IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MEANS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS, OR BETWEEN TWO OR MORE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields..
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MEANS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS AND
GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS, OR BETWEEN TWO OR MORE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS."
-A communication from abroad by Thomas Hunt, of Bilboa, in the
Kingdom of Spain, Engineer.
Sealed the 3rd October 1865, and dated the 11th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the.
11th April 1865..
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlessx, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS POR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS.
AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS, OR BETWEEN TWO OR MORE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS."
-A communication to me from abroad by Thomas Hunt, of Bilboa, in the
Kingdom of Spain, Engineer, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application of one continuous main or line
extending throughout the length of a train or between any specified situations,.
from which branches communicate with the insides of the vehicles or any
desirable positions. The main or line may be of cord or chain, or a combi-
nation of chains, rods, or cords, and its connection with the branches is so
arranged that when actuated by any one branch by the person desirous of

page_text: communicating, no other branch is affected, and in connection with each
brauch is a disc or other signal exposed by the action of the branch only,
and not by the main or line, which latter only affects a signal placed contiguous
to the guard or person whose attention is required.
To execute the actions above described one or more pulleys are placed in
convenient situations, round which the main or cord is wound, or it may only
be in contact therewith, each pulley having a stop which only permits them to
move in one direction when communication is only required one way or the
pulleys may be free of any stop when communication is made both ways, or by
giving a more extended movement to the branch the pulleys may be made
without stops when communicating in both directions, and the same results
may be produced by means of levers or quadrants instead of pulleys. Close
to each pulley, or lever, or quadrant, and between them when two are used,
there is a branch at right angles to the main or cord passing to any con-
venient place inside of the vehicle or other desired locality. The movement
of the branch by a passenger or other operator disengages a disc or other signal
placed in a position to be seen by the individual called, and at the same time
indicates the locality of the caller.
The connection between the main or line and branch is by one or more
pulleys in simple contact therewith, and held in guides which permit of a
longitudinal movement of the main or line without affecting the branch, it
being exclusively the power of the latter which actuates the former.
In a convenient place in the guard's van is placed a bell or gong sounded
by a bolt disconnected from the end of the main or line when the latter is
operated upon by a passenger or other person requiring attention. Instead of
a bell or gong any other signal which produces a report when operated upon
may be used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and.
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE PASSENGERS
AND GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS, OR BETWEEN TWO OR MORE DIFFERENT SITUA--
TIONS," a communication to me from abroad by Thomas Hunt, of Bilboa, in
the Kingdom of Spain, Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal,. should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the samo to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the dato of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declaro the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists in the application of one continuous main or
lino extending throughout the length of a train, or between any specified
situations, from which branches communicate with the insides of the vehicles
or any desirable positions. The main or line may be of cord or chain, or a
combination of chains, rods, or cords, and its connection with the branches is
so arranged that when actuated by any one branch by the person desirous of
communicating no other branch is affected. In connection with each branch
is a disc or other signal exposed by the action of the branch only and not by
the main or line, which latter only affects a signal placed contiguous to the
guard or person whose attention is required.
To execute the actions above described one or more pulleys are placed in
convenient situations, round which the main or cord is wound, or it may only
be in contact therewith, each pulley having a stop which only permits them to
move in one direction when communication is only required one way, or the
pulleys may be free of any stop when communication is made both ways, or
by giving a more extended movement to the branch the pulleys may be made
without stops when communicating in both directions, and the same results

page_text: may be produced by means of levers or quadrants instead of pulleys. Close
to each pulley, or lever, or quadrant, and between them when two are used;
there is a branch at right angles to the main or cord passing to any convenient
place inside of the vehicle, or to any other desired locality. The movement of
the branch by a passenger or other operator disengages a disc or other signal
placed in a position to be seen by the individual called, and at the same time
indicates the locality of the caller.
The connection between the main or line and a branch is formed by one or
more pulleys in simple contact therewith, and held in guides, which permit of
a longitudinal movement of the main or line without affecting the branch, it
being exclusively the power of the latter which actuates the former.
In a convenient place in the guard's van is placed a bell or gong sounded
by a bolt disconnected from the end of the main or line when the latter is
operated upon by a passenger or other person requiring attention. Instead of
a bell or gong any other signal which produces a report when operated upon
may be used.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding
Figures.
Fig. 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, represents a side elevation of a portion
of a railway carriage fitted with one arrangement of the improved apparatus
for communicating between the passengers and guards; Fig. 2 is a corre-
sponding transverse vertical section of the same taken through one of the
compartments, and Fig. 3 is a plan of one half of the under side of the
carriage framing, with the side and end of the carriage in horizontal section.
The rest of the Figures on this Sheet are enlarged details of the principal
working parts which I shall herein-after more fully describe and refer to.
A is the main under framing of the carriage, and B indicates the body or
top, bottom, and sides thereof. In each compartment of every carriage in the
train there is provided a handle C (Fig. 2) attached to a rod which passes
out through the roof, and is connected to a short length of chain D, which
passes over a guide pulley D', carried by a bracket fixed on the roof of the
carriage. In order to protect the chain and rods as much as possible from
external injury, they are enclosed in a short length of tube E, secured by a
flange to the roof of the carriage. F is a rod passing vertically down the
outside of the carriage, and attached at its upper end to the chain D, whilst
its lower extremity is connected to the short length of chain G. . This rod F

