IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING UPON RAILWAY TRAINS, PARTS OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS GENERALLY
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Manley Martin, of Pinner, in the County
of Middlesex, and Samuel Alfred Varley, of 66, Roman Road, Hol-
loway, in the said County of Middlesex, Telegraph Engineers, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING UPON RAILWAY TRAINS, PARTS
OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS GENERALLY."
Sealed the 17th January 1868, and dated the 30th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Manley Martin
and Samuel Alfred Varley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 30th July 1867.
We, SAMUEL MANLEY MARTIN, of Pinner, in the County of Middlesex, and
SAMUEL ALFRED VARLEY, of 66, Roman Road, Holloway, in the said County
of Middlesex, Telegraph Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING UPON RAILWAY TRAINS, PARTS
OF WHICH APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS GENERALLY," to be
as follows:-
Our Invention consists in improvements in the arrangement and con-
struction of parts of the apparatus and galvanic batteries for electrical train
intercommunication described in the Specification of a former Patentgranted
to us, bearing date 5th April 1866, No. 966.

page_text: We make the connection between vehicle and vehicle by means of spring
hook and eye couplings; the hooks are made by preference of steel, and the
eyes of malleable cast iror,and may be galvanized for their better preservation.
The spring hooks grip the eye when the connections are coupled up, and are
provided with a stop to prevent the hooks from being opened beyond a certain
fixed amount in order that they may not be unduly strained, or they are so
constructed that they open and allow the eye to be pulled out if subjected to
undue violence.
To economize electric force and at the same time to give a heavy blow upon
à bell, we construct an apparatus which we call an electric lock. In this
apparatus the attraction of a soft iron armature which takes place on the
circuit being closed, liberates a light lever which in its fall liberates a second
lever, and this second lever knocks away a delent liberating a heavy hammer
actuated by a powerful spring which strikes the bell. This apparatus requires
resetting after each signal.
When for the sake of simplicity we employ only one insulated wire for train
intercommunication the circuit is closed through the insulated wire passing
along the carriages and through the apparatus by means of the handle of the
lever described in our former Patent, bearing date 5th April 1866, No. 966,
and the circuit may remain permanently closed until the levar has been reset ;
this liberates the electric alarums in the vans and on the engine, arousing the
attention of all the officials at the same moment, and necessites all the levers
being put straight before the train starts.
We construct our batteries in the following manner:-We make copper
chambers or cells; these chambers form the negative element of the galvanic
battery, and are usually closed, with the exception of the top, which is left
open for the insertion of sulphate of copper. When charging the battery the
copper chambers are nearly filled with crystals of sulphate of copper; a piece
of felt which fits the chambers is then placed over the crystals and rests on a
copper ledge attached to the inside of the copper chambers; the copper
chambers are then placed in jars made of any suitable insulating material,
and plates of zinc are placed in the jars a little distance above the copper
chambers. The connections between the copper chambers and the zinc plate
of the next cell are made by means of copper strips in the usual way. To
put the battery in action all that is necessary is to fill the jars with a weak
solution of salammoniac or sulphate of zinc.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Manley Martin and Samuel Alfred Varley in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th January 1868..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
MANLEY MARTIN, of Pinner, in the County of Middlesex, and SAMUEL ALFRED
VARLEY, of 66, Roman Road, Holloway, in the said County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Samuel Manley Martin and Samuel Alfred Varley, Her special licence
that we, the said Samuel Manley Martin and Samuel Alfred Varley, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel
Manley Martin and Samuel Alfred Varley, our executors, adininistrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term thereiu expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, aud vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING UPON RAILWAY TRAINS, PARTS OF WHICH
APPARATUS ARE APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS GENERALLY,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Samuel Manley Martin and
Samuel Alfred Varley, executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Alfred Varley, on behalf of
myself and the said Samuel Manley Martin, do hereby declare the nature of
our said 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 of improvements in thearrangement and construction
of parts of the apparatus and galvanic batteries for electric train intercom-
munication described in the Specification of a former Patent granted to us,
bearing date Fifth April, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, No. 966.

