IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKING APPARATUS FOR GOVERNING THE MOVEMENT OF RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS, AND IN THE MODE OR METHOD OF APPLYING, COMBINING, AND ACTUATING SUCH APPARATUS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Saxby, of the Firm of Saxby and Farmer,
Canterbury Road, Kilburn, Railway Signal Engineers, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKING APPARATUS FOR
GOVERNING THE MOVEMENT OF RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS, AND IN THE
MODE OR METHOD OF APPLYING, COMBINING, AND ACTUATING SUCH APPARATUS."
Sealed the 31st December 1867, and dated the 31st July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Saxby at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st July
1867.
I, JOHN SAXBY, of the Firm of Saxby and Farmer, Canterbury Road,
Kilburn, Railway Signal Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOCKING APPARATUS FOR
GOVERNING THE MOVEMENT OF RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS, AND IN THE MODE OR
METHOD OF APPLYING, COMBINING, AND ACTUATING SUCH APPARATUS," to be as
follows:-
Instead of locking the point and signal levers as heretofore by means of
locking gear consisting of longitudinally or transversely sliding locking plates,
or vibrating and other descriptions of bars having stops or shoulders therein
or thereon, and other forms of locking pieces and such like contrivances fitted
or mounted and made to work within the main framing of the apparatus for
A

page_text: and signal levers work.
the purpose of acting upon or against some portion of each lever, usually
between its fulcrum and the quadrant or sector rails between which the point
Instead also of placing the locking gear or moving
portions of the locking apparatus in such a position as to act upon each
lever at or near the lower extremity thereof. And instead also of employing
rocking shafts with cranks, rods, or levers, and with hooks and other similar
appliances (or the mechanical equivalents therefor) mounted either bebind
or before the point and signal levers, at or near the lower ends thereof, and
actuated or set in motion by such hand levers through or by means of con-
necting rods (or their equivalents), for the purpose of setting in motion or
calling into action some lock, stop, gripping piece, clamp, socket, or other
similar contrivance for directly grasping, locking or holding, fixing or securing
in any prearranged position any one lever (or several levers), whilst some
other lever or several levers are set free or become unlocked. And whether
such mechanical stopping be effected as against the lever at some point
between its fulcrum and the quadrant frame or sector rails, or. above them,
or at any other part of the point or signal lever. And whether such locking or
stopping be in or at the vertical or straight portion thereof, or in or at an
angular or bent portion thereof, if such movement of the locking and inter-
locking gear be produced solely by the movement of a point or signal lever, or
during its movement in the arc of a circle, i.e., from its place of rest to
some other part or portion of the quadrant or sector within which it works.
By the present Invention I am enabled to lock and unlock the points and
signals by means of detached locking gear or apparatus placed or mounted as
hereafter described, that is to say, by means of mechanical contrivances of
various kinds which are not mounted or fitted within (nor contained and
moving within) the main frame or frames, or between the levers at some
point between the fulcrum of each lever and the quadrant or sector bars
within which it moves, and are not also as heretofore acting directly as a stop
upon or against any portion of a hand lever, neither do I by my present
Invention employ any moveable clip, sleeve piece, or collar for the purpose
of alternately entering upon and being removed from the top of the hand
piece (or handle proper) of a point or signal lever; when for the purpose of
holding such lever the collar or its equivalent is passed over it, or when for
the purpose of releasing such lever the collar (or its equivalent) is lifted off
or removed therefrom, and where moreover the alternate movements up and
down or back and forth of such collar are produced by the point or signal
lever whilst moving through the arc of a circle. Now I place the locking
gear or apparatus constructed and arranged according to this Invention in

