CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING SIGNALS AND POINTS ON COMPLETE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Henry Emmens, of 8, Old Jewry, in
the City of London, Scientific Referee, and Ernest Charles Rippin,
of the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING SIGNALS AND POINTS ON
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Stephen Henry Emmens
and Ernest Charles Rippin at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition and Declaration, on the 14th June
1873, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment-
Act, 1852.

page_text: WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF WORKING SIGNALS AND 'POINTS' ON RAILWAYS AND IN
THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR," and have petitioned Her Majesty
to grant unto us, our executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration
that we are the true and first Inventors thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Stephen Henry Emmens, and
Ernest Charles Rippin, do hereby declare that the following Complete
Specification, under our hands and seals, fully describes and ascertains
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, in and by the following statement and accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The Invention relates more particularly to that system of working the
points or switches on railways, in which the apparatus giving motion to
the same is in connection with the signals, denoting danger when the
points are opened, and is designed for the purpose of simplifying such
mechanism so that a person with the most ordinary capacity could work
them without danger, as the parts giving motion to the signal and the
points are dependant on each other and can in no wise be moved for the
purposes desired, only in the direction of safety.
The improvements consist in the peculiar disposition, construction,
and adaptation of a system of levers in connection with the points and
signals of railways, which we propose to place in the signal boxes or
other convenient situation or localities along the permanent way of
railways, and to be used in lieu of the present system of apparatus
employed for actuating the signals and points on the same, the arrange-
ment and purposes of which may be thus described; but in order that
the novelty of the Invention may be more clearly understood, we will
describe as an example the adaptation of the improvements in their
simplest form, that is, for the purpose of working the points at a single
crossing, and the signal in connection therewith. For this purpose we
support upon fulcra in a segmental or other suitable form of framing
two levers, from which fingers project in a straight or curved direction.
These levers by preference are placed so that their projecting fingers
will work in a direction at right angles to each other, being guided in
such movement by means of slots or guides formed in the framing
supporting the levers. The length of finger projecting from each lever

page_text: is determined by the amount of throw or movement each lever is required
to give when transmitting the motion necessary for working the points
or signals to which the levers are connected, such connection being
made in the ordinary and well-known manner now adopted. For
instance, when the levers are in their normal position, that is, at the
time when the points are closed and the signal "all right," the finger
projecting from the signal lever will extend beyond the point of inter-
section of the guide or grooves in which the levers move, that is, the
end of such projecting lever will form an abutment in the line of throw
or movement of the switch or "points" lever that will prevent the
switch lever being moved until the signal lever has been thrown over
so as to set the signal at "danger," at which time and when in such a
position the guide or groove in which the switch lever moves will be
clear for the passage of the same, and which when thrown over so as to
open the "points" will be left in such a position that its projecting
finger will form a counter abutment or lock across the point of inter-
section of the two grooves, which will prevent any movement or
disturbance of the signals from their position of "danger" until the switch
lever is again brought back for the purpose of 'closing the points, at
which time the signal lever is free and can be placed in its normal
position. If desired a counterbalance or other equivalent can be placed
in connection with the signal lever that will bring it back so soon as the
switch abutment has been removed, in the manner described. Thus it
will be seen that by the simple appliance of the lock bars or projecting
fingers to switch and signal levers arranged to move in grooves or
guides, in the manner described, it will be impossible for a pointsman
or other person to work the switches or points levers on a line of
rail without first placing the signal in connection with the same at
"danger."
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained
in detail, we have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings made upon a
scale of about 1½ inch to the foot, similar letters of reference being
marked upon corresponding parts on all the Figures alike.

page_text: signal, are shewn. In these Figures, which are given as an example of
the application of the Invention in its simplest form, a, a¹ is the framing
of the apparatus; b, the switch lever provided with the segmental
finger 6¹; and c is the signal lever provided with a similar finger c¹.
These levers are supported by their fulcra in the bracket d secured
to or forming part of the framing a, the disposition of which is so
arranged that they will move on their fulcra at right angles to each
other, each lever being separately connected by means of the rods b³
and c³, one to the switch and the other to the signal. The slots or guides
in the framing a and a¹ in which these levers move correspond with the
radial throw of the projecting segmental fingers 61 and c¹ of the levers
and c. When in their normal position the projecting finger c¹ of the
signal lever c will extend a distance in its guide slot a² that will enable
it to close in or lock up the groove or guide slot a' of the switch lever b,
when in this position the finger 61 of the switch lever 6 extends the
length of its guide slot up to the point of intersection, that is, from the
lever when at rest, and the "points are closed up to the point of
intersection of the slot in which the signal lever c moves, and in which
position the end of the finger c¹ of the lever c forms an abutment that
prevents any movement of the lever 6 until the signal lever has been
pulled over so as to place the signal at danger, at which time, that
is, when the signal lever has been moved so as to place the signal at
"danger" the switch lever is free to move a distance that will open the
switch. During the time this is being accomplished, that is, from the
time of the first movement of the switch lever when opening the points,
the finger 6¹ of the same closes in the end of the groove in which the
signal lever moves, thereby causing a lock or an abutment that prevents
the return of the signal lever until the points are again closed.
"
The Drawings represent the levers in the position they would assume
when the points are open and the danger signal on. The weights 6*
and on the levers b and c are provided for the purpose of steadying the
same when thrown over their centres of motion.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together
with the method of carrying the same into practical effect, we wish it
to be distinctly understood in conclusion that although we have only
shewn and described as an example the application of our improvements
to a switch on one line of rail, and to the signal in connection therewith,
the same may be multiplied and arranged in combination as desired,

page_text: and modified in form or construction to suit the various localities to
which the improvements may be applied, so long as the essential features
and which we claim as our Invention, are retained, viz., the novel and
peculiar adaptation, arrangement, and combination of levers, together
with their construction and connection with the switches and signals
of railways, to be employed in the manner and for the purpose as
herein-before described, set forth, and fully illustrated in the Drawings
attached.
In witness whereof, we, the said Stephen Henry Emmens, and
Ernest Charles Rippin, have hereunto set our hands and seals,
this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.