page_text: We make the connections between vehicle and vehicle by means of spring
hooks and eye couplings; the hooks are made by preference of steel and the
eyes of malleable cast iron, and may be galvanized for their better preservation.
The spring hooks grip the eyes when the connections are coupled up, and
are provided with a stop to prevent the hooks from being opened beyond
a certain fixed amount in order that they may not be unduly strained, or they
are so constructed that they open and allow the eye to be pulled out if
subjected to undue violence.
Toeconomize electric force, and at the same time to give a heavy blow upon
the bell, we construct an apparatus which we call an electric lock. In this
apparatus the attraction of a soft iron armature, which takes place when the
circuit is closed, liberates a light lever which in its fall liberates a second
lever, and this second lever knocks away a detent liberating a heavy hammer
actuated by a powerful spring. As the apparatus just described is somewhat
complex in its construction we prefer in most cases to employ a modification
of it, which may be employed either as a continuous ringing bell, or for
liberating a detent, and releasing a hammer actuated by a spring.
We construct the electro-magnets which form part of and actuate our alarums
in the following manner:-We take a piece of soft iron of a suitable size and
length for the core and flatten it out in the centre; we drill a hole through
the flattened portion and wrap insulated wire round the soft iron core. The
two extremities of the soft iron core are usually connected by a soft iron
bridge. The central portion is now divided or very nearly so, and a piece of soft
iron is mounted on an axle and moves just freely in the space of the centre of
the electro-magnet; this axle passes through the centre of a metal bar which
we call the striking lever, and to which it is attached; a hammer is attached
to one end of the striking lever, and a balance weight slightly heavier than
the hammer to the other. The normal position of the striking lever and
the piece of soft iron working in the centre of the electro-magnet is nearly at
right angles to the core of the electro-magnet when the circuit is open. When
the circuit is is closed the piece of softiron mounted on the axle arranges itself
in the same direction as the core of the electro-magnet moving nearly a
quarter of a circle and causing the hammer to strike a bell; the striking lever
may be made to knock away a detent and release a heavy hammer actuated
by a powerful spring. To make this alarum ring continuously when the
circuit is closed the balance weight at the lower end of the lever just pre-
viously to the bell being struck raises a lever, which we call the make-and
break lever and divides the circuit; the striking lever now assumes a vertical

page_text: position, and an arm projecting from it comes in contact with the make-and-
break lever and forces it into contact with an insulated piece of metal and
again closes the circuit. The make-and-break lever is mounted on an axle,
and is either a permanent magnet, oue pole of which works between two
pieces of soft iron, or it is made of soft iron and works between the poles of
two permanent magnets. Two or more of these electro-magnets may be.
arranged behind one another to obtain increased force, and as many arma-
tures mounted on the axle as there are electro-magnets. Instead of wrapping
the insulated wire surrounding the soft iron cores of the electro-magnets in
one continuous length we wrap it in sections. One end of the insulated wire
of each of the sections is joined together, and the other extremities of each of
the sections are also joined together in such a way that the electric current
flows in the same direction round the soft iron core through all the sections of
insulated wire. The advantages of this mode of construction are that a much
greater amount of power is obtained from a given amount of electric force, for
example, if the soft iron cores of the electro-magnets are wrapped with, say
10,000 convolutions of insulated wire in one continuous length opposing a
resistance of, say 10,000 to the passage of the electric current, if this insulated
wire be wrapped in ten sections, and these sections be connected side by
side, the resistance which will be opposed to the passage of an electric
current will be only 100. This modification of our electric lock and
method of constructing electro-magnets and alarums is shewn in Figures 10
and 11, and described and claimed in a Provisional Specification filed by
us on the Twenty-ninth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight.
We construct our batteries in the following manner:-We make copper
chambers or cells; these chambers form the negative element of the galvanic
battery and are usually closed, with the exception of the top, which is left
open for the insertion of sulphate of copper. When charging the battery the
copper chambers are nearly filled with crystals of sulphate of copper; a piece
of felt, which fits the chambers, is then placed over the crystals and rests on
a copper ledge attached to the inside of the copper chambers; the copper
chambers are then placed in jars made of any suitable insulated material, and
plates of zinc are placed in the jars a little distance above the copper
chambers. The connections between the copper chambers and the zinc plates
of the next cell are made by means of copper strips in the usual way. To put
the battery in action all that is necessary is to fill the jars with a weak solution
of sal ammoniac and sulphate of zinc. To protect the batteries from the frost