page_text: any convenient position so as to be seen and readily got at for the purposes
of examination and repair, as also for the purpose of enabling the operator
to see at a glance which of the signals or points are locked and which are
unlocked. I connect such detached locking gear or apparatus to the point
and signal levers by means of connecting rods either jointed directly to the
handle at the upper end of each lever, or to the band piece or knuckle of the
sliding bolt at the back of the lever, or to the sliding bolt itself at some
convenient part of its length; and in some cases where I employ two sliding
bolts one at front and the other at the back of the lever such bolts may be
connected together and be made to act alternately; thus by the movement.
upwards (or downwards) of the sliding bolt in the act of unbolting the lever
(or it may be in the act of bolting), the point or signal lever being released
from the notch in the quadrant or sector rails, the locking of some levers and
the unlocking of others is effected either wholly or in part by such unbolting;
or the act of moving the spring handle or knuckle of the sliding bolt, or an
articulated portion of the hand lever prior to the actual movement of the
lever through the arc of a circle being made available for performing one step
or stage of locking, whilst the movement of the lever through the arc of a
circle will perform a second or some other or further act of locking upou
either the hand piece, the knuckle, or the spring catch of the sliding bolt, or
upon the sliding bolt itself, or upon the upper end of a point or signal lever
as may be found most convenient in each particular application of the improved
locking apparatus according to this Invention.
For some purposes I prefer to employ a series of sliding bars either alone:
or in combination with vibrating bars and locking plates, and to place and
dispose such locking apparatus at a convenient height above the floor of the
operator's box, and I either dispose the locking bars or levers horizontally
one above the other or one behind the other, so that they may be connected
as herein-before mentioned with the spring bolt or bolts, or the movable
handle, or an articulated portion of the signal or point levers, or it may be
connected directly to the point or signal levers, or in some cases by means of
a crank or its equivalent with the upper portion of a signal or point lever.
Through the connection with the sliding bolt, spring catch, or hand lever (as
the case may be) the limited motion or movement necessary for unbolting
the lever is employed to move the locks or locking gear for the purpose of
bolting or fastening such of the signal or point levers, or the signal and point.
levers together, as should be bolted, or to perform an initial locking of some-
other levers, whilst the movement of the lever thus set free through the arc
of a circle completes the locking of the other levers or such of them as should

page_text: be locked, and at the same time unlocks such of the other levers as should be
unlocked; and when the lever which has just been moved has been brought
from its normal position to some other point in which it is intended the lever
shall be held securely and be bolted the unbolting of other levers may then
be effected by the release of the spring catch, hand piece, or knuckle of the
sliding bolt or bolting apparatus upon its being caused to take into the notch
in the quadrant, or into the equivalent means employed for receiving the
sliding or other bolt, and such contrivance and arrangement of apparatus for
bolting may operate at the upper instead of the lower end of the point or
signal levers.
In some cases for the purpose of still further acting upon the locking gear
or apparatus disposed and worked in the manner herein-before described I
connect therewith a series of sliding plates having holes or slots therein for
the purpose of receiving pins or the ends of rods, which pins or rods may be
connected with and operated from the cranked end of a point or signal lever,
so that when the lever handle is pulled over or moved in one direction or
another the corresponding pin or bolt is moved into or out of the hole or
holes, and so further assists in producing any required locking or bolting
action, either directly upon the levers or upon the sliding bolt, or on the
spring catch, or other fastening of such levers; or such last-mentioned arrange-
ment may be employed as a part of the main locking gear or apparatus, and
be placed in front of the operator as before described.
By the novel mechanical arrangement of the locking and bolting gear or
apparatus as also consequent upon the disposition of the locking and bolting
gear or apparatus in front of or directly in view of the operator, I am enabled
by means of indicators affixed to the locks, slides, or locking bars, one opposite
to or corresponding with each lever, and having a number thereon corres-
ponding with the lever which actuates it, enabling an indication to be given
of the levers which are locked, as also affording a means of directing the
attention of the operator to which of the levers he has next to pull over for
effecting the necessary unlocking and signalling, so that his time need not be
uselessly expended in experimentally testing the state of the levers.
Heretofore the locking of the lever only could be indicated, but no means
has bitherto been provided for indicating by which lever or levers such locking
has been effected or which levers are set free by any particular unlocking
action, so that the attention of the operator may be directed to the levers
upon which he should next operate, and thus enable him to rapidly and with
greater facility and perfect certainty manipulate the various levers connected
with the point and signal working of the most complicated junctions, or the

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Saxby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAXBY, of the Firm of Saxby and Farmer, Canterbury Road, Kilburn,
Railway Signal Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Saxby, Her special licence that I, the said John Saxby, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Saxby, my executors, administrators, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF LOCKING APPARATUS FOR GOVERNING THE MOVEMENT OF RAILWAY
POINTS AND SIGNALS, AND IN THE MODE OR METHOD OF APPLYING, COMBINING, AND
ACTUATING SUCH APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Saxby, 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 the said John Saxby, 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
and accompanying four Sheets of Drawings:-
Instead of locking the point and signal levers as heretofore by means of
locking gear consisting of longitudinally or transversely sliding locking plates,
or vibrating and other descriptions of bars having stops or shoulders therein
or thereon, and other forms of locking pieces and such like contrivances fitted
or mounted and made to work within the main framing of the apparatus for

