Improvements in Station and like Indicators for Railway Trains, Tramcars, Steamboats, and other Conveyances.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Sept., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 28th Mar., 1898-Accepted, 11th June, 1898
Improvements in Station and like Indicators for Railway Trains,
Tramcars, Steamboats, and other Conveyances.
RICHARD BRADBURY, Surgeon Dentist, 1, Church Terrace, Oldham, Lancashire, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object and nature of this invention is to indicate the names of next stopping
places and other useful information in railway trains, tram-cars, steamboats and
other conveyances, for the use and benefit of passengers in general, and is attained as
follows,
I apply to the partition of each compartment of a carriage, say in the centre or other
more convenient position, a half section of a circular dish-like cover, close to
the top of such partition, with a portion of its face surface cut out so that the
divided portions of an inner wheel face plate can be seen as they move round. Inside
this dish cover I place a face wheel from the outside top of the carraige resting it in
journals or bearings on the outside top of the carriage, the face surface of this wheel
which should be about 18 inches diameter or might be any other size to suit the case
better, can be enamelled and divided into sections to correspond in size with the
opening of the cover inside the carriage, in these sections can be placed the names of
stations and such other information as, time allowed for stoppage, or to take in mails,
or change here for such a place, or steamboat coach &c., the outside rim of this wheel
must be a toothed rim so as to be worked by a small cog wheel operating from a shaft
running the entire length of the carriage outside, this small cog wheel to be fastend
by a set screw so as to allow of its being loosed when it is desired to remove the large
disk wheel for alteration of names &c., the disk wheel should also have projecting
pins at each section, so as to catch the trigger of a bell fixed inside the carriage, which
would sound as well as show the change taking place on the inside disk or indicator,
it must itself rest upon a centre pin in the bearings above. On the inside cover of
this disk-wheel indicator, and opposite the cut out portion of cover the words NEXT
STOP in large type should be fixed or cast so as to be permenant.
Coming now to the outsid shaft, I fix as many cog wheels on it as there are parti-
tions of carriage with wheel disk indicators to be operated, then I connect each shaft
with the one of next carriage by a strong coiled spring, having hoops at each end
with set screws in, these hoops to fit the ends of the shafts and the spring being large
enough to allow the shaft free play inside the coil, it follows that, when the shafts are
so connected and the set screws are tightened up they become practically one con-
tinuous shaft, which by virtue of these springs coming between each carriage allows
both for lateral oscillation and the various diffirences of length caused by concussion
&c. of the engine and carriages, without causing any diffirence in the working of the
shaft on each carraige. The entire shaft is worked from the guard's van, he having
a disk like all the other disks or indicators, but. not covered up, can work his disk to
any desirable point, and so when all the other disks have been arranged to have the
same starting-point, it follows that each disk shows the same point or station in each
compartment that the guard indicates from his index, which corresponds with the
slots of the covers in each carriage, the guard should have fixed inside his van an
extra cog wheel with a handle so fixed that he can operate his index wheel to suit the

page_text: circumstances. Each indicator wheel can be neatly covered by fixing the remaining
half of the inside cover on the outside by a hinged joint so as to lift up for the
removal of the indicator.
Dated this 5th day of Santamban 1907
Improvements in Station and like Indicators for Railway Trains,
Tramcars, Steamboats, and other Conveyances.
✓.
RICHARD BRADBURY, Surgeon Dentist, 1, Church Terrace, Oldham, Lancashire, 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:-
The object of this invention is to indicate and notify to passengers in railway and
other conveyances the number or name of the next approaching station or stopping
place, and is accomplished as follows.
At one end of the guard's van and in the middle, or to one side, as most convenient,
I place a large toothed wheel A Fig. 1, this wheel is divided on the face of it into
spaces or sections, for the reception of name plates or numbered plates, and of, say
18 inches or any other diameter, according to the number of sections required. I.
operate this wheel by a smaller cog wheel fixed to one side, B Fig. 1, with handle
attached as shown at L Fig. 1^.
Under the section wheel A Fig. 1 I place an index-point C. At the side or
any other convenient place I fix a bracket D Fig. 1 with catch or thumb-screw
so as to serve to secure the large wheel A in any given position. I now fix out-
side the roof a cog-wheel E Fig. 1, so as to articulate with the large wheel A
below, this cog wheel E being keyed fast to a shaft running the entire length of
each carriage, and in part shown in Fig. 1A at F. At the end of each shaft. I
secure a strong coiled spring H, Figs. 3 & 4, or other flexible connexion, by
setscrews inserted into hoops G G, as shown at top of Figs. 3 & 4 which, when
all the hoops are tightened up (they being fast to, and part of the coiled springs),
serve to make each shaft of every carriage, practically, a part of one whole shaft, and
kept in its proper position by sinilar hoops to G G placed on each side of the shaft
bearings, and running the full length of the train, and yet so flexible by virtue of
these coiled springs or other swivel or universal joints as to allow for the concussion
and lateral movements or oscillations common to a fast moving train.
I now fit in every alternate compartment of the carriages of a train a facsimile
sectional wheel to A Fig. 1 and to corrispond with it as to position and named or
numbered sections. I cut out the wood of the partition so as to allow of the section-
wheel to fit in, and on each side I fit a dish-like cover I Fig. 2, with a hole in the
centre to admit the centre pin of the wheel so as to bear its weight and allow free
working of the wheel, I cut out a space J of the two covers Fig. 2 and opposite each
other and of the same size as one section of the wheel so that a name or number can
be seen in two compartments at once, as shown at K K, Fig. 4. An additional
convenience to warn passengers would be a bell or gong in any position so that the
teeth of the large wheel could act upon the trigger of such bell or gong when moving
from one section to the other. I connect this large wheel with a cog wheel above,
and all the others at every alternate partition, to cog wheels fastened upon the
shaft F and as seen at E Fig. 1, so that when the guard operates his cog wheel B;
Fig. 1 and his index C being fixed at the same point as the openings of all the
covers I in any of the carriages and the shafts F being fastened to show the wheels

page_text: in one and the same place, it follows that, any point, number or name indicated in
the guard's van will appear simultaneously at the spaces J in every other carriage.
If numbers are used in the section wheels, then, a list of duplicate numbers, with
names of stations and other information should be posted near the space J, Fig. 2,
so that passengers can easily see it. Opposite J Fig. 2, and with index finger
pointing to space, should be printed the words, "NEXT STOP," in large type.
Figs. M and N are simply the covers of outside cog wheels shown open and
closed.
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
1st. The choice or device and application of a master named or numbered section
or index wheel and operating similar wheels throughout a train substantially as
shown in drawings.
2ndly. The choice or device and application of hooped coiled springs or other
flexible connexion between the shafts of each carriage making one continuous but
flexible jointed shaft.
3rdly. The special manner of working and arranging the whole as shown, or any
colorable imitation.