IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hargrave, of Heaton Norris, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
SIGNALS."
Sealed the 16th June 1871, and dated the 20th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hargrave at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th December 1870.
I, JOHN HARGRAVE, of Heaton Norris, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAILWAY SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide a self-acting railway signal
which shall be set to "danger" by the passage of an engine or train
past any given point and kept in that position till the said engine or.
train has arrived at any other given point in advance (say one thousand
yards for example), when the engine or train will set another to
danger," at the same time lowering the previous signal to "line clear "
$6

page_text: and so on. By these means the engine or train always leaves a danger
signal behind it, till it has gone, say, one thousand yards ahead
throughout the whole of its journey. In the case of a train the signal
is lowered to "line clear," by the guards van, and hence if any portion
of the train become detached and left on the line, the danger signal &
would remain up notwithstanding that the engine and leading portion
of the train may have passed any distance ahead. The same action
which sets the "danger" signal also raises a lever which, supposing
the driver of a following train or engine should (owing to a fog or
carelessness or otherwise) attempt to pass the "danger" signal without :
stopping comes in contact with a lever carried by the engine and opens
the whistle, so that he cannot pass the signal without being made sensibly
aware of the danger ahead. At or near the signal post I provide a
shaft mounted in suitable bearings and running transversely beneath
the rails and carrying two levers keyed at right angles to each other,
so that when one stands up in a vertical position so as to be acted
on by a projection on the engine the other lies in a horizontal direction
and vice versa. A prolongation of this shaft carries three pulleys at
or near its end at the embankment or side of the railway. One
pulley is opposite to the signal post and has attached to it a wire or
chain which, as an engine passes the shaft and turns it one quarter
of a revolution by depressing one of the levers pulls up the signal
danger" where it is held by a catch lever acting on a toothed
wheel. A second pulley (rather larger in diameter) has a chain affixed
to it carrying a weight which when the catch lever is released, as herein-
before described, draws down the signal to "line clear" and returns the
whole apparatus to its normal position. This weight is lifted by the
engine pulling round the shaft by depressing the first lever, and the
same action also raises the second lever ready to act on the whistle of
any following engine. The third pulley is connected by a chain or a
wire to the releasing apparatus one thousand yards in advance as here-
after described. This apparatus consists also of a shaft carrying two
pulleys and a toothed wheel, one pulley has a chain and weight as in
the previous case, but a lighter weight is here employed as it must be
raised by the falling of the former, and all that it is required to do is
to raise the catch lever at the signal post. This connection is made
by means of a wire or chain attached to the second pulley of this shaft
and the third pulley of the first-mentioned shaft. This wire or chain
to 66

page_text: has a second wire attached to it rather slack so that when the engine in
passing the thousand yards point depresses the catch lever and releases
the wheel, the smaller weight first falls and releases the catch lever of
the heavier weight which then falls and lowers the " danger" signal,
and in falling pulls the connecting wire or chain in the reverse direction
and raises the smaller weight which is then held by its catch lever ready
for action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Hargrave in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARGRAVE, of Heaton Norris, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Hargrave, Her special license
that I, the said John Hargrave, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Hargrave, 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 RAILWAY
SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Hargrave, 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 I, the said John Hargrave, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: by the following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to
say):-
The object of my Invention is to provide a self-acting railway signal
which shall be set to "danger" by the passage of an engine or train
past any given point and kept in that position till the said engine or
train has arrived at any other given point in advance (say one thousand
yards for example), when the engine or train will set another signal
to "danger" at the same time lowering the previous signal to
"line
clear," and so on. By these means the engine or train always leaves
a danger signal behind it till it has gone, say, one thousand yards
ahead throughout the whole of its journey. In the case of a train the
signal is lowered to "line clear" by the guard's van, and hence if any
portion of the train became detached and left on the line the danger
signal would remain up notwithstanding that the engine and leading
portion of the train may have passed any distance ahead. The same
action which sets the "danger signal "also raises a lever, which supposing
the driver of a following train or engine should (owing to a fog, or
carelessness, or otherwise) attempt to pass the danger signal without
stopping, comes in contact with a lever carried by the engine and opens
the whistle so that he cannot pass the signal without being made sensibly
aware of the danger ahead.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improve-
ments in Railway Signals," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, and in order that the same may be clearly a
understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
thereof, and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof.
In Sheet 1 of the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a transverse
section of the line of rail at the signal post, shewing the application
of my Invention thereto with the locomotive engine in the act of
setting the signal to "danger," and Fig. 2 is a sectional diagram
showing in side elevation the parts connected to the engine.
In Sheet 2 of the Drawings Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Fig. 4 a plan
view of the apparatus shown at Fig. 1, at Fig. 5 are similar views of 3
the same on a larger scale showing its connection with the apparatus

page_text: **
at the advanced point (say for instance one thousand yards ahead) and
Fig. 6 is a front view of the last-named apparatus. At or near the
signal post a, a, I provide a shaft b, b, mounted in suitable bearings
and running transversely beneath the rails, and carrying two levers c, c,
keyed at right angles to each other, so that when one stands up in a
vertical position so as to be acted on by one of the projections d, d, on
the engine, the other lies in a horizontal direction, and vice versa.
A prolongation of this shaft carries three pulleys e, f, g, (see Fig. 5) at
or near its end at the embankment or side of the railway. The pulley f
is opposite to the signal post and has attached to it a wire or chain h, h,
which as an engine passes the shaft b, 6, and turns it one quarter of a
revolution by depressing one of the levers d, pulls up the signal i, i, to
danger" where it is held by a catch lever k, k, acting on a toothed
wheel, . A second pulley e, e, (rather larger in diameter) has a
chain m, m, affixed to it carrying a weight n, n, which when the catch
lever is released, as herein-after described, draws down the signal i, i, to
"line clear" and returns the whole apparatus to its normal position.
This weight is lifted by the engine pulling round the shaft b, b, by
depressing the first lever c, and the same action also raises the second
lever c* ready to act on the whistle of any following engine (see Fig. 2).
The third pulley 9 is connected by a chain or wire o, o, to the releasing
apparatus one thousand yards in advance, as hereafter described, see
Figs. 5 and 6. This apparatus consists also of a shaft p, p, carrying
two pulleys q and r and a toothed wheel s. The pulley q has a chain
and weight as in the previous case, but a lighter weight n* is here
employed as it must be raised by the falling of the former, and all
that it is required to do is to raise the catch lever k, k, at the signal
post. This connection is made by means of a wire or chain t, t,
attached to the pulley r of this shaft and the wire o, o, of the pulley g
on the first-mentioned shaft. This wire or chain has a second wire u, u,
attached to the catch lever k, k, and is rather slack, so that when the
engine in passing the thousand yards point depress the catch lever v, v,
and releases the wheel 8, 8, the smaller weight n* first falls and releases
the catch lever k, k, of the heavier weight n which then falls and lowers
the "danger signal" i, i, and in falling pulls the connecting wire or
chain o, o, t, t, in the reverse direction and raises the smaller weight n*
which is then held by its catch lever v, v, ready for action, and thus the
whole apparatus is reset in its original or normal position.
g

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention the improvements in railway signals as above
described and illustrated by the annexed Drawings or any mere modifi-
cation or imitation thereof, constructed and operating in substantially
the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hargrave, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JOHN HARGRAVE. (L.S.)
Witness,
JOHN HUGHES,
Clerk to George Davies, C. E.
Office for Patents,
4, St. Ann's Sq., Manchester.