US861617A - Third-rail ice-cutting and cleaning machine for electric railways. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

G. A. SPICE. THIRD RAIL ICE CUTTING AND CLEANING MACHINE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION mun APR. 6,

INVENTOR 1m: NORRIS PIIIRS cm, wnsnmonm, n. c.

GEORGE A. SPICE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

THIRD-RAIL ICE-CUTTING AND CLEANING MACHINE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed April 6,1906. Serial No. 310,2 0.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. SPICE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Third-Rail Ice-Gutting and Cleaning Machines for Electric Railways; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the business to which it appertains to make and use same.

My invention relates to a new and useful attachment for railway cars used on electric railways of the third rail system, for cutting ice and sleet from the surface of the third rail and throwing off thesame from the rail and facilitates the perfect contact of the brushes with such third rail. My object being to provide a simple and efficient means of this character and such a device as will not catch and break by contact with the obstructions upon said rail. And said device consists in the features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention: Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a car truck showing sleet and ice removing means constructed in accordance with my invention, and mounted on the car. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the rotating cutter employed. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary developed bottom plan view of the same. Figs. I and 5 are detail sections on the lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of Fig. .l showing the manner of supporting the bearings of the shaft of said cutter. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail longitudinal section of the insulating coupling employed for insulating two parts of the shaft of said cutter from each other. Fig. 7 is a detail vertical transverse section on the line 77 of Fig. 1 showing the transmission gear for transmitting the motion of the truck shaft to said cutter shaft.

Sleet and ice are sources of great annoyance to thirdrail systems of railways for the reason that the sleet and ice coating the third rail acts practically as an insulater to prevent the high tension currents employed from reaching the brushes and accordingly such sleet and ice renders the operation of said railways a practical impossibility. It is generally necessary to set gangs of men to work to remove such sleet and ice from said rail, but this is a very slow and likewise expensive method of overcoming the difficulty. The object of my invention, therefore, is to provide means for automatically removing said sleet and ice during the travel of the car by very simple and efficient means disposed on the car itself, preferably in advance of the forward wheels of the front truck thereof.

Disposed on the bottom of the car preferably forward of the forward truck'thereof are two hangers A and B each of which constitute a support for the bearings O and D of a shaft E carrying a'milling-head or cutter F at one end. Said bearing 0 is vertically movable in said hanger A and is normally held practically midway between the limits of its movement by means of the spiral compression springs G and II bearing upon the upper and lower face of said bearing C and at their other ends on caps I upon which set screws I bear, the latter serving to primarily adjust the position of said bearing 0 in said hanger and further to adjust the pressure of the springs G and II thereon. Said bearing D is pivotally mounted in said hanger B being provided on its sides with conical recesses in which the ends of the set screws K are received, said set screws being disposed in alinement with each other and maintained in proper relative position by means of lock-nuts L disposed thereon. The said cutter-head F is practically cylindrical and provided peripherally with teeth M disposed spirally thereon parallel with each other and said cutter is so disposed relatively to the car wheels as to normally ride upon the third-rail N of the system, being normally maintained under pressure in contact with the upper surface thereof by means of said springs G and H, the latter serving also to cushion vertical movements imparted to said cutter-head by inequalities in the height of the third rail at various points along the route. The said shaft E is provided between its ends with a sprocket pinion O geared by means of a sprocket chain P with the forward axle Q of the forward truck, said gearing being such that a higher surface speed is imparted to said cutter F than th esurface speed of the car wheels so that although revolving in the same direction as said car wheels, said cutter-head will grind on said third rail. The teeth of said cutter F are disposed so that one face thereof is practically radial and said face is presented in the direction of motion of said cutter so that the sharp cutting edges thereof will during the revolution of said cutter-head act in practically the same way as the cutter-head of a planer to cut away any coating of ice or sleet on the rail. The angle of disposition of said teeth is also such relatively to the direction of motion as to throw the ice and sleet removed thereby away from the car instead of toward the same. In order to insulate said cutter-head and prevent transmission of current therethrough to the running gear of the car, the shaft E is made in two parts each of which carries a coupling head R at one end. Between the opposing faces of said couplings R a block of suitable insulating material S is inserted and said couplings secured together by means of bolts T passing through openings in the annular flange of one of said coupling members and through bushings U of insulating material disposed in corresponding openings of the other coupling member. That part of said shaft E which carries the transmission gear is therefore entirely insulated from the cutting head and a short circuit through the running gear of the car is therefore obviated. The hangers A and B may also be further insulated from the car body if desired by the employment of suitable insulating material, but this is not deemed necessary.

My said device is very simple and relatively cheap and efiicient and all motor cars of third-rail system may readily be equipped therewith or such equipment may be limited to a few special motor cars which are, in the event of a rain or sleet storm in cold weather, sent over the line at frequent intervals to clear the third rail. During warmer weather the cutter head shaft E and bearings therefor may readily be removed and stored.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent;

1. A car or motor adapted to be used on a third rail electric railway system, and provided with a pair of hangers, a slidable bearing; in one of said hangers, a pivoted bearing in the other of said hangers, a two-part shaft journalcd in said bearings, the parts or sections of the shaft being; insulated from each other, gearing between said shaft and the axle of the car or motor, and a cutter mounted on one end of said shaft to engage said third rail.

2. A railway car 'or motor adapted to be used on a third rail electric railway system, a pair of hangers secured to said car or motor, a vertically movable spring pressed bearing in one of said hangers, a pivoted bearing in the other hanger, a two-part shaft journaled in said bearings with the parts or sections thereof insulated from each other. gearing between said shaft and the axle of the car or motor, and a cutter head carried on one end of said shaft, as and for the purpose described.

3. In a device of the type described, the combination with a car, of a pair of hangers secured to said car, a vertically movable spring-pressed bearing in one of said hangers, a pivoted bearing; in the other of said hangers, a twopart shaft journaled in said bearings and having the parts or sections insulated from each other and connected together so as to rotate in unison, gearing between said shaft and the axle of the car, and a cutter head carried by the shaft at one end, the said cutter head provided with teeth disposed spirally thereon parallel with each other andextending from end to end of the head.

GEORGE A. SPICE.

Witnesses B. L. RICE, THOMAS J. CARLN'UE.

Images