US403092A - Connector for electric railways - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

LDAFT. CONNECTOR EUR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS. No. 403,092. Patented May 14, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

LEO DAFT, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

CONNECTOR FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,092, dated May 14, 1889.

Application iled June 18, 1888. Serial No. 277,433. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO DAFT, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Plainfield, U'nion county, State of New Jersey, United States of America, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connectors for Electric Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

In the extensive and increasing use of electric railways of that class wherein the current is generated at a central station and is conveyed along the track by conductors arranged either above the ground or below the surface thereof in conduits, it often becomes necessary for one line of railroad to cross another at an angle to the direction of its length, and in 'doing this considerable diiiiculty has been experienced in so arranging the conductors of the two lines as to provide for the ready passage of `the trolleys, brushes, or other collectors, so that there will be no intei-ference with the conductors of the different lines, and at the same time to preserve a practically continuous collector-support; and it is the object of my present invention to provide means whereby these results may be accomplished; and to these ends myinvention consists in a structure adapted to support the conductors of two or more lines crossing each other at an angle in such a manner that the collectors of the different lines may operate without interference with each other, and without danger of stopping or delays to the cars.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown one embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 is a plan view, of a device arranged to carry out the principle above stated; and Fig. 3 is a detail of one form of a conductor which I have found convenient to use in this connection.

It is evident that the principles of construction are substantially the same whether the device is applied to an overground-conductor system or an underground system, and I have. chosen to illustrate it as applied to an over-` ground system, and my device may be described as consisting of bridge-connectors or U -shaped frames A A', having legs B B,which may be made of any suitable material, but preferably of angle-iron, as indicated in the drawings, and which connector is of sufficient width and depth to permit the free passage of the trolley, collector-car, brush, or other means of collecting the current traveling upon the conductors.

One system of conductors, as C D, may be mounted upon arms E F, which are supported upon the legs B B of the connectors, and project inward, leaving a passage between their ends for the collector, and these arms are preferably insulated from the connector. The other system of conductors, G H, which is arranged to cross the rst set at an angle, is shown as supported in a plane below the first set and held in the grip ends of the legs B B of the connector, and while of course any particulararrangement of conductor and grip may be used, I prefer to use that shown in Fig. 8, in which the conductor G is securely held or gripped between the jaws I I', in a manner well understood. If these conductors G H extended directly across the connector, they would of course interfere with the passage of the trolley or collector upon the other set of conductors, and in order to provide against this objection and at the same time afford a substantial continuation of the conductors G H, so that the trolley or collectorcarrier may freely pass thereon, I connect to the grip ends of the connector supporting the ends of the conductors G H the pivoted arms K K and L L, mounted upon suitable pivots la Z, and these arms are held so as to practically complete the line of the conductors by the springs M, arranged to bear equally upon opposite sides of the arms and support them in such a manner that when they are pressed apart by the trolley or brush-carrier they will move to one side to permit the passage thereof and immediately return to their normal position under the stress of the springs.

Of course it is necessary to complete the electrical connection between the grip-jaws, and this may be done in various ways-as,

for instance, the connectors A A may also form the electrical connection between the terminals of the conductors.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple and effective device,which may be used either IOO above or below the surface of the ground, and which will serve to protect the Conductors and insure the proper passage of the collectors at the crossings; and while I have illustrated a speeiiie embodiment of my invention, it is evident that the details of construction and arrangement may be varied without departing from the spirit thereof.

`That I Claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with two sets of eon duetors arranged to cross eaeh other at an angle, of a Connector consisting, essentially, of a frame,supporting-arms eonneeted to the frame for one set of conductors, and jaws oonneeted to the frame for another set oi conduetors, and hinged arms connected to the jaws permitting the passage of the Collector, substantially as described.

2. In a crosseonneetor for elect-rie circuits, the combination, with the jaws connected to the terminals of the eirenit, of hinged arms connected to the jaws, and springs arranged to maintain the arms Vin alignment with the jaws, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have si gn ed my nam e to this speeilieaton lin the presence ot' two subscribing witnesses.

LEO DAFT.

IVitnesses:

MILTON W. SMITH, FRED II. REED.

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