Improvements in Electric Signalling Apparatus.
Year: 1890

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by THE HALL SIGNAL COMPANY, of Portland, Maine,
United States of America.]
Improvements in Electric Signalling Apparatus.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
This invention relates to railway signal instruments adapted to be used in connection
with any system employing an electric current for its operation.
The object of the invention is the construction of an automatic railway signal that
will operate with the expenditure of a less amount of battery power than has heretofore
been attainable except through the intervention of clock mechanism.
For this purpose I prolong the cores of an electro-magnet beyond their helices and
mounting a novel constructed armature on a shaft, whose bearings are contained in a
brass bracket which holds the electro magnet, cause it to revolve between the cores of
the magnet when the magnet is energised. The prolonged cores and the armature are
both curved upon the are of a circle, the radius of the cores being about 4 of an inch
greater than that of the armature. The signal disc is attached to the shaft on which
the armature rotates, and as the intervening space between the cores and armature is
just sufficient for the armature in its revolution to clear the cores, together with the
fact that whatever position the signal assumes, the distance between the cores and
armature remains the same, the signal can be operated with a much less number of
cells of battery than in heretofore devised automatic electro signals.
In some electric signals the gravity operation of the signal removes the armature so
far from the magnet that when the signal comes to a state of rest the distance between
the magnet and its armature is so great that to start the signal from its normal con-
dition requires a large expenditure of electric power. In the said invention the
armature is constructed in such relation to the magnetic field that the signal can be
operated with a much less amount of battery,
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.
Figure 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in vertical section.
Figure 4 is a view in plan thereof.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are detail views to which references will hereinafter be made.
D is a bracket preferably of brass secured to which by screw bolts e e¹ are soft iron
bars CC, a portion of whose interior or side surfaces are curved upon the arc of a
circle. The electro-magnet c, c¹ is secured to these bars by screws e² and e³ which
enter the cores of the magnet, and when thus secured the bars become the prolongated
cores of the magnet. To more thoroughly secure these prolongated cores in position,
projections d, d' are formed upon the bracket D to which they are secured by
screws k, kl.
B is the armature and consists of a soft iron bar to each end of which is attached
wings bb curved upon the are of a circle, and they increase in width from their outer
or unsupported ends to the end connected or integral with the bar of the armature.
One of the wings of the armature extends from one end of the bar, and the other wing
of the armature from the other end of the bar, so that the two sections or wings of the
armature are opposite each other.
It will be seen that each wing of the armature has its flat edge arranged upon the
outside of the end of the cores, and an inclined edge towards the magnet, so that as

page_text: the armature is rotated by the magnet a constantly increasing width of metal or
armature is brought into the field of the magnet.
The wings of the armature are curved upon the are of a circle whose diameter is
about 4 of an inch less than that apon which the prolongated cores are curved.
The shaft a² passes through the centre of the armature and has bearings respectively
in a portion d¹ of the bracket D, and in the end of a screw a³ extending through the
portion d² of the bracket D. The screw a³ extends through the bracket D a sufficient
distance to admit of the armature being taken out of its bearings by the removal of
the screw.
* A is the signal disc connected to the armature B by a metal piece a.
To the opposite
end of the armature B to which the signal A is attached is secured a balancing rod F
upon which is an adjustable weight C. The cores of the electro-magnet c are secured
to each other by the connecting armature c², upon which are mounted suitably insulated
binding posts forming the terminals of the electro-magnet.
H is a stud or pin placed in the bracket D in such a position as to govern the
rotation of the armature in both directions.
Referring to Figures 5, 6 and 7 I is a holder which is to be screwed by screws 9, 9
into the signal case, which is adapted to receive the portion d of the bracket D, and is
held in position by set screws f2f3 in projections f¹. The lugs h, h¹ forming the
bottom support of the bracket.
Having thus described the construction of the improved signal, I will now proceed
to explain its operation. When it is desired to display the signal by a gravity movement,
the bracket I is to be screwed in the signal case in such a position that when the signal
instrument is secured to it the disc A, when in the position shown in Figures 1 and 2
will be seen through the glass. The operation is as follows. The weight G upon the
balancing lever F is to be placed at such a point as to not quite overbalance the signal.
disc. The signal disc, being the heavier, will fall by gravity to the position shown in
Figures 1 and 2. When a circuit is completed through the electro magnet c c¹ the
prolongated cores C C₁ will become charged and cause the armature to be turned upon
its axis a³ a portion of a revolution, preferably about a quarter, and this turning result
is owing to the shape of the armature which is formed to bring into the field of the
magnet upon its rotation a constantly increasing body or width of metal, so that the
pull or attraction of the magnet is constantly exerted to bring the largest body of
metal in line, and this of course causes the armature to be turned until this result is
accomplished, or until stud H stops its further movement. This moves the signal
from one position to another;-if for instance, the normal position is danger, it causes
it to be moved from that position to another position which, for instance indicates
safety, as shown in Figure 3, and it is held in such position so long as the electric
circuit is maintained. When this ceases the signal drops by gravity to its original or
danger position.
The advantage of the invention arises from the simplicity of the construction,
whereby its perfect operation is ensured, as there are no parts that can easily get out
of order or become disarranged, or which require nice adjustment or special attention
to keep right, and also from the cheapness with which it can be constructed.
It will be understood that the signal disc A and its balancing rod F may be placed
on shaft a² between the armature and portion d³ of bracket D, instead of being
directly connected with the armature.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents I declare that what 1 claim is :-
First. An automatic signal for railways and other uses, having a signal or target A,
and a signal turning mechanism comprising an armature having two curved wings,
and shaped as described, and an electro magnet to cooperate therewith and connected
with an electric circuit, substantially as described.
Second. The combination in a signal for railways and other uses, of the target A,

