US1126122A - Electric-railway safety system. - Google Patents

Description

M. STRANG.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SAFETY SYSTEM.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 29, 1912.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

2 SHEBTSSHEET 1.

ame/Wto@ M. STRNG.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SAFET SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULI2-9 1912.

1,126,122. l Mmm @11.26, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.7 fi l @jA i@l "27 a MW @ttm/M0155.

MINOR s'rrmire, or' TEcuMsEH, MICHIGAN.

'Emerald-RAILWAY SAFETY srs'rnn.

Specication of Lettersv Patent.

Patented aan. ee?, mie..

Application med July 29, 1912, Serial No. 712,089.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MINOR S'rRaNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tecumseh, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements-in Electric- Railway Safety Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be alful'l, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements 1n safety appliances for electrical railroads and more particularly to a safety and signaling system for blocks between slding or turn outs 7 of` an electrical railway,-one object of the invention being to provide means whereby sections of the trolley wire or third rail will be automatically segregated so as not to supply current to the motors of cars approaching the sldlngs when another car is in the block between two sidings.

A further object is to so construct and arrange a safety system of the character specied that several cars traveling in the same direction in comparatively close proximity to each other, will be permitted to pass from one block to another without taking the siding, and so that the danger signal at this end of the block will be reset 'and the segregated trolley wire section made dead after each of the group of cars has passed, for cars running in the opposite direction, until the last of the several cars shall have passed. A

A further object is to provide a safety system for electric railways embodying safety and danger signals; means for automatically segregating portions of the supply conductor, and means for effecting the automatic application of the car brakes if a car should, by its momentum, pass a segregated trolley wire section when the same is dead.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features in the arrangement and coperation of devices and electrical circuits as hereinafter set forth and pointed out 'in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatical view illustrating my improvements, and represents a block of railway between two sidings or turnouts. Fig. 2 is a fragmentary View showing the track contact devices, shoes on a car to coperate therewith, and the brake applying mechanism. Fig. 8 is a view of a 1between two sidings or turn-outs 2 and 3,

the block thus extending from one siding to another. My improvements are adaptable for use on a road employing as a supply conductor, a trolley wire or a third rail, but for convenience, I have illustrated in Fig. 1 of the `drawing, a trolley wire 4. Near each end of the block (adjacent to the respective sidings 2-3) sections 5 of the trolley wire are electrically segregated from the main portions of the wire, by means of suitable. insulating inserts 6. Near each block terminal a signal tower 7 is located and each of these is provided with a danger signal 8 and a safety signal 9. Each signal tower may be conveniently made hollow and constructed with suitable compartments for the housing of various instruments, hereinafter explained. Each segregated trolley wire section 5 is shunted by means of a conductor 10 so as not to interfere with the electrical continuity of the trolley wire circuit and each section 5 is connected, by a conductor 11 with a contact 12 of a relay 13. This relay comprises two solenoid coils let-15 in which a core member 16 (common to both coils) is movable. rll`he lever 'L7 of the relay, whichis pivoted at 18, is disposed between the two coils and loosely connected, between its ends, with the' core member 16. rll`he lever 17 is provided near its upper end with a contact point 19 to en-V gage the contact 12, and this lever also has secured thereto, a block 20, of insulating material, to move a spring finger 21 into electrical contact with a finger 22. The lever 17 is also provided with a contact point 23 to engage a contact 62. A spring 25, fixed at one end to a suitable support, is attached at its other end to the lever 17 in such manner as to retain said lever in the position to which it may be moved by the solenoids and thus insure the effectiveness `of the electrical contacts controlled by said lever. A i

A relay, such as above described is contained within each tower 7, and the latter also contains an instrument 26, comprising two solenoid coils 27-28, the cores 29-30 i reverse direction by s rings 33. The arms 31--32 are -provide with 'dogs 34- 35 adapted, respectively, 'to coperate with ratchet teeth 36-37 on adisk 38, the-two, sets of teeth beingso arranged that the dog 34 will operate to turn the disk 38. inone, direction, and so that the dog 35 W111 operate to turn said disk in the opposite direction. The disk 38 is mounted on a suitable s indle 39 and carries 'a cam 40, with which atter,

a pivoted arm 41 having a roller 42) coperates. The arm 4 is maintained in operative relation to the cam by means of a spring 43, and carries a contact 44 to engagea contact 45, said arm and contacts constituting a circuit closer -for a purpose hereinafter explained.

