Improvements in Fog Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left. 10th Oct., 1889-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1889
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fog Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
ISAAC FRANCIS TAYLOR No. 1 Prospect Terace White Post Lane Manor Park in
the County of Essex Wheelwright do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
1
The Apparatus is fixed at the side of the Line, and is provided with a reservoir
which has a suterable number of holes in which the detonators are placed, the reservoir
may be made to any height to suit the number of detonators required to be placed
theirin.
Beneath the said reservoir is a wheel which has a suitable number of holes which
contain one detonator in each.
Receiving a fresh detonator after one has been exploded when it arives in a vertical
position with the reservoir. The wheel is advanced by a Ratchet attached to the
ordinary signal or otherwise. When the wheel is advanced it places a detonator on a
Lever which when required to be exploded, the Lever rises and brings the Detonator
in contact with a suitable bearing when the detonator is exploded and the lever is on
its return to its lowered position the detonator is caught by a slide or shoot and thus
slides from the apparatus. The lever is caused to rise by the wheel of the engine or
train passing over a crank when the detonator is not required to be exploded the
crank is lowered out of the reach of the wheels of the engine or train.
D
TA
1 1
Chan 10eu
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fog Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
I ISAAC FRANCIS TAYLOR 1 Prospect Terrace, White Post Lane Manor Park in the
County of Essex Wheelwright, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention for improvements in fog signalling apparatus for railways relates to
means or apparatus for the purpose of enabling the signalman when the ordinary
semaphore signal arm is placed at danger to also place a detonating signal in position
to be exploded by a hammer or striker actuated by the passing train or by the wheels
of the train thus dispensing with the services of fog men during fogs: and has for
its object to provide an improved construction of reservoir for holding the supply of
detonators and an improved arrangement of mechanism for feeding the said detonators
from the reservoir to the position for being exploded when the semaphore arm
is put in its danger position and should the detonator previously fed forwards be un-
exploded of returning it to the reservoir, and of removing the case of a detonator
exploded by a passing train and for actnating the hammer or striker.
In fog signalling apparatus constructed according to my invention, when a train
approaches the semaphore signal at danger it passes over and depresses a counter-
weighted pedal lever actuating by means of a cam and detent a hammer lever which
forces a detonator on the lever into contact with an anvil and explodes it, the pedal
lever being retained in its lowered position and the hammer lever returning by its
own weight, the detonator case being caught by prongs and guided out of the
apparatus. When the signal is lowered to safety the train passes on and on the signal
being again put at danger a fresh detonator is fed on to the hammer lever, the
detonator previously on the lever, if unexploded, being passed again into the reservoir.
When the signal is lowered to safety the pedal lever is lowered out of the way of a

page_text: the cam actuating the detent has passed it, the detent is returned to position for
actuating the haminer.
and
In the accompanying two sheets of illustrative drawings
Fig. 1 is a plan of fog signalling apparatus constructed according to my invention
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same.
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section to an enlarged scale shewing the
mechanism for actuating the hammer lever and for holding and feeding the
detonators and
Fig. 4 is an elevation shewing the pedal lever and the manner of connecting it
with the other mechanism.
Connected to the signal hand levers by rods 1 and working in suitable guides 2 are
sliding rods 3 controlling the various points connected to them. A projection 4 is provided
on each rod 3 so that when any rod is forced forward by the signal man a sliding bar 5
is also carried forward through a definite distance the semaphore signal being then at
line clear. When the rod 3 is withdrawn, the sliding bar 5 is returned to its norinal
position by a T shaped lever 6 one arm of which constantly bears against a roller 7
in a bracket 8 fixed on the har 5, another arm carrying the adjustable counter-
weight 9, and the end of the remaining arm being pivotted at 10. The bar 5 can thus
be put to line clear position by any one of the signal hand levers and returns to the
danger position when all the said levers are in their danger positions.
-
The reservoir for the detonators is cylindrical in shape and is provided with a
number of symmetrically arranged cylindrical compartments 11. It is attached to the
base plate 15 by means of bolts and is open at the bottom. A feed plate 13, having
openings 14 corresponding to the compartments 11 and extending to the periphery,
works between the bottom of the reservoir and an annular base plate 15. On the
lower side of the boss of the feed plate 13 which extends through the annular base
plate are a series of ratchet teeth. On a central shaft 12 is a double armed pawl 16
engaging with the ratchet teeth and forced into gear by the counterweighted lever 17.
The pawl 16 is actuated by the bent arm 18 connected to the sliding bar 5 by the
link 19. When the bar 5 is moved towards the right to the danger position as shown
by the action of the signal man the feed plate 13 is rotated through a space equal to
the distance between the centres of two adjacent compartments 11. In order to lock
the feed plate 13 in position a rectangular bar 20 is arranged to slide in a hole in the
base plate 15 and take into recesses 21 in the plate 13 corresponding to the compart-
ments 11, being forced therein by means of the counter weighted lever 22 pivotted
at 23, and being withdrawn therefrom by means of the bracket 24 on the sliding
bar 5 acting on one arm of the lever 22.
The pedal lever 25 is placed close to and parallel to one of the rails and is pivotted at
one end to a fixed support 26. Its other end is connected by a link 27 to a lever 28
mounted on a shaft 29 carrying a counterweighted lever 30 tending to keep the free
end of the pedal lever 25 in its raised position. An arm 31 carrying a cam or
roller 32 is also mounted on the shaft 29 and when the pedal lever is depressed the
cam or roller 32 acts upon a detent 33 pivotted at 34 to the hammer lever 35 itself
pivotted at one end to a fixed support 36. The other end of the hammer lever
normally takes into a slot 37 in the base plate 15 exactly opposite one of the com-
partments 11 of the detonator reservoir. This compartment unlike the others is open
both at the periphery of the reservoir and also at the top and is not provided with
detonators. It will readily be seen that, when the feed plate 13 is rotated by the action
of the signal hand levers and the compartments Il are full of detonators the
detonator in the feed plate exactly under that compartment 11 behind the empty
compartment is fed on to the hammer lever the other detonators in the feed plate
being advanced through one division and that if a detonator is on the hammer lever
it is carried by the feed plate exactly under that compartment 11 in front of the
empty compartment and is fed forwards at every movement of the feed plate until it

