US1573001A - Tramway trolley pole - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 16 19 26. 1,573,001

M. HENDERSON TRAMWAY TRQLLEY POLE Filed March 29, 1924 L 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 16,1926. 1 1,573,001

M. HENDERSON TRAMWAY TROLLEY POLE Filed March 29. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 777. Nz/nc/l/wm mventor 22 wan/my CM To all whom it may concern:

Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

MATTHEW Hmvnnnsoiv, or AUoKLAnn, NEwzEA ANn.

rRAMwAY- TROLLEY POLE.

Application filed March 29, 1924. Serial No. 702,932.

Be it known that MATTHEW HENDERSON,

a subject of the King of Great Britain, re-

siding'at Selwyn Street, Onehunga, in the city of Auckland, Provincial District of Auckland, Dominion of New Zealand, has invented certain new and useful Improve ments in or Relating to Tramway Trolley Poles, of which the following is a specifica tion. This invention relates to improvements in connection with the trolley poles of electric trams and like 7 vehicles which are worked on the overhead system, and has particular reference to that kind of mechanism which automatically relieves the tension from the trolley pole should the trolley,

"from any cause, jump off the overhead wire.

' The particular improvement The objectof my invention is to prevent damageand delay to the service when the trolley leaves the overhead wire, the momentum with which the pole is jerked upwardsbeing suflicient to break down the support- "ingwires above or cause a'jamming ofthe trolley amongst same;

aimed at in 'i my invention is to provide a simple automatic releaseof the pole from themainten- "sion spring or springs, when the trolley leaves the overhead wire, and allow thetro1- ley and pole to fallby gravity and without .The inventlon Wlll be further illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, Where' Y a i Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the mechanism in working position on the overhead wire.

Figure 2 is a plan of same. 7

Figure 3 1s a partial side elevation showing'the crosshead in section on line AB Figure 4 is an end elevation of Figure 1.

' Figure 5 is a side elevation showing the i ings, thetensionon the trolley pole is efffected by the spring 1, the lower end of the 'tr olley pole being connected to a stirrup recess;

" piece 4 which is fulcrumed at 11- to the swivellin'g' base. 5, the latter being pivoted on the standard 6 which is secured to the roof of thecar.

This is a similarconstruction to that at present in use, the upward tension of the trolley pole on to the wire being maintained by means of one or more springs transmitting their tension through a pair of tension rods operating on pivot pins fixed to the stirrup piece, the tension springsur rounding an extending arm secured to the swivel base, a stop nut or nuts being fixed at the outer ends of the arm to limit the travel upwards of the pole when the trolley leaves the overhead wire. 1

The improvement in my invention con sists in means whereby these tension rods are automaticallydisconnected from the sliding plate or crosshead iiponwhich the ten- -sion springs bear when the trolley leaves the overhead conductor, after which the pole and trolley are free to fall by gravitya sufficient distance to clear the overhead' wires and prevent damage byqamming or' foul- 111g Sit/I118.

A further improvement provides for taking up the recoil after the trolley pole has fallen clear of the overhead wire and with means whereby the apparatus can bereset to the working positionby the conductor or motor-man in charge.

To accomplish this, the tension rods 10 are pivotally connected to pins 12 projecting from the sides or cheeks of the stirrup piece .1-. The other ends of the tension rods are screwed and nutted at 13 so asto' transfer the tension from the sliding crosshead 8,

which latter has two slots 14 in the underside for the reception of the boltslO.

The slots 14 terminate in countersunk recesses 15, one of the nuts 13 having a projection thereon to seat into the A pair of bell crank shaped levers 16 are keyed or otherwise securely connected one at each side to the fulcrum pin 11, the upper ends of the levers being stayed together as'an integral unit. to prevent distortion. This maybe done by a suitable distance piece which. is here shown as a bolt 17 shouldered, screwed and nutted at both ends onto the bellcrank levers.- Instead of keying the levers 16 to the pin 11 they could, if preferred, be formed integral with the stirrup. piece 4. The pin 12 transfers motion from 4 to 16,

A pair of recoil rods 19 are pivotally connected at one end as shown at 20 to the bell crank levers. The forward ends of the recoil rods are passed through holes 21 in the sliding crosshead 8, the ends being screwed and having a pair of nuts 22 fitted thereto at a suitable- -distance from the ends so that when the trolley pole falls to "the re- I coil position as shown byFigure 3, these I recoil position.

nutstransmit the weight and shock from the falling pole to the main tension spring 1, preventing the pole falling beyond the \Vhen the trolley pole in its normal V from the sudden compression of the spring 1, but this is prevented by fitting a bracket 23 to the tension rods 10 so that when the spring 1 is compressed by the falling of the pole, the buffer piece 26 secured to the bracket 23 falls on to the arm 9 between the end face of the nut 27 andjthe sliding crosshead 8. H i L The bracket 23 withstop piece 26 attached thereto. may be made of any suitable 1 shape and secured by convenient means to the tension rods.

ings herewith shows 23. formed 'to a U shape, the. lower endsbeing secured to the tension rods 10 by nuts 24 at each side. The

top of the U. piece is. bent overat 25 at right angles carrying the buffer 26 as shown. \Vhen the trolley poleuisin its working p05 sition as shown in Figure l, the buffer 26 wards with considerable force, and when the crosshead 8 strikes the face of the stop nut '27 on theextending arm 9, the tension rods 10 are released from theslots 14.

