IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF COMBINED WHISTLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Arena Martin, of No. 18, Cannon Street,
in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 20th March 1866, and dated the 6th October 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Arena Martia
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
. 6th October 1865.
I, WILLIAM ARENA MARTIN, of No. 18, Cannon Street, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF COMBINED
WHISTLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the combining or arranging of two or more
whistles (for signalling) in such a manner that thereby a much greater
volume of sound is produced or given out when steam or air is forced into or
through them. In order to effect this I mount upon a spindle, say, for
example, two whistles of the bell form as usually employed for signalling on
locomotive or other steam boilers. These whistles are so carried or mounted
on the spindle that they may be moved to or fro, or adjusted on the spindle
within certain limits, so as thereby to regulate or determine the tone to be
produced. The whistles are also so placed that the openings or mouths of the
bells are opposite to each other; but between them I place a hollow cylindrical-

page_text: connecting piece of a diameter slightly exceeding that of the bell mouths of
the whistles, and I fit at each end of this cylindrical piece a flat disc of a
diameter slightly less than that of the hollow cylindrical piece, so as to leave
an annular space between it and the disc. In this cylindrical connecting piece
is cut away or cast out a circular or other shaped hole, and it is also mounted
upon or cast with a hollow neck or trunnion piece. The cylindrical connecting
piece is further provided in its interior with a bracket or bearing piece for the
purpose of carrying the spindle on which the whistles are mounted. I may
vary the form of the cylindrical connecting piece, and the internal bracket or
bearing piece, or increase the number of the brackets or bearing pieces, so as
to support a spindle or compound spindle or spindles, and carry a greater
number of the flat discs and bell whistles. I propose also in some cases to use
with the cylindrical connecting pieces whistles of other forms.
My Invention consists, secondly, in the employment of air instead of steam,
and in improved arrangements for supplying or forcing air to whistles for
producing the sound or signal. I employ for this purpose bellows-like
apparatus or blowing cylinders, which may either be single or double acting.
I fit the same in a frame or in a cylindrical or other shaped casing, and so
arrange that they, may be operated through, the intervention of connecting
rods or gearing by either a crank handle or by a lever and eccentric. I
connect the bellows-like or blowing cylinder arrangement either directly on to
the hollow neck or trunnion of the cylindrical connecting piece herein-before
described, or I may, in cases where of necessity the whistling arrangement is
placed away from the blowing apparatus; connect by means of pipes or tubing.
In order to maintain with certainty a continuity of sound I employ an arrange-
ment of triple; bellows, in which two bellows, are made, to, feed a third, into
which the tube connecting with the whistling arrangement is, led. I propose
to work the bellows or blowing arrangement by hand, or in cases, of, railway
trains by connecting the blowing arrangement by means of driving bands, or
gearing with the axles of the van or carriage in which it is placed.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, 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 said William Arena Martin, Her spécial licence that I,. the said
William Arena Martin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Arena Martin, my executors, admi
nistrators, 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 APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING BY MEANS
OF COMBINED WHISTLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that L. the said
William Arena Martin, 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 Invention, 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 William Arena Martin, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say:-
.
My Invention consists, firstly, in the combining or arranging of two or
more whistles (för signalling) in such a manner that thereby a much greater
volume of sound is produced or given out when steam or air is forced into or
through them. In order to effect this I mount upon a spindle, say, for
example, two whistles of the bell form as usually employed for signalling on
locomotive or other steam boilers. These whistles are so carried or mounted
on the spindle that they may be moved to and fro, or adjusted on the spindle
within certain limits, so as thereby to regulate or determine the tone to be:
produced: The whistles are also so placed that the openings or mouths of
the bells are opposite to each other, but between them I place a hollow
cylindrical connecting piece of a diameter slightly exceeding that of the bell
mouths of tlie whistles, and I fit at each end of this cylindrical piece, a flat
dix of a diameter slightly less than that of the hollow cylindrical piece so as
to leave an annular space between it and the disc. In this cylindrical
connecting piece is cut away or cast out a circular or other shaped hole, and
t is also mounted upon or cast with a hollow neck or.trunnion piece. The

