AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FOG OR ALARM SIGNALS FOR THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Ludlow, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN
FOG OR ALARM SIGNALS FOR THE RAILS OF RAILWAYS."
Sealed the 8th April 1879, and dated the 17th October 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Ludlow at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th October 1878.
EDWIN LUDLOW, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FOG OR ALARM SIGNALS FOR THE RAILS
OF RAILWAYS."
In the said fog or alarm signals as ordinarily made the clips by which they are
secured to the railway rails consist of a strip of lead or other soft metal which is
soldered by its middle to the middle of the back of the fog or alarm signal, the un-
connected parts of the said strip constituting the clips being bent around and made
to clip the rail, as is well understood.
In making fog or alarm signals according to my Invention I dispense with the
soldering of the clips and secure them to the edge of the fog or alarm signal in the
manner herein-after described. By my Invention the backs of the fog or alarm
signals are free from projections and hence the securing of them upon the rail
is facilitated and they have a firmer bearing upon the rail than ordinary fog or
alarm signals.
In making fog or alarm signals according to my Invention I make the body of
the signal of two outer cupped shells or covers and an inner cupped shell or cover
containing the percussion caps and anvils as usual, but instead of making the clip of
the fog or alarm signal of a single strip of soft metal soldered to the middle of
the back shell or cover as usual I make the clip of two separate strips of lead,
tin, or other soft metal or alloy, and fix them at opposite points on the edge of the
fog or alarm signal.

page_text: After the fog or alarm signal has been charged with gunpowder and the shells or
covers fitted together in the usual manner, the ends of the two strips or clips are
placed at opposite points between the rims of the two outer shells or covers of the
partly made fog or alarm signal. The fog or alarm signal is next operated upon
by a press and press tools in the ordinary way. The edge of the rim of the
outer flat shell or cover is thereby closed upon the outer dome shell or cover, and
the ends of the two clips are at the same time firmly fixed between the rims of the
two outer shells or covers.
The pair of soft metal clips is thus secured at opposite points of the edge
of the fog or alarm signal without soldering, the fixing of the clips and the
securing together of the shells or covers of the fog or alarm signal being effected at
one operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edwin Ludlow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th April
1879.
EDWIN LUDLOW, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN FOG OR ALARM SIGNALS FOR THE RAILS
OF RAILWAYS."
In the said fog or alarm signals as ordinarily made the clips by which they are
secured to the railway rails consist of a strip of lead or other soft metal which is
soldered by its middle to the middle of the back of the fog or alarm signal, the un-
connected parts of the said strip constituting the clips being bent around and made
to clip the rail, as is well understood.
In making fog or alarm signals according to my Invention I dispense with the
soldering of the clips and secure them to the edge of the fog or alarm signal in the
manner herein-after described.
By my Invention the backs of the fog or alarm signals are free from projections
and hence the securing of them upon the rail is facilitated and they have a firmer
bearing upon the rail than ordinary fog or alarm signals.
In making fog or alarm signals according to my Invention I make the body of
the signal of two outer cupped shells and an inner cupped shell containing the
percussion caps and anvils as usual, but instead of making the clip of the fog or
alarm signal of a single strip of soft metal soldered to the middle of the back shell
or cover as usual I make the clip of two separate strips of lead, tin, or other soft
metal or alloy, and fix them at opposite points on the edge of the fog or alarm
signal. After the fog or alarm signal has been charged with gunpowder and the
shells or covers fitted together in the usual manner, the ends of the two strips or
clips are placed at opposite points between the rims of the two outer shells or covers
of the partly made fog or alarm signal. The fog or alarm signal is next operated