This is ,accomplished bythe upward mo mentumof the trolley pole 2 after crosshead 8 strikes the nut 27 which releases the countersunk nuts13 from the recesses 15, allowing the rods 10 to fall by gravity,

'' when the buffer 26 falls on the outer periphery'of the nutf27 untilthe' pole 2 reaches the recoilposition shown in Figure 3, when :coilaspreviously described.

' it falls in between 8 and 27 to prevent re-i' The lower arms of the bell crank levers 16 have resetting pins 30 fitted thereto, so that when the trolley pole is pulled down approximately to a horizontal position as shown in Figure 5, the pins 30 lift the ten sion rods 10 up into the slots and the countersunk seats in the crosshead 8 to their normal working position, when the trolley can be reset on to the wire 3 in the ordinary manner.

The'action of resetting the tension rods in their seats will be better understood by reference to Figure 3, when it will be readily seen that on pulling the pole further down so as to reinstate rodsQlO by lifting pins 30, the travel ofcrossliead; 8 is more rapid than the travel of nuts 13, which facilitates the insertion'of the latter into the recesses 15.

The pins 30 are preferably shouldered, screwed and nutted to secure to the lower arm 29 of the bell crank lever 16, and to facilitate adjustment, the extending portion 30 could be turned eccentric with the shouldered and screwed portion which fits through the hole in the-arm 29. I

The crosshead 8 is prevented :'['ro1n turning on the extending arm 9 byia' feather key 82 fitting in the'crosshead 8 sliding in the keyway 31.. f I

The recoil rods 19 can have 'a knuckle joint 38 fitted in a suitable position as shown to convert reciprocating motionat the crosshead end into partial rotary motion at the bell cranklever end.

Iclaimr e 1. A trolley. pole safetylrelease for electric trams and thelike, 'consistin'g, in combination with the usual tension springsand I r trolley pole, of a stirrup piece fu'lcr'umed to The arrangement as shown on the drawa revoluble base pivoted to an upright column, of 'a pair of tension'rods to holdfthe ,pole on the overhead'wire, the 'rod's each having one end pivoted to the stirrup piece at the foot of the pole and the othen'end detachablyfixed tothe s'liding'cros'sheadby nuts on the rods, one of the 'saidfnuts on each rod having a conical shapedp rojection thereon to seat in 'a'recess' atthe endof the .slots in the crossh'ead so that when the trolley leaves the wire and 'the pole is jerkedupwards, it is released from tension andv allowed tofall clear of the overhead wire by'releasing the tension rods from the crosshead immediately the tension spring strikes the stop nut onthe end of the spring arm, substantially as described and as shown in the drawings. e 2. In a trolley pole safety. appliance, a pair of bell crank levers which may be-separate from or integral with a stirrup piece, but pivoted to the fulcrum pinbf the pole, a distance piece holding together the upper ends of the arms of the levers, a pair of resetting pins fixed to and: projecting from short arms of the levers, a pair of recoil rods pivoted atone end to the bell crank levers and to a knuckle joint near the'crosshead at the other ,end, 'the ro'ds being'connutted on the outer ends to facilitate adjustment for transferring the weight of the falling pole on to the 'main spring sub stantially as described and as shown on the drawings.

3. In a trolley pole safety appliance a recoil buifer hanging from a bracket secured to the tension rods so that when the latter are released from the tension of the spring, the buffer is free to fall. on to the stop nut at the end of the spring arm, af ter which it falls in between the crosshead and the stop nut when the spring is compressed by the falling pole to the recoil position substantially as described and as shown on the drawings.

4:. The combination in a safety trolley pole release of the various parts as claimed in claim 1, all working together to produce an automatic release of the tension rods when the trolley leaves the overhead wire, means for arresting the fall of the pole and preventing recoil of same with facility for resetting the tension rods to the working position again all substantially as shown and described with reference to the accompany-V ing drawings.

5. The combination in asafety trolley pole release of the various parts as claimed in claim 2, all working together to produce an automatic release of the tension rods when the trolley leaves the overhead wire, means for arresting the tail of the'pole and preventing recoil of the same with facility of-resetting the tension rods to the working position again.

6. The combination with a safety trolley pole release of the Various parts as claimed in claim 3, all working together to produce an automatic release of the tension rods when the trolley leaves the overhead wire, of means for arresting the tail of the pole and preventing recoil of the same with facility for resetting the tension rods to the working position again.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MATTHEWV HENDERSON.

Images