At each block terminal, contact rails 46 and 47 are located at respective sides of the track, one of said contact rails -46 being in position to be engaged by a pivoted, springpressed shoe 48 carried by a rolling equipment 49, running in one direction, and the contact rail 47, bein in position -to be en-v gaged by said pivote contact shoe when the' rolling equipment is traveling in the reverse direction, and both of these car shoes are electrically connected with the trolley. Another contact rail 50 is also located adjacent to the track at each block terminal to be engaged by the shoe 48, for a purpose hereinafter described, and a fourth contact rail 51 is provided at each block terminal to be engaged, under certain conditions, by a separate spring-pressed piv oted shoe 52 on the rolling equipment. Chains or ropes 53 .are connected with the shoes 48 and 52 for the purposes of raising them out of reach with the contact rails when desired to do so.

For convenience, the block terminals shown in Fig. 1 at the respective sidings, may be designated A and B.

A-conductor line 54 is connected with the contact rait 46 atB and, extending to the block terminal A, is connected with one terminal of solenoid coil 27. The other terminalo'f this coil is connected by a conductor 55 with one terminal of solenoid 14 of relay 13, and with the other terminal of this solenoid, a conductor, 56 is connected. A conductor 57 electrically connects the conductor 56 with one of the track rails. From the juncture of the conductors y56-and 57, a conductor'58 extends to, and is connected with, one terminal of the coil of the solenoid 28, and the other terminal of this coil is connected, by a conductor 59, with the contact rail 50.

Normally, when the block-is clear, a circuit Will be closed at contacts 12-19 of relay13, to render active or put current on the segregated trolley wire sections 5, so that a car may proceed past the same. This circuit may be traced as follows: from the trolley wire, at the left of the siding terminal at A, by means of a conductor 60 to lever 17 of relay 13, to relay contact 12, and

then by conductor 11 to the trolley wire section 5. A branch 11n-11b from this circuit includes a safety signal 11. When a car (running in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1) Vpasses the block terminal B, and the car' shoe 48 engages' the contactrail 46 at B, a circuit will be established from the trolleywire through car shoe 48 and contact rail 46 at B to the first described circuit, and the solenoids 14 and 27 (atA) will be energized. When the solenoid 14 is thus rendered active, the relay lever 17 will be moved to' the position shown at station A, thereby open-clrcuiting the trolley wire section 5 at A, and at the same time closing a circuit through a danger signal 61. The danger signal circuit includes the contact 23 ofrelay lever 17, a contact 62, connected by a conductor 63 with one terminal o the signal, and a conductor 64 connecting the other terminal of the signal with a track rail. When the relay lever 17 is moved to the position shown at the A-end of the block, the finger 21 will be moved into contact with the finger 22 and establish a partial circuit including contact-rail 51,' a conductor 65, fingers 21-22 and a short conductor 66 connecting the finger 22 with conductor 64; The west bound car (indicated by the arrow) now occupies the block, and an east bound car arriving at A, will ind a danger signal set against it and will also be prevented from proceeding into the block, by reason of the fact that the segregated trolley Wire section 5 will be dead; the circuit which supplies this trolley wire section being open at contacts 12-19 of the relay. Should the motorman of the east-bound car fail to observe the danger si al, and per` mit his car to run with s cient momentum (as on a down grade) to pass the trolley wire section 5, the car shoe 52 will make contact with the contact rail 51 and complete the partial circuit 65-66-214-22- 64, through a lconductor 67, a solenoid 68 on the car and a conductor 69 connected with the trolley. The solenoid 68 controls a latch 70 which engages a spring-actuatedA siding. The shoe 48 on the west-bound car,'