page_text: the purpose of acting upon or against some portion of each lever, usually
between its fulcrum and the quadrant or sector rails between which the point
and signal levers work. Instead also of placing the locking gear or moving
portions of the locking apparatus in such a position as to act upon each lever
at or near the lower extremity thereof. And instead also of employing rocking
shafts with cranks, rods, or levers, and with hooks and other similar appliances
(or the mechanical equivalents therefor) mounted either behind or before the
point and signal levers at or near the lower ends thereof, and actuated or set
in motion by such hand levers through or by means of connecting rods (or
their equivalents) for the purpose of setting in motion or calling into action
some lock, stop, gripping piece, clamp, socket, or other similar contrivance for
directly grasping, locking or holding, fixing or securing in any prearranged
position any one lever (or several levers) whilst some other lever or several
levers are set free or become unlocked. And whether such mechanical stop-
ping be effected as against the lever at some point between its fulcrum and
the quadrant frame or sector rails or above them, or at any other part of the
point or signal lever. And whether such locking or stopping be in or at the
vertical or straight portion thereof or in or at an angular or bent portion
thereof, if such movement of the locking and interlocking gear be produced
solely by the movement of a point or signal lever, or during its movement in
the arc of a circle, i.e., from its place of rest to some other part or portion of
the quadrant or sector within which it works..
By the present Invention I am enabled to lock and unlock the points and
signals by means of detached locking gear or apparatus placed or mounted as
hereafter described, that is to say, by means of mechanical contrivances of
various kinds which are not mounted or fitted within (nor contained and
moving within) the main frame or frames, or between the levers at some
point between the fulcrum of each lever and the quadrant or sector bars
within which it moves, and are not also, as heretofore, acting directly as a
stop upon or against any portion of a band lever; neither do I by my present
Invention employ any movable clip, sleeve piece, or callar for the purpose of
alternately entering upon and being removed from the top of the hand piece
(or handle proper) of a point or signal lever when for the purpose of holding
such lever the collor or its equivalent is passed over it, or when for the
purpose of releasing such lever the collar (or its equivalent) is lifted off or
removed therefrom, and where moreover the alternate movements up and
down or back and forth of such collar are produced by the point or signal
lever whilst moving through the arc of a circle; but I place the locking gear
or apparatus constructed and arranged according to my Invention in a con-

page_text: venient position, as herein described and illustrated, so as to be seen and
readily got at for the purposes of examination and repair, as also for the
purpose of enabling the operator to see at a glance which of the signals or
points are locked and which are unlocked. I connect such detached locking
gear or apparatus to the point and signal levers by means of connecting rods
either jointed directly to the handle at the upper end of each lever or to the
hand piece or knuckle of the sliding bolt at the back of the lever, or to the
sliding bolt itself at some convenient part of its length; and in some cases,
where I employ two sliding bolts, one at front and the other at the back of
the lever, such bolts may be connected together and be made to act alter-
nately; thus by the movement upwards (or downwards) of the sliding bolt in
the act of unbolting the lever (or it may be in the act of bolting it), the point
or signal lever being released from the notch in the quadrant or sector rails,
the locking of some levers and the unlocking of others is effected either wholly
or in part by such unbolting; or the act of moving the spring handle or
knuckle of the sliding bolt or an articulated portion of the hand lever prior to
the actual movement of the lever through the arc of a circle being made avail-
able for performing one step or stage of locking, whilst the movement of the
Hever through the arc of a circle will perform a second or some other or
further act of locking upon either the hand piece, the knuckle, or the spring
catch of the sliding bolt, or upon the sliding bolt itself, or upon the upper end
of a point or signal lever, as may be found most convenient in each particular
application of the improved locking apparatus according to this Iuvention.
For some purposes I prefer to employ a series of sliding bars either alone
or in combination with vibrating bars and locking plates, and to place and
dispose such locking apparatus at a convenient height above the floor of the
operator's box, and I either dispose the locking bars or levers horizontally one
above the other or one behind the other, so that they may be connected as
herein-before mentioned with the spring bolt or bolts, or the movable handle,
or an articulated portion of the signal or point levers; or it may be connected
directly to the point or signal levers, or in some cases by means of a crank or
its equivalent with the upper portion of a signal or point lever. Through the
connection with the sliding bolt, spring catch, or hand lever (as the case may
be) the limited motion or movement necessary for unbolting the lever is
employed to move the locks or locking gear for the purpose of bolting or
fastening such of the signal or point levers, or the signal and point levers
together as should be bolted, or to perform an initial locking of some other
levers, whilst the movement of the lever thus set free through the arc of a
circle completes the locking of the other levers, or such of them as should be

