Improvements in Railway Signals.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Mar., 1893-Accepted, 22nd Apr., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Signals.
We, JOHN SAMUEL, Garngad Station House Glasgow, in the County of Lanark
N.B. Station Master, City of Glasgow Union Railway and ADAM GARSON HORNE,
96 Roslea Drive Glasgow, aforesaid, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows
Our invention, consists in arrangements, whereby, a locomotive or other railway
veichele, passing a signal indicating clear, places, the said signal at danger, thereby
indicating to the driver of a following locomotive, or other railway veichele, that
their is danger.
Our invention does not intervere with the working power of the signalman to
control the signals as at present existing.
We further describe :-Our invention consists of an attachment by which the
locomotive passing the signal, indicating danger notifies to the driver that he has
passed a signal standing at danger. We now describe the mode of operation of our
invention, which consists of arrangements between the rails which is acted upon by
the passing locomotive or other railway veichele.
The said arrangements are connected to the present existing or other working
signal balanced arm or arms.
:
We further describe that when the signal is at danger, a lever fixed to said
arrangements between the rails, acts upon a movement attached to the locomotive,
and, by this means, indicates to the driver, that he has passed a signal at danger.
Dated this 20th day of June 1892.
JOHN SAMUEL.
ADAM GARSON HORNE.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Signals.
We, JOHN SAMUEL, Garngad Station House, Glasgow, in the County of Lanark
N.B. Station Master, City Union Railway (of Glasgow) and ADAM GARSON
HORNE, 96 Roslea Drive, Glasgow, aforesaid, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention consists in arrangements, whereby, a locomotive or other railway
vehicle when passing a signal indicating line clear, places the said signal at danger,
thereby, indicating to the driver of a following locomotive or other railway vehicle,
that there is danger ahead.
The invention also consists in providing, on the locomotive, an attachment,
whereby, the driver, if he accidentally runs through a danger signal, is at once
notified of his mistake.
And in order that our said invention may be properly understood, we have
hereunto appended an explanatory sheet of drawings, whereon
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our signalling apparatus.
Fig. 2 is a plan.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the lever mechanism.
Fig. 4 shows the mechanism fitted to the engine.
Fig. 5 shows another construction of the engine mechanism.
Fig. 6 is a view of the engine mechanism Fig. 5 looking end on.
Figs. 7 and 8 are side and end views of the device fitted between the rails.

page_text: Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are side, end, and plan views, respectively, of a modified con-
struction of the device placed between the rails.
Fig. 12 is a view of the train attachment used along with the device Figs. 9, 10
and 11.
Figs. 13 and 14 are side and end views of a spike.
Referring to the drawings whereon the same reference letters wherever repeated
indicate similar or like parts,
In carrying out our invention we fit between the rails a a', a curved bar b which
is pivotted at one end c to a suitable foundation. The bar has an upwardly
extending projection or head d which is, preferably, curved at both sides in the
manner shown Figs. 7 and 8. e is a small, preferably, triangular shaped pin or stop
for limiting the movement of the bar b, as will be seen (Fig. 2) it is fitted on one
of the sleepers.
At or about its centre the bar is connected by means of a rod to the lower end
of a lever g which is fulcrumed at g' in a jaw forming the short arm of the lever j
which latter is fulcrumed to the signal post at j'. The lever has an outwardly
extending arm 2 on which is or may be placed an adjustable weight g³. The lever,
at its upper end, has a sidewardly projecting pin g which passes through a hole
in the broad end of the lever h. This latter lever is fulcrumed at to the signal
post and is provided with an adjustable weight h³. Connected to the lever at h¹ is
the rod for operating the semaphore i.
The hole of the lever has a recess 7 (see Fig. 3) and a preferably inclined
edge h³.
The long arm of the lever j is connected by the usual wire or other connection j³
to the lever k in the signal-man's cabin.
Fitted on the front of the engine is a cross rod or bar 1, which is carried in
bearings, 12. On the rod is a tappet or tumbler in which, when the train is in
motion and running past the signal, if the signal is at "danger" strikes against the
projection d. The tappet, in the arrangement Fig. 4, has connected to it, at its
upper end, a wire, (or it may be a chain, or bar) n which, in any suitable inanner is
connected to and is capable of operating the steam whistle, or is, by any well known
and suitable arrangement, made to close an electric circuit and ring a bell on the
engine, in this manner calling the attention of the engine driver.
