Improvements in the Locking Arrangements of Gates, such as Railway Level Crossing Gates and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 28th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 28th Nov., 1895
Improvements in the Locking Arrangements of Gates, such as
Railway Level Crossing Gates and the like.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS PAGE, of Vulcan Works, in the City and County of
the City of Worcester, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to the locking arrangements of gates, and may be
applied in connection with gates placed in various situations and with especial
advantage in connection with railway level crossing gates.
Heretofore where railway crossing gates have been worked from a signal cabin
or gateman's hut, they have usually been actuated by a crab or other gearing,
governed or released by the lever employed to work the gate stops or locks;
the arrangement and operation being such that assuming the gates to be across the
street or roadway, and held in that position by the stops, then to open them the
signalman would pull over the gate stop lever, which would release the crab or
other gate operating gear and at the same time he would lower the stops in the
street or roadway, and free the gates themselves.
As the stops in the roadway
were being lowered those in the six foot way would be by a simultaneous action
raised to a position in which they would catch or hold the gates when the
latter were swung across the railway and the street or roadway was thus opened
for traffic.
For
The opening of the gates for the railway and closing them across the street
or roadway would be effected by reverse movements of the respective levers.
Thus it will be understood that the stops have been governed entirely by one
lever and the gates by another lever or an equivalent in the form of a crab or
gearing and although this system has been in extensive use for years accidents are
liable to arise from its employment. For example assuming the gates to be across
the railway, and that it be desired to open them for railway traffic, the signalman,
on lowering his stops to release the gates would at the same time raise the stops in
the street or roadway-then if from any cause he failed to immediately follow by
working the gates, a horse in charge of a person who had not noticed the stops
might approach and run foul of them with more or less disastrous consequences.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate the danger above indicated.
this purpose I arrange the gate stop and locking apparatus in connection with the
gates in such a manner that assuming the gates to be held by their stops either
across the street or roadway or across the railway, then by an appropriate move-
ment of the stop lever the gates would be released but the stops corresponding to
the other position of the gates instead of being by the said movement of the stop
lever caused or allowed to rise, as in the ordinary arrangement, would remain down
until the gates had been moved into a position more or less near to the said stops,
whereupon by means of suitable mechanisin actuated by the gates these stops as
the gates approach them would be caused or allowed to rise and catch the gates
and hold them in proper position, the stop locking mechanism being caused to then
secure the stops against depression thus locking the gates.
Thus with my invention when changing the gates from one closed position to

page_text: another the stops or locks are not raised until the gates have been moved into a
position in which they offer an obstruction to anyone passing along the street or
roadway or along the railway; but the application of my invention may if desired
be confined to the stops located in the roadway.
Gate locking mechanism in which according to my invention the gate stops are
controlled and worked partly by the action of the gate stop lever and partly by
the gates themselves may be variously constructed.
In one arrangement all the gates being connected to one another, as well under-
stood, a sliding bar connected to the stop lever and provided with an incline raises
a bar that is connected to, so as to be operated by, a gate into such a position that
as the gate is afterwards turned on its hinges and has travelled a predetermined
portion of the distance, from one of its closed positions to the other the bar
connected to it actuates, through a projection a T shaped lever and suitable
connection, the set of stops the gate is approaching, and they are moved into
position to secure that gate and the other gate of the same pair and are locked,
the sliding bar connected to the gate then being again in its lower position and
when there is a reverse movement of the stop lever it through a projection on its
sliding bar and the T-shaped lever and connection unlocks and lowers the stops to
release the gates preparatory to the gates being moved over by the crab or other
operating gear provided for that purpose.
Instead of providing separate stop operating mechanism for each gate an
arrangement common to two or to all of the gates may be employed.
Dated this 28th day of November 1894.
Improvements in the Locking Arrangements of Gates, such as
Railway Level Crossing Gates and the like.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS PAGE, of Vulcan Works, in the City and County of the
City of Worcester, Civil Engineer, 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 has reference to the locking arrangements of gates, and may be
applied in connection with gates placed in various situations and with especial
advantage in connection with railway level crossing gates.