page_text: locked, and at the same time unlocks such of the other levers as should be
unlocked; and when the lever which has just been moved has been brought
from its normal position to some other point in which it is intended the lever
shall be held securely and be bolted the unbolting of other levers may then
be effected by the release of the spring catch, hand piece, or knuckle of the
sliding bolt or bolting apparatus upon its being caused to take into the notch
in the quadrant, or into the equivalent means employed for receiving the
sliding or other bolt; and such contrivance and arrangement of apparatus for
bolting may be connected with and operate from or by the upper instead of
the lower end of the point or signal levers.
In some cases for the purpose of still further acting upon the locking gear
or apparatus disposed and worked in the manner herein-before described
I connect therewith a series of sliding plates, having holes or slots therein for
the purpose of receiving pins or the ends of rods, which pins or rods may be
connected with and operated from the crank end of a point or signal lever, so
that when the lever handle is pulled over or moved in one direction or another
the corresponding pin or bolt is moved into or out of the hole or holes, and so
further assists in producing any required locking or bolting action either
directly upon the levers or upon the sliding bolt, or on the spring catch or
other fastening of such levers; or such last-mentioned arrangement may be
employed as a part of the main locking gear or apparatus, and be placed in
front of the operator as before described.
By the novel mechanical arrangement of the locking and bolting gear or
apparatus, as also consequent upon the disposition of the locking and bolting
gear or apparatus in front of or directly in view of the operator, I am enabled
by means of indicators affixed to the locks, slides, or locking bars, one opposite
to or corresponding with each lever, and having a number thereon corre-
sponding with the lever which actuates it, enabling an indication to be given
of the levers which are locked, as also affording a means of directing the
attention of the operator to which of the levers he has next to pull over for
effecting the necessary unlocking and signalling, so that his time need not be
uselessly expended in experimentally testing the state of the levers.
Heretofore the locking of the lever only could be iudicated, but no
means have hitberto been provided for indicating by which lever or levers
such locking has been effected, or which levers are set free by any par-
ticular unlocking action, so that the attention of the operator may be
directed to the levers upon which he should next operate, and thus enable
him to rapidly and with greater facility and perfect certainty manipulate
the various levers connected with the point and signal working of the most

page_text: complicated junctions or the most complex system of train working into and
out of the most extensive combination of railway lines at a terminal station.
In the accompanying four Sheets of Drawings I have shewn apparatus
constructed according to the present Invention, and in the several Figures
therein contained modifications in the form and disposition of the working
or moving parts, as also in the disposition of the locking apparatus or the
connections by which the locking gear is actuated or set in motion, are shown
by way of illustrating the novel feature of the present Invention, and also
some of the modes in which I prefer to put my Invention in practice.
It will be observed that instead of, as has heretofore been generally done,
placing the locking gear within the width of the main framing of the apparatus,
and also between the fulcrum of the point and signal levers and the notched
quadrant bar or guide rails within which the levers travel in the arc of a circle,
or instead of placing locking apparatus within or beneath a platform on a
level with or below the fulcrums of the point and signal levers, I place or
dispose the locking gear or apparatus operated or set in motion by the move-
ment of the hand levers, or by the movement of the sliding bolt or spring catch,
or by the movement of the articulated handle of the hand levers (or by any
two such actions jointly), and at the same or at different moments of time,
either at or about the level of or near to the top of the framing of the lever
apparatus or on a level with or above the handles of the hand levers, so that
in every case the movement and action of the several locks may be seen by
the pointsman or person in charge of the point and signal working; or as an
addition thereto I employ (for some cases) sliding indicators or combined disc
and screen apparatus, as herein-after described.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings (Sheet 1) I have illustrated my
Invention by representing an arrangement of locks and their connections
placed at or about the level of the operator's hand, and actuated from, by, and
through the combined movement of the catch of the sliding bolt and the hand
lever, the sliding locking gear being directly connected to the upper end of
the spring catch or handle of the sliding bolt or spring catch rod, by the
movement of which the primary locking of some other sliding bolt and the
hand lever to which it is attached is effected thereby, whilst the interlocking
of some other sliding bolt or the hand lever to which it belongs is in like
manner and at the same time effected, either wholly or in part, whilst the
motion or movement back or forth of the hand lever or lever handle is made
to perform the further locking or unlocking of some other lever handle or
hand lever, as also to perform and produce the required movement of the
points or signals to or with which they are respectively connected. For this

