US913913A

US913913A - Automatic fuse-block.

Info

Publication number: US913913A
Application number: US39453207A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles O Prowse
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1907-09-25
Filing date: 1907-09-25
Publication date: 1909-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 1926-03-02

Description

G. 0. PROWSE.

AUTOMATIC FUSE BLOCK. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 25,1907.

91 3,9 13. Patented Mar. 2, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

um/Mb;

6247-) d fi'azase CHARLES o. rnowssfor HOf'KI NSVILLE KENTUCKY.

'. no'roirxrrc Fuss-noes.

No. 913,913. a

I Specification of Lettersfat erit. Application filed. September 26, 1807. Serial 'No. 394,582.

To all whom ttmay concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. PRowsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hopkinsville, in the county of Christian and State of Kentucky,- have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic F use-Blocks, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to an im rovement in an automatic fuse block and lightning arrester, and the object of the invention is the provision of a device of this character, particularly ada ted for use at subscribers stations on telep hone lines and the like, employing a plurality of fuses and so constructed whereby when the circuit has been broken by an excessive current blowin one of the fuses, said circuit will be automatlcally and instanfca'neOusly restored through'another of said uses.

A further object of the invention is the provision in ya device of this character, of means for grounding the excessive current after the burning of one of the fuses and before the current is remade through the next successive fuse.

A further object of the invention is the 'provision of a' device of this character which will protect both the lead and return wires of the instrument from excessive currents. A further object of the invention is the provision in a device of this character, of means for protecting the instrument from ink. jury from excessive currents which for any reason fail to blow or rupture the fuse.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description hereinafter when read in connection with the. accompanying drawings forming a part hereof,v wherein a referable embodiment of my ,invention is s own and wherein like characters of reference refer to similar parts in the several views.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of one side of 'my improved automatic fuse block and lightning arrester. Fig. 2 is a similar view, one side of the casing being removed. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, the casing being shown in elevation. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 I are detail views, and Fig. 7 is a detail view of a modified form showing the manner of making the.line connection with the device.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, A represents a block of substanany suitable, construction to tially rectangular formation, which is formed of any suitable non-conducting materialand is ada ted to be secured to swan or other s'uitab e'support by brackets of any suitable construction projecting from: one edge thereof. The block A is provided on op osite sides and adjacent opposite edges t ereof with grooves a, which are preferably. T- shaped in. cross-section and which extend substantially the full length of said block.

B represents a' pluralit of pivotally supported contact members ormed of conduct ing material, which are arranged in verticalseries on both sides of the block A adjacent the grooves a therein. The contact members Bare pivoted on suitable studs carried by the i v Patented lbbi block A and interposed between each of said contact members and said block is a spring washer b, which serves to hold the contact member in any position to which it may be moved. The contact members B are each, provided with a p'rojecting arm b which normally occupies a substantia horizontal position and projects fora sligld the grooves a in the block A, the projecting end ofsaid arm being provided with a corrcave contact ortion 12 which is preferably I tipped with p atinum so as .to insure a good Rigidly secured to the mem connection. bers B and extending re'arwardly therefrorii are a lurality of spring arms B, which are formed of conductin material and are to vided at the freeen s thereof with stu s of- 'ermit the at tachrhent of fuses thereto. Eihcured to o posite faces of block A are a plurality of stu s ,or pins b which are positioned adjacent the pivotal points of the contact members B and which serve as stops to limit the downward movement of the. spring arms B, said arms being maintained in substantially horizontal positions when in contact withsaid stops.

Block A is provided on the op osite aces thereof and a jacent opposite e ges thereof with longitudinally extending channels with- 100 t distance into in which are seated metallic strips 0 of conducting material, which strips are connected in any suitable manner to the ground. Cominunicating with the channels in which are seated the metallic strips 0 are a plurality of horizontally arranged recesses which extend to the edges of the block, there being one such recess provided for each of the Contact members B. Removably secured in e'aeh horizontally disposed recess are a pair of 3 superposed carbon plates 1) D between which is arranged a layer of mica. The carbon plates are held in position within the recesses y means of leaf s rings D"which are secured to the block A, t e free ends of said springs" groups, one on each side of the block A. The

intermediate ortions of the fuses E are looped about t e studs 11 carried by the leaf springs D, while the ends of each group of fuses are secured respectively to the studs means 0 ametallic stri to and extends across t e top of said block, 7

carried by the spring arms B, and to metal stri s F of conducting material secured to the%l00k A, there being two such strips pro vided, one on each side of the block. From one of the strips F, a wire F leads to the telephone or other instrument, while to the other strip F is connected the return wire F leading from the telephone or other instrument. in securing the fuses E to the block, the same are drawn taut so as to draw the spring arms B into contact with the studs 6 and place said arms under tension.