page_text: cylindrical connecting piece is further provided in its interior with a bracket
or bearing piece for the purpose of carrying the spindle on which the whistles
are mounted. I may vary the form of the cylindrical connecting piece and
the internal bracket or bearing piece, or increase the number of the brackets
or bearing pieces, so as to support a spindle or compound spindle or spindles,
I
and carry a greater number of the flat discs and bell whistles. -
propose also
in some cases to use with the cylindrical connecting pieces whistles of other
forms,
In order that the nature of my Invention, and the means by which I effect
the same may be clearly described and ascertained, I append to this Speci-
fication a Sheet of Drawings having figures and letters of reference marked
thereupon, the like letters being used to denote similar parts in each
Figure.
In these Drawings Figure 1 is an outside view, showing a combination of
two whistles A, A, with the hollow cylindrical connecting piece B; Figure 2
is a longitudinal section of this combination; and Figure 3 is a transverse
section through the centre of the cylindrical connecting piece.. C is the
spindle supporting the whistle, which spindle is carried by the bracket or
bearing piece D; E, E, are the flat discs, between which and the hollow
cylindrical piece the annular space herein-before mentioned is left for the
exit of the steam or air; F is the hollow neck or trunnion piece.
Figure 4 represents a combination of five whistles. It is a plan view, in
which A, A, A, A, represent four of the whistles, which are suspended
horizontally, as in Figures and 2; the fifth whistle is suspended vertically,
the spindle or branch of the compound spindle carrying it being shown broken
off by C; B is the cylindrical connecting piece; C, C, C, C, the spindles or
compound spindle. The position of the flat discs for the four horizontally
bung bells will be evident from the position of the bells themselves, or by
E is the
reference to the relative position of these two parts in Figure 2.
flat disc for the vertically supported whistle not shewn,
"
My Invention consists, secondly, in the employment of air instead of steam, and
in improved arrangements for supplying or forcing air to whistles for producing
the sound or signal I employ; for this purpose bellows-like apparatus or blowing
cylinders, which may either be single or double-acting. I fit the same in a frame
or in a cylindrical or other shaped casing, and so arrange that they may be
operated through the intervention of connecting rods and gearing by either a
orank handle or by a lever and eccentric. I connect the bellows-like or blowing
cylinder arrangement either directly on to the hollow neck or trunnion of the
cylindrical connecting piece herein-before described, or I may, in cases where

page_text: of necessity the whistling arrangement is placed away from the blowing
apparatus, connect by means of pipes or tubing. In order to maintain with
certainty a continuity of sound I employ an arrangement of triple bellows,
in which two bollows are made to feed a third, into which the tube connecting
with the whistling arrangement is led. I propose to work the bellows or
blowing arrangement by hand, or in cases of railway trains by connecting
the blowing arrangement by means of driving bands or gearing with the axles
of the van or carriage in which it is placed.
Figures 5 and 6 in the Drawings represent one arrangement or form of my
bellows-like apparatus, which I find most effective in producing a continuity
of sound, the intensity or volume of which may be regulated at will.
Figure 5 is a front view, and Figure 6 a side view, of this arrangement,
which consists of two double-acting bellows G' and G, so placed or disposed as
to be worked simultaneously and feed a third, a receiver or reservoir bellows G³,
from which the air is forced to the whistling apparatus. In this blowing
arrangement air is admitted at the parts marked H, H, H, H, and is forced
into the pipe I, leading to the receiver or reservoir bellows G³, at J¹, J², J³,
and enters the bellows last named at J. A spiral spring K is placed above
the receiver or reservoir bellows for the purpose of regulating the supply of
air, a spring of any other suitable form or a weight may be used for the same
purpose. L is the pipe for conveying the air to the compound whistling
arrangement. Motion is given to the two double-acting bellows by means
of the eccentrics M, M, M, M, and their eccentric rods N, N, N, N. The
eccentrics are keyed on the shaft O, which receives motion either by the
crank handle P, or by means of the pulley Q, and strap from some rotating
mechanism; in the case of railway trains from the axle of a carriage or break
van. R is an arrangement for throwing the strap on or off the pulley, as may
be desired. When I employ this signalling apparatus for railway purposes,
and the trains are driven at high speeds, I find it advantageous to enclose the
whistles in a hood or cover open only in the direction in which it is desired
that the sound should travel. The pipe carrying the hood or cover and
whistles is so constructed that it can be turned or placed in any direction so
as to signal before or behind, as may be desired. To the hood or cover may
be fixed a lamp or lamps so placed that they shew a red light always in the
direction it is intended that the signal should be given.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be
distinctly understood that what I claim is the combining or arranging of
whistles as in the Drawings appended hereto illustrated, or as in this Specifi-

page_text: cation described; also the combination or mechanical arrangement of bellows-
like apparatus as in the Drawing appended to this Specification illustrated, or
as in this Specification described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Arena Martin, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
WILLIAM ARENA MARTIN. (L.S.)