Heretofore where railway crossing gates have been worked from a signal cabin
or gateman's hut, they have usually been actuated by a crab or other gearing, and
governed or released by the lever employed to work the gate stops or locks; the
arrangement and operation being such that assuming the gates to be across the
street or roadway, and held in that position by the stops, then to open them
the signalman would pull over the gate stop lever, which would release the crab
or other gate operating gear and at the same time he would lower the stops in the
street or roadway, and free the gates themselves. As the stops in the roadway
were being lowered those in the six foot way would be by a simultaneous action
raised to a position in which they would catch or hold the gates when the
latter were swung across the railway and the street or roadway was thus opened
for traffic.
The opening of the gates for the railway and closing them across the street
or roadway would be effected by reverse movements of the respective levers.

page_text: Thus it will be understood that the stops have been governed entirely by one
lever and the gates by another lever or an equivalent in the form of a crab or
gearing.
Although this system has been in extensive use for years, accidents have arisen
and are liable to arise from its employment. For example, assuming the gates to
be across the railway, and that it be desired to open them for railway traffic, the
signalman, on lowering his stops to release the gates would at the same time raise
the stops in the street or roadway-then if, from any cause, he failed to complete
the operation by not immediately following by working the gates, a horse in charge
of a person who had not noticed that the stops were raised, might approach and run
foul of them, with more or less disastrous consequences.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate the danger above indicated.
For this purpose I arrange the gate-stop and locking apparatus in connection
with the gates in such a manner that assuming the gates to be held by their stops
either across the street or roadway or across the railway, then by an appropriate
movement of the stop lever the gates would be released but the stops corre-
sponding to the other position of the gates instead of being by the said movement
of the stop lever caused or allowed to rise, as in the ordinary arrangement, would
remain down until the gates had been moved into a position more or less near to the
said stops, whereupon by means of suitable mechanism actuated by the gates,
these stops as the gates approached them, would be caused or allowed to rise and
catch the gates and hold them in proper position, the stop locking mechanism being
caused to then secure the stops against depression, thus locking the gates.
Thus with my invention, when changing the gates from one closed position to
another, the stops or locks are not raised until the gates have been moved into a
position in which they offer an obstruction to anyone passing along the street or
roadway or along the railway; but the application of my invention may if desired
be confined to the stops located in the roadway only, as in the arrangements
hereinafter described and shewn in drawings.
Gate locking mechanism in which, according to my invention, the gate-stops are
controlled and worked partly by the action of the gate-stop-lever and partly by
the gates themselves, may be variously constructed.
Referring to the accompanying illustrative drawings,
Fig. 1 shows a plan of an ordinary set of railway level crossing gates adapted
to be secured in the usual manner by gate-stops or locks arranged in the six foot
and roadway, the gates being represented as being secured across the railway
by the stops F, F and in their alternate position, namely, across the roadway,
by the stops F3, F3, and there is shown adjacent to the stops F, F, apparatus
according to my invention whereby the working of the stops is effected partly by
means of the gates.
Fig. 2 shows in plan one construction of apparatus according to my invention;
Fig. 3 shows a sectional elevation on line of Fig. 2; and
Fig. 4 shows a sectional elevation on line xx of Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 shows, in plan, a modified construction corresponding, as respects the stop
operating gear, to that indicated in Fig. 1.
Figs. 6 and 7 show sectional elevations respectively on line y y and on line 2 of
Fig. 5.
Figs. 8 & 9 are sectional detail views hereinafter more particularly referred to.
It will be observed that the several arrangements are shewn to different scales.
In the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, all the gates being connected
to one another. as well understood, a sliding bar A connected to the stop-lever
and provided with an incline A' raises a sliding bar B that is connected to, so as
to be operated by a gate C, into such a position that as the gate is afterwards
turned on its hinges, and has travelled a predetermined. portion of the distance
from one of its closed positions to the other, the bar B connected to it actuates-
through a projection B' a T-shaped lever D and suitable connection E-the set
of tumblers f* constituting the stop marked F in Figs. 1 & 2, the gate is

page_text: approaching, and these tumblers are moved into position to secure that gate and
the other gate of the same pair, and are locked, as the sliding bar B completes its
travel. When the said bar B has completed its travel, it falls into its lower or
normal position by reason of the projection B³ on its underside and against which
the inclined part A' of the bar A, previously acted, having passed beyond such
inclined part. When there is a reverse movement of the stop-lever, it, through a
projection A on its sliding bar A and the T-shaped lever D and connection E,
unlocks and lowers the tumblers flf to release the gates, preparatory to
the gates being moved over by the crab or other operating gear provided for that
purpose.
