SELF-ACTING ATTACH- MENT TO BE APPLIED TO GATES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Walenn, of 46, Regent Street,
London, County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "SELF-ACTING ATTACH-
MENT TO BE APPLIED TO GATES."-A communication from Henry Davis, of
the United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Walenn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st October 1855.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WALENN, of 46, Regent Street, London, County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "SELF-
ACTING ATTACHMENT TO BE APPLIED TO GATES," being a communication from
Henry Davis, of United States, America, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a peculiar mode of hanging & working gates,
whereby they are rendered self-acting, so that they will open & close as a
vehicle passes along, the vehicle causing the gate to open before reaching it,,
& closing the gate after it has passed through it. Its application to a gate
across a railway will be considered; the gate consisting of two wings, meeting.
in the centre of the railway when shut. To the inner side of each gate post,
one on each side of the railway, there are secured two bearings, one near the

page_text: top of the gate post, & the other near the bottom of the gate post; in these
bearings vertical spindles are placed, so that they may revolve freely one to each
gate post. The wings of the gate are hung on to the spindles, so that they
may turn independently of the spindles, and have attached to the back post of
cach a friction roller. Each spindle has a cam fixed on it, the object of which
is to turn the wing loosely attached to its spindle by means of the friction
roller. This cam is merely the oblique section of a cylinder, & if the wing
was fixed whilst the cam was turning, the cam would only.raise. the wing. This
is does to a certain degree at once, if there are fixed catches to keep the gate
shut; but there is attached at one end to the upper bearing, & at the other end
to the upper hanging of the wing, a spiral spring, whose tendency, therefore, is
to keep the friction roller on the lowest portion of the cam; therefore when the
friction roller has been raised by the cam so as to enable the wing to clear the
fixed catch, the wing, to which is attached the friction roller, moves to let
the train pass. Both the wings are attached by this means to their respective
spindles. To the bottom of each of the vertical spindles is attached a bevel
wheel; which gearing each into-bevel wheels upon the same horizontal-rocking
shaft, is caused to revolve whenever a system of levers connected with the
crank of the rocking shaft is actuated by the depression of a frame, whose
center rests upon a spring suitably & properly fixed. A similar frame on the
other side of the gate serves by means of similar intermediate machinery to
bring the cams back to their original position, & thus to shut the gates.
It is evident, from the above description, that when the first wheel of the
train passes over the first frame the gates open, & when the second frame is
traversed the gates shut.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Walenn in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS: SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY WALENN, of 46, Regent Street, London, County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her, most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant. unto me,

page_text: the said William Henry Walenn, Her special licence that I, the said
William Henry Walenn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry Walenn, 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 "SELF-ACTING ATTACHMENT TO BE APPLIED TO GATES," a com-
munication from Henry Davis, of United States, America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Walenn, 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 Henry Walenn, 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 :—
This Invention consists in a peculiar mode of hanging and operating gates,
whereby they are rendered self-acting; so that they will.open and close as a
vehicle. passes along, the vehicle causing the gate to open before reaching
it, and closing the gate after it has passed through it.
In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 is, a longitudinal vertical section of the
improvement; Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of do. Similar letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in both Figures.
In the following description the improvement is applied to a gate on a
railway.. A, A, represent the rails of a track, and B, B, are posts placed at
each side of the track. The gate is formed in-two parts C, C, a part being
hung nto each of the posts. To the inner side of each post B there are
secured two bearings a, a, in which a vertical.rod D is placed; these rods are
allowed to turn freely in their bearings. The parts C, C, of the gate are hung
loosely upon these rods, so that they may turn thereon independently of the
Tods. Each rod has a cam 6 permanently secured to it at about its centre.
The cams are formed of cylindrical pieces of metal, their upper surfaces
being inclined or beveled, as shown in Fig. 1. To the back post c of each
part Ciofsithe gate there is attached a friction roller 'd; the friction rollers rest
upon the cams b...Around: the upper ends of the rods D'there are placed

page_text: but I claim, hanging the two parts C, C, of the gate on vertical rods D, D,
which are allowed to turn freely in their bearings attached to the posts B, B;
the rods D having cams b upon them, on which cams friction rollers d, attached
to the parts C, C, rest; the rods D, D, being connected by rods and levers to
frames or platforms I, I, at each side of the gate, arranged as shown, or in
an equivalent way, so that when said platforms are depressed by a vehicle
in passing upon them, the rods D and cams 6 will be turned, and the parts
C, C, of the gate opened and closed, as described; it being understood that
the gate, if small, may be formed of one part only, if desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Walenn, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
W. H. WALENN. (L.s.)