The tappet m is so shaped as shown that it normally hangs down vertically. The
dotted lines Fig. 4 show the position of the tappet when it strikes against and
overrides the projection d.
Instead of connecting the tappet, by means of a cord, chain, or rod arrangement,
with the valve of the steam whistle or the circuit closer, the arrangement shown at
Figs. 5 and 6 may be employed. In this case the long arm of a lever o fulcrumed
at o normally rests on the head m¹ of the tappet and when said tappet strikes
against the projection d and is moved, the long arm of said lever, by its own gravity
or by the action of a spring, falls or is caused to fall down and as a consequence
the short arm is raised up. This movement of the short arm is made, by any well
known rod or lever connections, to open the valve of the steam whistle or to close
an electric circuit so as to ring a bell on the engine.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
Presuming that the signal is, as shown at Fig. 1, at "clear" then the parts of
the mechanism will be in the positions shown in the full lines and the curved bar b,
will rest against the side rail a¹. When the engine reaches the position of the
bar b, the flange of the left hand front wheel will travel along the curved side of
the bar b, and force it to the dotted position i.e. away from the rail a'. The out-
ward movement of the bar pulls the rod f, and turns the lever g, so that the pin g*,
in the recess, moves to the left and out of the recess, when the weighted lever h³, is
free to fall down, and, at the same time, pull up the semaphore i to the danger
position thereby, automatically, blocking the line to any succeeding train, until the
signal man pulls his lever so as to bring the signal back again to the open or "clear
position. To enable the signal man to do this it is first necessary for him to
"

page_text: release his lever, which it must be remembered was at the "clear" position, and in
this action, the strain being taken off the wire j³, the weighted lever g², is allowed
to fall down and bring the ping, into the recess h, and, at the same time, pull
the bar b, against the rail a' ready for the following train. So long as the pin gt, is
within the recess h³, the signal man can freely operate the semaphore, but when it
has been forced out of the recess, by the action of a passing train, he must first
recover or release his lever, which action allows the weighted lever 9³, to fall
down, and bring the pin within the recess, and then pull his lever so as to bring
the semaphore to the "clear." The dotted lines (Fig. 3) represent the positions of
the levers when the signal is at "danger."
"
When the bar b, is in the outward, dotted line, position (Fig. 2) and the
semaphore is at "danger" then the projection d, is just in line with the tappet m,
of the engine so that should the engine run through the signal the tappet is at once
knocked against the projection and caused to turn and in so doing sound the alarm
on the engine. So long as the bar b, is in the position shown in full lines i.e. the
"clear" position the tappet m does not strike against the projection, and, as a
consequence, no alarm is sounded on the engine as it passes.
66
"
In some cases it may be desired to operate the signal from the rear of the train,
in this case the tumbling device p' shown at Fig. 12 is or may be used. This device
strikes against an inclined plane or wedge piece p, fitted to the side of the pro-
jection d, and forces the bar 6 outwards so as to raise the signal to danger." Of
course, when the signal is operated from the rear of the train, it is necessary to
place the bar b, further from the rail a' so that the flange of the front wheel will
not actuate it.
In order to sound an alarm upon the engine, when plate layers or surfacemen are
working upon the line the spike q, with rounded head, Figs. 13 and 14 may be
stuck in one of the sleepers (see Fig. 2) and in such a position that when the engine
passes over it, the tappet m will be struck and moved by the spike in the same
manner as by the projection d. In this way the alarm on the engine will be sounded
and the driver's attention called.
fitted
In some cases, if so desired, there may be two bars b and projections
between the rails, the one bar being used to work the signal and sound the alarm
on the engine and the other used for automatically applying the brake. In this
case an additional tappet m³ (see Fig. 6) would be fitted on the bar I, and connected
by suitable bars or levers with the valve for operating the brake. When the two
bars are used between the rails they may be suitably coupled together so as to move
synchronously.
The parts of the mechanism may be slightly altered or modified to suit
different circumstances or requirements, without departing from the principle of the
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The apparatus for automatically, on the passage of a train, raising the
signal to the danger position so as to close the line to the passage of a succeeding
train until such time as the signal man again lowers the signal to the "clear
position, substantially as hereinbefore described and shown at Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of
the drawings annexed.
2. The combination with the device (b, d) situated between the rails, of alarm
mechanism, fitted on the train, for calling attention whenever the train runs through
a signal at "danger," substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
drawings annexed.
Dated this 20th day of March 1800.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
70, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.