page_text: again comes on to the hammer lever and if there is no detonator on the hammer lever
a detonator will drop from the said front compartment into the feed plate to be fed
towards the hammer lever. The compartment at the front of the empty compartiment
is thus first completely emptied of its detonators, then the one at the front of it and so
on until all the compartments are emptied. When the hammer lever 35 is operated
by the cam or roller 32, the free end of the lever is forced to rise carrying with it a
detonator and exploding it on the anvil 38: the cam or roller passes beyond the detent
and the hammer lever again falls, the pedal lever being kept depressed, the cam or
roller having passed beyond the detent and being prevented by it from returning.
When the hammer lever 35 falls with the detonator case, the case is caught by
prongs 39 through which the lever 35 works freely, and is guided out of the apparatus;
the prongs 39 are pivotted to a fixed support at 40 so that when the hammer is rising
with a detonator they are forced out of the way by the detonator and as soon as it
has passed they return by their own weight. On the explosion of the detonator the
train is brought to a standstill until the semaphore signal is lowered to safety when
the roller 41 on the arm 42 attached to the sliding bar 5 comes in contact with the
arm 31 and further depresses the pedal lever out of the way of the wheels of the train
and by means of the link 43 pivotted to an arm on the detent 33 and to the sliding
bar 5, swivels the detent out of the path of its actuating cam or roller. When the
train has passed, the semaphore signal is raised to danger and the sliding bar 5 is
forced back against the projections 4 by means of the T shaped lever 6 and counter-
weight 9 causing the feed plate to advance and place a fresh detonator on the hammer
lever; also the cam or roller passes the detent and allows the pedal lever to rise
so as to be again capable of being actuated by a passing train and the detent is
swivelled round so as again to be in the path of the cam or roller. When the sema-
phore arm is at danger and is lowered to safety, the detent is moved out of the way
of the cam or roller and the pedal lever is depressed by means of the roller 32 acting
on the arm 31 out of reach of the wheels of the train so that a detonator is not
exploded.
Weights 44 provided with guide rods passing through the top of the detonator
reservoir press the detonators into the feed wheel when an empty slot comes opposite
them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
-
In fog signalling apparatus.
1. The construction of the reservoir for holding the detonators consisting of a
number of symmetrically arranged cylindrical compartments each capable of holding
a number of detonators open at the bottom and supported on an annular base plate
and of a feed plate working between the annular base plate and the cylindrical
reservoir and provided with openings corresponding with the said compartments and
extending to its periphery one of the said compartments being open at the periphery
substantially as described.
2. The arrangement of mechanism for feeding the detonators from the reservoir
consisting of a circular feed plate working between a cylindrical reservoir provided
with symmetrical compartments open at the bottom and one of which is also open at
the periphery and an annular base plate the said feed plate being provided with
openings extending to its periphery corresponding with the compartments of the
reservoir and being automatically rotated through one division when the semaphore
signal arm is put in its danger position substantially as described and for the purposes
set forth.
3. The arrangement of mechanism for actuating the hammer lever consisting of a
cam actuated from a pedal lever operated by the wheels of the engine or train and
tself actuating a detent pivotted to the hammer lever and connected by a link to the
sliding bar operated from the signal hand lever substantially as described and for the
purposes set forth.

page_text: 4. The arrangement of mechanism for removing the empty detonator cases from the
hammer lever consisting of a pair of prongs through which the said lever works and
which is pivotted to the main frame so as to allow of the passage of the detonator in
the one direction only substantially as described.
5. The arrangement and construction of mechanism substantially as described with
reference to the drawings.
Dated ibis 10th day of October 1989
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.