US625554A - halsey - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 23, I899.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS M. HALSEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TROLLEY-CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 625,554, dated Ma 23, 1899.

Application filed November 24, 1897. Renewed November 1, 1898. Serial No. 695,177. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, LoUIs M. HALSEY, a citizen of the United States,residin gin New York, (Brooklyn,) in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Trolley-Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means for automatically controlling the trolley-pole to prevent its rising to a height at which the cross-wires and other portions of the overhead structure will be endangered when by accident or otherwise the trolley wheel becomes displaced and leaves the wire.

The trolley-wheel is mounted in alever pivoted between the arms of the yoke or harp on the free end of the pole and is supported and guided therein. The trolley-rope extends from a spring-actuated'reel carried at the base of the pole through a guide on the harp to a point of attachment on the rear of the car. In passing through the harp the rope lies in such relation to the lever that so long as the trolley-wheel is depressed by contact with the wire the rope may travel freely through the guide and allow the pole to rise and sink as required in following the wire; but as soon as the wheel leaves the wire and rises relatively to the harp the lever contacts with the rope and holds it firmly, thereby preventing any further rise of the free end of the pole.

The mechanism is simple and effective, avoids complicated and long trains of connections between the trolley-wheel and winding-reel, and performs its functions rapidly and with certainty.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent what I consider the best means -of carrying out the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing a trolley-pole equipped with my invention. The remaining figures are on a larger scale. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the harp and its immediately-connected parts. Fig. 3 is a corresponding plan view. Fig. 4. is a vertical longitudinal section.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

A is the trolley-pole, mounted in any ordinary or approved manner on the roof J of a car and subject, as usual, to the force of a strong spring or springs J, tending to elevate the free end of the pole and hold the trolleywheel B in strong contact with the under face of the wireM.

A is the U -shaped harp, having a socket A receiving the end of the pole and carrying a transverse shaft A on which is mounted a U shaped lever D, matching closely to the inner faces of the harp, with liberty to tilt or oscil-- late therein, and carrying in its outer ends D the shaft B of the trolley-wheel, the overhung ends of which extend through and are guided in the curved slots at provided in the harp to allow the trolley-wheel to rise and sink in the latter and correspondingly swing the lever D, while relieving the latter from severe strains. To a cross brace or arm D between the shafts A and B is attached one end of a helical spring D the other end being secured in a similar arm A carried on the harp at a higher level and exerting its force in the direction to raise that end of the lever and the wheel B relatively to the harp. It is resisted by the stronger force of the roofsprings J, which hold the Wheel against the wire and normally depressed in the harp. This condition continues so long as the wheel is engaged but as soon as the wheel leaves the wire the force of the roof-springs is no longer effective and the spring D asserts itself and raises the wheel by tilting the lever.

