US757107A

US757107A - Safety device for electric-railway systems.

Info

Publication number: US757107A
Application number: US17077603A
Authority: US
Inventors: George Gibbs
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1903-08-26
Filing date: 1903-08-26
Publication date: 1904-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 1921-04-12

Description

No. 757,107. PATENTED APR. 12, 1904.

G. GIBBS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAY SYSTEMS.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 26, 1903. N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No.757,107. I .PATBNTED APR. 12, 1904. S

G. GIBBS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEOTRIG RAILWAY SYSTEMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2a, 1903. N0 MODEL: 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

TINTTED STATES Patented April 12, 1904.

PATENT FFICE.

GEORGE GIBBS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SYSTEMS- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 757,107, dated April 12, 1904.

Application filed August 26, 1903. Serial No. 170,776. (No model.) V

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE GIBBS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Electric- Railway Systems, of which the following is a specification.

In the operation of electric railways itis customary to provide working conductors in the shape of overhead trolleys, wires, or other forms of naked overhead conductors or in the shape of third rails or conductors laid at or near the track from which working conductors the current is collected for the moving trains by suitable trolleys or shoes. It is also customary to feed a working conductor of this sort at a suitable point or points by feed-wires in which are inserted circuit-breakers or fuses to cut ofi the current from the conductor in case of short circuit or excessive current from any cause. When circuit-breakers are used for interrupting the current under these circumstances, they are usually operated electromagnetically through the actionof trip-coils, which release a circuit-breaking arm, the latter being adapted to make aquick rupture of the circuit. In heavy railway operation, however, it is necessary to adjust the circuitbreaker so as to carry heavy current before it opens inasmuch as the demands of normal operation in the system require large amounts of current. In case fuses are employed, to say nothing of a certain amount of unreliability in devices of this character, it has been found that partial grounds, short circuits, and other causes are often sufficient to occasion arcs of great intensity without the fuses beby making the conductor dead) and before any arcs that are formed can do appreciable damage.

In one form the device consists of an auxiliary trip-coil for each circuit-breaker, these coils being located in an auxiliary circuit, or in another form it may consist of an auxils iary circuit-breaker in series with each main circuit-breaker in the feed-wire circuit, the arrangement being such in either case that 011 the passage of a very small current the main circuit-breaker will be tripped independently of the main trip-coil or the auxiliary circuitbreaker will open the feed-circuit and make the conductor dead. The auxiliary circuit is energized by the contact of the working conductorwith suitable cooperating contacts placed along the line and near the said conductor, so as to close an auxiliary electric circuit.

These safety devices are normally inactive and only come into play in case-of derangement of the working conductor or the auxiliary circuit by accident.

I have illustrated my invention as being applied to a third-rail system of railway operation, although the same principle may be applied to other systems.

In the drawings which illustrate my invention, Figure l is a diagram of a third-rail system of electric railways having my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the contacts of my special device. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification, and Fig. 4: is an enlarged detailview of a circuit-breaker.

Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 are the rails of an electric-railway track, and 3 represents a portion of a truck traveling thereon.

At 4 is shown a rotary converter or other type of electric generator, the same being assumed to be located at asubstation or in case no substations are employed in the main power-station along the railway-line and to be connected with

conductors

5 and 6, constituting the bus-wires. The conductor 6 is connected with the

rails

1 and 2, while the eonduotor 5 is connectedthrough a suitable circuit-breaker 7 feeding a third rail 8, extending alongside the track.

The description given up to this point would apply to many railway systems already in use. I add to the system thus described a conductor 9 and a branch conductor 10, the former be-.

ing arranged to parallel the third rail 8 and the latter being connected through a trip-coil 11 to the conductor 6. The coil 11 is wound with comparatively small wire and serves as an auxiliary trip-coil for the circuit-breaker 7 as shown at the left in Fig. 1, or as the tripcoil for an auxiliary circuit-breaker in series with the main breaker, as illustrated at the right in the same figure.

The conductor 9 is connected at intervals to contacts arranged close to the third rail, there being one or more such contacts near each section of said rail. These contacts are shown at 12 12 in Fig. 1 and are illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. Referring to Fig. 2, it will be seen that I provide a metallic bracket 13, supported upon a suitable insulating-tie 14 and having projections extending inwardly at the top which overlap the base of the third rail 8. Any suitable connectionsuch,for instance, as that shown in Fig. 2-may be used for bringing the wire 9 into metallic contact with the bracket 13. As shown in Fig. 2, a conducting-plate 15 presses the said wire down into contact with the base of the bracket, the means of compression being screws 16 16.

In Fig. 3 I provide separate brackets 17 17 on opposite sides of the third rail 8 and apply thereto, through the medium of bolts 18 18 and insulating-pieces 19 19, conducting-strips 20 2O in the form of flat metallic pieces, as shown. These strips are connected in any suitable Way with the conductor 9.

The details of the circuit-breaker appearing at the left in Fig. 1 will now be described, it being understood that the particular circuitbreaker shown is merely illustrated in typical form and that the structure maybe varied very widely.

