US443671A - Electric locoiviotive - Google Patents

Description

(N0 Model.)

R. EIGKEMEYER. ELECTRIC LOGOMOTIVB.

Patented Deo. 30

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ATnNT RUDOLF EICKEMEYEB, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC LOCOiVlOTlVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 443,671, dated December 30, 1890. Application led January 28, 1889i Serial No. 297,775. (No model.)

`tric locomotives as heretofore organized are exposed to the liability of more or less annoyvance and expense resulting from the derangeinent of their watches caused by external mag- -netism unduly projected from the field-mag-1 It is not new to guard nets of the motor. against said objectionable projection of magnetism by covering adjacent portions of the car or locomotive with sheets of iron, or to 'employ a separate guard or casing between an ordinary electric motor and the passenger portion of the car or locomotive; but so far as my knowledge extends I am the first to render such a guard or shield unnecessary, because my electric locomotive embodies the novel combination7 with the car-body and its driving shaft or axle and suitable gearing, of an electric motor containing an armature having a core of magnetic metal, lield excit-l ing-coils which surround the armature, and an iron shell or casing, which constitutes a part of the magnetic system of the motor and 'incloses said armature and coils, and affords a highly effective internal magnetic eld without any possibility of the projection of magnetism into the car or cab, because, al-

though the motor may be directly secured to the sill-framing of the car, and therefore vclosely adjacent to the interior of thecar, there is between said framing and the interior magnetic field of t-he motor a portion of the motor shell or casing which is a part of 'the magnetic system and traversed by a portion of the magnetic circuit which is completed Within the motor. By thus organizing the motor great strength and high efficiency can be obtained without undue weight, and the shell or casing can be firmly and rigidly attached to the under side of the sill-framing of a car-body, thus obviating the use of a separate frame structure for carrying the motor the result of an extended series of costly practical experiments, in now successfully adapting them to street-car service, with special reference to the development of greater power, with less weight in the motor` than any prior street-car motor known to me. N ow, inasmuch as an avoidance of uniiecessary weight in an electrically-operated streetcar is far-reaching in its economic results, I deem it a prime feature in my present invention to have for the first time devised and applied to practical service an electric-locomotive organization which embodies with the driving-wheels and suitable driving vconnections an electric motor having an armature which has an iron core and is surrounded and directly polarized by field exciting-coils, and which has also a magnetic shell or casing which affords a magnetic circuit for the lines l of force, and is also mounted on or carried by, and preferably pendent from, a springmounted car body or truck. rllhis portion 0f my improvement secures ample power and reliable operation, with thc vavoidance of many hundreds of pounds in weight Vof iron and copper, resulting in substantial economy in construction 'and maintenance; also in wear and tear of wheels, rails, and throughout the working parts of the locomotive, and also in an economic expenditure of electrical energy. My improvements also relate in part to means for thetransmission of power from a motor-shaft to the driving-axle of a car; 'and another object of my invention is to relieve the motor from such objectionable shocks and'- jars as are inevitably communicated thereto from the driving-axle through such gearing as has been generally heretofore employed, and also to enable the motor to be rigidly attached to the car-framing and to vibrate vertically withl a spring-supported car-body Without causing shocks or jars to any of its bear- ICO ings or to any port-ion of the gearing or other coupling mechanism by which the motor and driving-shaft are connected, and I also seek to measureably relieve the gearing from such undue strains as are liable to result from the momentum of the armature following the sudden checking of its speed. For accomplish ing these ends I have for the tirst time, as I believe, operatively connected the armatureshai't of the motor with the axle of the car by means of pitmen connecting thc motor-shatt with a counter-shaft occupying the same vertical plane as the axle and carried thereon, but coupled by links or frame-pieces hinged to the motor on bearings preferably concentric with the motor-shaft, and I have geared the countershaft and axle together, so that the meshing-point of the gears is located in the vertical plane occupied by said shaft and axle, and also so that their relative positions will be maintained during the ordinary rise and fall of the car-wheels at the ends of the axle, and, still further, so that the motor-shaft and counter-shaft will maintain such uniform relations that the pitm en may operate smoothly, eilcctively, and d urably, and, still further, the motor is so coupled to said counter-shaft and so located in the same horizontal plane that the reciprocatory movements of the pitinan in transmitting power from t-he motor cannot cause any vertical vibration of the spring-supported car-body.