On the under side of the harp A is a tubular guide A extending a little beyond the inner end of the socket A and terminating in a sharply-curved bend A The trolley-rope is wound automatically upon a reel 0, carried in a frame 0, attached to the trolley-pole at a low point, so that the leverage of its mass will be minimized and actuated by an inclosed volute spring F, tending to revolve the reel in the direction to take up the rope. The latter extends from the reel through the tubular guide around the bend A and is secured to a hook or other fastening means (not shown) on or near the dashboard of the car. In passing the bend the rope lies just beneath the dog D forming part of the lever, and is favorably presented to its action, so that when the wheel B rises, as above described, the dog is forced downward by the spring D into Sllfficiently strong contact with the rope to reliably hold the latter and prevent its slipping through the guide, thus serving as a clutch to automatically grasp the rope and hold the trolley-pole against further rise. The guide A and bend A are preferably slightly grooved, as is also the under face of the dog D to insure the exact position of the rope and to aid in tightly grasping it. While the trolley-wheel is engaged under the wire M, the lever D is depressed and the dog D elevated, and the rope is free to travel through the guide in either direction, impeded only by the friction developed in passing the bend A as it is taken up or paid out by the reel 0, according as the pole A lifts or lowers in the travel along the wire M, due to inequalities in elevation above the track or to the rising and sinking motions of the car, the effect being to keep the rope al= ways taut and ready to be acted upon by the clutch; but if from any cause the trolley-wheel escapes from the wire and the trolley-pole attempts to rise the spring D immediately lifts the Wheel and applies the clutch, holding the pole in the position assumed when the wheel was displaced until the end of the rope is detached from the car and the wheel again depressed by contact with the wire. The action is practically instantaneous, the period during which the pole may rise being confined to the fraction of a second elapsing before the dog grasps the rope, audit the parts be properly proportioned as to the relative length of the lever-arms, the distance between the dog and rope, and relative strength of the springs employed the amount of rope escaping during this period and the corresponding rise of the pole will be so small that the wheel will clear the cross-wires and other portions of the wire-carrying structure. The wire M is of course below the cross-wires in all constructions. This condition with the depth of the groove in the trolley-wheel are also factors in determining the amount of rise for the reason that in order to escape the wheel must descend far enough to release the flange and a corresponding length of rope will have been reeled in. Itis believed that the short length thus gained will exceed the amount lost before being arrested by the clutch.

I attach importance to the fact that the lever lies within the harp, and as the latter takes the strains and shocks to which this end oft-he pole is liable the lever is protected and need be only sufficiently strong to perform its function in grasping the rope. In case of failure from any cause, rendering the clamping device inoperative, the trolley wheel and pole will serve successfully and may be used in the ordinary manner until repairs may be made.

Modifications may be made in the construction and in the forms and proportions here shown without departing from the principle of the invention. The dog D and bend A may be so shaped relatively to each other as to jam the rope and hold it with greater force than the simple frictional contact, as herein described. I prefer the construction as illustrated for the reason that the .force developed will be sufficient and the release is more easily accomplished. The reel 0 may be mounted on the frame carrying the trolleypole, thus relieving the latter of its weight. It is important, however, that the direction of the pull coincide as nearly as may be with the line of the pole. dog and the adjacent face of the guide and bend may be ridged or corrugated transversely to aid in grasping the rope. I prefer the whole as here shown.

I claim- 1. The trolley-pole, the slotted harp there= on, a spring-actuated reel carried by said pole, and a rope-guide on said harp, in combination with a U-shaped lever mounted in the harp, a trolley-wheel and its shaft car ried in one end of said lever, the overhung ends of said shaft being received and guided in the slots in said harp, a dog at the opposite end of said lever adapted to engage a trolley-rope passing through said guide, and

a spring tending to tilt the lever and force the dog into engagement, all substantially as and for the purposes herein specified.

2. The trolley-pole A, harp A, having the slots at and reel 0, in combination with the The under face of the,

U-shaped lever D mounted in said harp, the

shaft B and trolley-wheel B carried in the arms D of said lever, with the overhung ends of said shaft received and guided in said slots, the dog D at the opposite end of said lever, the spring D tending to raise the said wheel relatively to the harp, and the ropeguide A and bend A adapted to receive the rope from the reel and present it to said dog in position to be grasped by the latter, all substantially as herein specified.

3. The trolley-pole A, roof-springs J, reel 0 and harp A having the slots to, in combination with the U-shaped lever D'mounted in said harp, the shaft B and trolley-wheel B carried in the arms D of said lever with the overhung ends of said shaft engaged and guided in said slots, the dog D at the opposite end, the spring D tending to raise said wheel relatively to the harp, and the ropeguide A and bend A adapted to receive the rope from the reel and present it to said dog in position to be grasped by the latter when the said wheel rises, all arranged to serve with a car, and trolley-wire, substantially as herein specified.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I affix my-signature in presence of two witnesses.

v LOUIS M. HALSEY.

Witnesses:

ROBT. CONNOR, CHARLES R. SEARLE.

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