page_text: may work in one or more guide eyes fixed to the side of the carriage, and is
provided with a projecting lug a, to which is suspended the pin or bolt b, as
shown clearly in the enlarged detailed views at Fig. 4. To the outside of
each of the several compartments of the carriages there is fitted a spring
actuated disc II, of which Figs. 5, 6, and 7 represent respectively an
enlarged detail plan, front elevation, and section at right angles to the latter.
This disc is so constructed that when no signal is required it will be maintained
close against and parallel to the side of the carriage, but so soon as it is
released by the pulling of the handle C, as herein-after explained, it will
instantly be forced into a position at right angles to the carriage side, and will
consequently be readily seen by the guard when looking along the side of the
train.
The releasing of the disc is effected in the following manner:-The disc
itself H turns on a spindle c in a fixed bracket d, to which a blade spring e is
secured. The free end of this spring presses against an antifriction roller in
the end of an arm f secured to the spindle c at right angles to the disc, and
consequently tends to turn the spindle and disc through an arc of 90° when
the disc is released. In its normal or "all right" condition, however, the disc
is locked parallel to the side of the carriage by the pin or bolt b (Fig. 4)
before referred to, passing through an eye g in the upper part of the fixed
bracket d, and through a corresponding eye in the end of the short arm h.
also secured to the spindle c near its upper end, and in a position at right
angles to the disc. So long as the pin or bolt remains in these two
eyes, the disc II will be locked in the "all right" position, but immediately the
handle C is pulled by a passenger, the pin or bolt 6 will be raised, and the
disc will be instantly turned outwards, assuming the position shown in
Figs. 2 and 3 by the pressure of the blade spring against the antifriction
roller in the end of the arm f, and will thereby indicate to the guard the
particular compartment of the train to which his attention has been called.
The same operation which releases the disc simultaneously sounds a gong
or other convenient alarm apparatus in the guard's van at the end of the train,
and this is effected in the following manner, and by the mechanisin which [
shall now proceed to describe:-The chain G attached to the lower end of the
vertical sliding rod F is, where requisite, guided to a convenient position
underneath the main framing by means of guide pulleys I and K (Figs. 1, 2,
and 3), and is connected to one end of a horizontal rod L (shown in enlarged
detail plan and side elevation at Fig. 8), which slides in one or more fixed
guide eyes secured to the framing A, and which carries at its centre a pulley M.
This rod and pulley with the chains G and D, rod F, and handle C constitute

page_text: what I call the branch connection with the main or principal line of com-
munication N, which extends from end to end of the train, the branch acting
as will be presently seen upon the main line N in a direction at right angles
thereto. In front of each of the several moveable pullies M throughout the
train there is fixed to the main framing a pair of stationary pullies O, O¹,
shown in enlarged detail side elevation and plan at Figs. 9 and 10; these
pullies revolve nearly the whole of a revolution on stud pins or centres i, i,
fixed into the opposite ends of a plate P, bolted to the under side of the main
framing. On the upper surface of each pulley there is a circular groove k, k',
forming the greater part of a circle, and in these grooves project respectively the
ends of the fixed pins or studs 1, 1, secured to the plate P. The main line of
chain or cord N is passed one or more times round these pullies, so as to have
a firm bite thereon, and if desired a pin may be inserted into one of the links
and into the pulley, as shown in the Drawings, with a view to the securing of
the chain or cord thereon, and preventing auy slip. The direction of coil
round each pulley is from left to right if the motion of the cord is to be trans-
initted to the right, or from right to left if the motion is to be conveyed to the
left, in which latter case the positions of the circular grooves k, k', and
studs,, will have to be reversed. m, m, are guards partially embracing
the pulleys O, O, in order to maintain the position of the main cord N thereon.
That portion of the continuous main or line N which extends between the
pulleys O and O is acted upon or pulled laterally by the moveable pulley M
in connection with the branch line when the handle Cin the carriage is drawn
down, the result being that the continuous main will be drawn from the posi-
tion shown in Fig. 10 to the position shown in Fig. 3. The pulley O is
prevented from revolving in the direction of the arrow and giving-off cord,
during the action of the pulley M, by the fact of the stud l being at the end
of the groove k, but the pulley O' allows the cord to be given off freely as the
stud is in such a position in the groove as to admit of the pulley O' making
nearly a complete revolution in the direction of the arrow, and consequently
the whole of the slack formed between the two pulleys will be taken from the
rear end of the continuous main N, and will not affect in any way that
portion in advance of the pulley O, or which extends to the front of the train,
.consequently the power required to actuate the apparatus is reduced to a
minimum, and the slack to be taken up is only that portion between the
operator and the signal.
It will be readily understood that this movement of the rear end of the
continuous main N may be easily made to actuate a signal or alarm apparatus
in the guard's van, with a view to calling his attention to some one of the

