Improvements in or relating to the Locking and Unlocking of Railway Carriage Doors.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 8th June, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 6th Oct., 1899-Accepted, 16th Dec., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Locking and Unlocking of
Railway Carriage Doors.
We, WALTER HELME, of 96, Prescot Road, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Dairyman, and HENRY HELME, of Overbury Street, Liverpool aforesaid,
Dairyman, and DANIEL HIGGIN, of 67, Edge Lane, Liverpool aforesaid, Butcher,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention which relates to the locking and unlocking of railway carriage
doors is carried out as follows. A shaft running the whole length of the train
is supported on the tops of the carriages in any suitable manner, and opposite
each carriage door an arm projects out from the shaft which on the rotation of
the shaft operates a sliding bolt which locks the door of the carriage. The rotation
of the shaft whereby all the doors are locked simultaneously is effected preferably
by means of a lever and intermediate bell crank or other levers located in the
guard's van, but any other well known mechanical devices may be employed.
Attached to the shaft on the opposite side to the arms which carry the locking
bolts are weighted arms which raise the bolts, or in other words unlock the
doors when the carriages are disconnected. In order to allow for the train
rounding curves and for inequalities in the height of the carriages the shaft is
connected between the carriages by an universal joint, and to allow for buffer
compression a sleeve or socket is provided into which the ends of the shaft (which
are square) fit, one end of the shaft having a groove into which a pin fixed to
the socket enters in such a manner that while allowing the shaft to slide freely
inside the socket its withdrawal is prevented.
Furthermore to make provision for the position of the carriages being reversed
a second shaft is provided similar to the one already described so that in whatever
position the cariages may be placed the connections can be made and the locking
or unlocking of the doors operated from the guard's van.
Dated this 7th dot of Tune 1900
Improvements in or relating to the Locking and Unlocking of
Railway Carriage Doors.
We, WALTER HELME, of 96, Prescot Road, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Dairyman, and HENRY HELME, of Overbury Street, Liverpool aforesaid,
[Price 8d1

page_text: Dairyman, and DANIEL HIGGIN, of 67, Edge Lane, Liverpool aforesaid, Butcher,
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 which relates to the locking and. unlocking of railway carriage
doors will be understood from the following description, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of railway carriages with our invention applied
thereto;
Figure 2, a plan;
Figure 3, an end sectional view showing the operating apparatus inside the
guards van;
Figure 4, an enlarged front view of the locking device applied to a door of a
carriage:
Figure 5, cross section thereof; and
Figure 6, enlarged view of the rotary rod at the coupling which operates the
locking bolts.
A are rotatable shafts running the whole length of the train, and supported
on the top of the carriages in any suitable manner. Opposite each passenger
carriage door B, an arm or crank C projects out from the shaft which on the
rotation of the shaft A operates sliding bolts D which simultaneously lock or
unlock the doors of the carriages. The rotation of the shaft whereby all the
doors are locked or unlocked simultaneously is effected preferably by means of
an eccentric and rod E, the latter operating the shaft A through the pivoted
lever connecting rod G and crank H. The shaft on which the eccentric is
mounted and secured is operated by the hand wheels I. Any other suitable
mechanical device may however be employed. There may if desired be attached to
the shaft on the opposite side to the arms C which carry the locking bolts D,
weighted arms which, when the carriages are disconnected, or when the pressure
that held the bolts down is removed, automatically raise the bolts D or, in other
words, unlock the doors simultaneously. In order to allow for the train running
round curves and for inequalities in the height of the carriages, the shaft A is
connected between the carriages by a universal joint, this joint having pivots
both at J, K and K¹ so as to make the shaft flexible at that part, and to allow
of bending in any direction. To allow for buffer compression, a square sleeve or
socket L is provided, into which the ends a of the shafts A which are also square,
fit, the sleeve L having a groove into which a pin M fixed to the end a enters in
such a manner that, while allowing the shaft to slide freely inside the socket, its
withdrawal is prevented. N is a spring catch fitted to the adjacent end of the
shafts on the adjoining carriage having a claw which engages the abutment O
on this sleeve L. This claw therefore couples the two lengths of shaft together
and prevents them being accidentally separated. When the carriages are
uncoupled, the catches N are disengaged from the abutments, and the sleeves lie
vertically in the position shown at back of guard's van. The pivots K are
arranged in a special manner, there being a circumferential circular groove M¹
in the shaft opposite the pivots between the jaws, and the pivots are arranged
with their extreme ends engaging in this groove. Q is a square shank on end of
shaft which engages in the jaw R. This square shank ensures that each length
of shaft shall allow of the two shafts rotating together, when the shank Q engages
in the jaw. When the sleeve L therefore is turned down in the position shown at
rear of brake van in Figure 1 of the drawings, the shank R is freed from the
jaw, and therefore the shaft revolves independently of the sleeve L.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. An apparatus for locking and unlocking railway carriage doors comprising

page_text: a rotary shaft running the whole length of each carriage, sliding bolts operated
by the rotation of said shaft which are arranged in proximity to the carriage
doors, a device for coupling said shafts together between the carriages so as to
allow of the train running round curves to allow for inequalities in the height
of the carriages and for buffer compression, and means for rotating the shaft at
one end so as to operate all the bolts simultaneously to lock or unlock the doors,
substantially as described.
2. In apparatus for locking and unlocking railway carriage doors in which
a rotary shaft running the whole length of each carriage is adapted when rotated
to operate the sliding bolts which lock or unlock each door, the device for
coupling each length of shaft between the carriages so that the carriage doors
of the whole train can be locked or unlocked simultaneously, said device com-
prising a joint so arranged as to allow that portion of the shaft between the
carriages bending in any direction, substantially as described.
3. In apparatus of the kind described, the device for allowing for buffer
compression, comprising a square slotted sliding sleeve mounted loosely on the
square end of the shaft, a projecting pin on the shaft sliding in the slot on the
sleeve, said pin and slot being so arranged that while allowing the shaft to slide
freely inside the sleeve, its withdrawal is prevented, in combination with a catch
fitted to the adjacent end of the shafting on the adjoining carriage adapted to
engage in a projection on the sleeve to couple the shafts together and prevent
them being accidentally separated substantially as described.
4. In apparatus of the kind described, the arrangement for causing the sleeve
to rotate when in line with the shaft but to cease from rotating when turned at
right angles to the said shaft, substantially as and for the purpose described.
5. In apparatus for locking and unlocking railway carriage doors, the arrange-
ment for rotating the shaft in the guard's van comprising an eccentric so arranged
that one half turn of the wheel will lock simultaneously the carriage doors
throughout the train while another half turn will simultaneously unlock them
substantially as described.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Patent Agents, of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London.