from an electric circuit running parallel with the track and provided with separable contacts from which the current is transferred to a plow or separator having insulated contact-pieces electrically connected to the motor on the vehicle.

The object of my invention is to improve the construction of the separable contacts and their circuit-connections, so as to render them more reliable in operation and less liable to become impaired by use.

Previous to my invention there has been considerable difficulty in keeping the contacts in good condition. It frequently happens that pieces of rock, mud, &c., will.get between the contacts and keep them apart, so as to impede the flow of the'electric current, and also cause an are or sparks to pass from one contact to another, so that, since the circuit is always through the contacts, they will fuse more or less and in time become practically inoperative. Again, the ordinary contacts often remain apart a moment after the separator on the moving vehicle has passed, which also causes sparks or an are between the contacts. I obviate these difficulties by employing a supplemental contact, which prevents this momentary separation after the separator has passed, and by providing circuit changing devices protected from atmospheric influences, 830., for shunting the current around the contacts when they are together2'. 6., when they are not separated by the plow.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a diagram illustrating an electric circuit for an electric railway with the main-line contacts. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved contacts and circuit-changers, showing their circuit-connections, and also showing the plow or separator for forcing apart the main-line contacts.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view of an underground conduit, showing myiinproved contacts and circuit-changer in place. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a side View of one of the mainline contacts. Fig. 5 shows in section a modified form of the circuit-changer. Fig. 6 showsanother modification of the same.

Referring to Fig. 1, A represents an electric generator; a, an electric circuit including contacts a, arranged to make and break the circuit in well-known Ways.

In Figs. 3 and 4,13 indicates an underground conduit for the-circuit-wires, provided with a suitable casing, b, covering b, and casting b". O O are the main-line contacts, which are mounted on yielding supports 0 c, which are secured to the casting b but insulated therefrom by any suitable material, 0'. The contacts G O are normally held together by their spring'supports c c, and are suitably shaped to permit the plow or separator I on the moving vehicle to pass between them. The mainline Wire D is supported in hangers D, (only one shown,) located in the conduit below the contacts, above the bottom of the casing, and at one side, so as to be protected from at1nospheric influences, wet Weather, 850., and so far removed from the surface of the conduit as to obviate any danger to animals and persons who might otherwise receive the current from the line or from parts of the conduit contiguone to the line. The hangers D being at one side of the conduit, mud, water, 820., falling through the opening at the top of the conduit will not lodge on the conductors.

As clearly indicated in Fig. 2, there is a direct connection of the main line below the main-line contacts 0 O and omitting them from the circuit when they are together, since the direct connection is shorter and of less re sistance than the contacts. The main line, however, connects with the supports 0, as shown, which are in turn electrically connected to the contact 0. The contact O is electrically connected to the supports 0, which are connected to the continuation of the main line, as shown at (ll As is well understood, the main line comes from a contact usually about twenty-five feet behind in the conduit to one of a pair of contacts, and then a continuation of the main line extends from the opposite erably consists of a tube, 0, of insulating material supported by a hanger, e, and free to slide therein. The tube 0 is provided at its outer end with a flanged plug, e*, and around the tube 6, between the flanged plug and the hanger e,is arranged a spiral spring, 0, which tends to hold the flanged end of the tube away from the hanger.

F indicates a pair ofyielding contact-fingers electrically connected to the main line at d.

Findicates the shank of the eontactfingers, which is secured to a bracket, (2 on the casing b. The plugged end of the tube 6 is free to slide back and forth on the shank F.

H indicates a supplemental contact-lever pivoted to a bracket, H, and provided at its upper end with a transverse head, h, which projects into a recess, h, and an opening, h", in the contact 0. The opening it is of sufficient size to allow the end of the head It to pro ject through it and bear against the contact 0. When the head It does thus project through the opening h, the upper end of the lever II near the head bears against and makes electrical contact with the mainline contact 0. The lever is preferably jointed at 71/3 to permit easy movement. The lower end of the lever H is securely fastened, preferably by a hinged joint, as shown, to the prolongation e of the contact-finger 0*, which is secured in the inner end of the tube 6 and adapted at its outer end to pass between and make electrical connection with the pair of contact-fingers F. The contact-finger e is electrically connected by a conductor, 6, to the main line at a.