Another object of my invention is to provide against injury to the motor or to any of the mechanism between it and the drivingshaft in the event of their being subjected to driving strains greater' than their maximum strength or safety limit; and to that end I have frictionally connected the counter-shaft to its gear or pinion, so that whenever undue and dangerous strains are in any manner encountered the counter-shaft may revolve independently of the gearing, and I have also provided for a yielding contact at the frictional couplings, and also for varying their adhesive contact, so as to enable such an adj ustment thereof as will secure the performance et only such duty as may from time to time be deemed absolutely sal'e and proper. I have also mounted upon the counter-shat`t and axle a housing which completely incloses the pinionl and gear and thoroughly protects them against abrasive matter, renders the gearing practically noiseless, and which also serves as a reservoir tor liquid lubricating matter, with which the gearing maybe abundantly and continuously charged while in motion,

To more particularly describe my invention, I will ret'er to the accompanying drawings, and after a detailed description thereof the features deemed novel will be specied in the several clauses oi' claim hereunto annexed.

Figure I, in side view, illustrates the lower portion of a carbody with my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top view ot' the mechanism with the car-body removed, but

with the cansill framing indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 illustrates the driving-axle longitudinally, and also the counter-shaft, with the mechanism which connects them shown in section. Fig. @t is a side view of one of the conntershait bearings and the means by which it is connected, respectively, with the drivingaxle and the motor. Fig. 5 illustrates the gearing in side view, and the axle, counter-shaft, and a gearing-casing in section.

The sill-framing A of the car-body or loco motive may be variously constructed and arranged, and such ordinary cars now in use as have properstrength of framing may have my improvements readily applied thereto. As here shown, the locomotive has one axle and a pair of wheels, as in ordinary street-cars, and the driving shaft or axle B has wheels smaller than the other pair, as is necessary when my improvements are specially adapted for use on ordinary cars; but with a car or cab specially constructed for receiving said improvements the wheels on the driven axle may be ol` any desired diameter, and so, also, it desired, may the wheels on the two axles be ot uniform diameter and coupled together, as in ordinary steam -locomotives The cushioning of the carbod y by means ot` springs is, as usual, on both axles, although the box jaws or pedestals for the driven axle are longer than those ot' the axle ot' the car. The electric motor C is specially organized for this duty, and it contains an armature having an iron core, and field-coils which surround said armature longitudinally, and these are all inclosed by a shell or casing of iron, which atfords appropriate poleffaces without any ap preciable external magnetism. The casing or shell a is clearly shown and said armature and eld-eoils are within said casing, as is well indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. It need be, a more complete knowledge of such motors may be obtained by reference to my Letters Patent No. 358,340, dated February 22, 1887. rl`he inotor is applied directly to the sillltraming of thecarby means of angle iron brackets h and suitable bolts, thus avoiding all intermediate frame-werk and securing a lirm, rigid, and absolutely reliable connection with the car-body. The top of the iron shell or casing a lies parallel with the floor of the car,and the magneticcircuit is so restricted to said easing as to absolutely preclude the extension of the magnetic field upward to the interior oi' the car, and the watches of passengers can never be exposed to injury from that cause, inasmuch as I have for the first time in an electric locomotive interposed between persons riding thereon and the magnetic field developed by the field-coils what is in substance and etl'ect a reliable magnetic shield or guard, beyond which magnetism cannot be projected. A motor thus organized need involve but little weight of iron beyond what is actually needed to attord the required magnetism, and being thus directly attached to the carbody, it is obvious that there need TOO IIO

bevlittle or no surplusage of burden in the motor or in its supporting connections. It will also be obvious that substantial economy accrues from the simplicity in construction of the motor as well as in its lapplication to a car, and that wear at the bearings of the motor-shaft is reduced to a minimum because Vof the non-liability of shocks or jars other -than those experienced by the car-body.

rlhe driving axle B maybe operatively connected in various ways with an electric motor constructed and mounted as described, without departure from certain port-ions of my invention, but I have devised connectingmechanism involving novel features. 1

Above the drivingaxle B, and parallel therewith between its wheels, I have mounted a counter-shaft D, having its bearings in two arms c c, supported upon and hinged to loose sleeves tZ yCZ on the axle B, and also hinged at their opposite ends to the motor, andpreferably concentric at the hinging points with the armature-shaft e of the motor. The hingebearings of these arms cZ CZ at the motor are straight or cylindrical, so that said arms can have no torsional act-ion, but the bearings of the counter-shaft in said arms are of the balland-socket variety, as is c learly indicated in Fig. 3.

