US1242048A - Support for suspended conductors. - Google Patents

Description

. H. SC HAEFER.

SUPPORT FOR SUSPENDED CONDUCTORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. I9i6,

1,242,048., Patented 00. 2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

@uwm/cop H. scHfiEFEK H. SCHAEF'ERq SUPPORT FOR SUSPENDED CONDUCTG'RS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 25. 19:6.

3,242,@%8 Patented 00%,, 2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Smwutoz HERMAN scnnnrrna, or ASTORIA, NEW .YoRK.

SUPPORT FOR SUSPENDED C ONDUCTORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Application filed Marches 1916... Serialifl'o. 86,739..

1/ b all whomz't may concern: 7

Be it known that I, vHERMAN SCHAEFER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at As-.

toria, LongIsland City, in thecounty of Queens and State of .New'. York, have in vented certain new and useful Improvementsin Supports for Suspended Conduc-.

tors, of whichthe following is a specifica tion, reference being had to the=acc0mpany ing drawings. v p

This 111vent10nrelates to means for supe,

' porting conductors,- and particularly to means for supporting trolley. wires. or v con: ductors of like character.

The general object ofthis inventionis. to. provide a support for bareconductors including a straight line ear combined with a female bell-shaped cap orhanger.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction of this character wherein the ear is formed in two portions or sections, namely, an ear. proper WlllClI; 9X2.

tends beneath andsupports the conductor for an appreciable distance and a trolley wire clamping cap sectionwhich fits the upper face of the ear and is held down closely upon said upper face.

A further object of the inventionus to provide anear so formed that. the trolley wireor other conductor may be readily laced 1n engagement with the ear or-removed therefrom, and provide means whereby the trolley wire may be clamped within.

a seat in the ear, said means beingshiftable out of its operative position to permit the detachment ofthe trolleyWire. I

A further object. of thisinvention is to provide an ear which maybe connected to a bell hanger or without change connected to a double or singlesuspension yoke or;a feed yoke or a suspension bracket and still; another object is to provide an earwvhicln may be used as a splicingiearhor as. means.

for connecting a feed wire tothe trolley wire. Other objects will appear. 'in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is ,atransversefisection ofa conductor support constructed. in accordance withmy invention; p

Fig. 2 is afragmentary side elevation {Of the :support, thembellf and cone .not being} shown, the view being .partly ,in; section; I

Fig. 3 .is' a fragmentary .eleyation ofithc Fig. ,4- is a fragmentary top" plan yiew of the cap piece 26;-

F ig .5 is a sile viewof a portion of this cap piece; 7

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the clamp 30;

Fig. 7 isan under side plan view thereof; Fig, 8,1saperspect1ve vlew of another form of hanger with my mvention applied thereto Fig; 9 is a perspective view ofuanother,

form of hanger with In thereto;

y, invention. applied Fig. 10 is a side elevation of my improved.

ear partly in section; and

Fig. 11v is a longitudinal horizontal sec-i tion through the members23 and 26.

Referring to thesedrawings, 10. designates the bell which is madev of metal oryother suitable material and at its center is formed with the socket 12 bounded by thejoute lP'atcntedflct. 2,1917.

wardly extending annular flange 13 whose ,l

extremities are inwardly turned, as at .14. Atthe base of thisflange the body of the bell isformedwithan inwardly extending.

fiange le. The extremities ofthe body 10 are provided with the hook-shaped span.v

wire-engaging lugs15. The span. wire '16 is adapted to be disposed in these lugs,- and extend around the bellshap ed skirt formed by the flange 13.; 1 Disposed within the socket 12is, the cone 17. WVhile I .termthi's part 17a cone, itis to be understood that it is notconicalzinj form but substantially cylindricalwith the outer. faceof the side wall concavely depressedas at 18. Theinterior of the cone 17fis bored-and screw threaded for the-ireception of the; shank 19. The socket 12 is intended ...to be filled with cement 20 whereby the member 17 willbe held in place within the socket 12. The cone 17 may be of insulating material and, the cement 12 will also act as insulation or mayhavejpar-' tial insulating properties.

Thefear as it is termechwhich' supports the trolley wire 21,, comprises the shank 1 9 which is screw threaded and an elongated body 22 which extendsat right angles to the axis of the shank and projects diametrically in opposite directions. The under face of this, body 22- is curved longitudinally andthe ends,}of the,,body, slightlytapen; Arch? ing ,over the upper face of the bodyZQfat its middle is the hub 23 which extends transversely over the, body and p which directly connected, to. the} ha k l v 11 11 1? Cir stood, of course, that the portions 22 and 23 of the shank are preferably cast or otherwise formed in one piece. The upper face of the body 22 of the ear is transversely recessed, as at 24;, so that the hub portion 23 arching over the grooved portion 22 provides an entrance passage'25 whereby the wire may be entered into the ear and seated in the groove 24. This is best illustrated in Fig. 1. The end faces of the hub 23 are vertically grooved, as at 23, for a purpose which will be later stated. (See Fig. 2.)

