Improvements in Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1892-Accepted, 17th Sept., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
I, TEODORO RODRIGUEZ Y FERNANDEZ of El Escorial, Madrid, in the Kingdom
of Spain, 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 relates to railway signalling apparatus which is designed to
prevent collision.
Referring to the diagram Figure 1 A, B and C represent three railway stations,
each having on either side thereof a dial which is provided with an indicating
needle adapted to be operated by means of electricity. These dials are connected
in pairs one dial of each station being connected with that of the next station by
means of wires or conductors, that is to say the dial E of station A is connected by
cables C C with dial E' of station B the dial E" of station B with the dial E of
station C by cables c¹ c¹ and so on. Each dial is provided with the name of the
station to which it is attached, and also with the name of the station with which it
is connected each dial also bears three inscriptions placed in the positions repre-
sented by the dark lines on the dials see Figure 1 two of these inscriptions indicate
"train on the line " and the third "line clear." Between the stations A and B
I have represented a train L and another L' between the stations B and C
Figure 1.
I will now describe how collisions of trains may be avoided by the use of my
apparatus.
Suppose now that a train L with a number of waggons is stopped at the station A
ready to leave for B. The signalman at A will ask for the departure to that of B
which departure we suppose is granted, because the line is clear at the moment the
departure is allowed by the chief of station A, the signalman will operate the
indicator and the needles n n' of dials E E' at the stations A & B will be placed in
the same direction as the departing train, and both will indicate "train on the line "
in which position they will stand until the arrival of the train L at B; the signalman
of this last station will then operate the indicator so as to make the needles n n' to
indicate line clear.
If at this point a train L' is starting from station C towards B the moment the
chief of C gives a signal with his whistle that the train can leave the signalman
will by means of the improved apparatus cause needles p p of the dials EE to
assume a direction corresponding to that of the starting train, and will indicate
"train on the line" keeping this position until the train L reaches the station B
after which the signalman at B will operate the needles p¹ p to indicate "line
clear."
Suppose now that two trains L L leave at the same time the stations A & C
respectively and that for some reason one of the said trains, for example L has to
stop on its way thus giving the train L' time to arrive first at the station B, in such
a case this last train will not leave B on any account even if the chief and signalman
at station B should have forgotten to communicate the departure given to the train L
and admitting a like omission on the part of the railway employees at A because the
driver need only glance at the dials E E' to see that the needles of these dials
indicate "train on the line."
The telegraph department or signal box of each railway station is provided with
dials corresponding to the dials on the outside of the station each set of dials
accurately indicating the same as the other set. But supposing that the railway
employees at the stations B & A omit to look at the dials, then the engineer guard
or other attendants of the train L or even the travellers themselves would make the

page_text: chief at B understand that he had made a mistake, in allowing the train to leave,
when there was another on the way, as was clearly pointed out by the dials. By this
means a collision of the trains becomes almost impossible provided there is no
mistake in the position of the needles.
Suppose now that a train is about to leave the station B towards the station A
and that on hearing the signal for the train to depart the signalman at B is confused
and causes the needles of E' E to indicate "line clear" the chief at B and the
railway employees at A will at once perceive his mistake and will hasten to point it
out to him and moreover the engineer and the attendants in the train, will require
that the needles should be properly placed, before moving the train forward. Such
error should be more easily detected if instead of operating on dials E E this
should have been done on the dials E" E as in this case to the foregoing demands
the railway employees at C would join their own.
The installation of the indicator at all the stations on a railway affords practical
means of preventing collisions, because as it is evident that an individual may make
a mistake, thereby causing serious accidents owing to his being obliged to attend to
his duties for a great number of hours at a time so it becomes morally impossible
that so many individuals engaged in different ways should all make the same
mistake, at the same time respecting the same train much more so, if we consider that
after the adoption of the improved apparatus every train on starting from a station
leaves a mark of its departure behind which is very clear to everyone.
The means for operating the needles of the dials is aş follows: At every station
is arranged four devices as at H Figures 2 to 5 one for each dial every two dials
being connected together and with another two dials at the adjacent station by
means of electric conductors. Figures 2 to 5 show the installation for two stations A
and B. The devices H H of station A are connected together and with H" H"
of station B by means of conductors ce as shown in the drawing..
The mechanism comprises a shaft E E¹ supported in bearings S S¹ S₁ a cord or
rope is wound upon a drum Q fixed to the said shaft to this cord or rope is attached
a weight P. D is a toothed cylinder also fixed to the said shaft E E¹ this shaft
being moreover provided at its end E with a needle or pointer V as shown. Fis
an electro-magnet having an armature a to which is attached a stop piece c and
which in its ordinary position is kept in engagement with the teeth of the cylinder D
by means of springs thus preventing the rotation of the shaft E E¹.
2"
The mechanism acts as follows. At the moment the circuit between the stations A
and B is closed or shut by the interrupters or circuit closers Y Y₁ the current from
the battery P✶ will traverse the four electric magnets F F F F attracting the
armatures a a¹ all all with the stop pieces c c¹ cell thereby releasing the four
shafts of the devices H H H H which being moved by the weights P P¹ P¹ pi
will turn their respective needles or pointers. When the said needles reach the
desired position the circuit is opened at Y or Y' and the stop-pieces c cell c¹ll will
prevent the further rotation of their respective shafts. It will be understood that
the devices H HH" H" being equal the four needles will always indicate or
come opposite the same inscription.
The drawing shows the electro-magnets in series they may however be in
derivation moreover the devices H H H H might be substituted by quadrant
telegraph receivers; in this case a handle belonging to the quadrant system must be
used, to operate the receivers.
The rectangles M M M M in Figures 2 to 5 represent devices similar
to H H H H
I wish it understood that I may modify any of the details of my apparatus without
departing from the nature of my invention.
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 a railway system in which an electric telegraph is used for directing the

page_text: movements of the trains the combination of indicating dials arranged in pairs inside
as well as outside the station or signal box, the said outside dial being arranged one
at each end of the station or signal box.
2. In a railway system the combination of electro magnets for indicating on dials
when the line is clear or when a train is on the line and means for permanently
indicating the corresponding inscriptions on a dial at the next adjacent station
substantially as hereinbefore set forth and shown in the drawings.
3. In a railway signalling arrangement in which dials are used provided with
inscriptions thereon, the combination of an electromagnet with a shaft and other
mechanism herein before set forth actuated by means of electricity in such a manner
that any inscription may be indicated at the same time on the corresponding dial of
the next station which is connected by cables, substantially as hereinbefore described
and set forth in the foregoing Specification and shown by way of example in the
drawings.
4. In the improved apparatus the combination of the several parts for the
purposes hereinbefore specified.
Dated this 11th day of June 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.