IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIONALS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Partridge, of Darlaston, in the County of
_Stafford, Surgeon, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
SIONALS."
Scaled the 28th November 1862, and dated the 14th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Partridge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th July 1862.
☐
I, SAMUEL PARTRIDGE, of Darlaston, in the County of Stafford, Surgeon,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the arrangement herein-after described of the parts
of a signal for railways, whereby the driver and passengers of a train arriving
at the signal may be informed of the time which bas elapsed since a train or
engine last passed the signal. The parts of the said signal are thus arranged:
-A sliding weight, having motion in a vertical line carries a rack, which said
ruck is prolonged upwards, or, carries a plate at its top. At the back of the
said plate is a dial or graduated glass plate, which constitutes the front of a
lamp. When the weight is raised, the plate on the rack covers one half of the

page_text: said dial or glass plate, that is, the whole of the right hand or left hand half
of the dial or glass plate, and when the weight is lowered, the plate carried by
it uncovers the whole of the dial or graduated glass plate. The rack situated
between the weight and plate engages with a toothed wheel on a horizontal
shaft, the said toothed wheel being connected with the said shaft, by means of
a pawl and ratchet wheel, so that when the said toothed wheel is turned by
the lifting of the rack, it moves without communicating motion to the axis.
On the same axis an escapement wheel, similar to that of an ordinary clock, is
situated, and an escapement and pendulum are connected in the ordinary
way with the said escapement wheel. When the weight, rack, and plate are
raised, they remain suspended, as the rack can only descend by the vibration
of the pendulum and the rotation of the axis carrying the escapement wheel ;
but when the pendulum is set in motion, the weight, rack, and plate slowly
descend, and the said plate slowly passes off the dial or graduated glass plate.
A lever fixed near one of the rails is arranged, so that on the passage of a train
the said lever shall be depressed, and by its motion it is made to raise the
sliding weight and also to set the pendulum in motion. The weight imme-
diately commences descending, keeping the pendulum in motion by its descent,
and the plate at the same time descends in front of the dial or graduated glass
plate. I prefer to arrange the parts so that the weight shall take fifteen
minutes in descending, and to divide the dial into three discs, so that when a
train arrives at the signal it will be known if the top disc be uncovered that
five minutes must have elapsed since the last train passed; if the second
disc is uncovered, ten minutes must have elapsed; and if all three discs are
uncovered, fifteen minutes must have elapsed since the last passage of a
train. But I do not limit myself to this form of dial, as graduation on a
glass plate in front of the lamp answers the same purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Partridge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
PARTRIDGE, of Darlaston, in the County of Stafford, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Samual Partridge, Her special licence, that I, the said
Samuel Partridge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Samuel Partridge, 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 RAILWAY SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Samuel Partridge, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Partridge, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the arrangement herein-after described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawing, of the parts of a signal for railways,
whereby the driver and passengers of a train arriving at the signal may be
informed of the time which has elapsed since a train or engine last passed tho
signal. The parts of the said signal are thus arranged :-A plate having
motion in a vertical line has a rack on one of its edges. The said rack
plate constitutes the weight by which the motion of a pendulum herein-after
referred to is maintained. The said rack plate works at the back of a dial or
graduated glass plate, and behind the said rack plate and dial a lamp is placed
at night. When the rack plate is raised, it covers one half of the said dial or
glass plate, that is, the whole of the right hand or left hand half of the dial or
glass plate; and when the rack plate is lowered, it uncovers the whole of the
dial or graduated glass plate. The rack of the rack plate engages with a
toothed wheel on a horizontal shaft, the said toothed wheel being connected
with the said shaft by means of a pall' and ratchet wheel, so that when the said
toothed wheel is turned by the lifting of the rack, it moves without communi-
cating motion to the axis. On the same axis an escapement wheel, similar to
that of an ordinary clock, is situated, and an escapement and pendulum are
connected in the ordinary way with the said escapement wheel. When the

page_text: rack plate is raised it remains suspended, as it can only descend by the vibra
tion of the pendulum, and the rotation of the axis carrying the escapement
wheel; but when the pendulum is set in motion, the rack plate slowly descends
and passes off the dial or graduated glass plate. A lever fixed near one of the
rails is arranged, so that on the passage of a train the said lever shall be
depressed, and by its motion it is made to raise the rack plate and also to set,
the pendulum in motion. The rack plate immediately commences descending,.
keeping the pendulum in motion by its descent, and at the same time passes
from behind or uncovers the dial or graduated glass plate. I prefer to arrange
the parts so that the rack plate shall take fifteen minutes in descending, and to
divide the dial into three disos, so that when a train arrives at the signal it
will be known if the top disc be uncovered that five minutes must have elapsed
since the last train passed; if the second disc is uncovered, ten minutes must,
have elapsed; and if all three discs are uncovered, fifteen minutes must have,
clapsed since the last passage of a train. But I do not limit myself to this
form of dial, as a graduated glass plate answers the same purpose.
Having described the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to explain;
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same;
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation a railway signal constructed according
to my Invention; Figure 2 is a back elevation of the same, with the plate of
the case removed; Figure. 3 is a side elevation (partly in section), and.
Figure 4 is a plan. The other Figures represent portions of the said signal,
and a modification of a portion thereof, as herein-after explained. The same
letters of reference are used to indicate the same parts in the several Figures.
a is a dial plate having, three transparent discs of glass or lenses b, c, d,;
situated over one another the remainder of the dial plate a being opaque;
at the back of the dial plate a a lamp is placed at night. The said lamp
is not represented in the Drawing. e is a sliding plate working in.
guides e, and furnished on one of its edges with a rack f, as represented in
Figure 2. The rack plate e on being raised covers one-half of each of the discs
b, c, d, and on descending passes from behind the said discs. The rack fengages
with 4. pinion g,
the said pinion being connected with the ratchet wheel h
on the axis i; k is an escapement wheel, which works loosely on the axis i, to.
which escapement wheel / motion is communicated from the ratchet wheel h S
through the pall ; m is an ordinary clock escapement, which on the rotation
of the escapement wheel k actuates the pendulum n. The rack plate con-
stitutes a weight, by the descent of which, when the pendulum n is set in,

