mprovement in Apparatus for Regulating Gas Lights in Railway Trains.
Year: 1886

page_text: mprovement in Apparatus for Regulating Gas Lights in
Railway Trains.
I, WILLIAM BENNET RICKMAN, of 82 Clerkenwell Road in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In the Specification N° 1980 of 1885 are described means whereby a guard or
official on a railway train can lower or raise simultaneously all the gas lights in the
train, these lights being fed from separate and independent reservoirs of compressed
gas carried on the separate carriages. This is effected by applying on each carriage
between the gas reservoir and the lights thereof a valve worked by a flexible
diaphragm, and connecting all these diaphragm valves throughout the train by a
pipe to an air compressing pump worked by the guard or official, so that when he
admits air under pressure into the pipe it acts on the diaphragms, nearly closing
the gas valves, the lights being thus lowered but not quite extinguished. The
present invention relates to apparatus whereby the guard or official can conveniently
produce, retain and apply air pressure to act on the diaphragm valves, without risk
of injuring these valves or the communicating pipes and couplings by excess of
pressure. This apparatus consists of an upright cylindrical vessel or air reservoir
within which is contained the barrel of an air compressing pump and on the top of
which is placed a pressure regulator similar to those employed on each carriage for
regulating the pressure of the gas as it passes from the reservoir of compressed gas
to the service pipe of the carriage. By working the compressing pump, the vessel
becomes charged with air compressed to any suitable pressure, much higher it may
be than that which has to act on the diaphragm valves. When it is desired to
lower the lights of all the carriages, a stop cock or valve is opened allowing a
portion of this compressed air to pass into the communicating pipe, but this air
having on its way from the reservoir to the pipe to pass through the regulator, has
its pressure reduced to that to which the regulator is adjusted. Thus, whatever
be the pressure in the air reservoir, the pressure transmitted by the pipe to the
diaphragm valves is limited to that moderate degree, practically a few pounds per
square inch above atmospheric pressure, which is sufficient to work the diaphragms
without straining them or the pipes or its couplings and connections. The air
reservoir may be fitted with a pressure gauge or safety valve or both, and the
pressure regulator is provided with an adjustable spring acting on its diaphragm
so that the pressure transmitted throughout the train may be regulated as desired.
Dated this 18th day of February 1886.

page_text: An Improvement in Apparatus for Regulating Gas Lights in
Railway Trains.
مهم
I, WILLIAM BENNET RICKMAN of 32 Clerkenwell Road in the County of
Middlesex, 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:-<
.
& :
In the Specification N° 1980 of 1885 are described means whereby a guard or
official on a railway train can lower or raise simultaneously all the gas lights in
the train, these lights being fed from separate and independent reservoirs of com-
pressed gas carried on the separate carriages. This is effected by applying on each
carriage between the gas reservoir and the lights thereof a valve worked by a
flexible diaphragm, and connecting all these diaphragm valves throughout the train
by a pipe to an air compressing pump worked by the guard or official, so that
when he admits air under pressure into the pipe it acts on the diaphragms, nearly
closing the gas valves, the lights being thus lowered but not quite extinguished.
The present invention relates to apparatus whereby the guard or official can
conveniently produce, retain and apply air pressure to act on the diaphragm valves,
without risk of injuring these valves or the communicating pipes and couplings by
excess of pressure. This apparatus is shewn in vertical section by Fig. 1 and in
plan by Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings. It consists of an upright cylindrical
vessel or air reservoir A within which is contained the barrel B of an air com-
pressing pump and on the top of which is placed a pressure regulator R similar to
those employed on the carriages for regulating the pressure of the gas as it passes
from the reservoir of compressed gas to the service pipe of the carriage. By
working the compressing pump by its handle H, the vessel A becomes charged with
air compressed to any suitable pressure, much higher it may be than that which
has to act on the diaphragm valves. When it is desired to lower the lights of all
the carriages, a stop cock or valve S is opened allowing a portion of this compressed
air to pass into the communicating pipe P, but this air having on its way from the
reservoir to the pipe to pass through the regulator R, has its pressure reduced to
that to which the regulator is adjusted. Thus whatever be the pressure in the
air reservoir A, the pressure transmitted by the pipe P to the diaphragm valves is
limited to that moderate degree, practically a few pounds per square inch above
atmospheric pressure, which is sufficient to work the diaphragms without over-
straining them or the pipe or its couplings and connections. The air.reservoir A
may be fitted with a pressure gauge G or safety valve or both, and the pressure
regulator R is, like the gas regulator provided with an adjustable spring acting on its
diaphragm, so that the pressure transmitted throughout the train may be regulated
as desired.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
In apparatus for regulating gas lights in railway trains, the combination of an
air reservoir A, an air compressing pump B and a pressure regulator R arranged
and operating substantially as herein described.