page_text: purpose, as will be seen on reference to the Figures (Figures 1, 2, and 3)
point and signal levers A¹, A, are held in their respective positions of forward
and back lock by means of the sliding or spring bolt B taking into a notch
made at each end (or at any other suitable part) of the quadrant bars or guide
rails C, between which such levers are fitted and made to work in the arc of
a circle.
In this arrangement of apparatus I have shown the sliding locking plates
as a series of bars having notches upon one edge thereof, or in some cases
there may be notches on both edges, but the sliding locking bars D, D,
Figures 2 and 3 have notches on one edge only. These sliding notch plates D, D,
traverse or slide at right angles to the movement of the point and signal levers,
whilst the rods or bars connected to the catch handle b', 6%, traverse in the
same direction to the hand levers and at right angles to and with the notched
bars D, D.
On reference to the elevation, Figure 1, and the plan view, Figure 2, it
will be seen that the catch handles 61, 62, of the sliding bolts B', B2, are
different in form and in their action, and are placed at different levels for the
purpose of acting or operating the parts of the locking gear to which they are
respectively connected; thus the signal levers A¹, &c. are shown as having at
their lower end a balance weight upon one arm, bere adopted only for the
purpose of better distinguishing the signal lever from the point levers, whilst
the sliding locking bolt B¹ is shewn as being bolted into the notch c¹ of
the quadrant C, and having the hand or lever portion connected by
means of a jointed rod e to the horizontal rod or bar E, having two notches on
its upper edge; these notches are intended to permit of the sliding locking
bars D moving back and forth therein when the hand lever A¹ has been
moved from its normal position, as shewn, into a similar position to that
shewn by the point hand lever A². In like manner the sliding bolt B2 of the
point hand lever A2 is connected by means of an intermediate jointed bar at
the upper end of 6 with sliding or traversing bar F, having two studs or pins
therein projecting upwards for the purpose of taking into gear with and giving
motion to a cam piece or tumbler G, which through a crank arm or lever
having a pin thereon taking into a slot in a lug or snug projecting from the
sliding locking bar B the latter is caused to traverse or slide back and forth
and engage with some of the bars or rods E belonging to the signal apparatus ;
thus it will be seen that part of the locking is performed by acting upon or
releasing the handle of the spring catch or handle 6 of the sliding bolt B,
whilst the entire travel of the locking bar D (the latter portion being effected
by the pin f) on the sliding bar or rod F (in its turn) acting upon the cam

page_text: piece or tumbler G is not completed (and consequently the signal lever that
was locked remains locked) until the point lever is pulled entirely over;
thus the slightest attempt to move either of the point levers locks the respec-
tive signal levers connected therewith (through their respective spring catch
and sliding bolt fittings), but it is not until the point levers are pulled entirely
over that the other signal levers that had been standing locked are released.
In Sheet 2, Figures 4 and 5 exhibit another modification of locking
apparatus wherein the locking is effected above the floor and in sight of the
operator. In this illustration, as will be seen on reference to Figure 4, I
employ two sliding bolts, the one fitted in front and the other on the back of
each hand lever employed for moving the points and signals, and the two
notches (c) in the quadrant (C) are so disposed as to allow of the forward bolt
taking into the one and the back bolt being received in the other. The two
sliding bolts are so connected together by means of a cross tail piece or cheek
plates fitted to the joint of the hand piece or handle of the hand levers A¹, A³,
that when one is raised the other is depressed by the movement of the hand
piece or bandle in the arc of a circle, whilst the hand lever remains stationary ;
but upon the hand lever being likewise moved from one point of rest to some
other where it is intended to be held or secured, and a suitable notch is
provided in the quadrant for receiving the sliding bolt, the other sliding bolt
is then allowed to fall thereinto and the necessary or required further locking
(or unlocking) is produced, as herein described. The handles (43) of the
point levers are shown as jointed, and to the handle of the point lever in
Figure 4 is connected by means of a jointed rod, as shewn in Figures 4
and 5, to a plate or horizontal bar (E) having two bevil pieces or plates (e, e,)
formed thereon or forming part thereof for the purpose of taking into a
bevilled notch or groove in the longitudinally sliding plate (D), through which
the bar (E) is made to slide transversely, first by the motion or movement of
the bevil plate (e), and afterwards, when the hand lever has been moved, by
the bevil plate (e¹). The longitudinally sliding locking bar (D) has, besides
the bevilled notch (or its equivalent) a series of holes and slots for the purpose
of receiving the upper end or point of a locking pin or rod when a hole or a
slot is opposite thereto for the purpose of receiving it, and when the hand
lever to which such bar or rod (connected to a signal lever) is so moved that
it is projected upward and so through the hole or slot (as the case may be),
I thus combine longitudinally and horizontally sliding bars for the purpose of
producing motion and effecting locking or interlocking actions in combination
with or through the vertically moving rods or pins, and I produce the
requisite amount of primary locking (or unlocking) by the movement of the

