Improvements in the Gas-lighting Apparatus of Railway Carriages.
Year: 1895

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Gas-lighting Apparatus of Railway
Carriages.
I, ALEXANDER SPENCER, of 77 Cannon Street in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to enable the lights in the carriages throughout a
train to be readily raised and lowered as required by the guard or other person in
the guard's van. For this purpose each carriage is provided with a length of train
pipe I will for distinction call the lower main which at each end is furnished with a
cock and with a length of flexible pipe and with a suitable part coupling for
coupling to the corresponding pipe of an adjoining vehicle when needful.
At the upper part of each carriage there is likewise provided a pipe which I will
call the upper main and which is at each end (which may if desired be lower than
the intervening part for convenience in coupling) furnished with a cock and with a
length of flexible pipe and with a suitable part coupling for coupling to the
corresponding pipe of an adjoining carriage. The guard's van is provided not only
with similar lower and upper mains, cocks, flexible pipes and part couplings but also
with a connecting pipe which connects the lower main with the upper main and in
which connecting pipe there is introduced a controlling cock constructed with
a by-pass for permanent leak the arrangement being such that there will be always
a communication between the lower and upper mains but that the cross sectional
area of the opening for passage of gas through the controlling cock can be at any
moment altered by the guard or other person in his van, without the risk of
accidental extinction of the lights in the act of lowering them. Each carriage may
be provided with a gas reservoir in connection through a suitable regulator with its
lower main or some carriages may be without reservoirs and the regulation of the
gas from several reservoirs may be effected by one regulator suitably placed as for
example in the guard's van. With the above described arrangement it will be
understood that the gas flows through the connected lengths of lower main to the
connecting pipe in the guard's van through the controlling cock therein to the
upper main and thence in a reverse direction supplying the burners through
the branches that lead from the upper main into the respective compartments.
But I may combine my lower and upper mains their connecting pipe and controlling
cock with a system of reservoirs, regulators, and pipes such as heretofore employed
for lighting railway carriages, in which case 1 close the communication in each
carriage between the lower and upper pipes, cause the gas to pass through my lower
and upper mains and to pass from my lower main to my upper main through the
connecting pipe and controlling valve in the guard's van taking care that the
ends of the ordinary lower and upper pipes are by suitable cocks closed so as to
prevent escape of gas.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Gas-lighting Apparatus of Railway
Carriages.
I, ALEXANDER SPENCER, of 77 Cannon Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
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 :-
The object of this invention is to enable the lights in the carriages throughout a
train to be readily raised and lowered as required by the guard or other person in
the guard's van.
For this purpose I employ gas lighting apparatus constructed and arranged as
I shall now proceed to explain by reference to the accompanying illustrative
drawings wherein it is shown applied to a portion of a train,
Fig. 1 being a side elevation partly in section, and Fig. 2 a plan thereof,
Fig. 3 a plan of the underframing of the carriages and the portion of the
apparatus carried thereby, and
Fig. 4 a half vertical cross section of the guard's vau and a half elevation of the
opposite end of the same carriage.
Each carriage is provided with a length of train pipe 1, which I will for
distinction call the lower main, and which at each end is furnished with a cock 2
and with a length of flexible pipe 3 and with a suitable part coupling 4 for
coupling to the corresponding pipe of an adjoining vehicle when needful.
At the upper part of each carriage there is likewise provided a pipe 5, which
I will call the upper main, and which is at each end (which may, as
prefer, and
as is shown in full lines in Fig. 1, be lower than the intervening part for convenience
in coupling) furnished with a cock 6, and with a length of flexible pipe and with
a suitable part coupling 8, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, for coupling to the
corresponding pipe of an adjoining carriage. I prefer that the pipes 3 and 7 at
the adjacent ends of two adjoining carriages should be connected to the same part
coupling, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, such part coupling being provided with
separate passages for communicating with the pipes 3 and 7 respectively.