upon approaching the A-end of the block will engage the contact rail 47 for the purpose o reversing the relay and rendering active the wiresection 5 at A. This result is accom lished byenergiZih ,'tliej relay solenoidA 5 through-a cicuitw 'ichimay be described as follows: from the trolley wire through car shoe: 48 to contact rail 47; then by a conductor 74 to solenoid' 15; fromthe latter, 'by conductor 75 to conductor* 57, and by the latter to the track rail. The en'- ergi'zingof therelay solenoidv lf'will cause theleverf 17 t6 moveto position,A to close the contacts"19f-12 and'4 thus'close the circuit which' supplies current to the' Segre ated Wire"'section 5 at\ A. rIhe'west-biotin be operated precisely'l as hereinbefore stated in describing the operation'of the devices atA'.' Should cars reach respective ends of the block at the same time, the danger devices'at both ends of the block would be set. One car or the other would be entitled to the right of way by prearranged orders, and the conductor of the car having the right of way willbe enabled'to render ac? tive'the'wire section 5, by closingV ahand switch'76,.-Isaid switch being held normally open by means of a spring 77. The movable arm of this switch comprises two conductor members 76", 7 6b connected by wires 78, 78a with the trolley Wire, and thestationary contact 79 of said switch -is connected by a conductor 80wit-h 'the conductor 74, while the stationaryv contact '79 is connected by a. Wire 7 9b with'conductor 59.v Itis apparent that when' the switch 76 is closed on the contact 7 9 the solenoidl will be` energized'and the circuit which renders the wire section 5 active, will be closed 'at 12-19. When the switch 76 is closed, a circuit will alsobe established from the sup# ply conductor byj'conductors 78, '78a and 7 9h to conductor 59, through solenoid 28 to conductor 58 and'from the'latter to the track rail by way-of' 'conductor 57. This will energize solenoid 28 and cause the'disk 38 to be moved back one tooth, said disk having previously been movedy forward by the action of solenoid 27, when the car entered the B-end of the block. lit is sometimes desiredv to run several cars close together in the same direction before permitting any cars to pass over a block in the opposite direction. lt is to permit such operation of the line that the instrument 26. is. provided. When a west-bound car passes the track shoe 46 at B, and causes the operation of the relay 13 at A, as before described,- the solenoid 27 of instrument 26 at A will, also be energized and cause the dog 34 to engage a tooth 36'of disk 38, the distance of one tooth. This will not however besuiticient to release the arm 41 vfrom the larger part of the cam 40. When the second car enters the block at B, the solenoid 27 will will be cari' may nw proceed. It will be. understood that when the east-bound car passes through'- the block the circuits and devices'at B will again energized and the disk 3 8 will, be

Inovjed anothertooth; the' caiirnow permits u ting 4the arnf'41 'to drop rand-fthe 'contact r44" on-said' arm to engage thec'ontact 45.v The" contact`45i`s connected'by a lconductor 80 withA the -conductbr255, and the arm 41 is'y connected bya': conductor, 81 with'the con- 'twok parallel 'circuitswill be established,-

one throught. the frelayv solenoid 14 for resettingthe4 devices at danger, and the other circuit ywill energize the'solenoid'f28 (which is a slow-acting solenoid) for the pur of causing dog 35 to engage the teethfgof disk 38 'and return said' disk, (step by step.- as the 'several carspass), 'to its normal po;v sition. The parallel'circuits, above referred to, may betraced as follows: The circuit of. relay solenoid 14 may be traced from"con'- tact rail 50 by conductor to X; 'thenby conductor 81 to "arm 41, toI contact 45, to conductor 80; by conductor 55`to solenoid 14; then by conductor 56 to conductor 57, andl bythe latter to a track rail; the "other parallel circuit including the solenoid 28` of instrument 26 may be traced from point'X on conductor59 to solenoid 28 and from the latter by' conductor 58 to conductor 57. When the last car of the groupl has passed the block terminal, the-instru1nent26 willl have been reset to its normal position and the devices will remain at safety, with the safety signal '11 set and the segregated wire section 5, 'rendered active.

