IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR Apparatus FOR SIGNALLING OR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF RAILWAY THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER TRAINS, PART OF PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martyn John Roberts, of the City of Bath,
Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR Apparatus
FOR SIGNALLING OR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF RAILWAY
THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
TRAINS, PART OF
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 26th October 1875, and dated the 24th July 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Martyn John Roberts
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th July 1875.
I, MARTYN JOHN ROBERTS, of the City of Bath, Esquire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
OR APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING OR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF
RAILWAY TRAINS, PART OF THE INVENTION BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows.
--
My Invention has reference to the employment of electric currents
for signalling or communicating between different parts of railway trains,
and the objects are to enable the signals or communications to bo

page_text: made in a more certain manner than has hitherto been accomplished by
electric systems, to save unnecessary trouble to the attendants when
laying the communicating cord along the train, and to signal auto-
matically in the case of one or more carriages becoming detached from
the train.
One difficulty which has hitherto been experienced in clectric
apparatus for signalling in trains is that dirt and grease, which are
non-conductors of electricity fall upon and prevent close contact between
the surfaces which ought to be brought into close contact to ensure the
en culation of the current of electricity In order to overcome this
difficulty enclose in a case the surfaces which have to be brought into
close or-metallic contact with each other, this may be effected in various
ways.
33
According to one method I place the two points or surfaces which
have to be so connected that clectricity shall flow from one to the other
in a glass or other closed tube, which I call the "tipping tube;
in this
tube I put some mercury, or sometimes a solid metallic body instead of
mercury, which in one position of the tube falls away from the said
points or surfaces, the points being then metallically separated, but when
the tube is tipped or moved into another position the mercury falls
upon the said points, and metallic connection and facility for electric com-
munication are thus made between them, and the current of electricity
from a galvanic battery cnculates, rings a boll, and gives the desired
signal Or if the signal is to be made by breaking the channel for its
current it may be effected by the same apparatus
Another difficulty which has been experienced is the trouble given
and the uncertainty of result when electric couplings or contacts have
to be made, often hurriedly, by the attendants in making up the train.
I obviate tliis difficulty by arranging that the attendants shall not have
to make the electric contacts in the passenger carriages but to place the
parts so that contact can be readily made when required by some act of
the passengers; this may be carried out by the employment of the
"tipping tube" before described, because all the electric contacts being
made or broken by the motion of the tube the attendants have only (so
far as thic passenger carriages are concerned) to put the tube into a
suitable holder, which is tapped when required for giving a signal by a
cord leading into the passenger compartment; and I also sometimes

page_text: cover as far as is practicable all those parts (other than those in the
tipping tube) which are to come into metallic contact by sliding sleeves,
or their equivalent
The tapping of the holder or tube may be made to raise a pointer
or flag to indicate the compartment from which the signal has been
sent.
In order that the fact of one or more carriages becoming detached
from the train may be signalled automatically I cause the conducting
wire when drawn by either of the detached portions to complete the
clectric circuit or to break the circuit, as thought most expedient, and
thus convey a signal This may be conveniently accomplished by
leading the conducting wire through a ling or guide, or over a pulley on
cach carriage, to the tipping tube, so that in case the carriage becomes
detached the wire shall tip the tube, and thereby produce a signal.
A closed tube containing mercury or a solid metallic body and mado
to tip oi move as required, so as to bing the mercury into or out of
contact with metallic surfaces or points, as before described, may be
applied in other apparatus where metallic electric contact has to be
made or broken, as will be well understood
Sometimes instead of a "tipping tube" I use a closed case having
flexible sides and the metallic parts to be brought into contact are so
placed that pressing the elastic sides causes these metallic parts to touch
each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Martyn John Roberts in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTYN
JOHN ROBERTS, of the City of Bath, Esquire, send greeting
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
minth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Martyn John Roberts, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Martyn John Roberts, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Martyn John Roberts,
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 therem expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Butain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING OR COMMUNICATING
BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF RAILWAY TRAINS, PART OF THE INVENTION
BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Martyn John Roberts, my executors or admin-
strators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and -scals, 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 Martyn John Roberts, 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 thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say
I
-
My Invention has reference to the employment of electric curients
for signalling or communicating between different parts of railway
trains, and the objects are to enable the signals or communications
to be made in a more certain manner than has hitherto been accomplished
by electic systems, to save unnecessary trouble to the attendants when
laying the communicating electric cord along the train, and to signal
automatically in the case of one or more carriages becoming detached
from the train.
One difficuity which has hitherto been experienced in clectic
apparatus for signalling in trains is that dirt and grease which are non-
conductors of electricity fall upon and prevent close contact between
the surfaces, which ought to be brought into close contact to ensure
the circulation of the current of electricity. In order to overcome this
difficulty I enclose in a case the surfaces which have to be brought into
close or metallic contact with each other. This may be effected by placing

