IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS RAD WOREZNA AND LA DATA STAND STOVATO "
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
RAD WOREZNA AND LA DATA STAND STOVATO "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1870.
I, WILLIAM SMITII, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR WORKING AND LOCKING RAILWAY SWITCHES AND SIGNALS," to be
as follows:
This Invention consists principally in providing each switch or signal
lever with a treadle, which must be depressed by the foot before the
switch or signal lever can be pulled over by hand, and in connecting the
said treadles to sliding locking bars so arranged and constructed as to
lock and hold the levers of all conflicting switches or signals before the
lever itself corresponding with the treadle can be pulled over. Each
treadle is mounted upon a rocking piece which carries a short lever, the

page_text: lower arm of which takes into a notch on the sliding locking bar, so
that when the treadle is depressed the said bar is moved horizontally,
and upon these sliding bars suitable stops are placed so that when any
sliding bar is moved by its treadle its respective stops come under the
fingers of all catch levers corresponding to any or all conflicting switch
or signal levers and lock them firmly in their places. Each rocking
piece is provided with a hole, which is only brought opposite to a bolt
attached to the front of its respective lever when the treadle is depressed,
so that until the treadle has been depressed, and consequently all con-
flicting levers have been locked, no switch or signal lever can be pulled
over, and hence accidents from conflicting signals or improperly arranged
switches or points will be entirely prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SMITH, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ier
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Smith, Her special license
that I, the said William Smith, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Smith, my exccutors,
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 APPARATUS FOR WORKING AND LOCKING RAILWAY SWITCHES AND SIGNALS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Smith,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: 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 William Smith, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
The Invention consists principally in providing each switch or signal
lever with a treadle, which must be depressed by the foot before the
switch or signal lever can be pulled over by hand, and in connecting
the said treadles to sliding locking bars so arranged and constructed as
to lock and hold the levers of all conflicting switches or signals before
the lever itself corresponding with the treadle can be pulled over.
Each treadle is mounted upon a rocking piece which carries a short
lever, the lower arm of which takes into a notch on the sliding locking
bar, so that when the treadle is depressed the said bar is moved horizon-
tally, and upon these sliding bars suitable stops are placed, so that when
any sliding bar is moved by its treadle its respective stops come under
the projections of all catch levers corresponding to any or all conflicting
switch or signal levers and lock them firmly in their places. Each
rocking piece is provided with a hole, which is only brought opposite to
a bolt attached to the front of its respective lever when the treadle is
depressed, so that until the treadle has been depressed, and consequently
all conflicting levers have been locked, no switch or signal lever can be
pulled over, and hence accidents from conflicting signals or improperly.
arranged switches or points will be entirely prevented.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Im-
provements in Apparatus for Working and Locking Railway Switches
and Signals," I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, and in order that the same may be clearly understood I have
hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof:-
Figure 1 represents a front view of a set of switch and signal levers
with my improvements applied thereto as they would be arranged for
working the switches and signals for an ordinary simple junction of a
branch line with a main line of rails, as shown at Figure 5; and Figure 2

page_text: "
is a side elevation of the same seen partly in section; Figure 3 is a plan
view. In Figure 5, 1 is the "down" distance signal; 2, the "down
main signal; 3, "down" branch signal, and 4 the "down" branch
points; 5, the "up" branch signal, and 6 the "up" branch points; 7
is the "up" main signal; 8, the branch distance signal; and 9, the
"up" main distance signal. In Figure 1 the levers marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8, and 9 are the respective corresponding levers. These levers are
provided with the usual catches a, a, and their lower or horizontal arms
are connected to the signals and points or switches in the ordinary
manner.
Each lever has also connected to it a rod or
bolt b, b, for a
purpose described hereafter. In front of each lever is a treadle c, c,
attached to a rocking piece d, d, which latter is provided with a short
lever or finger e, e, which takes into a notch on one of a series of sliding
locking bars, running at right angles to the pull of the levers beneath
the rocking pieces, so that when any particular treadle is depressed by
the foot it moves its corresponding locking bar in a longitudinal direc-
tion. Each of the sliding locking bars f.f, is provided with a suitable
number of stops g, g, corresponding with the levers of conflicting
signals and switches, so that when any treadle is depressed it causes its
corresponding sliding locking bar ff, to bring its stops g, g, under the
horizontal lips or projections h, h, on the rocking pieces of all con-
flicting treadles, and thus lock them firmly in their position. It will
be seen that the part of each rocking piece d, d, which supports
the treadle is provided with a hole, and that these holes are only
brought opposite to their corresponding rods or bolts b, b, (attached to
the levers) when the treadles are depressed, so that no lever can possibly
be pulled forward till its corresponding treadle has been depressed, and
by means of its locking bar and stops has locked all conflicting levers.
The detached view Figure 1* shews treadles of Nos. 1 and 2 depressed,
and 3 and 4 locked. When it is desired that the point signal shall not
be able to be set till after the point or switch itself has been pulled
over, I use the following arrangement:-(See enlarged detached view,
Figure 4) in which c is the signal treadle and c* the switch treadle. I
connect the rocking picce of the signal treadle by a link i, i, to a loose
lever k, k, the upper arm of which comes against the rod or bolt of
the switch lever, and thus prevents the signal treadle c from being
depressed. The rod 6 of the switch lever is provided with a notch b*,
which by the time the switch or point has been set comes opposite to
the upper arm of the lever k, which can then pass and the signal

page_text: treadle is consequently at liberty, and the signal can then be set. The
locking bars and treadles are brought back when released by means of
springs 1, 1, as shewn at Figure 3.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that
I claim as my Invention, the use or employment of treadles in con-
nection with sliding locking bars for locking all conflicting switches and
signals before a lever can be pulled over as herein-before described
and illustrated by the accompanying Drawing or any mere modification
or imitation thereof constructed and operating in substantially the same
or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith, have hercunto set
my hand and scal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C.E.,
Office for Patents,
Manchester.
WILL”. SMITH. (L.S.)