page_text: articulated portion of hand levers, which will be readily understood on reference
to Figures 4 and 5, Sheet 2.
I have shewn in Figure 4, by means of dotted or open line Diagram, a
modification of the apparatus just described, in which by means of the bell-
crank lever mounted in a carriage upon the main frame the vertical arm of
the bell crank is connected at its upper end by a jointed rod to the signal
lever (A¹), whilst the other end or arm of the bell crank is jointed to the
vertical rod or pin; thus when the hand lever is moved from its normal
position the end of the rod or pin is caused to enter a corresponding hole (d)
in the locking plate (D), when it is so arranged or intended, and when there is
no hole in the sliding locking plate (D) immediately opposite to the end of
the rod or pin, and so it is prevented from entering, or its motion is impeded
by the locking plate (D), the signal hand lever and the signal which it
represents cannot be moved from the position in which it then is.
In Sheet 3, Figure 6 is an elevation, partly in section, of a frame con-
taining within it the point and signal levers, each being in this instance shown
as working upon a fulcrum in the same horizontal and vertical line, the lower
ends or bent portions of the levers being similar; here the locking apparatus
is mounted outside of or beyond the frame in front of the operator and
within his view. For the purpose of effecting the necessary locking and
unlocking actions through the movement of a point lever or a signal lever
I employ in this case the following modification of transversely sliding bars,
actuated or operated through the movement of the hand levers in the arc of a
circle, either alone or in combination with the movement of the sliding bolt,
but for the present purpose, and for enabling the action or movement of the
parts to be more clearly understood, I have confined myself in Figure 6 to
the actuation of the locking gear by means of levers alone, although in
Figure 8 in the same Sheet I have shewn one of the methods I prefer to
employ for effecting the locking and unlocking by means of the movement of
the sliding bolt alone and in combination with the movement of the hand lever,
as herein-after described.
In Figure 6, as also in Figure 7 and in the other Figures in Sheets 1 to 4
inclusive, the point and signal levers are all set or mounted in one horizontal
line, and in Figures 6 and 7 the necessary travel of the sliding bar (D) is
effected by having a bent piece or tongue fitted to the bar (M) connected to
the point lever, which is here shewn as acting upon the upper side or edge of
the bars (D), whilst the similar but notched bars attached by means of jointed
rods to the signal levers act upon or against the under side or edge of the
bars (D) through notches in which they pass or slide when corresponding