'It willbc understood that the various instruments, devices and circuits will be provided for each block terminal and that they will` be operated automatically as hereinbefore describedfor cars traveling in either direction.

' Should the trolley Wheel of a car going in one direction accidentally reach or pass the insulated section of the'trolley wire, and .travel upon the track or block which is occupied by other cars traveling in an opposite direction, said first named car can be returnedrto the sidingby havingan attend- 'ant press the conductors switch. This leaves the 'signals set to safety, but the first named car does not dare proceed until the cars that are already lon the block have passed through.

Having thus fully described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l'. Inan electrical railroad block system, the combination with a block of railroad, a

supply conductor provided with electrically segregated portions, conductors shuntlng sald segregated portions of the supply conductor, rolling equipment and a contact shoe carried by the latter and connected W1th a source of electrical supply of track contacts atthe entrance and exit ends of the block, a relay provided with a plurality of coils positioned at the exit end of. the block, a

artial circuit including one coil of said reay and a track contact at the entrance end of the block, a partial circuit including another coil of the relay and a track contact at the exit end of the block, a circuit including the separable contacts of said relay and connecting the main supply conductor with the segregated portion thereof,abranch leading from said last mentioned circuit, to and including a safety signal, and a branch circuit including a manually operated switch forming a secondary connection between said relay and the supply conductor whereby the system may be manually controlled.

2. In an electrical railroad system,l the combination with a block of railroad, a supply conductor provided with electrically segregated portions at each end of the block, conductors shunting said segregated por- -tions of the conductor, and rolling equipment, of a relay at each end of the block, means controlled by the rolling equipment for operating said relays, a plurality of circuits including the separable contacts of said relays and connecting the main conductor with the segregated portions thereof, a shoe carried by the-rolling equipment, a vparti al circuit including said shoe, an electromagnetically-controlled valve in the brake system of the rolling equipment and included in said partial circuit, track contacts in advance of the. segregated conductor sections, a partial circuit including said track contacts, and circuit closures controlled by the relays and included in said last-mentioned partial circuits.

3. In an electrical railroad System` the combination with a block of railroad, a supply conductor provided with electrically segregated portions at each end of the block, conductors shunting said segregated conductor sections, and rolling equipment, of circuits connecting the main conductor with said segregated portions thereof, means controlled automatically by the rolling equipment for opening and closing said circuits.

and a normally open manually-operated switch positioned fin-branch circuits at each end of the block-for manually controlling the' closing of said circuits, said branch circuits forming secondary connections with the supply conductor. f

4; In an-electric railroad s stem, the 'com bination with a block of raihoad, a supply' conductor 'provided with yan electrically segregated section adjacent one end ofthe .block, a conductor connected around said segregated section, a connection betweenthe main supply conductor and the segregated section, a switch and a step by step mechanism controlling the same, a circult including a danger signal, means controlled by a ca r entering the block at the other end for opening said connection and closing the danger signal circuit and'or operating said step by step mechanism in one direction, said switch being moved At0 Operative position only upon. subsequent operations of the vstep by .step mechanism after the first, and

means controlled by a carpassing out of the block forfirst closing `said connection and then opening said connection, provided the switch is in operative position, and for operating said step by step mechanism in a reverse direction. E Y

5. In an electrical railroad system, the combination with a block of ,railroad, a supply conductor provided with electrically segregated portions at respective ends of the block, conductors shunting said segregated portions of the supply and conductor, and rolling equipment, of a circuit at each end of the block connectin said segregated portions With the supp y conductor, circuit opening and circuit closing means controlled by the rolling equipment adapted to open and close said circuits, a partial circuit at the exit end of' the block'and including said circuit opening meansLa circuit closer in said partial circuit, electromagnetically operated means controlled by the rolling equipment entering the block for closing said last' mentioned circuit closer, and electro-magnetically operated means controlled by the rolling equipment leaving the block for opening said last-mentioned circuit closer.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, 1n presenceolf:l two Witnesses.

Minen STRANG. lVitnesses FRED B. Woon,

S. P. Hosrrnn.

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