US636937A - Electric railway. - Google Patents

Description

No. 636,937. Paten ted Nov. I4, 1899.

. W. H. WRIGHT.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application filed Oct. 31, 1898.) (No I flodel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l,

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Witnesses: Inventor n: scams PETERS 00.. movau'mou WASHINGTON, a;

Patented Nov. l4, I899.

lnventoxi 3 Sheets-Shoat 2 W H W RI G H T ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application filed Oct. 31, 1898.)

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No. 636,937. Patented Nov. l4, I399.

w. H. WRIGHT. ELECTRIC RAILWAY;

(Application filed Oct. a1, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

i 15; P A; =2 Inventor:

Attorneys.

of the third rail. 7

of a single track provided with my improved UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICFZO W ILLIAM I-I. WRIGHT, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 636,937, dated November 14, 1899.

Application filed October 31, 1898. Serial No. 695,108. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo', in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods of and Means for Magneto-Electrical Propulsion of Railway- Oars and I do hereby declare that the follow ing description of my said invention, taken in connection with the accompanying sheets of drawings, forms a full, clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has general reference to method of and means for magneto electric' propulsion of railway-cars; and it consists, essentially, in the novel and peculiar combination of parts and details of construction, as hereinafter first fully set forth and described and then pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings already referred to, which serve to illustrate my said invention more fully, Figure 1 is an end elevation of a railway car or coach. Fig. 2 is a-transverse sectional elevation of the same in line 5 z of Fig. 3-. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, of a railway-car truck, a portion of the car-body being shown 'in dotted lines, this figure also illustrating, diagrammatically, the Wiring of the car as far as necessary to a full understanding of the operation of my said invention.

of Fig. 5, showing a set of horseshoe-magnets in thethird rail in operative connection with the conductor and the magnetized top section Fig. 7 is a plan of a portion system of conducting the current from .a generating-station to the motor on the car.

Like parts are designated by corresponding letters of reference in all the figures.

The object of this invention is the propulsion of railway-cars by means of electricity conveyed over a conductor located within a third rail, connection between said conductor and the car-motor being made by means of an intermediary operated by magnetism and Fig. etis a longitudinal sectional elevation in line am of Fig. 5 of the so called a trolley located below the car-body and traveling upon f the top portion of the third rail,

said third rail being made a temporary conductor by magnets, (also located below the car-body and in close proximity to the top portion of the third rail,) attracting magnets located within said third rail and suspended from and always in metallic conductive contact with the temporary conductor, thereby track-rails B B, as shown in the plan in Fig. '7. This third rail is composed of a base-section A A, Figs. 4 and 5, of substantially U shape and having longitudinal laterally-projectin g flanges a, by means of which the third rail is carried upon and fastened to the ties or sleepers C in a proper and efficientmanner.

Into this base-section A is fitted an intermediate section A", also of U shape and having laterally-projecting flanges a, to which is properly bolted the top section A of said third rail, it being deemed advisable to make the base and the intermediate sections of the third rail of the usual lengths and locating the intermediate section so as to break joints with the base-sections, but to make the top sections of comparatively very short pieces, the object of which will hereinafter more fully appear. These top sections are bolted to the lateral flanges of the intermediate sections at suitable intervals by bolts a, and the intermediate sections are properly secured to the base-sections by bolts a, the top and in termediate sections of this compound rail, which, as a matter of fact, constitutes a conduit, being properly insulated by insulators B to prevent grounding of the current.- Within the intermediate section A there is formed longitudinally a slight depression, which is properly insulated by insulating substance or material B and upon which insulating material is placed the conductor D, one end of which is connected to the electric generator at any suitable supply-station, the return of which is through one or both of the trackrails in the usual manner. I prefer as a conductor a cable of metallic strands properly twisted and non-covered, although a single wire of suificient capacity may in some cases ICO be found adequate to convey the electric energy to the car or cars. \Vithin this intermediate section is furthermore placed a series of horseshoe-magnets E with their respective poles facing each other. These horseshoemagnets are pivoted to brackets e, bolted to the lower side of the top sections A'- by bolts 6, by means of pivots 6. Near the curved portion of these horseshoe-magnets and on the lower side of the lower members thereof there are secured extensions F, whichl shall hereinafter term brushes, being metallic pieces so arranged that when the said horseshoe-magnets are in their normal or horizontal position (shown in Fig. 4) these brushes F are not in contact with the conductor D, the horseshoe-magnets being held in their normal position by studs E, projecting from the up per arm of the magnets E and bearing against the lower side of the top sections A', and by springs E, secured to the top sections and bearing with their free ends upon the upper arm of the horseshoe-magnets, so that normally there is no connection between the conductor and the top section of the third rail.

