US437961A - Trolley - Google Patents

Description

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No. 437,961. Patented Oct. 7, 1890.

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TROLLEY.

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No. 437,961. Patented Oct. 7, 1890.

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No. 437,961. Patented ont. 7, 1890.

Ism Eiga/w UNITED STATES 'PATENT I ISAAC F. BAKER, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE 'THOMSON- HOUSTON ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CONNECTICUT.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 437,961, dated October '7, 1890.

Application led November 18, 1889. Serial No. 330,715. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ISAAC F. BAKER,a subject of the Queen of England, and a resident of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Trolley, of which the following is a specification.

A My invention relates to devices employed connection with electrically-propelled rail- -cars for maintaining an electric connection between apparatus on the vehicle and a horizontal wire or conductor mounted parallel to the path of said vehicle.

My invention relates more especially to 2r, contact devices in which the traveling electric contact, shoe, or trolley, which moves on the conductor, is carried by a pivoted arm and exerts an upward pressure on such conductor.

The object of my invention is to secure strength and compactness, as well as simplicity and durability, in this class of apparatus; `to which end my invention consists in the particular features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and then speciied in the claims.

My invention relates, further, to means for preventing damage to the trolley-arm if the trolley or contact should slip off the wire or conductor. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the supporting-standard for the trolley or contact arm. Fig. et is a side elevation showing a modification in the detail of construction. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a detail.

B is a pivoted arm or rod of any suitable form and material, carrying at its outer end any desired electric contact device adapted to bear upon and maintain electric connection with a properly suspended or supported longitudinal wire or conductor L. The contact device isphere shown as a trolley, although it might be the usual or any other form of contact. The contact or trolley arm B is branched or bifurcated at its lower end, as shown in Fig. 2, and is pivoted at P on 5o lugs or extensions b from a rotatable standard or support S. The latter is preferably mounted to rotate in a horizontal plane or plane transverse to the plane in which the arm turns on pivot P. This rotatable support is preferably made as a sleeve,'which is 5g borne upon a plate M and turns around aA spindle H, projecting upward from said plate.

At its inner or lower end .below the pivot P the contact or trolley arm is provided with one or more arcs or sectors B2, preferably attached to the branches of the arm or bar. Connected to these arcs or sectors are the springs WV, which tend to turn the arm B, so as to cause thel contact or trolley to` press upon the wire or conductor L. The springs: lV are attached at one end to a frame or arm A A2, extending from the pivoted support S and carried thereby, and are connected to the trolley-arm through flexible straps or connections R, which are'adapted to ride upon the curved bearing-surface of the arc or sector. The arm or extension A A2 consists of two rods joined at their outer ends. At their ends next the rotatable standard or support S one of them is fastened by a bolt to such standard,while the other A2 enters a socket S2, connected to the standard or support, and forms a stay-rod to hold the arm A2 against displacement by 'the action of the spring or springs NV.

In order that the pressure of the contact or trolley upon the wire L maybe made approximately constant, no matter what the inclination of the bar B and the pull of the spring VV,I prefer to introduce between said spring and the trolley a pressureequalizing device of some suitable construction adapted to give a mechanical advantage to the spring W when but slightly extended and when the arm B is nearly upright. It is obvious that under the condition just mentioned the pressure would be much less than when the inclination of the armV is great, under which latter condition the pull of the spring W and the press ure of the contact might be excessive. To obtain this equalization of pressure, I propose to form the arc or sectorB in the manner indicated in Fig. 5, so that the point of bearing of the exible connection R upon such sector will be farther from the pivotal point me P when Y the spring is slightly extended, so that the leverage will be lessunder the latter condition and the pressure on the wire L will be less than it would be if the connection W always had the same leverage upon the arm B. In eect it will be seen that the arc is formed on a curve eccentric to the pivot I and in such way that the end of the arc nearest the spring shall be nearer to the pivotal point than the part next which the end of the connecting-strap or flexible connection R is attached. By properly forming the arc or curve of such arc the upward pressure of the trolley may be made approximately uniform during a movement of the bar from a horizontal to an upright position. As will be obvious, this is an exceedingly important result.

In ordinary constructions, if the trolley or contact should slip oft `the wire or conductor W, the trolley arm or bar would be thrown violently forward by the spring which produces the pressure, and the bar or arm by striking upon the roof of the car would be apt to be broken or to damage t-he car. I 0bviate this difficulty by providing a spring safety-stop which shall take up the shock of the blow produced by the moving arm or bar when it has moved forward a certain distance after escaping from the wire. Such a spring safety-stop may be formed by a stii blade spring C, fixed to the support S and arranged to be engaged by some part moving with the trolley-arm-as, for instance, by a cross-rod E, connecting the two sectors. The bladespring S is located, as shown, so that it will be engaged by the cross-rod by the time that the arm assumes the vertical position and before itcan have acquired any great momentum under the action of the pressure-spring- Another form of spring safety-stop that might be employed is shown in Fig. 4. Here the spring C is a spiral extensible spring and connects with the bar B by a loose ilexible cord or chain D, which is given suiiicient slack not to interfere with the ordinary movement of the arm B. Should the trolley-wheel slip oif the wire, this slack is taken up and Vthe spring C acts as a stop to destroy the l.' The combination, with the pivoted electric trolley or contact arm and the spring tending to swing the outer end of the arm towardthe electric wire or conductor, of a buffer-spring C, mounted on the standard or support for said pivoted arm and arranged, as

described, to be struck by a part attached toV the arm at or about the time said arm as-- sumes a vertical position.

, 2. The combination, with the electric contact or trolley arm bifurcatedat its lowerend Y' and terminating in the two segments, as described, to which the pressure-springs connect, of across-bar connecting said segments and a stop-spring vadapted to be engaged by"' i said cross-bar when the trolley escapes the conductor.

3. The combination, with the rotatable support S, carrying the pivoted contact or trolley arm, of a rod or arm A, extending from the same, a stay-rod A2, and a spring connected at one end to said rods and at its other to the pivoted contact or trolley-arm.

4. The combination, with the pivoted trolley-arm and the spring tending to swingV the outer end of the arm toward the line-conductor, of a spring safety-stop arranged to be engaged by parts connected to the arm for checking the movement of the arm above the line-conductor.

Signed at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, this 15th day of November, A. D. 1889.

IsAAo vF. BAKER.

Witnesses J. WESLEY GIBBONEY, E. F. BACHELLER.

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