US1224216A - Control system for pantograph-trolleys. - Google Patents

Description

w. SCHAAKE & A. H. CANDEE.

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PANTOGRAPH TROLLEYS.

APPLICATION FiLED SEPT-10.1915.

1,224,531 6 I Patented May 1, 1917.

WITNESSES: INVENTORSJ- W/H/am Schaake 5r Andrew H. Candee.

ATTORNEY Wa ren s'ra rns rena orrrcn.

. WILLIAM SCHAAKE, 0F PITTSBURGH, AND 'ANDREW' H. CANIDEE; OE WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS TOWESTINGHOU SE ELECTRIC-'AN'D MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PANTOGRAPH-TROLLEYS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 10, I915; SeriaI'No. 50,083.

To all'whom it mag concern Be it known that we, WILLIAM SCH-AAKE, a citizen of the United States, and a residentof Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, and AM Dnnw H. GANDnn, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of VVilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Control Systemsfor Pantograph-Trolleys, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to trolleys for electric locomotives or other vehicles, and specifically to electro-pneumatic control systems for pantograph trolleys using fluidactuat'ed devices for lowering and the exhaust from the fluid-actuated devices to'prevent rapid raising of the trolleys.

One object of our invention-is-to provide a spring-raised and fluid-lowered pantogr'aph trolley having means for automatically supplying a fluid under pressure to it's main fluid-actuated device before the pantograph can be released and raised, thus insuringaslow raising'of the trolley.

Heretofor'e', pantograp'h trolleys have been constructed that were lowered by fluid. actuated devicesand that utilized theexhaust of the fluid from the fluid-actuated device to prevent rapid raising of the trolley, when released: It was found, however, that the fluid in the device must be under pressure at the time the trolley was released" and, therefore, before releasing the trolley, it'was necessary for the operatorto perform the independent operation of supplyingfluid, under pressure, to the main fluid-actuated device.

In our invention, whenever the release switch is closed by the operator, fluid is automaticall y supplied to the fluid-actuated device before the unlocking means can be operated, thusinsuring slow raising of the trolley.

The single figure of the accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic view of acontrol system embodying our invention.

Referring to the drawing, a pantograph trolley 1 is operated by a combined spring and fiiiid-actuated device 2, is retained n it's lowered position by a latch 3 and is released by a fluid-operated unlatching device 4. The fluid-actuated device 2 is controlled by a valve 5 and the unlatching device 4 is governed by a' valve 6. The two valves 5 and 6- are controlled by a pneumatically operated relay 7 and manually operated switches 8 and 8 The pantograph trolley 1 is of astandard type having two sets of arms 9 and 10, the adjacent ends of which are pivotally connected. The upper ends of arms 9 are con nect'ed to a shoe 1-1 and the lower ends of the armslO' are attached to the top of a locomotive or car.

The fluid-actuated device 2 is connected to the pantograph arms-1O by means of links 12-thatare connected tomovable pistons 13 which are disposed within a cylinder 13 The pistons 13 are actuated inone direction to raise the trolley 1 by springs 14' that are located within the cylinder 13*. Operation of the pistons 13 in the other direction to lower the trolley 1 is effected by a suitable operating fluid which isintroduced into the cylinders 13 intermediate the pistons in a manner to be hereinafter set forth.

The latch 3 is connected to a piston 15 that is movably disposed within a cylinder 15' of the unlatching device 4 and is held in its closed position by a spring 16 that is contained within the cylinder 15. In order to restrain the trolley 1 in its lowered position, the latch 8 engages a detent 3 that is conveniently associated with the shoe 11.

The valve 5 comprises a. body portion 41 having an inlet chamber 42 at one end and an outlet chamber 43 at the other end. The body portion 41 'contains'a passage 45 connecting' the two chambers 42 and 43 with a port 44. A valve stem 17 is mounted within the passage 45 and is provided with two valve plugs 19 and 20 that are so placed that one plug closes a passage from one of the chambers 42 or'43 into the pipe 23 while the corresponding passage from the other chamber'remainsopen. The stem 17 is moved in one direction by an electromagnet-lSto open th'e'valve 5 and in the opposite direction by a spring" 51 to" close the valve.

Thevalve 6, which is similar in construction to the valve 5, includes a stem 40 operated in one direction by an electromagnet 39, and is normally biased to its open position'by' a spring 50. The valve 6 is connected to a fluid-supply pipe 21 through a port 30 and to the unlocking cylinder 15 by a pipe 31.

The pneumatic relay 7 comprises a cylinder 52 and a piston 25 that is contained therein and is operated in one direction by fluid supplied from a pipe 23 which has connection with the port 44 of the valve 5, and in a reverse direction by a spring 26 when the valve is relieved of operating fluid. A switch member 27, that is actuated by the piston 25 is adapted to engage contact terminals 28 or contact terminals 29, according to the position of the relay.

The pipe 23 is connected to a pipe 32 between two diaphragms 33 and 34 which have very small openings through them for the passage of the fluid. The respective ends of the pipe 32 are connected to the fluid-actuated device 2 and the relay 7.

