US815314A - Railway-switch. - Google Patents

Description

G. M. THOMPSON.

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V ATTORNEY PATENTED MAR. 13, 1906.

PATENTED MAR. 13, 1906. M. THOMPSON.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLIOATIQH FILED AUG. 3, 1905.

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ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE. GUY M. THOMPSON, or SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, nsslenon or one- FOURTH TO CHARLES SrFOLLETT, or SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

Patented March 13, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GUY M. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Wash ington, have invented certain. new and useful Improvements in Railway- Switches, of

which the following is a specification, refering the front end of a car, and Fig. 3 is atransverse sectional view. 4

This invention relates to improvements in railway-switch-operatmg mechanlsm, and its principal object is the provision of electrically-actuated devices whereby switches may be operated predeterminately from" an approaching car; and a further object of the 1nvention is the provision of automatic means for indicating the open or closed condition of the track. [I attain these ends by the novel construction, disposition, and adaptation of electrical and mechanical devices, as will be hereinafter fully described, and particularl pointed out in the appended claims. a

In the said drawings the reference-numerals 1 and 2 designate the main-track rails, 3 and 4 the switch-rails, and 5 the vibratory switch-tongue, all of which are of ordinary or suitable construction.

Rigidly connected to or formed integral with the tongue is an arm 6, extending downwardly between the cores 7 7 of .two electromagnets 8 8 and'forming an armature therefor. Thewinding-wires of these magnets are res ectively connected by conducting ends 9 an 9- with contact- plates 10 and 10, embedded in the ground, preferably between the track-rails at some distance from the I switch, and having their upper surfaces, eX

' other of the contact-makers or brush devices carried by the car and respectively positioned thereon in the same longitudinal planes with the said contact-plates and being connected by Wires with the trolley-line and with the trackthese contact-makers each consist of a vertical bar 13, comprised of two parts, which are hinged together by a pivot 14, and adjacent thereto 'upon each such bar parts forwardly and rearwardly protruding arms 15 are provided to receive interposed helical springs 16, which act to flexibly maintain the axes of the two parts of the bar in the same line. The purpose of thus providing the bars with a hinge connection 1s to furnish means whereby the lower parts may be tilted rearwardly in the event of their encountering some obstacle in their-path and permit their readily passing thereover. I I

The brush 17, carried upon the lower end of each two-part bar, is normally held out of contact with the plate 10 or 10, as the case may be, by the provision of a helical spring 18 between a sleeve portion 19 of a supportrail 2 through the car-wheel12. Specifically,

ing-bracket 19 and a collar 13,-fiXedly secured to the bar thereabove. The bracket 19 is formed or provided on a socket-plate 20, into which the top end of the upper part of the bar 13 extends, and removably seated in the socket of each such'plate is the stud 21, I

terminating above the car-platform in an enlarged-flat head forming an extended bearing-surface, whereby the depression of the brush into operative contact with the particular plate may beaccomplished by the fo otpressure'of the operator while the car is progressively moving toward the switch. These tread-plates are made removable in order that they can be used interchangeably at either end of a car, according to its direction of travel, and likewise to ,obviate all danger of the brush devices at the rear end of the car being accidentally moved into operative poto indicate the condition of the switch and consist of supplemental circuits which are directly and positively made or broken by the movement of the depending. arm-6. These supplemental circuits include two incandescent lamps L L, one being appropriated to each position of the switch-tongue, so as to indicate whether the switch is open or closed as to the main track. The circuits now being considered comprise conducting- 5 wires A A, leading from the trolley-line and terminating in contact-points a a, disposed upon opposite sides of the arm 6, and a conducting-wire A common to both the lastnamed circuits, which connects the rail 2 with a make-and-break conductor-link B.

The latter passes through an insulating-bushing 0 of said arm, and these three parts are so connected as to move as a. single piece.

When the switch-tongue is shifted from one side to the other, it is a parent that the link B will be moved to simu taneously illuminate one or the other of the said lamps, thus reliably and automatically indicating the condition of the switch.

The electric and mechanical parts of the invention are inclosed within a suitable casing E, which may advantageously be provided with a detachable cover (not shown) to give ready access to the interior for inspect z 5 ing, adjusting, or renewing the contained mechanism, and the terminals (1 a would be held by binding-posts, as f, connected to or formed in said casing.

The invention is extremely simple and ac- 0 complishes in a very efiicient manner the several functions intended, and, too, without resortin to the use of a multiplicity of parts, such as Tevers or the like, wherewith it is difficult to maintain a suitable adjustment of 3 5 the parts or prevent their entire derangement.

I do not wish to confine myself in carrying out my invention to the use of lamps alone, as during daylight semaphores may be used in their stead, if deemed desirable. The explanation of the manner of connecting up the amps will, it is thought, be sufficient to enable others to replace the same with the semaphores controlled by electromagnets.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

1. In a railwayswitch, the combination with two electromagnetic switch moving mechanisms normally in incomplete circuits and two supplemental electric circuits, of a contact-maker for each electromagnetic circuit, said contact-maker severally comprised of a barformed of two pivotally-connected parts, a brush carried on the lower of said parts, two helical springs interposed between lateral arms provided on the respective 'said bar parts and tending to maintain them in axial alinement with each other, a helical spring acting to elevate said contact-maker, a removable pressure-plate adapted to operatively engage said bar, and a bracket-support for the bar provided with a socket for the reception of the upper end of the bar and a stud provided on said pressureplate.

2. In an electrically-operated switch, the combination with the trackrails and a tongue having a depending bar, of two 0011- tact-plates positioned at some distance from the switch and respectively forming the terminals of two incomplete electric circuits, an electromagnet included in each such circuit and disposed at opposite sides of said bar, an insulated rod extending through the lower end of said depending bar and forming a terminal of two other electric circuits having their other terminals respectively disposed upon opposite sides of said rod, incandescent lamps included in the last-named circuits, and means carried by a car whereby either of said electromagnets may be predeterminately engaged to accomplish a movement of said switch-tongue and simultaneously light the corresponding of said lamps.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GUY M. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

PIERRE BARNES, H. A. TRUMBULL.

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