US1658703A - Electric-current collector - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor George W Bower,

His Abborney G. w. BOWER ELECTRIC CURRENT COLLECTOR Filed Nov. 27, 1925 Fig. 4.

Feb. 7, 192 s,

Patented Feb. 7, 1928..

UNITED enonen vr. nownn, or scn'nnnornnv, nnw' ronn, assrenon r0 onnnnnn ELno'rnIo COMPANY, a conrornrrron or new roan.

Application filed November 27, 19525.

The present invention relates to electric railways and more particularly to current collectors whereby electric power :tor actuation of the car motors is received from a stationary trolley wire suspended along the roadway.

Trolley wires are generally suspended over the roadway and the current collector mounted on the root or top part of the car with its wire-engaging part :t'reely movable up and down according to the varying elevations of the wire. There are. however, elcc tric systems on which such location oi? the trolley wire above the roadwa would be a source of danger to human bei or liable to interfere with traiiic, as where a roadway is used in common by steam locomotives and by electric locomotives, and in consequence thereof it is necessary to suspend the trolley wire to one side of and removed from the roadway. On account of such side location of the trolley wire, the terms or" current col lectors in general use are impractical.

The object of my invention is the provi: sion of an improved electric current collector which shall function eiliciently with troll wires supported a considerable distance to one side of a roadway, which shall be adapted to be folded close to thevehicle mounting the same when not in operation which shall be adapted to withstand rough usmge and which may be operated with facility.

Une embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which 1 is a front elevation of my current collector showing the collector shoe in full lines in inactive or folded position and in dotted lines in extended and operative position; Fig. 2 is a right-side elevation of the current collector drawn to a larger scale a with parts shown broken aw Fig. 3 plan of the operating means oi tie collector talren on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on line 1 4; 01 2, and Fig. 5is a perspective of the operating cam with its coacting crank arm raised above its normal position for salre of clearness of illustration.

As indicated in the drawings my current collector comprises a base 1 pivotally supported on a thrust bearing 2, with a swinging contact arm 3 pivoted to the upper side thereof and operating means 4: at the lower 1N? COLLECTGR.

Fierial No. 71,557.

end of a hollow shaft and a rod connected respectively to the base and the swinging contact arm.

The thrust bearing 2 is supported on a :trame 5 extended above the root 6 of the vehicle near one side thereof, whil the operating means 4 is located inside the car roof.

The base 1 comprises a. box beam 7 having bearing plate Shear one end supported upon the thrust bearing 2 and at the opposite end is a cross bar-9 with both ends apertured for the passage of threaded rods 10 having nuts 11 on their outer ends, while their inner ends connect with helical tension springs 12 whose opposite ends are similarly connected by rods 13 and nuts 14 to a cross bar 15 carried on the lower end of the swinging contact arm 3 and passing beneath its pivotal point of connection 16 to the base.

The swinging contact arm 3 comprises a cast metal box member 17 having beneath its free end a clamping plate 18 adapted to be bound by set screws 19 upon an inserted end of a wooden pole 20. The opposite end oi? the wooden pole 20 has attached thereto a metallic contact shoe 21. 'l he shoe 21 comprises a saher-shaped spine 22 of cast aluminum having attached to its curved upper surface by means 01 rivets 23 strips of hard drawn copper 2d. The lower end of the aluminum spine is -forked and secured by rir" 25 to the wooden pole and it is also provided with set screws 26 tor electrically connecting the contact shoe to a flexible conductor 2'? which leads to the car circuit, The springs 12 normally act to urge the swinging contact arm 8 upwardly into engagement with the underside oi the trolley wire 28 and in opposition to the retracting rod 29 connected thereto by a clevis 30.

The operating means consists oi? a rectangular frame of angle irons 31 connected to a cast hanger 32 supported by set screws 33 from the lower e d of a tubular housing 8% connected at its piper end to a plate 85 upon which the thrust bearing 2 is seated. In the frame are mounted an air cylinder 36 and two longitudinal guide bars 3!" and 38 on which a cam block 39 is freely slidable under the pneumatic pressure in the cylinder 36 communicated thereto by the piston rod 40.

