IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF INTERCOMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Wickeus, of No. 4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank,
in the City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE OF INTERCOMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS"
Sealed the 28th July 1854, and dated the 1st February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Wickens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
February 1854.
1, HENRY WICKENS, of No. 4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank, in the City of
London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF INTERCOMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS" to be
as follows:-
My improvements consist in the use of what are commonly called speaking
tubes made of gutta percha, india-rubber, or other suitable material carried
along the carriages of the train to convey the sound from the mouth of a
person speaking into it at one end to the ear of another at or near the other
end of it; and also to convey the sound from the mouth of a person at one
end of such tube, and which for convenience in this description I call the main
tube, to the ear of another at or near the end of a tube leading from any of
the carriages connected with and opening into the main tube, so that the
guard or other person in a railway train may intercommunicate through the
main tube by word of mouth with the driver or other person at the other end

page_text: of it; or a person in any of such carriages may intercommunicate by word of
mouth with the guard or other person at the end of the main tube.
The main tube should have suitable connecting joints between the carriages,
so that it may be readily connected and disconnected with the carriages. There
are many connecting joints known in mechanics that would be suitable for
such purposes, but a double bayonet joint will conveniently effect that object.
Whatever connecting joint, however, be used, I recommend that it be so
arranged that the connection of the ends of the main tube between the
carriages may be easily made whichever way the carriages be placed on the
rail.
For intercommunication between a person in one of the carriages of the
train and the guard or other person at the end of the main tube, there should
be in connection with each such carriage, a spring valve, slide valve, or other
suitable contrivance, attached to the main tube in such a way that a person in
tlie carriage, by opening the valve of the tube from the carriage to the main
tube to enable him to communicate with the guard or other person at the end
of the main tube, will close the, valve of the main tube in that part of it, and
thereby better direct the sonorous undulations through the main tube to
that end of it to which it is intended the communication should be made.
The ends of the main tubes and of the tubes in the carriages should be
furnished with suitable mouth-pieces, and there should also be a whistle or
other convenient instrument at each end of the main tubes, so that the person
wishing to make the intercommunication may, by sounding such whistle or
instrument through the main tube, call the attention of the person to whom it
is intended to make the communication.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Wickens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WICKENS, of No. 4, Tokenhouse Yard, Bank, in the City of London, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
'One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Wickens, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Wickens,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Wickens, 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 therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MODE OF INTERCOMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Wickens, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Wickens, 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 state-
ment:-
My improvements consist in the use of what are commonly called speaking
tubes made of gutta percha, metal, or other suitable material, but I prefer
gutta percha properly protected from heat and injury from violence for the
purpose, carried along the carriages of a railway train, to convey the sound
from the mouth of a person speaking into it at one end to the ear of another
at or near the other end of it; and also to convey the sound from the mouth
of a person at one end of such tube, and which for the convenience of this
description I call the main tube, to the ear of another at or near the end of a
tube leading from any of the carriages connected with and opening into the
main tube. so that the guard or other person in a railway train may intercom-
municate through the main tube by word of mouth with the driver or other
person at the other end of it; or a person in any of such carriages may inter-
communicate by word of mouth to the guard or other person at the end of the
main tube. But the length of the main tube, through which such sound can
be conveyed in a sufficiently audible manner, will depend on the nature of the
material of which the main tube is composed, the mode of connecting such
tube between the carriages, and of that adopted for carrying the main tube
along the carriages. For the purpose of lessening interference with the convey-
ance of such sound as aforesaid, the main tube should be suspended by woollen
bands or other suitable material from supports attached to the carriages, so
that it may not be in immediate contact with the carriages, or the main tube
should be imbedded in sawdust, powdered charcoal, or other material suitable
for the purpose. The parts of the main tube between the ends of the carriages

page_text: should be connected about half way between each two carriages by suitable
connecting joints, such as double bayonet joints or union joints, so that the
main tube may be readily connected and disconnected between the carriages;
and there should be a joint in the main tube at each end of each carriage, and
also at the joints of india-rubber tubing or of other tubing, sufficiently flexible
to permit that part of the tube which extends from the carriage to the con-
necting joint to fall down or bend conveniently when the tube is disconnected
at the joints, and also for elongation if required by the motion of the carriages.
Or the parts of the main tube between the carriages may be of metal or other
hard suitable material, with or without a lining of gutta percha, made to form
a telescope sliding joint for connection and disconnection with a screw or spring
fastening, and with or without flexible connections next to the carriages and
the joints as above mentioned. But whatever connecting joints or contrivances
be adopted, I recommend that it be so arranged that the connection of the
main tube between the carriages may be easily made whichever way the car-
riages be placed on the rail; and in all the arrangements, I recommend that
the line of communication through the tube be preserved, so as to have as
little vibration and as air-tight as can be accomplished.
For intercommunication between a person in one of the carriages of the
train and the guard or other person at the end of the main tube, there must
be in connection with each such carriage a spring or slide valve or other
contrivance suitable for the purpose, but which from the fact of their being
well known it is unnecessary for me to describe, attached to the main tube in
such a way, that a person in the carriage by pulling a cord in connection with
the spring or slide valve or contrivance as aforesaid, may open the line of
communication through the tube from the carriage to the main tube, and at
the same time close the main tube in that part of it beyond the said valve or
contrivance, so that the sonorous undulations may be conveyed through the
tube from the carriage and the main tube to that end of it to which it is
intended the communication should be made. The ends of the main tube and
of the tubes in the carriages should be furnished with suitable mouth-pieces;
and there should also be a whistle or other convenient instrument at each end
of the main tube, so that the person wishing to make the intercommunication
may, by blowing into the main tube or any of the tubes in the carriages,
after having opened the communication therefrom to the main tube as above
mentioned, sound such whistle or instrument at the end of the main tube,
either as a signal of itself or to call the attention of the person to whom it
is intended to make the communication through the main tube by word of
mouth as aforesaid.

page_text: I wish it to be clearly understood, that I do not claim as my Invention the
use of tubes for conveying communications through the same by word of
mouth, or for conveying the breath of a person to sound a whistle or other
instrument, as the same are in known use; but I claim as my Invention only
the particular combination and adaptation herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Wickens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the First day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
H. WICKENS. (L.S.)