US531383A - Trolley - Google Patents

Description

to. Fig. 2, is a side view of the same, the trol v UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFIC GEORGE A. NEWHOUSE, OF'NEW ALBANY, INDIANA.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No 531,388, dated December 25, 1894. Ap licant filed July 28, 1894. Serial No. 518,852. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. NEwHoUsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Albany, in the county of Floyd and State of. Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to trolleys for electric railways, and it has for its object to provide a simple, cheap and effective trolley device, in which'there shall be an oscillating and selfadjusting trolley-fork, which will adapt itself readily and automatically to the varying conditions of the trolley wire or conductor, and to these ends, my invention consists in a trolley embodying the various features of construction and arrangement of parts, having the mode of operation substantially as here.- inafter more particularly pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings: Figurel, is a longitudinal vertical section, showing the end of a trolley-pole and fork attached thereley-wheel being omitted. Fig.3, is a sectional view on the line Y, Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is a perspective View of the trolley and fork in operation; Fig. 5, is a sectional view onthe line X and Fig. 6, is a detail of a modification.

Inthe ordinary use of trolleys for electric railways and the like, especially where an upward pressure contact-wheel is used, bearing on the under side of the overhead conductor, it is common to have an adjustable trolleypole, which is usually mounted on the top of the car, and is controlled by springs, and is pivoted or otherwise arranged, so that the contact-wheel on itsend can follow the conductor supported over the car, and still maintain contact therewith. Many and various de: vices have been devised for this purpose, and while they accomplish the purposes sought to a greater or less extent,-and permit the trolley-wheel to maintain its contact, notwithstanding lateral and vertical vibrations of the car with relation to'the conductor, and to fol-v low, the conductor around curves and similar places where it is not maintained in exact relations with the'center of the car-tracks, still in all of these positions,unless the conductor is substantially in the plane of the pivotal point of the trolley, the flanges or sides of the wheel bear more or less upon the sides of the conductor; that is, instead of the conductor bearing directly on the periphery of thewheel at the bottom of the groove, or flanges, it will bear more or less upon the sides of the flanges, which tends to cause the conductor to creep, and perhapsbe disengaged from the trolley, and further it causes considerable friction and wear between the parts,and tends also to a lateral swaying or movement of the trolley ole. I p It is the'object of mypresent invention to overcome these and other objections which mightbe specified, and toso mount the trolley-fork carrying the contact-wheel on the trolley-pole that the wheel will at all times adjust itself to the varying positions or relations of the conductor, so that the wheel will always press in adirect line against the conductor, and there will be no friction or wear between the conductor and the flanges, or tendency to become displaced, &c. This object I accomplish by mounting the trolleyfork on the trolley-pole so that it can oscillate withrelation thereto andadjust itself automatically to the varying relations between the conductor and the pole, and at the same time I provide adevice which is exceedingly simple, cheap andeffective in operation, and which adds little or no weight to the trolleypole and fork; which does nothave any exterior flanges, guards or surfaces which are liable to catch on the guide rope, the trolley Wire or supporting wires, and which in fact embodies a practical construction, which will accomplish the purposes desired, and avoid the objections to the trolley devices heretofore made.

With this generalstatementof the objects and purposes of my invention,I will now proceed ,to describe the embodiment set forth in the annexed drawings.

I have shown a trolley-pole A, having a tubular end, the pole itself being tubular or not as desired, and which may be of any of the usual and well known constructions and mounted in any well known way. Supported on the end of the trolley-pole is a fork B, which may be made of metal or other suitable materiahand may be of any of the well known forms and constructions, and is adapted to hold the contact-wheel O, which in the'present instance is shown as supported upon a bearing pin D, and maintained thereon by compression springs E, which serve to take up the wear of the wheel. It will be understood that these details may be varied, they being shown as typical only, and the conductor F, is shown as bearing on the periphcry of the contact-wheel between the side flanges in the usual manner.