The cam block 39, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 5, has a vertical channel 41 where by it clears the retracting rod 29 and its guide bearing 42 and the lower edges adjacent the channel ll are provided with horizontal shoulders 43 which incline upwardly at the tor-ward end and are adapted to engage with rollers ell on a little truck to car ried at the lower end of the retracting rod 29, so that as the cam block 39 is drawn toward the rear end of its travel the rollers id ride up the inclined portion of the ways 43 and permit the collector shoe to rise under the recoil of its springs 12.

The truck i5 is stayed in place by a yoke 46 pivotally connected thereto and to transverse bolts 17 carried in the end of the angle iron frame opposite to the air cylinder 86.

In order to swing the collector outwardly and inwardly at right angles to the ve-- hicle concurrently with the up and down control movements thereof, the cam block 39 is provided in its upper side with an L- shapecl slot 48, the walls of which engage a knob 1-9 at the end of a crank arm 50 rigid- 1y connected to a tubular shaft 51 and guide bearing 12 by a set screw 52. The tubular shaft 51 extends upwardly through the housing 34.- and thrust bearing 2 and is provided at its upper end with a plate 011 which the base plates is mounted. In order that the side swing of the collector may take place without twisting of the retracting rod 29, the latter is provided with a swivel joint 54.

The air cylinder 36 is connected in well known manner by pipes and valves to a supply of compressed air (not shown).

When the driver desires to move the current collector from inoperative position, as shown in full lines Fig. 1 to its operative position as shown in the dotted lines of that figure, he controls the entrance of thefpressure air to retract the piston rod 1-0 and thereby moves the cam block 39 to the left, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, which byreason of its slotted engagement with the crank arm 50 causes the tubular shaft 51 and connected base 1 to turn clockwise through an angle of 90, the longitudinal portion of the L. slot 48 thereafter pern'iitting further travel of the cam block 39 until the inclined ends of its shoulders 43 pass the rollers 4%.: and permit the collector arm 3 to rise into engagement with the trolley wire under the recoil of the springs 12. When the collector is to be retracted from operative posi tion, the driver similarly controls the pressure fluid to move the cam block 39 to the right, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with the resultant steps executed in inverse order to that just described.

While I have shown and described the best embodiment of the invention known to me, I do not desire to be restricted thereto.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. An electric current collector comprising a sliding contact arm normally engaging the current supply conductor in a plane transverse thereto and movable into inactive position in a plane parallel thereto, means for pivotally supporting said contact arm for horizontal and vertical movements, and means to insure the concurrent relative movements oi. said contact arm.

An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, a contact arm pivoted on said base transversely to the axis thereof, yiehlable means for actuating said arm in one direction, and means to insure the concurrent rotation of said base and the movement of said arm in opposition to the actuating means thereof.

3. An electric current collector comprising a base rotatably mounted on a vertical axis, a contactarm horizontally pivoted on said base, sprin means operating to move the tree end oi? said arm upwardly, and means to insure concurrent depression of said arm and the partial rotation of said base.

t. An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, a contact arm pivoted on said base, yieldable means for actuating said arm in one direction, a crank connected to said base, a retractile rod connected to said arm, and a cam block operatively engaging said arm and said rod to effect concurrent movements of said base and said contact arm.

5. An electric current collector comprising a rotatably mounted base, a coaxial extension therefrom provided with a crank, a contact arm mounted on said base on a pivot transverse to the axis thereof, a connection rod connected to said arm and extending in substantial alignment with said base extension, and a cam block operatively engaging said rod and said crank.

6. An electric current collector comprising a rotatable base, a coaxial extension therefrom provided with a crank, a springactuated contact-arm pivotally mounted on said base, a retractile rod connected to said contact arm and extending into proximity to said crank, a cam block provided with an L-shaped slot for engagement with said crank and with inclined ways for engagement with said retractile rod, and mean for reciprocating said cam block.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of November, 1925.

GEORGE W. BOWER.

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