Referring now to Fig. 3, Sheet 2, of the drawings, it will be observed that between the two car-axles are located electromagnets G of usual construction, which electromagnets will be kept in an excited state either from the cond uctor D or from an independent source of electric energy, such as a storage battery H, suitably located about the car, or any other suitable means, in a manner hereinafter more fully described. These electromagnets are secured to standards or other suitable supports G, fastened to the truckframe G, the details of which depend upon the individual construction of the car-truck, and may be varied to suit different conditions without departing from my invention.

Between the e'lectromagnets is suspended a trolley I, the wheel 1' of which rolls upon and cont-acts with the upper surface of the top section A, the trolley being composed of a frame I, having centrally a spindle t", sustained in a standard I, a spiral spring 1' keeping the trolley-wheel in contact with the upper surface of the top section, it being understood that the trolley-wheel is properly insulated from its supporting-frame and that the current is taken from its hub in the usual and well-known manner, the details of which, not forming a part of this present application, having been omitted from the drawings.

In operation the conductor D is charged with a direct, intermittent, alternating, or other current from a main or generating station, the current being suitable to drive the motor M of the car. To first start this motor, the electromagnets G are excited from a suitable source of electric energy, so as to magnetize the top section A of the compound third rail, which will cause the attraction of the horseshoe-magnets E, directly underneath the bar-magnets G, and the brushes F coming in contact with the conductor D allow the electric current to pass through the respective horseshoe magnet or magnets and electrically charge the corresponding top section A, from whence the electric current will be taken up by the trolley-wheel and communicated to the electric motor M, it being under stood that the wires leading from the trolley pass to a switch S on the car in the present well-known manner, the details of which I do not deem it necessary to here describe, for the reason that they are foreign to my present invention, it being further understood that my present system of conveying the electric current from the conductor to the car is capable of transmitting the various kinds of electric energy and is applicable to any and every system of electric motor propulsion now in vogue. The electric current passing through the motor moves the car, so that as the electromagnets G move along they will successively cause the attraction of the respective horseshoe-magnets and establish connection between the conductor and the car. It will now be seen that there are at no time while the car is moving more than one or two or a few of the top sections A electrically charged and that therefore this system of communicating electric currents from a conductor to a car through a third rail avoids the dangers at present attending the'employment of continually-charged third rails. As soon as the car is moving the electromagnets G will be electrically excited by the main current; but should at any time the main current be cut off from failure of the horseshoe-magnets operating properly an automatic switch of usual construction placed upon the car will immediately act to establish a circuit, and thereby to excite the electromagnets G and magnetize the top section A and attract the respective horseshoe-magnets to reestablish the connection between the conductor and the top section or temporary conductor.

The storage battery H may be kept continually charged from the main current by suitable wiring, the interposition of proper resistance, &c., in the well-known manner, or it may be charged at any station and removed and replaced when necessary, at the option of the operators of the line.

It is obvious that the top sections of the third rail should be rolled from a very soft quality of iron, while the intermediate and base sections may be rolled from commercial iron or steel. It is, furthermore, obvious that suitable drainage may be provided for to properly drain the third rail whenever necessary or desirable.

I have shown in Fig. 3 a standard truck of a four-wheeled street-car; but it is evident that my invention, with the exception of minor changes in the details, is applicable to any and every kind of car-truck of street and other railways and that it requires for its adoption no changes whatever in the generating plant, nor in the motors, the wiring of the cars, &c.

