IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FASTENING OR CONNECTING THE WIRES EMPLOYED FOR TRANSMITTING ELECTRIC SIGNALS ON RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, of Prince's Gate, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, Spinster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FASTENING OR CONNECTING THE WIRES EMPLOYED
FOR TRANSMITTING ELECTRIC SIGNALS ON RAILWAY TRAINS,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alice Isabel Lucan
Gordon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition,
on the 22nd February 1867.
I, ALICE ISABEL LUCAN GORDON, of Prince's Gate, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, Spinster, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FASTENING OR CONNECTING THE WIRES
EMPLOYED FOR TRANSMITTING ELECTRIC SIGNALS ON RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention is designed principally for the purpose of connecting the
signal wires described and referred to in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me the Fifth day of June, A.D. 1865, No. 1548, but it is also
equally applicable to connecting the wires used in other systems where a
current of electricity is the medium employed for transmitting the signals.
The Invention consists of a coupling so formed that upon sliding the two
halves together in a longitudinal direction the respective wires are brought by
means of flat metallic springs into electric contact, that is to say, No. 1 wire

page_text: of one carriage into contact with No. 1 of the other carriage, No. 2 with
No. 2, and so forth, whilst at the same time Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are entirely
insulated from each other. An additional spring with a T head is also pro-
vided in each half of the coupling, which when the two halves are disconnected
from each other connects the springs of Nos. 1 and 2 wires together, but
when the two parts of the coupling are joined these T-headed springs press
against and force each other out of contact with the springs of the said wires,
and hence the continuity of the electric current is not broken; the use of
these T-headed springs is as follows:-The two parts of the coupling are
retained together when in working position by means of spring catches, which
will resist any ordinary vibration or shock to which the coupling may be liable
when the train is travelling under ordinary circumstances, but if from the
breakage of the coupling chains (or otherwise) a carriage should become
detached from the train the two parts of the coupling will be drawn asunder,
and the T-headed spring will connect the wires Nos. 1 and 2 together, thus
completing the circuit at that point, and a signal will consequently be auto-
matically transmitted to the guard. The body of the coupling may be made
of hard wood, hardened india-rubber, or gutta percha, or of any other suitable
material or composition which is a non-conductor of electricity. The form and
construction of the two halves of the coupling are identical, so that no diffi-
culty will occur in whatever order the carriages may be placed, or if one or
more of the carriages should be turned round or reversed in position. The
removal or addition of a carriage or carriages will also be perfectly easy, and
will not in any way interfere with the electrical arrangements, as the wires
are connected or disconnected instantaneously by simply sliding the two parts
of the coupling together or pulling them asunder..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon. in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALICE
ISABEL LUCAN GORDON, of Prince's Gate, Hyde Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Spinster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto..

page_text: me, the said Alice Isabel Lucau Gordon, Her special licence that I, the said
Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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
Kingdon of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FASTENING OR CONNECTING
THE WIRES EMPLOYED FOR TRANSMITTING ELECTRIC SIGNALS ON RAILWAY TRAINS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alice Isabel Lucan
Gordon, 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 Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention is designed principally for the purpose of connecting the
signal wires described and referred to in the Specification of Letters Patent,
dated 5th June, A.D. 1865, No. 1543, but it is also applicable equally to con-
necting the wires used in other systems where a current of electricity is the
medium employed for transmitting the signals.
The Invention consists of a coupling so formed that upon sliding the two
halves together in a longitudinal direction the respective wires are brought by
means of flat metallic springs into electric contact, that is to say, No. 1 wire
of one carriage into contact with No. 1 of the other carriage, No. 2 with
No. 2, and so forth, whilst at the same time Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are entirely
insulated from each other. An additional spring with a T head is also
provided in each half of the coupling, which when the two balves are dis-
connected from each other connects the springs of Nos. 1 and 2 wires
together, but when the two parts of the coupling are joined, these T-headed
springs press against and force each other out of contact with the springs of
the said wires, and hence the continuity of the electric current is not broken.
The use of these T-headed springs is as follows:-The two parts of the
coupling are retained together when in working position by means of spring