As thus far described, it will be seen that the counter-shaft issupported upon the axle B in the same vertical plane, and that when either end of said axle rises or falls, as when the wheels override rail-frogs or slight obstructions, the counter-shaft will maintain its parallelism with the axle without any binding effect at its bearings, and also that the arms CZ CZ cause the counter-shaft to always maintain a certain uniform position with relation to the armature-shaft e of the motor. At the ends of the armature-shaftl there are crank-disks f f which are connected by means of p itmen g g to crank-disks Zt Zt on the two ends of the counter-shaft. The wrist-pins on the disks ff are straight or cylindrical, and the wrist-pins on the disks Zz h are ballshaped, so that requisite iiexibilit-y will be afforded between the pitmen and countershaft during any rocking movement of the car-body or during the tilting movement of the axle and counter-shaft. The crank-disks are set quartering in a well-known manner for securing uniform transmission of power from the armature-shaft to the counter-shaft, and the force of the armature-shaft is transmitted to the counter-shaft in lines which are always parallel with the planes occupied by the corresponding ends of the two shafts. It will be seen that inasmuch as these two shafts are normally in one horizontal plane, and as the force of the motor is transmitted in the same plane t-he car-body cannot be lifted or depressed on its springs, or, in other words,

' vertically vibrated bythe operation of the motor, nor can the rise and fall of the carbodyon its springs be transmitted to or in any manner adversely affect any portion of the driving` mechanism. In the event of an excessive rise of one side of the car-body on its springs and a simultaneous lift of the ends of the counter-shaft and axle at the opposite side of the car the counter-shaft and arrnature-shaft would be slightly out of their normal lines and inclined in opposite directions; but, nevertheless, the hinge connections between the axle and the frame-arms and the ball-bearings of the counter-shaft and the ball wrist-pins on the counter-shaft crankdisks will obviate all binding effects between the motor and the gear on the axle.

The speed of an electric motor is usually too great to warrant its vdirect application to the axle B, and hence reducing-gearing of some kind has usually been employed, and such gearing lmay be widely varied in its character without departure from that portion of my invention which includes the counter-shaft, however it may be geared to the axle, provided it is supported on said axle, is hinged thereto and to the motor, and is coupled to the latter by one or two pitmen. I'have, however, devised special gearing for connecting the counter-shaft D ywith the axle B. At about the middle of the axle there is a large split gear E, the parts of which are united by bolts in a manner well-known, and

this gear meshes atv its upper side with aV t pinion F, loosely mounted on the countershaft. This gear F has hub-like extensions t, on which are keyed two flanged disks k Zt', having oppositely-inclined or outwardly-beveled peripheries. Coincident with the outer sides of the disks k and la there are two flanged disksZ Z, each of which has an annular interior inclined surface which corresponds with the inclined surface of the periphery of the adjacent disk, and one or the other of these two surfaces is preferably clad with leather to afford desirable frictional contact. The disks Z Z are splined to the counter-shaf t, but are free to be moved longitudi nallythereon, and they have hubs at their outer sides which are externally threaded. Each of these disks Z Z is backed up by a heavy rubber spring m m', abutting against a sleeve n n', which is firmly pinned to the counter shaft. spring and the adjacent disk Z orZ there is a disk 0, having an annular projection or sleeve which surrounds a portion of the screw- -threaded hub of the disk and abuts at its end IOO IIO

Interposed between each..

positively-driven counter-shaft and the axle B, and said disks are not thrown in and out of contact, as in the case of a friction-clutch. By compressing the two springs m m the frictional contact of the disks may be so graduated that if the motor or the gearing should be subjected to undue driving strains the disks will slip and thus obviate liability of i-nj ury to any portion of the mechanism in the event of reckless overloading or in the case of sudden stoppage of the locomotive, as in abrupt braking, or in collisions.

I am aware that friction-clutches have been heretofore employed in connection with the gearing of an electric locomotive, and also that Vfriction-pulleys have been heretofore used; but I am not aware that frictional contacts have heretofore been employed as a safety medium between a counter-shaft which is positively coupled to and driven by the electric-motor shaft and connected by toothed gearing with an axle.

Should belts be employed for connecting the motor-shaft with the counter-shaft, the friction-disks would have little or no value, because the belts would ordinarily slip under undue strains; but in that case, although belts are deemed objectionable, the countershaft in bearings in a frame hinged to the motor and carried on the axle would be of value, although the pinion might then be keyed to the counter-shaft. Then the counter-shaft is driven positively from the motorshaft, or, in other words, when these shafts are connected by any means which will admit of no slipping action, the friction-disks will always prove of special value, and the drivingconnection of the counteishaft and axle by means of toothed gearing, as by the pinion and gear, is a far more reliable and effective connection than friction-pulleys can afford.

With a comparatively low-speed motor and small driving-wheels the speed of the axle may be properly reduced by the use of the one pinion and gear here shownas, for instance, I have obtained good results wih one revolution of the axle to four revolutions by the motonshaft and counter-shaft.

Vith specially high speed at the motor idle gears may obviously be loosely mounted on the counter-shaft and axle for reducing the speed of the latter to any desired extent, in which case the loose gear on the counter-sha1 t would preferably be located near one of its friction-disks, and have a long hub at one side on which one or more of the idle-gears would be loosely journaled, the other idlegears being in like manner journaled on the driving-axle.

