An Improved Distress Signal or Means of Communication between Railway Passengers and Company's Servants.
Year: 1898

page_text: An Improved Distress Signal or Means of Communication between
Railway Passengers and Company's Servants.
I, RACHEL ROSELLA LOCKWOOD, of Valley Road, Liversedge, in the County of
York, Sweet Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the attention of company's
servants and most particularly of persons in charge of trains shall be called in cases
of emergency or distress and at the same time indicating in an unmistakable manner
the compartment from which the signal has been given.
In order to accomplish this I provide a vertical rod of iron or other suitable material
square in section at the top and made with a toothed rack at the back working in
connection with a pinion fixed on a horizontal shaft or arbor on the roof of the
carriage through which the upper portion of the rod projects. At the outer end or
ends of the horizontal shaft are fixed arms bearing flags, discs, or other objects likely
to attract attention similar to those in use on hired vehicles. In a normal state the
indicator lies flat on the roof but when the vertical rod is made to drop the indicator
stands erect and remains so, until replaced in its former position previous to the
alarm, by a person authorized to do so. Near the top of the rod inside the compart-
ment and on either side of the squared portion are arranged two saw-toothed ratchets
with their teeth pointing in opposite directions into which engage two pawls supported
on pins in the frame work of the carriage and kept pressed against the rod by ineans
of flat springs so as to prevent movement either way until one of the pawls is
liberated. One of the said pawls is extended in length so as to form a handle to be
grasped by the person requiring to raise an alarm. The other pawl has a pin or
suitably formed key hole whereby the person authorized inay, with a similarly
formed adjusting key, ease the pawl when resetting the apparatus after use.
A little below the squared portion of the vertical rod is a projecting piece or finger
which acts as a stop against the rod falling too far and also as a thumb or finger-piece
to lift the rod into position again after it has been dropped. The said projection
works in a slot in the covering by which the vertical rod is boxed in for neatness and
security. The vertical rod is fixed against the back of the compartiment in the centre
or other suitable position and is continued down through the seat and floor of the
carriage, their being no means of communication with the rod except by the extended
pawl handle, the adjusting key and the projecting finger. Underneath the carriage
seat and fixed thereto is a helical spring, also enclosed, through which the rod passes
and which is to help the rod to fall quickly when the extended pawl handle is
operated.
At the extreme end of the rod beneath the carriage floor is formed a joint which
bears a double ended rocking lever. At one end the said lever is formed into a knob
or hammer for the purpose of striking a gong; at the other end it is flattened out
and bent in the form of an arc of a circle so as to rest on the face of a lantern or
toothed wheel when the vertical rod is dropped. The lantern or toothed wheel is of

page_text: coarse pitch and is fixed on the axle of the carriage wheels. A flat spring is fixed on
the rocking lever and made to bear against the vertical rod so as to press the lever
on to the teeth of the revolving wheel.
From the above description it will be apparent that when the pawl with the
extended arm is pulled down the vertical rod is released and is pressed down by the
spring beneath the seat. The upper end of the rod actuates the external signal whilst
the lower end simultaneously presses the rocking lever into contact with the revolving
toothed wheel on the axle, which causes a rapid. vibration to be set up and the
hammer end of lever caused to operate on a gong fixed in a convenient position under
the floor of the carriage.
Dated this 4th day of May 1898.
An Improved Distress Signal or Means of Communication between
Railway Passengers and Company's Servants.
I, RACHEL ROSELLA LOCKWOOD, of Valley Road, Liversedge, in the County of
Yorkshire, Sweet Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the attention of company's
servants and more particularly of persons in charge of trains shall be called in cases
of emergency or distress and at the same time indicating in an unmistakable manner
the compartment from which the signal has been given.
My invention consists essentially in the use of visible signals mounted at the out-
side or roof of the railway carriage and operated from inside the carriage by means
of a vertical rod and ratchet and pawl mechanism, the said vertical rod when operated
bringing into position a lever for operating a gong or other audible alarm and also
raising the alarm signals on the carriage roof to a visible "danger" position.
The invention will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which,
Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of a railway carriage showing my invention
as it would appear when fixed in position to anyone seated opposite and
Fig. 2 a longitudinal sectional elevation as it would appear outside on a platform,
say, supposing it to be thus exposed to view.
The same letters apply to the same parts in both figures. A is a vertical rod of
iron or other suitable material square in section at the top B and made with a toothed
rack C at the back which works in connection with a pinion D fixed on the horizontal
shaft or arbor E that has at its outer ends fixed arms bearing flags G which may be
discs or other objects likely to attract attention when similarly placed. On either
side of the upper end of vertical rod A, on the squared part, are the saw-toothed
ratchets H and J, and on either side of these again are the two pawls K and L which
are so pivoted as to be able to engage with ratchets H and J. The said pawls K and L
are pressed against the ratchets by means of suitable springs M and N attached to
the pins bearing the pawls or fixed in any other convenient way for the purpose.
Pawl K shows an extension forming a handle while pawl L is operated by means of a
key made to fit on to its boss which is suitably formed to receive it. Pawl K prevents
rod A from falling and pawl L prevents it from rising until liberated by the key.
O is a projecting finger fixed on the vertical rod A working in a slot, shown dotted,

page_text: Underneath the carriage
in the casing in which the mechanism is encased, at P.
seat is shown the spring R which is fixed on the vertical rod A and presses against
the underside of the carriage seat. S is the bottom end of vertical rod A forked and
fitted with pin and eyes so as to make a joint or fulcrum for the lever T to work in.
T is a lever with one end flattened at V and rounded at X, thus forming a tappet,
and swings on the fulcrum S. Z is a flat spring fixed securely to rod A and pressing
loosely on lever T at its flattened end so as to depress it on that side, other suitable
means can be substituted for the like purpose. a is a lantern or toothed wheel of
coarse pitch fixed in a convenient position on the axle of the carriage wheels, b and c
are gongs fixed to underside of the floor of the carriage by a screwed stud, bolt,
bracket or other similar means.
My invention operates as follows. In case of alarm the elongated handle of the
pawl K is depressed thereby releasing the vertical rod A which is caused to drop
by the pressure of the spring R forcing it downwards until the rocking lever T
at the lower extremity of the rod comes in contact on the flattened end with the
lantern or toothed gear a on the carriage axle which as each tooth catches the
lever vibrates and vigorously strikes the gong or gongs b and at the other
extremity. The vertical rod A in falling revolves the horizontal arbor E by means
of the rack and pinion C and D thereby raising the signals G into a vertical
position where they are easy to observe from the outside and in which position
they remain until an authorized person comes and releases the pawl L by means
of the key provided for the purpose, when the rod is raised by lifting up the
projecting finger P and lowering the signals from their danger position and refixing
pawl K ready for operating again when required.
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:-
1. In an alarm apparatus for railway trains the combination of a lever, gongs,
tappet, and horizontal signal bar with vertical rod and rack and pinion as and for
the purpose herein before described.
2. The general arrangement, construction, and combination of parts forming the
improved alarm for railway trains substantially as described and as shown in the
accompanying drawings.
TAYLOR & FIRTH,
Osborne Chambers, 48, Sunbridge Road, Bradford, and
Swan Chambers, 69, Market Street, Manchester,
Agents for the Applicant.