Secured to the. edges of the block A and extending longitudinally thereof are two metal strips of conducting material Gr, each of which is provided along one edge, thereof with a plurality of projections g, said projections being so spaced as to occupy positions intermediate the contact members B pivotally secured to the faces of the block. The stri s G are electrically connected by G which is secured and one of said strips is connected by a suitable wire G with the ground.

Slidably mounted in the T-shaped grooves a formed in the o posite faces ofv the block A are blocks H an removably secured to the face of each of said blocks is a metal plate 'hof conducting material. Carried by each of the plates h is an arm h, to which the line wire of the circuit is adapted to be connected; a stud h which is normally arranged to be seated in the concave portion 1) of one of the contact members B and whichis preferably tipped with platinum so as to insure a good contact with said contact member; and a spring finger h which extends laterally therefrom and is provided with a rearwardly bent portion, the free end of which is adapted to successively contact with the projections g on the plate G adjacent thereto when the block H is shifted in the groove a. Journaled in the base of block A and positioned on opposite sides thereof are a pair of spri'n actuated winding drums I upon each of whic is wound a cord or wire i the free ends of said cords or wires being connected to the blocks H which above described repeated.

of the fuses is ru tured, the spring actuated I drum I will quicizl is permitted by the stops k and k projectl from the pinion K and this distance is su iii=1-,

I are slidably mounted in the grooves 11 formed in the block A. Carried by each of the spring actuated drums I is a gear I which meshes governor arm K the ends of which are weighted and against which bears a spring K The 0 eration of the automatic fuse block and lig tning arrester is as follows: The blocks H are normally held at the tops of the grooves a with the platinum tipped studs 7L2 thereof engaging the concave portions of the topmost contact members B. If now, an excessive current should strike the line, it would pass through the arm h, the platinum tipped stud 7L2, the to most contact member B, the spring arm and to the fuse E which would in consequence thereof be ruptured. As soon as the fuse E is ruptured, the topmost member B will be released and will permit'the spring actuated drum 1 to draw the block H downwardly in the groove at until the platinum tipped stud h seats itself in the concave portion of'thenext contact member B, when the current will again be restored to the line. Before the stud h contacts with the next contact member B,

however, the spring finger it will contact with one of the projections g on the plate G and thereby permit the excessive current on the line to pass to the ground. Should the excessivecurrent still be on the line, when the stud k contacts with the next contact member B, the fuse connected to said member'will be burnedout and the operation Immediately one y turn whatever dista' cient to bring the spring finger h" carried by the block H in contact with one of the projections of the ground plate G. By the time that the'block A has traveled this distance, however, the stops it" and k are moved into engagement with the weighted governor arm; K and the rotation of the spring actuated drum is checked so that the block H will be I rupturing the fuse and it is tov prevent currents of this character from reaching the instrument thatil have provided the carbon plates D D heretofore described. When a current of this character passes through one of the fuses without rupturing the same itwill jump from the top carbon plate with which the fuse is in electrical connection through the leaf spring D, through the sheet of mica alto the bottom carbon plate and from thence through the metallic plate C, with which the bottom carbon plate is in electrical connection, to the ground. -lhe line wire which is connected to' the movable block has sufficient slack therein to permit movement of the-block upon the rupture of the fuses.

The block A and the part carried thereby are referably housed or inclosed by a casing a w rich is formed in two sections, provided with suitable apertures which are designed to be engaged by bolts projecting from the block said sections being secured on said block by thumb nuts engaging the projecting ends of said bolt. Each of the sections of the casing is provided with a longitudinal slot therein and marked on each section ad jacent said slot are figures corresponding to the number of fuses on the block. Each of the sliding blocks H carries a pointer which projects through the slot before referred to and cooperates with the numbers on the casing section to indicate the condition of the fuses on the block.

In Fig. 7 of the drawing, I have shown a modified method of connecting the line wires of the circuit to the block. In this form of my invention, the sliding blocks H are made of conducting material as are also the cables or cords "i which connect the same with the spring actuated drums I, and said cables are connected with contact plates I carried by the drums I and extending to the axles thereof. The axles of the drums I in this form of my invention project without the casing and have threaded thereon binding screws t which constitute the means of attachment for the line wires of the circuit.