page_text: motion, the vibration of the said pendulum is maintained. When the said
rack plate e has been raised it would remain suspended if the pendulum n were
not set in motion, as it can only descend by the rotation of the pinion g and
escapement wheel &; but when the pendulum is set in motion the said rack
plate e slowly descends and passes from off the dial plate a, and uncovers the
discs b, c, d. The manner in which a passing train or engine acts upon the
signal, is as follows:-o represents in section one of the rails of the railway;
P is a lever, the short end of which passes under the rail o; q is a bolt.
connected with the short end of the lever p.. On a train or engine passing,
over the rail o, the flange of the first wheel depresses the bolt 9 and lifts the
end p' of the lever p. The said end p² of the lever p engages in a slot in the.
bottom of the bar r, and as it rises lifts the said bar r and the short end &³ of
the levers, which said short end s² of the lever, s, engages in a slot in the bar r..
The jointed ends of the levers descends, the said jointed end turning up in
its descent, and engages below the piece t. The bar r. works in guides ³;;:
u is a rod sliding vertically in guides g, the top of the rod u being. imme-,
diately under the bottom of the rack plate e, and whenever the rod u is raised.
it raises the rack plate e. After the train or engine in passing has made the,
end of the lever s engage under the piece t, the lever p, bar r, and, lever s.
are restored to the positions represented in the Drawing, and the, rod, u and;
rack plate e raised by the weight of the lever p, aided by the spring w, which.
spring. bears on the end p³ of the lever p. In order, however, to prevent the
too rapid raising of the rod u and rack plate e by the action of the spring w..
I employ the bellows a to moderate the descending motion of the bar r. The;
bellows has a valve on its bottom opening inwards by which air enters, and;
a cock or valve y by which air escapes. The top of the bellows a is connected,
to the barr by the rods engaging in a hole in the said bar. As the bar r
rises the bellows a is suddenly expanded, and after the passage of the train,
the raised bar r slowly descends, its rate of descent being determined by the:
rato at which the air, escapes at y from the bellows a. As the bar r descends.
the end of the levers (which by the rising of the bar r had engaged under,
the piece t) lifts the said piece t slowly, and with it the rod u. and rack
plate e; at the same time the knife edge 2 carried by the piece t deflects as,
it rises the pointed bob 3 of the pendulum n.. When the lever.s has attained
the position represented in Figure 3, the end s escapes from under the piece t,;
which had rested upon it, when the said piece t, rod u, and knife edge 2 sud-:
denly fall. The motion is arrested when the piece t reaches the top of the
piece, upon which it rests. The deflected pendulum n being liberated com
2

page_text: mences a vibratory motion, which is maintained by the weight of the rack
plate e acting on the escapement. The pendulum continues to vibrate and the
plate e to descend until the bottom of the rack plate e rests on the top of
the rod u, when there being no longer any motive power to actuate the
pendulum it comes to rest. I prefer so to arrange the length of pendulum n
that the rack plate e shall take fifteen minutes in descending, so that at the
end of five minutes the disc b shall be uncovered; at the end of ten minutes
the discs b and c shall be uncovered; and at the end of fifteen minutes the
discs b, c, and d, shall be uncovered.
Figure 5 represents the front of the dial plate just after the passage of a
train; Figure 6 represents it five minutes after the passage of a train, and
Figure 7 represents it ten minutes after the passage of a train; Figure 1
represents it fifteen minutes after the passage of a train.
The valve or cock y may be opened so wide as to allow the bar r to descend
and the plate e to be raised, and the pendulum n set in motion within five or
ten seconds after the train or engine has acted on the lever p. Instead of
making the passing train or engine act on the bar r in the manner already
described, the arrangement represented in plan and elevation in Figure 8 may
be adopted. A curved plate 4 is jointed to the rail o at 5. The free end of
the plate 4 is connected by the rod 6 to the bell-crank lever 7, the longer arm
of which engages in a slot in the bar r. On the passage of a train or engine
in either direction the flange of the first wheel passes between the lever 4 and
the rail o, and presses it from the rail, the lever turning upon its joint 5. As
the lever 4 recedes from the rail o it acts through the rod 6 on the bell-crank
lever 7, and lifts the bar r. The
passengers or driver of a railway train or
engine can see how long a time has elapsed up to fifteen minutes since the
passage of a previous train or engine. Although I have described and repre-
sented a dial plate having only three discs, the whole of which are uncovered
in fifteen minutes, yet the parts of the signal may be arranged to uncover
the discs in a longer or shorter time, and more than three discs may be
employed. Any form of dial which can be uncovered by the descent of a
sliding plate may be used with my Invention to indicate the time which has
elapsed since the passage of a train or engine.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention the improvements in railway signals, herein-before

page_text: described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, com-
bining and arranging, substantially in the manner herein-before described and
illustrated, the parts of signals for railways, whereby the driver and passengers
of a train arriving at the signal may be informed of the time which has
elapsed since a train or engine last passed the signal.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Partridge, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
SAMUEL PARTRIDGE. (L.S.)