A suitable coupling for this purpose will be hereinafter described so that the two
adjacent pairs of pipes 3 and 7 of adjoining vehicles can be coupled up by
one operation. The guard's van is provided not only with similar lower and upper
mains, cocks, flexible pipes, and part couplings, but also with a connecting pipe 9
which connects the lower main 1 with the upper main 5 and in which there
is introduced a controlling cock 10 constructed in a manner well understood, with a
by-pass or permanent leak, the arrangement being such that there will be always a
communication between the lower and upper mains, but that the cross sectional area
of the opening for passage of gas through the controlling cock can be at any
moment altered by the guard or other person in his van, without the risk of
accidental extinction of the lights in the act of lowering them. Each carriage may
be provided with one or more gas-reservoirs 11 (two are shown) in connection,
through a suitable regulator 12 and pipe 12, with its lower main 1; or some
carriages may be without reservoirs, and the regulation of the gas from several
reservoirs may be effected by one regulator suitably placed, as for example in the
guard's van.
With the above described arrangement, it will be understood that the gas flows
through the connected lengths of the lower main 1 to the connecting pipe 9 in the
guard's van, through the controlling cock 10 therein to the upper main 5, and
thence in a reverse direction, supplying the burners, through branches at 13
that lead direct from the upper main to the lamps 14 of the respective
compartments.
I may, as shown in the drawings, combine my lower and upper mains 1 and 5 and

page_text: their connecting pipe 9 and controlling cock 10 with a system of reservoirs 11,
regulators 12, and pipes 15, 16 and 17 such as heretofore employed for lighting
railway carriages, the lower pipe 15 being connected to the corresponding train
pipe I by the branch pipe 12, and the upper pipe 16 extending along the top of the
corresponding carriage, being connected to the corresponding train pipe 5 by
a branch pipe 18, and to the lamps 14 by branches 13", the branches 13 in this case
being omitted. In this case I close the communicating pipe 17 in each carriage
between the lower and upper pipes 15 and 16 by means of its ordinary cock 17ª and
cause the gas to pass through my lower and upper mains and to pass from my lower
main 1 to my upper main 5 through the connecting pipe 9 and controlling valve 10
in the guard's van, taking care that the ends of the ordinary lower and upper
pipes 15 and 16 are, by suitable cocks, closed so as to prevent escape of gas.
Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive represent a coupling suitable for connecting together the
two adjacent pairs of pipes 3 and 7 of two adjoining carriages,
Fig. 5 being an elevation of one half thereof,
Figs. 6 and 7 showing sections on the lines x and y y respectively of Fig. 5.
Fig. 8 an elevation of the entire coupling put together, and
Fig. 9 a plan thereof.
Each of the halves 21, 21 of the coupling is provided with interlocking jaws or
engaging parts 22 and 22* having inclined or screw-like surfaces similar to those
provided in the well known Westinghouse coupling. Each half coupling is also
formed with two passages 23 and 24 arranged parallel to each other and terminating
at their outer ends in two parallel nozzles 25 and 26 arranged at an acute angle to
the periphery of the half coupling, and at their other end in two holes 27 and 28
formed in the flat or abutting side of the half coupling and arranged one on each
side of the centre thereof (Fig. 5). Each of the holes 27 and 28 is provided with
a ring 29, similar to those ordinarily employed, for forming an abutting or jointing
surface with the corresponding ring in the opposite holes of the other half coupling
when the two halves of the coupling are connected together.
It is to be understood that I do not herein claim the peculiar construction of
coupling just described with reference to Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive because I am making
application for other Letters Patent in respect of it, but I have deemed it proper
to explain that in carrying out my present invention such a coupling may sometimes
be advantageously employed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I do
not claim broadly providing a railway carriage with upper and lower gas mains for
lighting purposes but what I do claim is :-
1. For lighting railway carriages by gas the arrangement substantially as
described comprising the lower mains with connection to gas supply, the upper
mains in connection with the lamps, couplings for connecting together the mains of
different carriages, and connecting pipe with controlling cock or valve having
a by-pass or permanent leak whereby the gas supply to the lamps of a number of
connected carriages can be controlled by means of a single cock located in the
guard's van as set forth and liability to accidental extinction of the lights in the act
of lowering them be obviated or diminished.
2. My improved gas lighting apparatus for railway carriages, constructed
arranged and operating as herein before described with reference to and shown
in Figs.
to 4 inclusive of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 9th day of January 1896
ALEXANDER SPENCER.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, Chartered Patent Agent.