The main trip-magnet is shown at 21 and its armature at 22, the latter being pivoted at 23 to an insulating-support 24. The switch contact-arm is shown at 25 as being pressed by a spring 26 away from contact with the cooperating contact-terminal 27. The spring 26 may be supported in suitable housing 38, mounted on the support 24, and the contactterminal 27 will generally be mounted on the said support.

The movable terminal 25 is provided with a handle 28, by means of which it can be restored when the contact is broken, and it also has an extension 29 formed into a catch at its top and adapted to engage with a lug 30 on the under side of the armature 22. The auxiliary trip-magnet 11 is also adapted to act upon the armature 22, its action being aided by the much greater leverage which it has with respect to the said armature, being located near the outer end thereof. By proper adjustment of the positions of the trip-

coils

11 and 21 and the armature 22 the amount of electrical energy required to be developed in the respective coils can be regulated at will.

Toward the right in Fig. 1 I illustrate an organization in which the main circuit-breaker 7 is of the usual character and in which the coil 11 is utilized to operate an auxiliary circuit-breaker in series with the main circuit-breaker. It will be seen that the action of the coil 11 in this instance, as in that already described in detail, serves to open the feed-wire circuit independently of the main trip-coil 21, as both circuit-breakers are in series in the feed-wire circuit. The principle of operation will be readily understood.

So long as the system is in normal operation the additional devices which I have hereinbefore described do not play any part. In case, however, of derailment or any other accident which might bring the third rail into contact with the bracket 13, Fig.- 2, or the conducting-strips 20 20, Fig. 3, or either of them, there would be immediately formed a complete circuit extending from the conductor 5 through the circuit-breaker 7,the bracket 13, for example, the conductor 9, the conductor 10, and the auxiliary trip-coil 11. Whereas now the main trip-coil of the magnet would in systems designed for heavy traflic be adapted to carry large currents without actuating the trip and whereas under such circumstances destructive arcs might be formed in manner already described, yet with the auxiliary tripcoil present the small amount of current passing through it will be quite sufficient to release the trip. When this happens, the feed-circuit is opened, and all danger of serious arcing is removed.

The magnet 11 is preferably in the form of a solenoid, having its core suitably connected to the armature 22, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with an electric-railway system includinga working conductor and the usual circuit-breakers, of an auxiliary circuit, and means capable of being energized by current flowing in said auxiliary circuit for opening the feed-circuit, a terminal of the said auxiliary circuit being in proximity to the working conductor.

2. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of an auxiliary circuit including means for rupturing the feed-circuit, a terminal ofthe said auxiliary being in proximity to the working conductor and adapted to cooperate therewith in case of a derangement of the system.

3. The combination with an electric-railway system including a Working conductor, the usual circuit-breakers, and trip-coils therefor, of supplementary circuit-breakers in the feed- IIO wires and an auxiliary circuit containingatrip-coil for operating the'said supplementary circuit-breakers, a terminal of the said circuit being in proximity to the working conductor.

4. The combination with an electric-railway system including a Working conductor, the usual circuit-breakers, and trip-coils therefor, of an auxiliary circuit containing a supplementary trip-coil? and a contact in proximity to the working conductor constituting one terminal of the said auxiliary circuit.

5. The combination with an electric-railway system, including a Working conductor, feedwires, circuit-breakers, and main trip-coils for the said circuit-breakers, of a series of contacts arranged in proximity to the working conductor, an auxiliary circuit running to the said contacts, and supplementary trip-coils for the circuit breakers, such trip coils being adapted to operate the trips with comparatively small amounts of electrical energy.

6. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor, feedwires, circuit-breakers, and main trip-coils for the said circuit-breakers, of a series of contacts arranged in proximity to the working conductor, an auxiliary circuit running to the said contacts, and supplementary trip-coils for the circuit-breakers, such trip-coils being made effective by one or more of its cooperating contacts.,

7. In an electric-railway system, a working conductor, feed-wires therefor, circuit-breakers included in the feed-wires, main trip-coils for the said circuit-breakers, and supplementary trip-coils therefor, in combination with means whereby the circuit-breakers can be operated independently of the said main tripcoils, such means consisting of an auxiliary circuit adapted to be operated by a disturbance of the working conductor, as set forth.

8, In an electric-railway system a working conductor, feed-wires therefor, circuit-breakers included in the feed-wires, and main tripcoils for the said circuit-breakers, in combination with circuitcontrollers cooperating with the working conductor, an auxiliary circuit connected with the said circuit-controllers, and supplementary trip-coils in the circuit of the said controllers, the said supplementary trip-coils being adapted to operate the circuit-breakers in response to the action of the circuit-controllers.

9. The combination with an electric-railway system having a sectional working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, each feed-wire containing a circuit-breaker, of an auxiliary circuit including means for rupturing the feed-circuits, the said auxiliary circuit having a terminal in operative relation to each section, and means whereby a relative movement between any section and its corresponding. terminal operates the circuitbreaker.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 25th day of August, A. D. 1903.

GEORGE GIBBS.

Witnesses:

WM. H. CAPEL, THOS. H. BROWN, Jr.