By this organization it will be observed that when the main-line contacts are together, as shown in Fig. 2, the electric current will pass from the main line (referring now to Fig. 3) to eontactfingers F, contact-finger e, electrical conductor a, to main line again; but when the main-line contacts 0 G are separated by the plow or separator I, as shown in Fig. 3, the lever H will be shifted so as to withdraw the finger c and the tube to which it is secured away from the pair of fingers F, thus breaking the electric connection between the fingers and causing the current to pass to the support 0, thence to contact 0, then to contact 12 of the separator I, then through the circuit-wires z" and motor to opposite contact, 2, on the separator, then to main-line contact 0, support 0, to main line again.

By having a direct connection for the main line, normally omitting the main-line contacts, I am enabled to so locate the circuit-changing devices as to protect them from atmospheric influences and from foreign matter, such as water, mud, &c.

As shown in the drawings,the circuit-changing fingers e" and F are inclosed in a tube lo cated in the conduit away from the opening at the top. By this organization, also, the mainline current is nearly always through the direet connection and only shifts to the mainline contacts when they are separated by the plow on the moving vehicle.

Another important feature of the organization is that the head of the lever H projects through the contact 0 when the plow or separator is removed and rests against the opposite main-line contact, 0, so that should the contacts 0 0 be held apart by any accident, good electrical connection will still be made from contact 0 through the head h to contact O, (the upper part of the lever H being -in contact with the main-line contact 0, as

above explained.)

Instead of loosely connecting the lever II to the contact 0 through the medium of asliding head, h, as indicated in Fig. 3, the lever may be directly connected to the contact 0, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the operation will be the same, the essential feature of this part of my invention being an organization in which the main current is shunted around the mainline contacts when they are together t'. 6., when they are not separated by the plow.

In Fig. 5 Ihave shown a modification of the circuit-changer or devices for making and breaking the shunt-circuit. J indicates a tube, in this instance shown as made of glass, and j j are blocks of insulating material in the ends of the tube. K indicates the contact-finger of the shunt-wire, which is adapted to slide in the block j, and is provided with a collar, K, which is firmly attached by a setscrew, In. Between the collar K and a bracket, K is interposed a spiral spring, The pair of contact-fingers L, which connect with the main line, are rigidly secured to the block j, which is formed with a projection adapted to secure it to the walls of the conduit. The spring 70 tends to hold the contact-fingers K and L in engagement with each other. They may be withdrawn by the lever B, which is secured to an insulating-block, Z, on the contact-finger K.

Fig. 6 simply shows a modification of the contact-fingers, which, instead of being fiat, are shown as round.

Instead of using a spiral spring for the circuit-changer, as above explained, I may employ a spring, 0, applied directly to the lever H, as shown in Fig. 2.

The organizations above described are sin1- ple, efficient, and are the best ways now known to me of embodying my improvements; but the details of construction may be considerably varied without departing from the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in an electric railway, of the main line, the separable main-line contacts, and the circuit-changing devices comprising yielding contact fingers electrically connected to the main line, and the supplemental contact-lever by which electrical connection is made between the main-line contacts and the yielding contact-fingers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the conduit, the main line, the main-line contacts, the separator, the circuit-changing devices protected by the conduit, and mechanical connections between the main-line contacts and circuit-changing devices, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the main line, the main-line contacts, electrical connections between the mainline and the mainline contacts, a direct connection of the main line omitting the main-line contacts, circuit-changing devices consisting of separable contact-fingers within a protective casing, and an operatinglever attached to one of the contact-fingers and adapted to be shifted by a vehicle traversing the railway, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of the main line, the main-line contacts, electrical connections be- PARVIN \VRIG HT.

Witnesses:

T. .H. COLLINS, H. B. NQRTIIROP.

Images