The pinion F and the gear E are inclosed within a casing G, constructed in two parts bolted together, and so embracing the hubs of the gear F and the axle B as to be lirmly supported thereon. This casing excludes dust and dirt from the gearing and is tight enough to carr f an abundant charge ot' lubricatingmatter, and also serves to deaden such sounds as are usually incident to rapidly-driven gearing. As the lower end of this casing is located but little above the level of the rails, I protect it'against striking possible obstructions by front and rear pendent guards II.

As results of my invention I am enabled to produce electric locomotives which are specially elicient, reliable, and durable, and their simplicity and lightness involve substantial economy in construction and maintenance, and in addition thereto watches can be safely carried thereon.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. In an electric locomotive, the combination,with a car-body, drivingaxle, and suitable gearing, of an electric motor provided with an armature and a shell creasing which constitutes a part of the magnetic system of the motor and in part serves as an effective magnetic shield between the interior of the car or locomotive and the magnetic field developed by the held-coils of the motor, substantially as described, whereby watches carried by persons riding on said locomotive arc protected against injury by exposure to magnetization.

2. In an electric locomotive adapted to use as a passenger-car, the combination, with the driving-axle and suitable gearing, of an electric motor having a magnetic shell or casing which incloses the field-coils and armature, is attached to the under side of the sill-framing of the car, and constitutes a part of the magnetic system of the motor, and in part serves as an effective magnetic shield or guard for preventing the projection of magnetism upward into the car, substantially as described.

3. In an electric locomotive, the combination, with the driving-wheels, their axle, and suitable driving connections, of an electric motor having an armature provided with an iron core, field-coils which surround the armature, and a magnetic shell or casing which surrounds the armature and tleld-coils and is attached to and carried by a spring-mounted portion of the locomotive.

4. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a spring-supported car-body, an electric motor carried by and suspended from said carbodv, a drivingaxle, a counter-shaft which is free to rise, fall, and tilt with said axle, gearing connecting said axle and countershaft, and crank-disks and links connecting the motor-shaft with said counter-shaft.

5. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of the drivin g-axle, a counter-shaft carried on said axle above and parallel therewith, a gear and pinion for coupling said shaft and axle, an electric motor, frame arms, which are hinged at one end to the motor and have at their opposite ends bearings for saidV countershaft, crank-disks on themotor-shaft and IOO IIO

counter-shaft, and a pitman connecting said crank-disks.

6. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described,

Lof the driving-axle, a counter-shaft above and carried upon said axle, an electric motor, frame-arms hinged to the motor and affording bearings for the counter-shaft, pitmen and cranks connecting both ends of the motor-shaft With both ends of the counter-shaft, and a gear and pinion connecting said counter-shaft and axle.

7. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a drivin g-axle, a counter-shaft carried by said axle parallel therewith and normally in the same vertical plane, an electric motor having an armatnre-shaft which is normally parallel with said counter-shaft and axle and normally in the horizontal plane occupied by the counter-shaft, means for communicating power, respectively, from the motor to the counter-shaft and from the latter to the axle, and hinged arms which maintain the countershaft and armature-shaft at a uniform distance fromeach other.

8. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a driving-axle, a counter-shaft carried upon, parallel with, and normally in the same vertical plane as said axle, a motor having an armature-shaft normally parallel With said counter-shaft and axle and normally in the same horizontal plane as the counter-shaft, hinged arms which maintain the armatureshaftand counteushaft in uniform relations, pitmen and cranks connecting the ends of the armature-shaft to the ends of the counter-shaft, and a gear and pinion operatively connecting the counter-shaft and axle.

9. In an electricA locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a driving-axle, a counter-shaft which is above and carried by said axle and is coupled thereto by means of a gear on the axle and a frictionallydriven pinion on the countershaft, and an electric motor by which said counter-shaft is positively driven.

l0. In an electric locomotive, the combination, with an electric motor, of a cou nter-shaft positively driven by the motor and geared t-o a driving-axle by a pinion on said countershaft, which is rotatively connected therewith by means of friction-disks backed by adjustable springs, substantially as described.

Il. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of an axle, and a counter-shaft which is carried above and upon the axle, is driven by an electric motor, has bearings in frame-arms which are hinged tothe motor, and is coupled to said axle by toothed gearing.

12. In an electric locomotive, the combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a driving-axle, a counter-shaft parallel with and carried by said axle, a pinion ou said shaft meshing with a gear on the axle, and a housing suspended on said shaft and axle and completely inclosing the gearing for serving as a protector thereto and also as a reservoir for lubricating matter in which the gearing may revolve.

I3. In an electric locomotive, the combina- RUDOLF EICKEMEYER. Witnesses:

HENRY OSTERHELD, E. P. MOFFAT.

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