page_text: "
the two points or surfaces which have to be so connected that clectricity
shall flow from one to the other in a contact maker in the form of a
closed tube of wood, glass, or other suitable material, which T call the
"tipping tube; in this tube I put a solid metallic body which in one
position of the tube falls away from the said points or surfaces, the
points being then metallically separated, but when the tube is tipped or
moved into another position the metallic body falls upon the said points
or upon metallic pieces connected with the points and metallic con-
nection, and facility for clectric communication are thus made between
them, and the current of clectricity from a galvanic battery circulates,
rings a bell, and gives the desired signal; or if the signal is to be made
by breaking the channel for its current it may be effected by the same
apparatus
Another difficulty which has been experienced is the trouble given
and the uncertainty of result when electric couplings or contacts have
to be made, often hurriedly, by the attendants in making up the train
I obviate this difficulty by arranging that the attendants shall not have
to make the clectric contacts between the passenger carriages, but their
duty will be merely to place a "contact maker" in a proper holder
fitted to cach carriage, the said contact maker being so arranged that by
some act of the passengers the holder or the contact maker can be
operated, so that contact can be readily made when required This may
be carried out for example by the employment of the "tipping tube"
before described, because all the electric contacts being made or broken
by the motion of the tube the attendants have only to put the tube into
a suitable holder, which is tipped when required for giving a signal by
a cord leading into the passenger compartment
The tipping of the holder or tube máy be made to raise or depress a
disc, pointer, or flag, to indicate the compartment or carriage from
which the signal has been sent
In order that the fact of one or more carriages becoming accidentally
detached from the train may be signalled automatically, I cause the
conducting wire when drawn by either of the detached portions to
complete the electric circuit or to break the circuit, as thought most
expedient, and thus convey a signal This may be accomplished by
leading the conducting wire through a ring or guide, or over a pulley on
cach carriage to the "tipping tube" or other contact maker or its

page_text: flexible, and may be allowed to drop down to any position between tho
carriages. There is a drum or reel (constructed by preference as herein-
after described) near the battery in the guard's van around which the
cable is coiled At suitable intervals in the cable, corresponding
approximately with the distance between the centres of two adjoining
carriages, a short branch is led from cach of the two insulated wires and
taken through the top of a wooden or other suitable tube b (Figure 3)
which may be about 4 inches long and /** of an inch in diameter, more
or less. Within the top of this tube the wires terminate in two blocks
The tube is closed at
b', b¹, (Figure 8) of brass or other suitable metal
the lower end, and contains a metallic body in the form of a ball b², or
otherwise fitting loosely in the tube and clear of the blocks b1, b¹, when
the tube is in its normal position. On the top of each carriage are
small brackets or standards c, c, upon which is pivoted a holder or
socket d in which the tube b is placed. To the upper part of this
pivoted holder an arme is attached, from which a cord is passed down
through the top of the compartment below, where it is provided with a
tassel or other like device. The other compartments of the same
carriage are provided with similar cords, which are attached to corre-
sponding arms e¹ Thesc arms are all fixed at their inner ends to a
longitudinal rod 2, to which the arm e is also fixed so that the pulling of
any of the arms e¹ produces the same action as the pulling of the
Connected to the holder d is au arm ƒ carrying a disc g
(painted red or otherwise) which in its normal position is concealed and
protected by two screens h, h, (one of which is shewn removed in
Figure 2).
arm e.
When a passenger pulls the cord in his compartment the holder d is
tipped or turned on its pivot into the position indicated in dotted lines
in Figure 2, together with the tube 6 therein, the metallic ball or other
body in the tube then descends and makes metallic contact between the
two wires through the intermediation of the two blocks b', b¹, and as
the circuit of the electric current is therefore completed the electric
bells at the guard's and engine driver's batteries ring, and continue to
do so
The tipping of the holder d thrusts out the disc g over the side
of the carriage, as indicated in Figure 2, and thus shews the carriage
from which the communication was made. Again, in case the train
should become divided the stiain on the cable a will reverse or tip the
holders d, and thus set both the guard's and engine duver's bells