page_text: compartments of the train, the particular compartment being at once indicated
to him by the position of its disc H, which has been released, as before
described, by the pulling of the branch connection. After a signal has been
made in the guard's van, and before the guard leaves it for the locality of the
operator he connects the main N with the alarm, which operation draws or
straightens the main, as shewn in Fig. 10.
The signal apparatus which I prefer to employ in the guard's van, but to
which I do not confine or restrict myself, is represented in detail, end view;
side elevation, and plan at Figs. 11, 12, and 13, respectively. It consists
simply of a gong struck by a sliding hammer R acted upon when released
by a helical spring S. When set the hammer is drawn back and held in
that position by a claw on the end of a bell-crank lever T, engaging with a pin
in a collar U fast on the stem of the hammer. The other end V of the bell
crank is connected to the end of the continuous main or line N herein-before
referred to, so that on pulling the saine the claw will release the hammer and
allow it to strike the gong. A guide eye W (Fig. 1) should be attached
to each end of each carriage, through which the main N is passed, and a con-
nection or joint is formed between each length of main between the several
carriages by a spring, book, or otherwise, so as to afford facility for the reads
making up of a train, or of the removal of one or more carriages therefrom.
The carriages composing a train being connected together in the ordinary way,
and the signal which passengers are to operate upon being at the rear end,
the main line N of each carriage is drawn towards the rear end of the
train until the pulleys O, O', are in contact with their stops 1, 1, and tho main
or line of each is then coupled with its neighbour, beginning with the signal
van and the next carriage, and so on until all are connected.
Fig. 1, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, represents a side elevation of the
under framing of a carriage provided with a slightly modified arrangement of
the apparatus herein-before described, and Fig. 2 is a half plan of the same.
According to this modification, one fixed pulley O only is used in place of two,
as shown on Sheet 1, and in lieu of the stud l and circular groove k before
referred to, a slotted link k working on a stud in the framing A are employed,
the slot being of sufficient length to allow of the needful longitudinal move-
ment of the continuous main or line N in one direction, whilst its motion in
the opposite direction will be checked by the stud in the end of the slotted
link. In lieu of a slotted link a rod (Fig. 2) may be used, passing
through a guide eye l', and provided with a stop in the form of an enlarged
shoulder or collar at each end. The main N is carried alongside three fixed
pulleys O, and is simply in contact therewith, not wound round them and at

page_text: each end of the main in each carriage there is a link and hook for connecting
the several lengths into one continuous main when making up the train. The
pulley M of the branch line is actuated and operates in the same manner as
described in reference to Sheet 1.
In Fig. 2, I have represented one of these pulleys in action, the other
two being in their normal condition, that is to say, the apparatus to the right
is shewn as after a signal has been made, the pulley M having been moved
laterally, and the link or groove k at the same end of the carriage being drawn
up until the end of it approaches the pin or stop l.
Figs. 3 and 4 represent in elevation and plan another modification,
wherein there are two pulleys M, M, in connection with the branch cord.
The main N is carried, as last described, alongside the three fixed pulleys 0,0,0,
which are embraced by the two pulleys M, M, of the branch connection, so
that on drawing these pulleys laterally, a double loop will be formed on the
main N, as shewn in the centre apparatus, and consequently a certain amount
of longitudinal motion will be conveyed in one direction only to the main N.
The mode of operation is the same as in the arrangements Figs. 1 and 2
on the same Sheet of Drawings, except that the branch moves through less
space to give the same lineal movement to the main N, by reason of the
formation of a double loop in the main. The rest of the parts in this Sheet
of Drawings are indicated by the same letters of reference as are used for the
corresponding parts of the first described arrangement.
On Sheet 3 of the Drawings I have represented the application of this
system of conveying signals from one locality to another to a suite of rooms.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the corridor or passage wall running along
one side of a suite of rooms; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showing
two of the doors of the suite, and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan thereof. A, A',
are two rooms, and B is the main wall of a passage or corridor running along-
side them.
As the signalling apparatus is the same as that herein-before described with
reference to railway carriages, and illustrated on Sheet 1, any detailed
description thereof would be a mere repetition.
In order, however, that its arrangement and operation may be more readily
understood and followed, I have indicated all the corresponding parts to those
shewn on Sheet 1 by similar letters of reference.
If it be required to summon an attendant to any one of the suite of rooms
in the corridor the cord C inside the room is pulled, when the disc H outside
the door will be released and fly open, and simultaneously therewith the gong
will be sounded through the action of the continuous main or cord N, which
Q

page_text: extends along the entire suite of rooms, such main being pulled by the action
of the moveable pulley M of the branch connection or cord, as represented on
the right of Fig. 2, thereby looping or shortening the length of the main
cord N.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination of one con-
tinuous main or line extending throughout the length of a train, or between
any two or more situations, with branch connections or cords leading to the
localities from whence signals are to be given, and operating upon spring discs
or other equivalent indicators; such branch connections or cords being so
arranged with respect to the main line that the action of any one branch does
not affect any of the others, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
herein-before specified and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)