Im- PROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING BETWEEN VARIOUS PARTS OF A RAILWAY TRAIN
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Herbert and James
Calvert Fowler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 11th November 1869.
We, THOMAS HERBERT and JAMES CALVERT FOWLER, both of
Leicester, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR SIGNALLING BETWEEN VARIOUS PARTS OF
A RAILWAY TRAIN," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object a novel arrangement and combination
of parts whereby a simple, effective, and economical mode of signalling
between passengers and guards or between guard and guard or engine
driver is obtained. For this purpose we employ two electrical con-
ductors, one consisting of a length of wire carried along the bottom of
cach carriage, the other consisting of the draw bars, which are connected
at their inner ends by a wire clamped or otherwise connected thereto,
the draw bars of adjoining carriages being connected together by
means of the couplings ordinarily employed. The first-mentioned
wire conductors of adjoining carriages are connected together by mean':
of a spring look and a length of coiled wire at each end thereof. From
cach of these conductors we lead branch wires into each compartment of

page_text: the carriage, and wo employ any suitable means for connecting the two
conductors together to complete the electric circuit, but the contact
maker which we prefer consists of a lever mounted on an axis which is
in connection with one conductor, whilst a plate or stud against which
the outer end of the lever is capable of being placed when desired is in
connection with the other conductor. In connection with such lever we
employ a semaphore arm to indicate from which compartment the
signal has been made; this we effect by mounting on the axis of the
first-mentioned lever another arm or lever, which when a signal is made
is caused to operate a catch or stop to release the semaphore arm, which
by means of a spring is caused to turn on its axis to give the required
indication. This semaphore arm or the parts acting thereon are pro-
tected from being again set by any one but the guard or person in
charge thereof. If desired a semaphoro arm may be fixed at each side
of each compartment and operated by one contact maker by means of a
suitable cord or connection, or two contact makers may be employed, one
at each side of each compartment. The signalling apparatus employed
is the ordinary chattering bell, the hammer of which we place with its
head below the centre of the bell so as to prevent any signal being given
by the vibration of the train. We employ one battery to each "break"
or guard's van (a sand battery by preference), and when there is more
than one battery in a train the negative poles of such batteries are in
communication with one conductor and the positivo with the other, and
in order to provide for the battery carriages being turned end for end we
employ any suitable pole changer as will be readily understood. When
it is desired to "slip coaches" we employ a slip coupling for the
wire conductor in which an arm is Tetained in position by a catch until
it is desired to uncouple the carriages, when a cord or other connection
is caused to act on the catch and release the arm whereby the wire
conductors are disconnected. This slip coupling we connect by the cord
with the ordinary slip coupling of the draw bar in such manner as first to
disconnect the wire conductor and then to disconnect the draw bars.