page_text: ringing. Further, should any number of carriages be added to the
train on an emergency it is sufficient to attach the ordinary cord now in
use to one end of the cable a above the last carriage to which it may be
affixed, any passenger in the extra carriages is thus enabled to tip onc
of the holders and thereby set the bells ringing, or the surplus cable on
the reel may be extended to any extra carriages added to the train. The
guard and engine driver can of course communicate with cach other at
any time by means of the cable a
In some cases, instead of letting the ball or other body in the tube
fall directly upon the blocks b', I attach a metal spring to the points of
one of the wires, which spring stands off the other point until the
descending body comes down upon it and forces it into contact with the
said other point or metal in connection with the point.
If desired, mercury as shown in Figure 9, may be substituted for a
solid body as has been before stated, but I prefer the latter.
Figures 10 and 11 are respectively a plan and a side elevation of the
drum or reel I prefer to employ for winding up the cable, which carrics
the tipping tubes as herein-before described It is composed of a base or
support A, with a central vertical spindle On this spindle a tube B is
free to be rotated by means of a handle C The tube B carries upper and
lower plates D, D', connected together by a series of vertical rods or
wires E, E, the upper ends of which are turned outwards as shown.
The upper plate D has a series of pockets G. When the cable is being
wound up on this reel as cach branch with its tube 6 (Figure 3) reaches
the reel, the branch is passed over the overhanging end of one of the
rods E, and the tube is dropped into one of the pockets G.
As the employment of short branch cables to carry the tipping tubes
or contact makers as before described may in some cases be found
inconvenient, more particularly on lines where it is frequently necessary
to take out one or more carriages from the body of the train, I sometimes {
adopt a modified arrangement in which the contact maker forms part
of the cable itself, the cable is continuous as before, there are no
electric contacts for the porters to make and the contact makers are
placed in holders on the carriages, which holders are actuated by the
passengers (or by the severance of the train) so as to produce contact 3
when a signal has to be made. The manner in which this can be

page_text: effected is represented in Figures 12 to 15. Figure 12 being a transverse
section and Figure 13 a longitudinal section (enlarged) of the holder
and contact maker, Figure 14 an end view of the holder detached; and
Figure 15 showing the application to 'the carriages, a is the holder
which I prefer to place under the caves of the carriages so that it can
be reached by the the porters from the platform This holder is free to
slide along a rod 6 when pulled by a cord in one of the passenger com-
partments or when dragged or pulled owing to the severance of the
train The ends of the holder have square recesses or seats at the top
as shown while the central portion is formed with a curved scat to
receive a movable part a¹ of the holder, this movable part being similarly
formed with a square recess or seat, c is a rod or arm standing up from
the part a¹ of the holder and carrying a weight & This weight would
cause the part a² to turn or partially rotate on its scat or support a, but
this action is prevented by a fixed piece e on the carriage, f, f', is the
contact maker of wood or other suitable material. It may conveniently
be about two inches long and it consists of two square ends f. f, and a
cylindrical portion, the two wires g, 9, which form the cable pass
through this contact maker, and in the portion ¹ they are each in
connection with a separate metallic plate or piece h Outside the
cylindrical portion f¹ is a piece, square on the outside but cylindrical
internally and within it is a metal spring, which in the normal position
is not in contact with either of the plates h, but when the piece is
made to turn partially round the spring / comes into contact with both
the plates g, g, and therefore puts the wires into electric communication,
a spiral spring or other contrivance is used to prevent the rotation of
the contact maker when not actuated by the holder.
It will be readily understood that the porter or attendant has simply
to drop the contact maker into the holder the square ends f, f, taking
into the squarc scats at the ends of the holder, while the piece takes
into the square scat on the movable part a¹. Then when the holder is
caused to slide on its rod b, owing to its being pulled by a cord from one
of the passenger compartments or by the drag caused by the severance
of the train, the rod c is released from the stop e, and falling outwards
turns the part a' together with the piece, thereby producing metallic
contact by means of the spring between the two wires and thus
causing the signal to be made The parts remain in this position, and
consequently indicate by the projecting rod c the carriage from which

page_text: the signal has been sent, 7 is a stop to limit the turning movement of
the part a¹.
In case at any time it is required to remove a carriage from the train
the then surplus part of the cable may be coiled up and hung on a hook
on one of the adjoining carriages, this coiled up portion still forming 5
part of the continuous cable without interfering with the transmission
of signals.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. Constructing apparatus for signalling or communicating 1
between different parts of railway trains, substantially as herein-before
described.
Second. Fitting to railway carriages a holder to receive a tipping tube
or other contact maker, the said holder and the contact maker being so
arranged that when the holder is acted upon by a cord or other device 1
from one of the passenger compartments, or by the pull or drag caused
by the severance of the train it tips, turns or moves the contact maker
so as to make or break metallic contact between the electric wires,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Third. The employment in a tipping or pivoted tube or case of a solid 2
body, which when the tube or case is tipped or turned on its pivot, falls
and makes or breaks (as the case may be) metallic contact between
metallic surfaces or points, substantially as hercin-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martyn John Roberts, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, 2
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
MARTYN J. ROBERTS (LS).