The trolley may be lowered from the position shown by manually operating the movable member of the switch 8 to bridge the contact terminals 36 and complete a circuit including battery 35 and electromagnet 18. The valve 5, thus operated by the electromagnet 18, connects the fluid-operated device 2 to the fluid-supply pipe 21 to compress springs 14 and lower the trolley into cooperative engagement with the latch 3 by which it is held in position. The relay 7 also will be operated at this time, but will be ineffective.

In order to unlatch the trolley, the movable member of the switch 8 is manually operated to bridge contact terminals 37 and complete a circuit from the positive terminal of a battery 35, including the switch 27-28 and the electromagnet 18, to the negative terminal of the battery. The magnet 18 is energized and actuates the valve plugs 19 and 20 to open the passage 45 to the inlet chamber 42 and to close the passage 45 to the outlet chamber 43. Thus, fluid from the supply pipe 21 passes through the valve 5 and pipe 32, where parallel paths are provided, one through the diaphragm 33 to the fluid-operated device 2 and the other through the diaphragm 34 to the relay 7.

The relay 7 operates slowly, by reason of the diaphragm 34, to allow the fluid pressure in the fluid-actuated device 2 to be raised to a predetermined point before it moves the switch member 27 from engagement with contact terminals 28, breaking the circuit through the electromagnet 18 of the valve 5, and causing the switch member 27 to engage the contact terminals 29. The breaking of the circuit through the electromagnet 18 releases the valve 5, opens the port 44 to the outlet chamber and closes the connection from the inlet chamber 42. The cylinder 13 of the fluid-actuated device 2 is thus opened to the atmosphere through pipe 32, diaphragm 33, pipe 23 and valve 5, and a similar communication is established for the relay 7 through pipe 32, diaphragm 34 and valve 5. The release of the fluid from the device 2 and the relay 7 is very slow because of the small openings in the diaphragms 33 and 34.

WVhen sufficient fluid is furnished to the relay 7 to operate it, the switch member 27 engages the contact terminals 29 to close a circuit through the battery 35 which includes contact terminals 37 and switch 8, contact terminals 29, switch member 27, and electromagnet 39, to operate the valve 6 and connect the unlocking device 4 through the pipe 31 to the fluid-supply pipe 21. The trolley will thus be unlatched by the fluid-operated unlatching device 4 and, as the springs 14 actuate the pistons 13 to raise the trolley, the fluid, which has already been supplied to the cylinder 13 of the fluid-actuated device 2 will be slowly forced through the diaphragm 33, whereby a cushioning action is effected which insures a slow raising of the trolley.

Various modifications in the control system for the trolley and means of operation therefor may be eflected without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, and we desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the. appended claims.

We claim as our invention: 1. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operating the trolley including a main fluid-actuated lowering device, a latch and a-;pneumatically operated mechanism for tripping said latch, of means for automatically supplying fluid under pressure to the main fluid-actuated device before it is supplied to the pneumatic tripping mechanism.

2. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operating the trolley including a main fluid-actuated lowering de vice, a latch, and a pneumatically operated mechanism for tripping said latch, of means for preventing the operation of the tripping mechanism until the main fluid-actuated device has been supplied with fluid under pressure.

3. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operating the trolley including a main fluid-actuated lowering device and a mechanical raising means a latch and a pneumatically operated mec anism for tripping said latch, of means for automatically supplying fluid under pres sure to the main fluid-actuated device before it is supplied to the tripping mechanism, and

means for permitting the fluid within the main fluid-actuated device to be slowly released and to cause a slow raising of the trolley by the raising means.

4. The combination with a pantograph trolley, and means for operating the trolley including a main fluid cylinder, means for latching the trolley in its lowered position, and means for unlatching the trolley including a fluid cylinder, of means for supplying fluid automatically to the main fluid cylinder before it is supplied to the unlatching cylinder.

5. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating the trolley including a main fluid cylinder, a latch for thetrollev. means for unlatching the trolley including a fluid cylinder, a pneumatically operated relay, an electricallyv operated valve for controlling the admission of fluid to the unlatching cylinder, and a second electrically operated valve for controlling the admission of fluid to the main operating cylinder and to the relay, of means for preventing the operation of the first valve until the second valve has been operated.

6. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating the trolley including a main fluid lowering cylinder, a latch, a pneumatically operated unlatching device, a pneumatically operated relay, an electrically operated valve for controlling the operation of the unlatching device, and a second electrically operated valve for controlling the admission of fluid to the main fluid cylinder and to the relay, of means for Copies of this patent may be obtained for preventing the first valve from operating the unlatching device until the second valve has admitted fluid to the main cylinder and to the relay.

7. The combination with a pantograph trolley, means for operating the trolley including a main fluid-actuated device for lowering and for preventing the rapid raising of the trolley, means for raising said trolley, unlatching means including a fluidoperated device, a pneumatically operated relay for controlling the operation of the unlatching device, and a fluid connection between the relay and the main fluid-actuated device and having two diaphragms provided with small openings to prevent the rapid passage of the fluid, of a valve connected to the fluid connection between said diaphragms for controlling the operation of the relay and the main fluid-actuated device to effect a temporary supply and subsequent slow release of fluid to and from the relay and main fluid-actuated device to insure a slow raising of the trolley.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 28th day of Aug, 1915.

WILLIAM SCHAAKE, ANDREW H. CANDEE.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G."

Images