Coacting with the ear section 22 and provided for the purpose of holding the trolley wire or other conductor securely in place within the seat 24: is a cap section 26 which has a length equal to that of the portion 22 and a width somewhat greater than this portion and is tapered toward its ends and has inclined end faces 27. Extending vertically through this cap section 26 at its middle is a passage 28 which is elliptical in form and is adapted to receive the hub portion 23 of the car 22, as shown best in Fig. 4, this section 26 being cut away upon its un der face, as at 29, to accommodate the outwardly flaring base of the portion 23,where it connects to the body 22, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The under face of the cap section 26 is longitudinally grooved, as at 26, this groove corresponding with the groove 24 so that when the cap is in place the wall of the groove 26 will extend over the groove 24:. The shank 19 passes entirely through the opening 28, and disposed to surround the shank and bear upon the upper face of the cap piece 26 is a clamping member 30 somewhat rectangular in plan with rounded corhers and having a flat under face formed with the longitudinally extending recesses 31. The center of'the clamp 30 is formed with an opening 32 through which the shank loosely passes, and a 'nut 33 engages the shank and bears upon the top of the clamp. This clamp, bearing as it does upon the cap 26, holds it securely down in place in on gagement with the trolley wire. It will be seen that the grooves 31 communicate with the space around the portion 23 of the car 22, as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The operation of the invention as a clamps it in firm position in the groove 24:.

It will be seen that it is not necessary to detach the ear or hanger on the member 17 naeaoae in order to attach. or detach the trolley wire from the suspension device. It will further be seen that the ear 22 has contact over a relatively great length with the trolley wire so that there is no danger of strain on the trolley wire breaking it either from the hanger or support or breaking it at the point of connection with the hanger or support. Furthermore, there is no necessity ofsolder ing the trolley wire in place or bending over lug's on the ears to temporarily engage the trolley wire before it is soldered to the ears.

As before stated, the ear constructed in accordance with my invention is not necessarily limited to use with the socket or bell disclosed in 1 and. commonly used on trolley wire hangers, but it is equally adapted to be used in connection with double or single suspensions or with feed yokes. Thus in Fig. 8 1 show the improved ear as connected with a single yoke suspension, which single yoke is designated 35. This yoke has the ordinary form and is provided with an opening at the extremity through which the shank19 passes, the clamping nut 33 being disposed upon the extremity of the shank so as to bear upon the upper part of the suspension hanger 35. This suspension hanger at its other end is bifurcated as usual and provided with the ordinary insulating turnbuckle 36 whereby it may be connected to span wires or guy wires.

In Fig. 9 1 illustrate a double yoke suspension member, designated 37, having a medially disposed opening through which the shank 19 passes, the shank being held in place by the nut 33, as before stated. Both of these yokes are ordinary and well known and therefore require no further description. In Fig. 8 I show a modification of my ear which may be used where it is desirable to connect span wires or guy wires to the ear, this construction being exactly the same as the construction previously described but the cap 26 being provided with cars 38.

The advantages of my invention are many. 111 all straight line suspensions or hangers known to me, the trolley wire is solidly or rigidly secured to the car, as for instance, by inverting the ear and pouring solder in around the wire or by hammering the sides of the ear inward around the trolley wire and bringing it almost to a knife edge. Now in case the trolley wire gets slack all the ears on the slack section must be ripped 05 before the slack can be taken up, and that of course destroys the ears and they are good for nothing but the scrap heap. l ith my improved straight'line ear it is only necessary to release the nut 33 which will release the clamp 26, thus permitting the slack in the wire to be taken up, and after the slack in the wire has been taken up it is only necessary to again turn down the nut 33 to again urge the clamping member 20 into engagement with the wire. F urthermore, with the ordmary form of straight hne ear the edges of the ear where theyare forced around the trolley wire are very thin and soon wear ofi, and when thisoccurs the ear is of no further use and therefore has to be thrown away and an entirely new ear put in. "The ordinary ear can only be replaced at a cost of from 45am 50, whereas if the ear 22. of .my device wears out, which it will not do for a very long time, it will only cost 15. Furthermore, the trol- 'ley wire maybe inserted or removed from the ear very readily by one man. It is only necessary in applying the ear, to open the earby turning up the jam nut 33, slipping the trolley wire in place through the opening screwing down the jam nut 33, and, assuming that the bell-shaped cap has already been applied to the shank, springing the bell-shaped top on any cross span with the bell wrench in the usual manner. This takes less than five minutes to do, whereas other straight line ears must be screwed into the bell hanger first, then the bell hanger sprung on a span wire, then two men lift the trolley wire into the straight line ear,

and then the lateral edges of' the straight line ear are pounded inward by a hammer and anvil, taking at least ten minutes in order to do the job, whereas with my construction only five minutes are lost and only one man needs to be occupied with the work.