page_text: notches in the bars (D) permit; or they are held fast by means of their
notches when they take into or engage with some full or unnotched portion of
the sliding locking bar (D), as will be readily understood on reference to
the Figures 6 and 7, where the two locking bars (D, D,) are shewn as being
placed between and sliding transversely or at right angles between the hori-
zontal bars of the point and signal levers, the bars of the point levers being
those above, and the bars of the signal levers being placed below.
In Figure 8 I have shewn an elevation, partly in section, of a modification
of Figures 6 and 7, when similar locking bars are used or employed; but
they are partially actuated by means of the movement of the sliding bolt (B)
and the spring catch berein-before referred to, or that the act of withdrawing
the sliding bolt from the notch of the quadrant bar or rail imparts sufficient
motion to the sliding locking bar (D) to lock all the signal levers (and the
signals) that should be locked when the lever is pulled over, even before the
lever can be moved from its place, whilst at the same time it is not until the
hand lever is entirely pulled over that certain other signal levers and signals are
set free; this is effected by attaching to the lower end of the sliding bolt, by
means of a bell crank and a jointed bar, as shewn, whereby it will be seen that
upon lifting the sliding bolt (B) the horizontally sliding bar is caused to move
upon and against the sliding locking bar D in manner before described, and
which is similar to the action of the corresponding parts in Figures 6 and 7;
thus upon the bar connected with the point lever being caused to travel a short
distance thereby the rest of the travel of the sliding locking bar (D) is pro-
duced by the motion of the lever (A) when moved in one direction or another
in the are of a circle.
In Sheet 4, Figures 9 and 10 illustrate modifications in the arrangement
and disposition of parts of those parts of the locking apparatus connected with
the band levers, which have herein-before been described, for the purpose of
acting upon and giving motion to the locking and unlocking gear through or
by means of the movement of the sliding bolt; but in each of these Figures a
modification of the articulated hand lever is shown for the purpose of acting
upon some one or other of the locking gears or apparatus herein-before
described and illustrated; thus the jointed handle mounted upon the upper
end of the hand lever (A) has connected with it two sliding bolts, one on
each edge or side of the hand lever, as herein-before described. The object
of this arrangement and modification of the band lever, which may be applied
to any other mode of actuating the locking and unlocking gear of railway
point and signal apparatus (when the locking is entirely or partially
effected by the movement of the sliding bolt or catch rod), is to give

page_text: a similar motion to the locking bar or sliding locking plate at the extreme
end of the stroke of the hand lever as that imparted at the beginning of the
stroke, and thus to prevent some other sliding bolt from being released from
the notch in the quadrant with equal effect in either of the positions assumed
by either the point or signal levers. Although in Figure 10, Sheet 4, I have
shown the bell crank and jointed rod employed for operating the locking
apparatus as fitted near to the quadrant bars or guide plates within which
the levers work, yet for some purposes I prefer to fit the check plates upon
which the bell crank is mounted nearer to the fulcrum of the hand lever, and
also where the nature of the locking gear admits thereof instead of mounting
or fitting the bell crank and its horizontal connecting rod or jointed bar upon
the lever handle, it may be mounted or fitted on the base plate of the frame, or
upon a suitable carriage, or fitting upon the pedestal or plummer block employed
to carry the hand lever, and in each case a suitable extension of the sliding bolt
or spring catch rod is made so as to bring it down sufficiently low to act upon
or communicate motion to the bell crank and its connection, and when the bell
crank is not fitted to or mounted upon the lever, but is carried by an indepen-
dent block, carriage, or bearing, the continuation or extension of the sliding
bolt may have either a forked end, gab, or other suitably shaped termination
for taking into or engaging with the bell crank, or a pin or stud projecting
therefrom; and I prefer to adopt this mode or method of placing the inter-
mediate connections between the sliding bolt and the locking gear for the purpose
of limiting the extent or amount of action or motion.
On Sheet 1 I have shewn an arrangement of indicating apparatus appli-
cable to most of the kinds and descriptions of point and signal locking
apparatus constructed according to my Invention, upon reference to which it
will be seen that as the disc is brought behind or removed from the opening in
the screen plate any direction which is painted or engraved upon the disc or
tablet will be presented to the eye of the operator, when some of the discs are
by the movement of the sliding locking bar or other portion of the locking
gear to which it is attached being brought behind the openings or holes in the
screen the directions such as "pull over," "return," "locked," " open,"
"locked by No. 3," "locked by No. 8," and other suitable instructions
may be thus conveyed. For the purpose of providing for compound move-
ments of the band levers and the locking gear in connection therewith two or
more discs or tablets may be mounted one behind the other for the purpose of
"showing" or being seen through the same opening in the screen plate, and
such discs, tablets, or indicators, may be connected to the several locking bars,
slides, or other parts of the locking gear; and where the motion or travel of

