US383274A - Electrical tramway - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.. H. T. BLAKE & C. STERLING.

Patented May 22 188B.

ELECTRICAL TRAMWAY.

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(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet H. T. BLAKE 8u STERLING. ELECTRICAL TRAMWAY.

No. 383,274. Patented May 22, 1888.

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NITED STATES Arn'r erica.

I-IENRXT T. BLAKE, OF NEV HAVEN, AND CLARENCE STERLING, OF BRIDGE PORT, CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRICAL TRAlVlW/Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,274, dated May 22,` 1888.

Application filed June il?, 1887. Serial No. 242,794. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY T. BLAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, and CLARENCE` STERLING, of

Bridgeport, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Tramways; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the ro invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, and to the letters and iigures of reference marked thereon, which form I5 a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to that class of electric conduits for tramways in which the prii mary or main conductor is placed in the interior of the conduit and electric communica- 2o tion is had therewith by means of an exterior secondary conductor placed parallel to said main conductor.

Said invention consists in improved methods of constructing, arranging, and supporting the several parts of the device, so as to promote the cheapness and efficiency of the apparatus and to protect all its members from moisture, dirt, and ice, and from injury by street travel and other external causes.

In the accompanying drawings our invention is shown in different forms.

Figure I represents in cross-section an end elevation of the device. Fig. II represents a plan view o1" Fig. I; Fig. III, a detail view and section through x of Fig. I. Fig. IV represents the lower section of a car and longitudinal section through .e and fr of Fig. I. Figs. V, VI, and VII represent detail views. Fig. VIII represents the transmitter linked 4o together. Fig. IX represents an end elevation and cross-section of the sleeper and corrugated transmitter-bar having flexible side supports, said bar shown out of eleetical contact. Fig. X represents said bar in electrical contact. Fig. XI represents a plan View of Figs. IX and X.

I) represents the road-bed; E, lower section of a car, a, the intermediate secondary conductors or transmitters; b, its upperpoint; b',

5o plate to which said point is secured; c, iieXible diaphragm spanning and covering the conductor channel or groove; d el', plates to protect said diaphragm; e e, screws to secure plates and diaphragm to the sleeper; f, flexible supports for the transmitters; g, trolleywheels to force said transmitters into electrical contact with the primary conductor; h, frame to support said trolleys; t', steady-pius; j,frame attached to bottom of car-supporting frame below; lc, springs, l, Hap or cover, n, metal 6o plate resting upon same.

The sleeper A, (see Fig. L) which is supposed to be of wood or other good non-cou ducting material, is placed longitudinally in the road-bed, preferably between the rails. The groove or channelB is formed therein to admit the conductor C, which rests at the bottom of the same. The intermediateconductors or transmitters, u, are vertically suspended over the primary conductor C, and. a short 7o distance from it. Said transmitters are represented as a. series of pins having shoulders a, which rest upon the elastic rubber supports f, which serve to keep said transmitter out of electrical contact with the conductor C. Said elastic supports (which ai e made of rubber or other similar non-conducting elastic material) rest upon said conductor, (see Fig. IL) which is a longitudinal side elevation through dotted line 5c of Fig. l. The diaphragm c, which is 8o flexible, and also noncondncting, spans the channel B (see Figs. I and II) its entire length, and is secured to thel sleeper A at opposite sides of said channel. Over this diaphragm at the sides of said sleeper are placed the plates d cl. Said diaphragm and plates are secured to the sleeper by the screws e e. These plates are represented in short lengths, and are insulated from each other to prevent a leakage of the electric current, their object 9o being to protect the diaphragm from the contact of passing vehicles and other rough usage to which they would be exposed.

The diaphragm is perforated to admit the small end b of the transmitters a, and to this small end are riveted the caps or plates b', thus placing the diaphragm c between the shoulder a of the transmitter and the cap b. These caps (see Fig. II) are also insulated from each other by a short distance. The object of the roo diaphragm is to serve the purpose of excluding dirt, water, and other foreign matter from the channel, which would interfere with the proper workirg of the primary and secondary conductors.

