IMPROVEMENTS IN GIVING SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PROWETT, of Northamptonshire, Victualler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixteenth day of December, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Prowett, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Prowett, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Prowett, my exors, adññors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, .exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GIVING SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William
Prowett, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be in-
rolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months. next.and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Prowett, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention has for its object a mode of communicating to the engineer,
or other person, travelling with an engine or with a train of carriages, when a
preceeding train or engine has only lately passed, and thus give timely infor-
mation, and allow of the train being retarded or stopped, as the occasion may
require; and the apparatus employed is such, that one train having passed
along the line shall so act on that part of the apparatus which is affixed on the
line of railway as to move a bar into a position which will cause it to stand in
the way of part of other apparatus of the tender, or other carriages of a train,
and, according as the time is longer or shorter since the previous train has
passed, so will be the indication given; and if the previous train has passed
some time before, the projected bar or instrument will have moved out of the
way, and no action will take place on the apparatus of the passing train,
but such passing train will again set the apparatus into a position to give a
signal to the next coming train, should the time of its coming be so short as
to render it desirable to retard or stop the progress. And in order that my
Invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will
proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 represents a locomotive engine and tender on a railway, and also the
apparatus affixed at intervals on railways; Fig. 2 shews the tender only just in
the act of setting the apparatus in motion; Fig. 3 shows a back view of the
engine; the apparatus carried by which is being acted on by the apparatus affixed
on the railway; Figs. 4 and 5 show two sections separately of the apparatus
affixed at intervals on a railway, such sections being on a larger scale in order
that the parts may be seen more clearly; Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 show various
views of parts of the apparatus applied to the locomotive engine or other
carriage of the train. In all those Figures the same letters indicate similar
parts.
On the tender is applied an inclined plane a, a, which coming in contact with
the apparatus hereafter explained, will set it as hereafter described. b is a
projecting arm, which is affixed to the axis c, which axis has a pulley
d affixed thereon, and by means of a weighted chain e the projection b
is kept at all times in a perpendicular position when not acted on by the
passing inclined plane a, a. On the pulley d is a tooth f, which coming

page_text: in contact with the tooth 9, affixed on the cog wheel h, causes that cog
wheel to move partly round, the cog wheel otherwise moving freely on
the axis c. The
cog wheel h takes into and drives the pinion i, affixed on the
axis j, and on the axis j is affixed the pulley k, on which the chain is wound
the other end of the chain being affixed to the bar m, so that when the axis j
is turned round, the bar m will be raised into its highest position, as is shewn
at Figure 5. On the axis j is affixed a cog wheel n, which takes into and
drives the pinion o, affixed on the axis p, and on such axis p is also affixed the
cog wheel 9, which takes into and gives motion to the pinion r, affixed on the
axis 3, and on the axis s is affixed the escapement wheel t, all which, with
the escapement, will readily be understood in the Drawing. The passing of
the inclined surface a against the projection 6 gives motion to the train of
wheels, and raises the bar m to its highest position; and so soon as the inclined
plane has passed away, the weight of the bar m will cause it to descend as fast
as the escapement will permit, and according as the time is longer or shorter
since the last passing train, so will be the position of the bar m, and it will act
against the parts of apparatus attached to the locomotive engine accordingly.
z, z, is a frame with five slides, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, each slide having its lever v
moving on an axis w, and in each slide is cut a slot, through which a projecting
stud a works; hence, when the lever v of either of the slides 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
comes against the bar m the side will be projected out, and on its upper surface
is to be marked the number of minutes since the previous train passed; thus,
supposing the train of wheels to be so arranged that the bar m shall fall a
distance equal to the distance between one lever v and another lever v, say, in
two minutes, the consequence would be, that, supposing the previous train had
passed the apparatus ten minutes, the bar m would have descended out of the
way of all the levers v, and the train would pass onwards without any signal
being given; but if the lower lever v only acted against the bar m, the lower
slide would be forced out, and would indicate that the previous train had
passed more than eight minutes before, and less than ten minutes; and if all
the levers acted against the bar m, it would indicate that the previous
train had passed less than two minutes before, and the engineer would act
accordingly. And the various slides should be marked on their upper surfaces
with numbers or other signs to indicate the quantity of time, and the engineer,
by having a light at all times near the slides, will readily see what is the nature
of the signal given, whether by night or day, in open roadway or in a tunnel;
and in order to ensure his attending at proper times to the signals so given,
the lower of the slides protrudes out beyond the opposite end to that whereon
the number is marked, and on such slide a weight y is supported, which is

page_text: attached to a whistle, so that when the lower slide is moved, by its lever v
coming against the bar m, the weight will fall and open the whistle, and
give notice to the engineer; or there may be a bell or other instrument in
connection with the apparatus in place of a whistle. The apparatus may be
affixed to the line of railway at any determined intervals, but the more often
the better, to ensure the succeeding trains not coming too close to the pre-
ceeding ones.
I would remark, that although I have been thus particular in showing
and describing the various parts, I do not confine myself to the precise details,
so long as the mode, above described, of one train acting on an apparatus, fixed
at intervals to set it so as to put in action other apparatus of a coming train, in
such manner as to indicate the time since the previous train has passed, be
retained. And I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
separate parts of the apparatus above described; but what I claim is, the mode
of giving signals to passing trains of the time since the previous train has
passed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Prowett, have hereunto 'set. my
hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
LOVELL, Extra.
WILLIAM (L:s.) PROWETT.
Signed, sealed; and delivered by the within-
named William Prowett, in the presence of
JOHN SCRIVENER, of Paulerspury, Northamptonshire.
WM WALTON, Clerk to Mr. Lovell, Sol", Towcester.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirteenth-day of Juné, in the
year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid William Prowett came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.