US902285A - Conduit. - Google Patents

Description

J. A., GAREY GONDUIT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1907.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

(ii W attomwgo J. A. GAREY.

GONDUIT. AiILIOATION FILED AUG. 12, 1907.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

w L a u MN JOHN A GAREY, OF MOUND CITY, MISSOURI.

CONDUIT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 27, 1908.

Application filed August 12, 1907. Serial No. 388,255.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. GAREY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mound City, in the county of Holt and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Conduit, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to conduits for electric railways, and particularly to railways of that general type in which the third rail is supported on the surface of the ground;

The principal object of the invention is to provide a means for eifectively guarding the third rail for the purpose of preventing accumulations of dirt, snow, or other material thereon, and for preventing injury to persons or animals from contact therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conduit in the nature of a spring closed shield that is arranged to be opened by the passage of the plow or current collector, and to automatically close after the passage of the plow, so that the third rail is at all times concealed, the conduit or shield being open only at a oint immediately under the car.

A still rther object of the invention is to provide a conduit or shield that will admit of the ready removal of dust or dirt.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a conduit or shield that is formed of freely flexible sections that will permit ready opening and closing, the sections being connected by yieldable insulated joints, in order that they may not form continuous conductors in case of accidental short circuiting of the third rail.

With these and other objects in view, as will more fully hereinafter a pear, the invention consists in certain nove features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accorn panying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of a conduit or shield constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, a portion of the conduit and the collecting wheel being broken away in order to more clearly illustrate the construction. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional viewon the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Similar numerals of reference are em ployed to indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawmgs.

Secured to cross ties or sills 10 are pairs of vertically disposed angle bars 11, the base flanges of which rest upon and are secured to the ties or other supports. The vertical webs of the bars are secured together by bolts or rivets 14, and at the upper ends of these bars are arranged outwardly extending flanges 15 which are bent inward to form inclined flanges 16, the whole forming a recess that is approximately trapezoidal in cross section, and is arranged to receive the correspondingly shaped base 17 of the third rail 18, and between the rail base and the flanges is placed a layer 19 of any suitable insulating material. Secured to and project ing from the lower portions of the vertical webs of the angle bars are horizontal flanges 20 that form supports for a pair of shields or conduit members 21, these being in the form of light metallic plates having beaded or reinforced lower edges that rest upon the flanges, the upper ends of said plates'being a proximately semi-circular in form, their a jacent edges being provided with lips 23 which are designed to close flat against each other at a point above'the third rail, thus forming a shield or conduit in which the rail is wholly concealed. The plates are held in the closed osition by two sets of springs, the upper set eing in the form of helical tension springs 24 which extend from the plates to the upper ortions of the vertical webs of the angle ars. Each lower set of springs is supported by a bolt 26 that extends through the angle bars, and is provided with rigid collars or nuts 27 that fit snugly against the outer walls of the angle bars and hold the bolt from 1011- gitudinal play. The outer portions of the bolt are threaded and pass through suitable openings formed in the plates 21, and on the threaded portions of these bolts are mounted helical tension springs 28, the inner ends of which bear against the plates, while the outer ends bear against adjustable nuts 29 that are carried by the bolts. These two sets of springs hold the members of the conduit normally in closed position, while the springs 28 may be compressed when it becomes necessary to draw the lower edges of the plates outward from the flanges 2] to permit the discharge of any dirt that may accumulate between the plates and the angle bars.

The adjacent ends of the various plates of which the conduit or shield is formed are slightly spaced from each other, and across the space extends a strip 30 formed of insulating material, each strip being held in place by straps 31 and suitable bolts or pins which are, also, insulated, so that the sections of the conduit cannot form a continuous conductor in case of accidental short cir cuiting of the third rail. Below the rails are arranged pits 35 in which the dirt may accumulate and from which it may be removed as from time to time may be necessary.

Similar pits may be arranged at road crossings or such other places as may be desired.

The plow or current collector is shown in the form of a wheel a carried by a frame I) and provided with flUStO-CODlCKtl rollers c which engage with and separate the lips 23, so that the wheel may come into contact with the third rail. After the passage of the Wheel, the lips are again forced into contact by the springs 24 and 28.

The present application shows and describes a current collector and current collector support which form the subject of an application for Letters Patent filed by me on August 12, 1907, Serial No. 388,256.

1. In combination, a third rail, a support therelor, a pair of loosely mounted plates, and springs tending to hold both the upper and the lower edges of said plates toward each other to form a wholly inclosing shield or conduit for the third rail.

2. In combination, a vertical bar forming a third rail support, a pair of lips or flanges extending from the lower portion of the bar, a pair of plates having their lower edges resting on said lips or flanges, the upper edges of the plates being curved and provided with contacting heads, and springs connecting the plates to the bar and arranged to permit opening movement of either the upper or the lower edges of the plates.

3. In combination, a third rail, a vertically arranged bar forming a third rail support, a pair of flanges extending outward from the lower portion of said bar, a pair of plates having their lower edges resting on the flanges, the upper edges of said plates being curved around and over the third rail, tension springs connecting the plates to the bar, a bolt carried by the bar and having end tongues extending through openings in the lower portions of the plates, and compression springs mounted on said bolt and tending to hold the lower edges of the plates against the bar.

l. In combination, a third rail, a vertically arranged bar forming a third rail support, a pair of flanges extending outward from the lower portion oi said bar, a pair of plates having their lower edges resting on the flanges, the upper edges of curved over the third rail, contacting cli)s carried by the adjacent upper edges of the plates, a pair of tension. springs connecting the plates to the bar, a bolt carried by the the plates being bar and having its opposite ends extending through openings formed in the plates, springs mounted on the bolt, and nuts forming rests for the outer ends of said s n'ings.

5. In coniibination, a pair of angle bars, the upper edges of which are bent outward to form horizontal flanges, and thence inward to form inclined flanges, the bars being connected together to form at the top a recess approximately trapezoidal in cross section, a third rail having a base portion corresponding to the recess and movable therein, there being insulating material between the base of the rail and the flanges which form the recess, and a pair of spring actuated plates ar-- ranged to inclose the upper portion of the bars and the third rail.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto a'l'lixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

J OHN A. GAREY.

Witnesses L. A. LAURENCE, V I. CUNNINGHAM.

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