It will be noticed that the temporary conductor hereinbefore mentioned consists of a series of sections of the cover for the conduit I and that each section of this cover has pivoted within brackets attached to its lower side a pair of horseshoe-magnets, said permanent magnets being located in vertical planes and pivoted to said brackets by pivots passing through the upper members of said permanent magnets near their curved portion, the pole ends of permanent magnets being, as it were, the longer arm of a lever, while the curved or neutral portion thereof is the shorter arm. The pole ends therefore predominate in weight and will cause the depression of these pole ends, (by gravity and assisted by the rather weak curved springs E,) so that these permanent magnets are normally held in a horizontal position, assisted by the stops E, made from non-conducting material and non-contacting with the main conductor, but at all times forming, as it were, a part of the temporary conductor and in conductive contact therewith. The result of this novel construction, is that the moment the electromagnet approaches the field of the temporary conductor and commences to magnetically influence the same this influence will also and immediately be felt by the intermediaries, the pole ends of which will quickly rise and thereby cause the brushes on their lower members tocontact with the main conductor, thus insuring positive and efficient action of the intermediaries and the establishment of acircuit. It will be further observed that there is an electromagnet in front, as well as in the rear, of the trolley, so that the magnetic influence exerts itself and causes the making of contact of the intermediaries with the temporary and the main conductor before the trolley reaches the magneticallyexcited section of the temporary conductor, and that this section remains magnetically excited for some time after the trolley has left the same, so that no sparking or the forming of an arc can take place.

I have shown in the drawings the pivotal point of the permanent magnets near the curved portion, it being desirable to locate the pivotal point as near the curved portion as possible to render the magnetic influence upon these permanent magnets as eflicient as possible.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure to me by Letters Patent of the United States 1. In a magneto-electric system of propelling cars, a conduit, aconductor in said conduit, a temporary conductor parallel with said main conductor, intermediaries between the main and temporary conductors, means on the car formagnet-ically influencing the temporary conductor, a contacting device on said car, suitable wiring thereon, and a motor on sections of magnetically-excitable material insulated from each other and from the conduit, means for successively magnetically exciting portions of said cover, and intermediaries between the sections of said cover and said conductor, said intermediaries consisting of a series of pairs of permanent magnets located in vertical planes within said conduit, and 'with their polesopposite each other, each section of said cover having a pair of said magnets, said permanent magnets being pivoted to brackets pending from the lower surface of said cover-section and engaging the upper members of the said horseshoe-mag nets, the pivotal points of said permanent magnets being near the curved portion thereof, and extensions or brushes securedto the lower members of said permanent magnets and projecting from their curved portions as described, whereby the pole ends of the permanent magnets will, when attracted by the magnetically-excited cover-sections, move toward the said section and bring the projecting brushes from the lower members toward and into contact with the conductor, as and for the object stated.

3. In an electrically-propelled railway system, a conductor consisting of two U-shaped rails one of which is placed within the other, a magnetically-excitable cover to said rails composed of short sections insulated one from the other and the rails, a conductor within the said U-shaped rails, horseshoe-magnets suspended from said cover and contacting therewith, and means substantially as described for magnetically exciting a short portion of said cover, whereby by attracting said horseshoe-magnets a circuit is established between said conductor and the magneticallyexcited portion of said cover, as specified.

4. In an electrically-operated railway system, aconductor-rail composed of a U -shaped base-section having longitudinally-projecting flanges, an intermediate U--shaped section located within said base-section and secured thereto, longitudinal lateral1y-project ing flanges on said intermediate section, a cover for the latter section composed of short pieces of magnetically-excitable material, a conductor located within the intermediate section and properly insulated therefrom, a

series of horseshoe-magnets pivoted to brackets suspended from said'cover, brushes on said magnets normally prevented from contacting with said conductor, and means for successively exciting sections of the cover magnetically, whereby-said covers will cause the attraction of the open ends of the horseshoe-1n agnets and cause the brushes to contact with the conductor, as stated.

5. In an electrically-operated railway system, the combination, with a conduit having a magnetically-excitable cover composed of short sections, of a series of horseshoe-magnets having their poles in opposition, brackets secured to the lower sides of said coversections, pivots in the upper members of said horseshoe-magnets and engaging said brackets, studs on the upper members of said magnets and arranged to contact with the lower side of said cover, and springs arranged to depress the free ends of said horseshoe-magnets, as described.

6. In an electrically-operated railway sys- -W. I-I. WRIGHT.

Witnesses:

MICHAEL J. STARK, MICHAEL J. STARK, J r.

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