US401796A - Electric-railway system - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

S. H. SHORT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. H. SHORT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEM.

No. 401,796. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

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(No Model.)

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ELEGTRIG RAILWAY SYsTEM. N0 401,796. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

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S. H. SHORT.

ELEOTRIQ RAILWAY SYSTEM.

Patented Apr. 23, 1889;

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- NlTE FISTATESIATENT OFFICE.

SIDNEY HOVE SHORT, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO.

ELECTRIC-=RAI LVVAY SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent N0. 401,7 96, dated April 23, 1889.

Application filed AprillO, 1888. Serial No. 270,185. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be 1t known that I, SIDNEY I-IowE SHORT,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Railway Systems of Overhead Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improved means for supporting the electrical conductors of a system of electrical railways.

The objectof the invention is to provide such a means that the number of poles, arches, or similar ground supports is reduced, and

that the conductors are more nearly parallel with the railway-track.

The invention consists of poles or similar standards or supports situated at intervals along a railway, cables joining and attached to the said supports, insulated hangers suspended from the supports and from the cables,

electrical conductors carried by the said hangers, and a trolley serving as a current-cot lector located upon the conductors and connected with an electric car of the system, all in combination, as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings the system is described so that any one versed in the art may construct the same.

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of one of the arches spanning the street and adapted for two tracks. Fig. 2 is a side view of the arch shown in Fig. 1, a car being shown in connection with the conductors. Fig. 3 shows a halfarch in elevation, all the above-named figures showing an electric lamp carried by the arch above the central portion of the street. Fig. 4 is a plan of the system at a street-corner, where it becomes necessary that the conductors should lie as nearly as possible in a true curve, such as the arc of a circle. Figs. 5 and 6 represent, respectively, top and side views of means for stretching the cables. Figs. 7 and 8 show, respectively, two rectangular views of the hangers for suspending the conductors from the cables, Fig. 7 being shown partly in cross section and each figure being broken into two parts. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of the system, showing the poles or arches in side view, the cables connecting them, and the conductors suspended at intervals from the cables.

y a post or base, a, of suitable material-such as j half-arch shown in Fig. 3, curved braces cl,

extending from the central portion of the extension b to the center of the half-chord c, or

to about one-quarter of the chord c, an upcables and to the chord c or c, and adapted to be adjustable so as to put a greater or less tension upon the cables, the cables being let tered j, hangers 7c fixed to the cables at intervals between the arches, and shown on an enlarged scale in Figs. '7 and S, and electrical conductors attached to the hangers and indicated by the letter Z.

The hangers consist of the combination of a rod or tube, m, secured to the cable j; a short beam, n, fastened by nuts 0 in an adjustable manner to the said rod; insulators p, carried by the said beam at each end thereof protecting-coverings above the said insulators, and conductor-holders q, secured to the insulators and hanging downward in such a manner that the current-controller T, which runs on the conductors, may pass by the arches without interruption.

The cable-stretch ers (shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6) consist of the combination of an illsulating cylindrical block, 8, to which the cable is attached by a loop, a forked screw-holder, t, for'the block 3, and a pivoted screw, 75', secured to the arch, a frame, it, having holes opposite each other and into which the said screws respectively screw. lVhen the frame a is rotated, the screws approach each other and stretch the cable or loosen it, according to which way the said frame is turned.

The principle of construction at the street IOO corner or at asimilar sharp curve in the roadway is substantially as above described in reference to a rectilinear line; but the details of construction are different, as shown in Fig. 4. This construction consists of the combination of three arches or semi-arches, each provided with suitable stretchers, as above described, two cables, j and j connecting, respectively, two of the posts or arches with the middle post or arch which overhangs either one of the tracks at an angle of about forty-five degrees, and a third cable, or the main cable, j, connecting the first and third arches and provided with tie ropes or wires which extend from itself to the cables j and 3 the tie-Wires being of such length and tension as to hold the cable j in an approximate curve. From the curved portion. of the cable j the hangers are suspended at comparatively numerous points and the hangers support the conductors, as above described. The wires or cables j and j being comparatively short will be praitical'y rectilinear, as shown in the drawings.

By the application of my invention it becomes possible and practical to reduce the number of poles or similar ground supports to such an extent that there are only about twelve to the mile, or in the city only one or two per block. It is preferable in the city to place them at street intersections, where it is desirable also to have a large electric light.

I find that the number of hangers may be such as to be about the same distance as poles are at present placed in the ordinary systems. In curves the hangers are placed closer together, so as to make the curve more truly a curve.

ihe cables are preferably constructed of iron wire, which may be stretched without danger of breaking.

If the conductors are small in diameter, and it is desired not to subject them to strain, the number of hangers may be increased per mile or unit of length. The greater the number of hangers the greater the degree of parallelism between the conductors and the railway-track.

I claim as my invention 1. In an electric-railwaysystem of overhead 5o conductors, the combination of elevated supports located at intervals along the railway, insulated hangers suspended from the supports, cables connecting and secured to the said supports, a second set of hangers suspended from the cables, electrical conductors supported upon the said hangers, and a current-collector located upon the conductors and connected with the electric car of the system.

2. In an electric-railway system of overhead v conductors, the combination of two posts, a chord connecting the upper portions of the posts, tie-rods connecting the chord and posts, insulated hangers supported upon the chord and ties, cables supported upon the chord, a second set of insulated hangers suspended from the cables, and conductors supported upon the hangers.

3. The combination of three fixed supports not located in the same straight line, but substantiallyin the same horizontal plane, cables connecting every two supports, tie-Wires connecting one of the cables with the remaining two, and insulated electrical conductors suspended from that cable which is held by tie- SIDNEY HOWVE SHORT.

Witnesses:

HARVEY BANCROFT, F. C. MOELROY.

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