As before stated, this ear is adapted to be used either as an ordinary line ear either connected directly to the span wire as heretofore described or connected to double or single suspension hangers, or it can be used as a splicing ear. This use of the device is illustrated in Fig. 11. The parts of the mechanism illustrated are precisely the same as those illustrated in Figs. 1 to 7, the view, however, showing the adjacent ends of the trolley wiresections 21, these ends extending upward through the grooves 23 and the space 28 and'beinq laterally bent and extending through the grooves 31 of the into one or the other of the grooves 31, ex-

tending them down through the space 28 and into engagement with the trolley wire 21.

A further advantage of my invention is evident when it is desired to remove a and again clamp the wire in place.

trolley wire from a portion of the system and replaceit with a new trolley wire. In any one mileof trolley line there are about forty-five straight line ears. These ears are practically welded on the wire and when the old wire is removed these ears are of no value. With my construction whenit is desired to replace 'a'hne of wire it lsonly necessary to loosen the nuts 33 of'the ears, remove 'theold wire,'shove in the new wire, A straight line ear constructed in accordance with my invention of course does not have to be removed in order to replace or repair the line wire or take up slack. Attention is also called tothe fact that the opening 28 in the member 26 has its sides downwardly flared so that when the member 26 is in place upon the shank of the member 22 the side walls of the member 26 will extend downward and outward over the member 22 along its entire length so that they form prac tically skirts whichassist in shedding water and keeping water at-this point from run-- ning down upon the trolley wire. In other words, this performs to a certain extent the same function as performed by the skirt 13 or etticoats usually found on the bells of insulators or caps.

Having described the invention, what I claim is its body whereby a second conductor may be passed through the clamping means and clamped to the ear in electrical engagement with the first named conductor.

2. A hanger for electric conductors'comprising an ear having a shank formed with a conductor passage, the ear having a cond'uctor seat 'on its upper face extending through the passage in the shank, and a clamping member loosely surrounding the shank and extending the length of the ear and confronting said ear and adapted to clamp a conductor between the shank and the ear, the clampmgmember ,belng spaced at one point from the shank to permit the introduction of a second conducting mem ber into'engagement with the ear.

3. A hanger for electric conductors com prising support, a shank extending. at right angles thereto, a clamping member surrounding the shank and confronting the support, a clamping member disposed upon the first-named clamping member and having agroove upon its under face extending to an opening in turn extending through the first named clamping member to the hot tom thereof, and means for holding the clamping members in superposed relation to each other and urging said clamping members toward the supporting member.

4:. A hanger for electric conductors com prising an ear having a screw threaded shank, the shank adjacent its junction with the ear being formed with a laterally opening conductor passage alining with the upper face of the ear, a bell including a screw threaded member to detachably receive the shank, a clamping member loosely surrounding the shank and vertically movable thereon and adapted to confront the ear and when in operative position close the lateral opening in the shank, and a nut engaging the shank above said clamping member and adapted to hold the clamping member in operative position in relation .to the shank, there being a suflicient distance between the nut when in the last named position and the screw threaded member on the bell to ermit the nut to be run up on the bell and permit the clamping member to be vertically raised to a position to disclose the opening in the shank.

5. In a support for suspended electric con ductors, the combination with a bell, of an ear having a shank detachably engaged with the bell, the ear extending longitudinally and at right angles to the shank and having its upper face longitudinally grooved to form a seat for a trolley Wire, the shank at its junction with the ear arching over the groove, a cap section longitudinally grooved upon its under face and having a central opening adapted to engage over the shank and surround and arch over the shank to provide an entrance opening to the seat, a rectangular cap member longitudinally grooved upon its under face and having a vertical opening through which the shank member passes, and a nut holding said cap in place.

6. A hanger for electric conductors com prising an ear grooved upon its upper face and having a hub formed with a passage parallel to the face of the ear and with a slot intersecting said passage, a screw threaded shank extending upward from the hub, a clamping member having an opening longer than the hub but having approximately the same Width as the hub whereby to permit the introduction of conductors between the end face of the hub and the ad jacent face of the clamping member, and

means for holding the clamping member against the upper face of the ear.

7. A hanger for electric conductors com prising an ear having a shank, the upper face of the ear for its entire length having a conductor receiving groove, a clamping member having an opening through which the shank passes and being shiftable toward and from the ear to clamp a conduct-or upon the upper face of the ear, the opening in the i of the ear, a clamping member having an openin througn which the shank asses and whereby a second conductor may be electrically engaged with the ear and clamped, means for urging the clamping member toward the ear, and a second clamping member operatively mounted upon the shank and holding the second named conductor in clamped engagement with the ear and the first named clamping member.

9. A hanger for electric conductors comprising an ear having a hub extending upward from its middle, the hub being approximately rectangular, a shank extending upward from the hub, a clamping member having an elongated opening through which the shank and hub pass, the opening having a width approximately the same as the hub but being longer than the hub to permit auxiliary conductors to extend down between the hub and the clamping member, a second clamping member resting upon the first member and adapted to engage said auxiliary conductors and clamp them in place, and means engaging the shank for forcing the clamping members downward against the ear.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERMAN SGHAEFER.

VVitn esses 2 PHILIP L. HAUs RUDOLPH BERBERIGH.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

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