page_text: any such moving part of the locking gear is not (for the time) in itself
sufficient to remove entirely any disc or tablet from before another and from
before the opening in the screen I connect any two or more of such discs,
tablets, or indicators so placed behind one another by means of a suitably
proportioned lever or levers as to produce the required increased motion or
travel. For the sake of clearness and to prevent confusion in the several
Figures in the accompanying Sheets of Drawings I have shewn this indicating
apparatus as applied only to one form of locking apparatus, viz., on Figure (3),
Sheet 1, although it will be readily seen and understood as being applicable
to the other arrangements of locking gear herein described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings, there being for each lever at least one disc,
tablet, or indicator, which will enable not only indications to be given of which
lever is locked, but may also be made to tell at a glance which of the levers
are to be pulled over before any lever which is locked can be set free or any
signal or signals can be given, thus shewing not only which levers are locked
but also by which levers they are locked.
Having now described and set forth the nature of my Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and in the four Sheets of Drawings
hereunto annexed I have illustrated some of the modes or methods in which
I prefer to put my said Invention into practice, I wish it to be understood that
I do not claim the use or employment of the several forms of sliding locking
bars having notches on one or on both edges thereof irrespective of the mode
of continuing, applying, and using them as berein described; neither do I
intend to claim generally as novel the use or employment of a sliding pin, rod,
or bolt in combination with a perforated sliding locking plate for the purpose
of locking railway points and signals, except as herein described; moreover, I
do not herein intend to claim as novel the use or employment of the ordinary
form of sliding bolt or the motion or movement thereof, or the motion or
movement of the hand piece or handle of the sliding bolt or spring catch rod
for the purpose of actuating the locking gear of railway point and signal
apparatus (or some portion thereof), irrespective of the mode or method to
be employed for such purpose, or irrespective of the kind or description of
mechanical locking gear or apparatus, as also the means employed for con-
necting the sliding bolt or its band piece or spring catch with such locking
gear or apparatus, or except as herein set forth, described, and illustrated;
but what I claim is,
First, the improvements in the construction of locking apparatus for
governing the movement of railway points and signals, and in the mode or

page_text: method of applying, combining, and actuating such apparatus, as herein set
forth.
Second, the novel arrangements and combinations of parts of locking gear
or apparatus for governing the movement of railway points and signals, as
herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Third, the mechanical contrivances and apparatus herein described by
which the movement of the hand piece of the ordinary sliding bolt or spring
catch rod of railway point and signal levers is made available for locking
some and unlocking other sliding bolts and spring catch rods, and for locking
some and unlocking other point and signal levers through the action upon
the locking gear or apparatus interposed and applied for that purpose, as
herein-before described and in part illustrated in the accompanying Sheets
of Drawings.
Fourth, the several modes or methods herein described of actuating the
locking gear by direct connection with the hand piece or handle of the
sliding bolts of railway point and signal levers for the purpose of locking
some and unlocking or setting free some other points or signals through or
by means of the securing of some and releasing of other hand levers in
manner described.
Fifth, the novel combination of parts and mode of working railway point
and signal locking apparatus by means of the combined motion of the handle
or hand piece (by which the sliding bolts of lever handles are actuated) and
the movement of the lever itself, as herein described and illustrated in
Sheet 2, Figures 4 and 5.
Sixth, the combination and mode of working or setting in motion
notched bars placed and sliding or working at right angles to each other in
the manner shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3, of Sheet 1, and as herein-before
described for the purposes set forth, and whether such apparatus be mounted
or placed and worked as shewn in Figure 1, or in any other convenient
position and manner.
Seventh, the mode or method herein described of combining together and
actuating or working notched sliding bars or locks by means of a wedge or
bevilled plate either of the form shewn in Figures 6, 7, and 8, Sheet 3, or of
the form or kind shewn in Figure 5, Sheet 2, for the purpose of actuating
notched locking bars by taking into or engaging with them as herein
described for the purpose of enabling all the signal and point levers to be
placed in the same line and range within the same line of framing or in two
lines parallel to each other.

page_text: Eighth, the modes or methods herein described of combining together and
actuating or working notched sliding bars or locks by means of a wedge or
wedges or bevilled plates as last herein-before mentioned, and by means of
which both a primary and secondary locking action can be produced and
locking and unlocking of signals and points be alternately or simultaneously
effected by the combined action and movement of the sliding bolt before and
after the movement of the hand lever, and the movement of the hand lever
itself in the arc of a circle, and whether such locking apparatus be placed or
disposed as shewn in Figure 8, Sheet 3, or at any other point above the
fulcrum of the lever handle or hand lever by which it is operated.
Ninth, constructing the band levers of railway point and signal apparatus
in the manner herein described and as illustrated by Figure 4, Sheet 2,
and Figures 9 and 10, Sheet 4, for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Saxby, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
Witness,
A. W. DOERY,
19, Salisbury St., W.C.
JOHN SAXBY. (L.S.)