page_text: connected with the armature B, the said armature pivoted to a suitable bracket,
and comprising two wings curved on the arc of a circle, connected with each
other at their larger ends, and gradually decreasing in body from their larger ends
outward, and an electro-magnet to cooperate with said arms and connected with an
electric circuit adapted to be broken or closed at a distance from the signal,
substantially as described.
Third. The combination, in a signal for railways and other uses of the armature B
comprising two curved wings increasing in body or width from one end to the other,
a connecting bar connecting the two bases of the wings, a pivot extending through
said connecting bar and upon which the armature is turned, a signal and arm attached
to the edge of one of the wings of the armature, and an electrically controlled magnet
to .cooperate with the armature and arranged in relation thereto to cause the same to
be turned as and for the purposes specified.
Fourth. The combination, in a signal for railways and other uses, of a signal
pivoted to a support or bracket above the same and adapted to occupy a normal
position by gravity, a armature connected directly with the signal comprising two curved
wings increasing in body from their ends to their bases and connected at their bases
one upon one side of the pivot upon which the signal turns, and the other upon the
opposite side thereof, and an electrically controlled magnet to cooperate with said
armature, whereby upon the establishment of the circuit the signal is lifted from the
position in which it is held by gravity to another position in which it is held by the
magnet, and whereby upon the breaking of the circuit the signal automatically
resumes its original position by gravity, substantially as described.
.
Fifth. The combination, in a signal for railways and other uses, of a signal pivoted
to a support or bracket above the same and adapted to occupy a normal position by
gravity, an armature connected directly with the signal, comprising two curved wings
increasing in body from their ends to their bases and connected at their bases one
upon one side of the pivot upon which the signal turns and the other upon the
opposite side thereof, and an electrically controlled magnet to cooperate with said
armature, whereby upon the establishment of the circuit the signal is lifted from the
position in which it is held by gravity to another position in which it is held by the
magnet, and whereby, upon the breaking of the circuit, the signal automatically
resumes its original position by gravity, and a balancing weight or arm upon the side
of the pivot opposite that upon which the signal is secured of a weight sufficient to
enable the signal to be turned readily but not sufficient to prevent its resuming its
normal position by gravity in opposition to said weight, as and for the purposes
described.
Sixth. The combination of the signal, the armature having the wings b, 61, an
electrically controlled magnet, and the stop G, substantially as described.
Seventh. The combination of the coils c, c¹, the prolonged cores C, C extending
beyond the ends of the coil, so that the operating surfaces thereof are practically
without the line of the coils, with an armature having the wings b, b', shaped as
specified, and the signal, substantially as described.
Eighth. The combination of the bracket D, the coils c, c' secured to the top of said
bracket, the cores C, C¹ fastened to the bracket by the screw bolts e, e¹ and k, k¹, and
to the coils by the screws e², e³, the armature B having the wings b, 6' pivoted to the
bracket, and the signal A attached to one wing of the armature substantially as
described.
Ninth. The combination of a bracket, an arm, rod or bar pivoted thereto and
having an overbalancing signal attached to its lower end, an electro-magnet supported
by said bracket, an armature having curved wings attached to or formed upon said
arin, rod or bar, as and for the purposes described.
Tenth. The combination of a bracket supporting a pendent signal, an electro-
magnet, and an armature of the character specified, and having the slide section d
with the bracket holder I, having cross bars or sections and set screws carried by said
cross bars to bear against the slide substantially as described.
Eleventh. The combination of the armature having wings shaped as specified, with

page_text: the removable screw a³ forming one bearing for the pivot, with the armature, as and
for the purposes described.
Tweltth. The combination of a magnet having prolonged cores and curved ends
oppositely arranged to each other, and an armature having two curved wings of the
character specified pivoted between the curved surfaces of the cores, and a signal
attached to or carried by one arm of the armature, and an adjustable weight attached
to the other arm of the armature, as and for the purposes described.
Dated this 16th day of Sentember 1890
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.