While I have described the block as equipped with two sets of fuses, so as to pro tect both the lead and return wires to and from the instrument, it is obvious that where only'one wire is used and the ground is utilized as the return, only one side of the block need be so equi )ped.

I do not desire to limit myself to the pre cise form and construction shown in the drawings, as it is obvious that many minor changes might be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined'in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is 1. In a device of the character described, a block, a lurality'of fusible strips carried by said bloc and adapted to be connected to one line of an electr1c circuit, a movable contact member adapted to be connected to the other line of said circuit and adapted to suecessively make connection through the fusible strips, and a ground plate positioned on said block and provided with a plurality of contact portions adapted to be engaged by said movable contact member during the movement thereof, said contact portions being arranged intermediate said fusible strips.

2. In a device of the character described, a block, a plurality of movable contact members secured thereto, 2 metal plate secured to said block, a plurality of fuses connecting said movable contact members and said metal plate and serving to hold said contact members normally against movement, a contact member slidably secured to said block and adapted to successively engage said movable contact members, and a plurality of ground contacts carried by said block intermediate said movable contact members and adapted to be sucessively engaged by said slidable contact member during its travel from one to another of said movable cont-act members. I

3. In a device of the character described, a block provided with a groove therein, a plurality of contact members pivoted to said block and provided with portions adapted to normally overlie the groove therein, a plurality of fuses connected to said contact members and serving to hold the same in their normal position, a contact member slidably mounted in the groove in said block and adapted to cooperate with said pivoted contact members, a motor actuated drum carried by said block, and a cable connecting said motor actuated drum and said slidably mounted contact member.

4. In a device of the character described, a

block, a plurality of movable contact members secured thereto, a plurality of fuses connected to said contact members and serving to normallyholdthe same against movement, a contact member slidably secured to said block and adapted to successively engage said movable contact members, a motor actuated drum carried by said block, and a cable connecting said drum and said slidable contact member. 5. In a device of the character described, a block, a plurality of movable contact members secured thereto, a plurality of fusesconnected to said contact members and serving to normally hold the same a ainst movement, a contact member slidab y secured to said block and adapted to successively engage said movable contact members, a motor actuated drum carried by said block,a cable connecting said drum and said slidable contact member, and a governor for said motor actuated drum.

6. In a device of the character described, a block, a plurality of movable contact members secured thereto, a plurality of fuses connected to said contact members and serving to normally hold the same against movemotor actuated drum, and a cable conecting said motor actuated drum and said slidably mounted contact member.

7. In a device of the character described, a block, a plurality of movable contact members secured thereto, a metal plate secured to said block, a plurality of fuses connecting said movable contact members and said metal plate and serving to hold said cont-act members normally against movement, a ground plate carried by said block and provided with a plurality of contact ortions arranged intermediate the mova le contact members, and a movable contact block arranged to successively engage said movable contact members and the contact portions of said ground plate.

8. In a device of the character described, a block, a lurality of spring arms ivoted to said bloc and provided at their orward ends with contact ortions, a plurality of pins carried'by said block and arranged to support the opposite ends of said spring arms, a )lurality of fuses carried by the block an engaging said spring arms, 'and a movable contact member arranged to successively engage the contact portions of said spring arms.

9. In a device of the character described, a block, a carbon plate carried thereby and provided with a ground connection, a second carbon plate seated upon said first mentioned plate, a' metal spring secured to the block and overlying the u per carbon late, said spring being provided with a stud and a fuse loo ed about the said stud and having its en s adapted for connection with the line wires of a circuit.

10. In a device of the character described, a block, a luralit-y of spring arms ivoted to said bloc and provided at their orward ends with contact portions, means carried by the block. for;supporting the rear ends of said spring arms, a plate carried by the block and adapted to be connected to one of the line Wires of an electric circuit, a plurality of taut fuses connecting said plate and the rear ends of said spring arms, and a movable contact member arranged to suecessively engage the contact portions of said spring arms.

11. In a device of the character described, a block, a spring arm pivoted to said block and provided at its forward end with acontact portion, means carried by the block for supporting the rear end of the s ring arm, a contact member carried by the lock, a taut fuse interposed between said contact mem her and t e rear end of said spring arm, a broken ground connection extending from the fuse, and a movable contact member adapted to cooperate with the contact portion at the forward end of the s ring arm.

In testimony whereof affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES O. PROVVSE.

Witnesses:

JAs. BREATHITT, NELL CAYOE.