The fork B, is recessed or has an opening in its stem corresponding to an opening in the trolley-pole and fitted in this opening is some suitable means for connecting the fork and pole, there being shown a pin G in the present instance. This pin isprovided with a head H, for retaining the fork in position, and it may be attached to the trolley-pole in any suitable way, as by a set screw L. The fork is held against the end of the pole by spring pressure, and while various forms of spring devices may be used, I have shown a helical or coiled spring I, surrounding the pin G, and interposed between its head H, and a shoulder J on the neck of the fork. It is evident that this construction so far described will permit the fork to rotate freely on the pin G under the tension of the spring, so that the contactwheel can accommodate itself tothe varying curves or relations of the conductor F,so as to present a peripheral bearingto the conductor under all conditions and relations between them, and while the trolley may be used in end of the trolley, it is desirable to provide some means which will tend to maintain the fork in its normal relations with the end of the trolley-pole. While various means may be used'for this purpose,I have shown an exceedingly simple, construction and arrangement, comprising essentially a cam or projection K, secured to the connecting pin G, and extending between the adjacent surfaces of the pole and fork, said surfaces being curved or recessed, as at M, to form a bearing surface on the projection K. With this construction, it will be seen that the tendency of the spring I, is to maintain the fork and pole in the relations shown in Fig. 2, but it will readily yield to permit the parts to assume various relations, as indicated in Fig. 4, the curved portion M ofthe fork in this instance riding up over the surface of the cam or projection K, compressing the spring I to a certain extent, while the spring constantly tends to restore the parts to their normal position.

Instead of having the projection K, upon the connecting pin G, the adjacent surfaces of the fork and pole may be cam shaped, as indicated in Fig. 6, and the same results will be accomplished, and the surfaces may be made of hardened steel, or case-hardened, or

otherwise constructed so as to prevent wear and friction.

Other changes in the details of construction and arrangement of the partswill readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and need not be set forth herein, it being some of the distinguishing characteristics of my invention that the fork is so connected to the end of the pole that it can oscillate with greater or less freedom and adjust itself to the various relations of the conductor and pole, and shall tend to assume its normal position under spring pressure, and at the same time there shall be no parts projecting beyond the limits of the pole and fork, and the parts shall be relatively light, exceedingly simple and inexpensive.

By thus arranging the parts with a helical or spiral spring, tending to press the fork tol ward the pole, the wheel will turn to such a varying angle as to cause the pressure between the conductor and the wheel to be maintained at the periphery of the Wheel at the bottom of the flanges, and will thus press in a direct line against the conductor, overcoming the tendency to crawl, and will prevent lateral swaying of the trolley-pole, and the alignment and contact will be perfectly maintained, notwithstanding the varying relations between the conductor and pole.

What I claim is- 1. A trolley, comprising a pole, a fork, and

connections between the fork and pole included within the limits thereof, and tending to maintain the fork and pole in their normal relations while permitting an oscillating movement of the fork, substantially as described. this way by simply pivoting the fork to the 2. In a trolley, the combination with the "pole, of an oscillating fork mounted thereon, and a yielding connection between the fork {and pole included within the limits of the I pole and fork, tending to maintain the fork and pole in their normal relationswhile permitting an oscillating movement of the fork substantially as described.

3. In a trolley, the combination with the 4. In a trolley, the combination with the pole having an opening in itsend, of a fork having an opening in its end, a headed connecting pin extending through the opening in the fork and secured in the opening in i the pole, and a spring interposed between the head of the pin and the fork, substantially as described.

5. In a trolley, the combination with the pole and fork having adjacent cam surfaces,

of a spring connection between the fork and pole permitting the oscillation of the fork and included within the limits of the fork and pole, substantially as described.

6. In a trolley, the combination with a fork i and pole having an opening in their ends and having adjacent cam surfaces, of a connecting pin mounted in said openings and secured *tothe pole, and a spring surrounding the pin 1 andtending to maintain the normal relations of the parts, substantially as described.

7. In a trolley, the combination with the In testimony. whereof I have signed my pole having an open end, of a fork having an name to this specification in the presence of 10 opening in its end,' a connecting pin secured two subscribing witnesses. in the opening in the pole, a head, a spiral 5 spring interposed between the head and the GEORGE NEWHOUSE' fork, a cam or projection on the pin, and a Witnesses: curved surface on the fork engaging the pin, CHARLES DAY,

substantially as described. 7 WILLIAM A. LAUFER.

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