page_text: in cold weather we prefer to place them in a cupboard or box which may be
padded, and when the weather is very severe a hot water bottle or foot
warmer, similar to those in general use on railways, may be placed underneath
the batteries. To enable the batteries and alarums to be readily connected
or disconnected they may be hung from spring couplings, ifthought desirable.
When it is the practice upon railways to have a van in the immediate rear
of the engine and tender we prefer dispensing with the apparatus on the
engine, and to communicate from the vau to the engine by means of a
whistle fixed on the engine, and connected with the van by means of a flexible
Figure 1, A, A, is a spring hook attached to the carriages by means of
ordinary carpenters' screws, three of which are indicated in the Drawing; B is
the eye, to one end of which the coupling rope C is connected.
Figures 2 to 9 show our way of constructing couplings which release
themselves when unduly strained. D is a box made by preference of castiron
galvanized; E is a metallic hook actuated by a spring F, shown in Figures 3
and 4, which forcibly presses the eye of the coupling against the projection G.
Figure 3 is a back view of the box.
Figure 4 is a side view of a portion of the box, showing how the spring F
is attached to the hook. When the coupling ropes are unduly strained the
hook E opcus, as shown in Figure 5, and the hook and eye separate without
damaging the couplings.
Figures 6 and 7 show how the coupling ropes are attached to the carriages.
H is a block or clamp, which may be made of cast iron, and is screwed against
the vehicles, clamping at the same time the coupling ropes C, a portion of
which are indicated in the Figures. The coupling ropes contain one or more
conducting wires, one end is soldered to the insulated conductor running from
end to end of the vehicles, and the other to the eyes of the couplings.
Figures 8 and 9 show a back and front view of the box containing the
coupling hook, in which flat springs are employed in place of spiral springs.
Figure 10 shows our method of making a continuous ringing alarum, which
may also be employed for releasing a detent and liberating a hammer actuated
by a spring.
Figure 11 represents the electro-magnet separate; the same letters refer to
both Figures.
I, 1, is the soft iron core indicated by the dotted lines; J is the bridge

page_text: connecting the two extremities of the soft iron core; K is the piece of soft
iron mounted on an axle and working in the central space between the poles
of the magnet indicated by the dotted lines; L is the striking lever; L'is
the hammer attached to the upper end of the lever, and is the balance
weight; M is the make-and-break lever; N, N, are two magnets, between
which the make-and-break lever moves, and which arrest its motion. The
upper magnet is insulated from the metal work of the alarum, and when it is
in the position shown in the Figure the circuit is completed. O is an arm
projecting from the striking lever, which strikes the make-and-break lever,
and raises one end of it against the upper magnet, as shewn in the Drawing.
When the circuit is closed the striking lever assumes the position indicated
by the dotted lines and knocks away the detent P, the lever Q is then forced
back by the cam R actuated by the spring S and the bell T, a portion of
which only is shewn in the Drawing, is struck by the hammer U, as indicated
by the dotted lines. The hammer of the striking lever L, after knocking
away the detent strikes the bell V; just previously to its doing this the balance
weight attached to the lower end of the striking lever comes in contact with
the make-and-break lever, which assumes the position indicated by the dotted
lines; the circuit is now divided and the balanceweight by the action of
gravity raises the hammer of the striking lever, and the projecting arm O
comes in contact with the make-and-break lever, forcing it in contact with.
the upper magnet and closing the circuit.
Figures 12 and 13 shew one method of constructing galvanic batteries.
W is a chamber of copper burning the negative element ; W¹ is an orifice in
the upper portion to allow the insertion of sulphate of copper; the dotted
lines Xindicate the piece of felt or other suitable porous material which is
placed over the orifice W¹. Y is the zinc plate forming the positive element
of the battery.
Figure 13 represents a pair of these elements placed in a jar made of any
suitable insulating material. The cells and jars are represented round in the
Drawing, but they may be made square or any other suitable shape.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention for improvements
in signalling upon railway trains, parts of which Invention are applicable to
electric telegraphs generally, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, we wish it to be understood we do not claim the use of springs
for electrical couplings; what we claim is, the method of constructing
electrical couplings and the combination of the different parts, as described
in reference to Figures 2 to 9.

page_text: 2. The method of constructing the negative elements of what are known
as sulphate batteries, as described in reference to Figures 12 and 13.
In witness whereof, I. the said Samuel Alfred Varley, on behalf of
myself and the said Samuel Manley Martin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
SAMUEL ALFRED VARLEY. (L.S.)
. For self and S. M. MARTIN.
SAMUEL ALFRED VARLEY. (L.S.)
. For self and S. M. MARTIN.