page_text: upon by a press and press tools in the ordinary way. The edge of the rim of the
outer flat shell or cover is thereby closed upon the outer dome shell or cover, and
the ends of the two clips are at the same time firmly fixed between the rims of the
two outer shells or covers. The pair of soft metal clips is thus secured at opposite
points of the edge of the fog or aların signal without soldering, the fixing of the clips.
and the securing together of the shells or covers of the fog or alarm signal being.
effected at one operation.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the
nanner in which my Invention may be performed.
The
Figure 1 represents in vertical section and Figure 2 in elevation the three cupped
shells of the fog or alarm signal before the outer shell or cover is closed upon the
other shells, together with the two strips of lead, tin, or other soft metal or alloy,
from which the clips are formed. In the said Figures 1 and 2 a represents the
inner cupped shell; b, the dome shell; and c, the outer shell or cover, the edge of
which is closed upon the other shells. The inner shell a has fixed to it the plate g
carrying the anvils on which the percussion caps d, d, are placed; e, e, are the two
separate strips of lead or other soft metal or alloy to form the clips, the said strips
being arranged at opposite points on the edge of the signal. One of these strips is
represented separately in Figure 3. After the fog or alarm signal has been charged
with gunpowder and the shells a, b, and outer shell or cover c have been fitted
together in the manner represented in Figures 1 and 2, the ends of the strips e, e,
are placed between the rims of the dome shell b and the outer shell or cover c.
partly made fog or alarm signal, with the parts in the positions represented in
Figures 1 and 2, is now placed in a press and operated upon by the tools in the
said press in the way commonly practised in the manufacture of ordinary fog or
alarm signals. By the operation of the press and press tools the edge c² of the rim
of the outer flat shell or cover c is closed upon the dome shell b, forming the upper
side of the signal, and the three shells are secured together.
The ends of the two
clips e, e, are at the same time very firmly fixed between the two outer shells or
covers b, c, by the closed edge of the outer shell c as represented in section in
Figure 4, and end elevation in Figure 5, where the closed edge of the outer shell or
cover is marked c³. By an examination of Figure 4 it will be seen that by the
closing of the edge of the shell c upon the ends of the strips e, e, the said ends take
the figure of the closed parts of the shells, the parts of the strips above the bent
ends being forced inwards or towards the axis of the signal.
.
The soft metal clips thus secured on opposite sides of the edge of the signal are
next turned back and bent into the form represented in plan in Figure 6, section in
Figure 7, end elevation in Figure 8, and side elevation in Figure 9. The fog or
alarm signal is now complete and is ready to be attached to the rail by the bending
of the soft metal clips e, e, around the rail in the ordinary way. Figure 9 repre-
sents the fog signal after the clips e, e, have been bent upon the back of the signal
for transit.
Instead of making the fog or alarm signal of three shells as described and repre-
sented it may be made of four shells.
Figure 10 represents in elevation, with the outer shell or cover in section, a fog
or alarm signal composed of the three shells represented in Figure 1 and an addi-
tional outer shell or cover marked f. In the signal composed of four shells the soft
metal strips to form the pair of clips are arranged between the rims of the two shells
b, c, in the manner shown in Figure 1, and the three shells a, b, c, are placed in the
fourth or larger shell or cover f, and by the operation of a press and press tools the
edges of the rims of the two back shells c and fare closed upon the dome shell b,
and the clips e, e, are at the same time connected to the signal.
Instead of fixing the triangular plate 3 carrying the anvils on which the per-
cussion caps are placed to the shell a by soldering as usual, I fix the said plate 7 to
the shell a by rivetting as shown at h in the horizontal section, Figure 11, and the
vertical sections, Figures 1, 4, and 7.

page_text: By an examination of the Drawing it will be seen that the backs of the fog or
aların signals made according to my Invention are without the projections formed
by the ordinary clips and the said signals are thereby more readily placed
upon the rail and have a firmer bearing thereon than ordinary fog or alarm
signals.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Inven-
tion, the improvement or improvements in fog or alarm signals for the rails of
railways, herein-before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, making the clips of the said fog or alarm signals of two separate
strips of lead, tin, or other soft metal or alloy, and fixing the said strips at opposite
points of the edge of the fog or alarm signal by the closing process by which the
shells or parts of the signal are secured together; whereby the soldering of the
clips to the fog or alarm signal is dispensed with, and the back or that part of the
signal which rests upon the rail is without projections, substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Ludlow, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
bundred and seventy-nine.
Witness,
ALICE NORAH HARRIS,
Pattishall,
Northamptonshire.
EDWIN LUDLOW. (L.S.)