Improvements in the Means for Establishing Electrical Communication in Railway Trains.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 24th July, 1889-Accepted, 24th Aug., 1889
IRUVIDIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Means for Establishing Electrical
Communication in Railway Trains.
1, JAMES CHARLES MARGETSON of Limpley Stoke in the County of Wilts, India
Rubber Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention consists in establishing continuous electrical communication from
engine to vehicle, and from vehicle to vehicle in railway trains by means, or with the
aid of the vacuum brako pipes and their connections, the said electrical communication
thus established being used either for working bells, or for telephonic or lighting
purposes, or for other purposes to which electricity can be applied in the train. The
vacuum brake pipes, therefore, not only perform the ordinary work of brake pipes, .
but also, with their connections, serve to form, or assist in forming, electrical
connection, so that free wires for this purpose can be dispensed with. The coupling.
together of the brake pipes establishes the electrical connection:
In carrying out my invention I can either utilize the coil of wire which ordinarily
exists in a vacuum brake pipe to conduct the electricity, or I can fix in the brake
pipe, by vulcanization or otherwise, a wire which is insulated from the metal work of
the vehicle and is in electrical connection with the brake pipe coupling, so that the
connecting together of adjoining couplings establishes electrical connection from
vehicle to vehicle.
My invention comprises a mode of connecting the wire in the vacuum brake pipe
to the insulated wire of the vehicle. I arrange the terminal of the wire of the brake
pipe so that it is brought into electrical connection either, directly or through the
intermediation of other wire or of wire gauze with the clip employed to fasten the
brake pipe to the vehicle connections, this clip being also in electrical connection
with the insulated wire of the vehicle. The clip is insulated from the metal work of
the vehicle.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Means for Establishing Electrical
Communication in Railway Trains.
'1, JAMES CHARLES MARGETSON of Limpley Stoke in the County of Wilts, India
Rubber Manufacturer, 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 :→
My invention relates to the establishing of continuous electrical communication
from engine to vehicle and from vehicle to vehicle in railway trains by means or with
the aid of the vacuum brake pipes and their connections, the electrical communication
thus established being used either for working bells or signals or for telephonic or
lighting purposes or for other purposes to which electricity can be applied in the
train. The vacuum brake pipes not only perform the ordinary work of brake pipes
but also with their connections serve to form or assist in forming electrical connection,
so that free wires for this purpose can be dispensed with. The attachment to each
other of the couplings of the brake pipes establishes the electrical connection.
In carrying out my Invention I utilize for the purpose of conducting the electricity
the coil of wire which ordinarily exists in a vacuum brake pipe, so that the
connecting together of adjoining couplings establishes electrical connection from
vehicle to vehicle through this coil wire.

page_text: My invention comprises a mode of connecting the wire in the vacuum brake
pipe to the insulated wire of the vehicle. I arrange the terminal of the wire of
the brake pipe so that it is brought into electrical connection through the inter-
mediation of other wire tor: of other suitable conducting material;-wire gauze for
example, with the insulated wire of the vebiclenor with the clip employed to fasten
the brake pipe to the vehicle connections, this clip being:then also in electrical
connection with the insulated wire of the vehicle; in ther-latter case the clip is
insulated from the metal work of the. vehicle.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings will serve to illustrate my invention; it
represents a side view one half in section of the two flexible pipes that connect
the metal brake pipes of two adjoining vehicles. a a are the metal brake pipes and
bb the flexible connecting pipes. cc are the ordinary metallic couplings carried at
the outer ends of the pipes bb, and which, when connected together in the usual
way. make continuity in the vacuum pipe between the two vehicles. is the
coil of wire which ordinarily exists in each of the pipes b and which I utilize for
the
purpose of conducting the electricity so as to establish electrical communication
from vehicle to vehicle. In the outer end of each pipe 6 I secure one or more
strips or a ring 9 of wire gauze (preferably of steel, iron or copper, tinned or not)
which is soldered to the coil of wire and makes metallic connection between the
said wire and the metal ring of the coupling. Thus the ordinary wires f in the
two pipes, bare metallically connected through the gauze. and the metal
couplings c c. Sometimes in order the better to ensure electrical connection
make the gauze strips with flanges has shown in Fig. 2 which I solder to the
metal ring of the coupling. Or I attach spring at one end to the coil of wire f,
its other end being in contact with the metal ring of the coupling. This spring i also
serves to make contact with a boss on the "stand" of the vehicle when the coupling
is uncoupled and thereby ensures completion of the circuit throughout the train.
At the inner end of each pipe & (see again Fig. 1) I connect the end of the coil of
wire with the insulated wire of the vehicle through the intermediation of a ring
or strip of wire gauze m embedded in the india rubber of the pipe b. n is the ordinary
clip used to connect the pipe 6 to the metal brake pipe a of the carriage., p is a band
of india rubber insulating the gauze m from the clip n.. Instead of the gauze m I can
connect the coil of wire to the insulated wire by a piece of wire. Or I can connect
the wire with the clip n by means of the gauze m'or a wire, the clip being in this
case in electrical connection with the wire and insulated from the metal work of the
vehicle.
It will be seen that with my invention the ordinary brake pipe couplings are
employed to establish electrical communication without such couplings being in any
way altered except for the addition of the gauze. or wires to electrically connect the
ordinary coil of wire with, on the one hand the metal ring of the coupling and, on
the other hand the insulated wire of the vehicle.
I do not claim broadly the utilization of the vacuum brake pipes of railway vehicles
and their connections for establishing electrical communication throughout a train, the
act of coupling the brake pipes together effecting the electrical connection, as this was
proposed before the date of my invention but so far as I am aware I am the first to
utilize in such a system the ordinary coil of wire in a vacuum brake pipe for the
purpose of establishing: communication and conducting the electricity, and the
ordinary brake pipe.couplings without alteration or addition.for, effecting the contact.
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 apparatus or system in which the vacuum brake pipes and their connections
are utilized for establishing electrical communication in railway trains, the employ-
ment or adaptation of the ordinary coils of wire in the flexible brake pipes as part of
the circuit or line for conducting the electricity, substantially as set forth.
2: The electrical or metallic connection of the ordinary, coil of, wire in a flexible

page_text: vacuum brake pipe at the one end with the metal coupling of such pipe, and at the
other end with the insulated wire of the vehicle, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
3. The means hereinbefore described for establishing electrical communication in
railway trains.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.