Between the secondary conductors or transmitters a are the flexible supportsf. One end of these supports rests upon the primary conductor, and the other end will support the transmitters a at their shoulders a, bringing the lower end, at', of said transmitters within a short distance ofthe primary G andjust out ot' electrical contact therewith. The space between ends c and pri-mary C will depend on the flexibility and elasticity of the supportsf and the unevenness of said primary. In Fig. 1V is shown the lower section of a ear and the mechanism employed in connection with the device before mentioned.

Beneath the car E are the trolley-wheels r/ g g", which engage with the heads or plates b, and with the necessary pressure brought to bear thereon will depress the transmitters a (sec Fig. V) until the points a of the same are brought into electrical contact with the primary G, and the circuit completed through the wire q to the motor, (not shown,) and thence through one or both rails in the usual way.

The number of wheels used for depressing the transmitters may, if desired, be increased or diminished. It is evident that by the use of two or more wheels at least one of said transmitters will bein electrical contact all the time, so that there will be no cessation of electrical condition, and consequently no sparking. After the trolleys have passed by, the elasticity of the supports will lift the transmitters, pins, or points off of electrical contact and back to their normal position. To protect the diaphragm c from abrasion, to which it would be exposed, the metal plates d d (see Fig. l) are provided. Said plates and diaphragm are secured by screws e e to the sleeper A. To protect theupper portion, b, of the secondary conductors or transmitters, the flexible cover Z may be used. Said cover is secured beneath the plate d', (see Fig. VL) having the arch m, spanning-plate b', and reenforced by the metal cap n. These arched stiti'ening-plates are preferably made wide enough to extend across the width of the channel, their outside edges resting upon the solid sides, thus forming a bridge over the secondary conductor and preventing its accidental depression by street traffic or otherwise. The cover Z is adapted to be lifted by suitable means (not shown) to the dotted perpendicular position shown. This will permit the passage of the trolleys to accomplish the object hereinbefore described.

The exact form or construction of the intermediate or secondary conductors isimmaterial so long as the best possible results are obtained. InFigs. I, II, IILIV, V,andVIthey are represented as narrowindependent pins, each insulated from its neighbor. In Fig. VIII, as shown, they may, if necessary, belinked togetherby the connection r. In Fig. VII isshown the bar F, of any desired length, having a series of downward-projecting ngers, 0, to effect the electrical contact with primary C.

The flexible supports p perform the same office as with the individual pins, as before mentioned, the trolley c engaging with the top surface of bar F.

In Fig. IX is shown asecondary conductor, t, having corrugated sides. Said conductor may be constructed of any required length consistent with the best results, and is supported at the sides by the elastic rubber strips or packing u u'. This packing, together with the secondary conductor t, is supposed to fill the groove or channel D, and to givesufticient support to the 'secondary t, so as to suspend the same above the primary C and out of electrical contact therewith.

In Fig. X is shown the trolley c depressing the secondary t, bringing it into electrical contact with its primary C. The metal plates d serve the purpose, as shown in the other figures, to protect the upper exposed surface of the sleeper.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to protect and secure by Letters Patent, is- 1. An electric conduit for tramways and other uses, consisting of a sleeper, of wood or other suitable noncondueting material, having a channel cut in its upper surface and a primary or main conductor laid in the bottom of said channel, in combination with a diaphragm of Iiexible non-conducting material secured along the upper surface of such conduit across such channel, a secondary conductor attached along the outer surface of said diaphragm over said channel and having a series of projections extending through said diaphragm into said channel, which projections approach nearly to said main conductor, but not to the point of electrical connection therewith, and blocks or strips of elastic rubber or other similar non-conducting elastic material supper ting said secondary conductor in its normal position, all as described.

2. The combination of the channeled conduit, constructed substantially as described, having the main conductor at the bottom of the channel, the flexible diaphragm covering said channel, the secondary conductor placed upon said diaphragm, and the flexible iiap over said secondary conductor having stiffening-plates which extend across said channel and form a bridge over the secondary conductor, in the manner and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY T. BLAKE.

Witnesses:

HENRY C. WHITE, FRANK L. OWEN.

In testimony whereof I affix mysignaturein presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE STERLING.

Vit-nesses:

LoUIs N. MIDDLEBROOK, CHARLES H. Foce.

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