page_text: catches which will resist any ordinary vibration or shock to which the coupling
may be liable when the train is travelling under ordinary circumstances; but
if from the breakage of the coupling chains (or otherwise) a carriage should
become detached from the train the two parts of the coupling will be drawn
asunder and the T-headed spring will connect the wires Nos. 1 and 2
together, thus completing the circuit at that point, and a signal will conse-
quently be automatically transmitted to the guard.
The body of the coupling may be made of hard wood, hardened india-
rubber, or gutta percha, or of any other suitable material or composition which
is a non-conductor of electricity. The form and construction of the two
halves of the coupling are identical, so that no difficulty will occur in whatever
order the carriages may be placed, or if one or more of the carriages should
be turned round or reversed in position. The removal or addition of a
carriage or carriages will also be perfectly easy, and will not in any way
interfere with the electrical arrangements, as the wires are connected or dis-
connected instantaneously by simply sliding the two parts of the coupling
together or pulling them asunder.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improved
Apparatus for Fastening or Connecting the Wires employed for Transmitting
Electric Signals on Railway Trains," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect; and in order that the same may be distinctly understood,
I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:―
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 is a face view, and Figure 2 a back
view of one half of my improved coupling drawn full size, and Figure 3 is a
transverse section of the same; and I may here repeat that both halves of the
coupling are precisely alike, as will be seen on reference to Figure 4, which
is a longitudinal section of the two halves in juxtaposition, but slightly
removed from each other; Figure 5 is a side view of the coupling complete
in the position which it assumes when connecting the ends of the wires
together.
a, a, is the body of the coupling, to which are attached three metallic
springs b, b, c, these springs being free at one end and connected at the other
(by soldering or otherwise) to their respective wires d, d, e, the wires d
and d¹ being the wires which conduct the signals from the passenger to the
guard, and the signal wire e being the medium or communication between the
guard and engine driver. These springs are insulated by means of india-

page_text: rubber or other insulating material f,f; g, g, are metallic staples or hasps
on the face of the coupling, and h, h, are corresponding spring catches on the
back of the same. It will be evident that upon sliding the two halves of the
coupling together in a longitudinal direction, as seen in Figure 5, these
catches will hold the two halves in contact, and as the springs b, b, c, project
a small degree beyond the face they will become slightly depressed, and hence
will establish a metallic or electric contact between their respective wires, and
thus the continuity of the said wires from one end of the train to the other
will be ensured so long as the two halves of the coupling remain in contact.
But in order to give notice to the guard in the event of this continuity being
broken (either by the breaking away of a carriage from the train or other-
wise) I employ a fourth metallic spring i, i, fixed to the body of the coupling
at one end and free to move at the other. This spring is also insulated like
the others, but has no wire connected to it at the fixed end; instead of this it
carries a T head j, j, at its free end, the object of which is to establish metallic
contact between the wires d and d' whenever the two parts of the coupling
are separated. It will be seen that this fourth spring i, i, is more bowed, and
projects beyond the face of the coupling more than the springs 6 and 6', and
hence when the two faces of the coupling are brought into contact this spring
is depressed more than the others, and its T head is consequently forced out
of contact with the wires d and d', which remain perfectly insulated from
each other, as seen in dotted lines at Figure 5, but whenever (owing to the.
breaking of a coupling chain or otherwise) one half of the coupling becomes
detached from the other the head j, j, of this spring i, i, establishes a metallic
or clectric contact between the two wires d and d', thus completing the
metallic circuit, and transmitting a signal to the guard. It will be seen that
the surfaces of the staples g, g, and of the spring catches h, h, are slightly
curved, so that although they will hold firmly enough to resist any amount of
vibration or shock to which the coupling may be liable when the train is
travelling under ordinary circumstances, yet the two parts of the coupling will
be drawn asunder, whenever (from the breakage of a coupling chain or
otherwise) a carriage becomes detached from the train.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
"Improved Apparatus for Fastening or Connecting the Wires employed for
Transmitting Electric Signals on Railway Trains," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I would remark that I claim as my Invention the construction of a
coupling for connecting the signal wires, substantially as above described and
exhibited in the annexed Drawing, without confining myself to the exact form

page_text: or dimensions of the various parts, nor to the materials of which the same may
be composed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
ALICE I. L. GORDON. (L.s.)