Figs. 8 & 9 are vertical sections showing a gate stop or tumblers of known
construction and suitable for fixing in the roadway, Fig. 8 showing the stop
tumblers up and the gate secured, aud Fig. 9 showing the tumblers down and level
with the roadway.
E is the rod which in ordinary arrangements is connected to the gate stop lever
but which in my arrangement is connected to the lever D, and and 2 are two
of the stop tumblers for catching and securing the corresponding gates, the third
stop tumbler being behind f. When the rod E (Fig. 9) is pulled, a part, say of
its travel in the direction of the arrow, by the action of the lever D, the tumblers
are raised or are allowed to be raised to the position shown in Fig. 8, the com-
pletion of the travel of the said rod through the remaining stroke, bringing a
projection y on the cam y, behind a corresponding projection a connected with the
tumblers f and so preventing these tumblers from being depressed. The stop or
tumbler is worked by a rigid connection from the cam y but the tumblers fi are
weighted so as to rise as soon as they are released (Fig. 9) by the cam y.
Separate operating mechanism may be provided for all of the stops; or an
arrangement common to two roadway stops may be employed, as illustrated
(see Fig. 1).
Referring now to Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7,-F2 and F3 are gate stops in the roadway,
securing the gates C across the road (through the tumblers f¹ƒ³ in the ordinary
way) which tumblers, when the gates are across the railway, are down i.e. level with
the surface of the road. A is the sliding bar provided with projections hereinafter
mentioned and connected to the lever in the signal cabin by which the stops are
actuated by the signalman ; B is the bar connected to the gate heel; it is furnished
with projections hereinafter mentioned and through it the gate-stops are actuated
by the gate to which it is attached as hereinafter described.
The working of the arrangement is as follows:-
:-
The gates as shown in Fig. 1 are across the railway; and are so held by the
gate-stops F F'.
Assuming it is required to close them across the roadway, the signalman would
first pull over his gate stop lever through the greater portion of its travel, to lower
the stops F and F¹ (as well as to release the mechanism working the gates), but he
would not, as has hitherto been the custom, raise the stops F2 F3 in the roadway,
nor in any way interfere with them.
In lowering the stops F, F, the bar A with its projections a¹, a³, a would be
moved to the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 6, and the bar B (actuated
in turn by the gates) would be lifted or raised to its dotted position by the incline
projection a (Figs. and 7); this would bring the projection B¹ on the bar B into
a working plane with the arm D* of the lever D, D. The signalman would now,
through the mechanism provided for that purpose, and which may be of any well-
known or suitable construction, move the gates from across the railway to across
the roadway, and during their travel to the latter position, on their getting to the
angle indicated by the dot and dash lines C1 (Fig. 1), the projection B¹ on the bar B
would commence to actuate the lever D D which would be gradually moved from
the position indicated by dot and dash line D¹ in Fig. 5, to that indicated by the
similar line D' in the same figure: thus raising the tumblers f¹fs of the stops F³ F³
in readiness to receive the gates at the end of their travel.

page_text: The movement of the lever D D* from D¹ to D³ would cause the projection d'
at the end of the rod d2 (which is jointed at d³ to one arm of lever D D*) after.
travelling along the path h to drop in front of the projection a³ on the bar A
(see dotted lines in Fig. 6).
The gates, even assuming they were in position within the tumblers f¹ f' of the
stops FF3 would not be secure (the tumblers being free to be depressed) until the
signalman had completed the full travel of the bar A so that its part A had
attained the position A³; this, by the engagement of a³ and d', would, through
the rod d, further move the crank lever DD* from D³ to D₁ and prevent the
depression of the tumblers, thus efficiently securing the gates in the ordinary
manner.
During the movement of the gates, the bar 13 would remain in its lifted
position B (Fig. 7) owing to the projection B³ on its under side passing or
travelling over the elevated portion a¹ on the upper side of the bar A; when,
however, the gates had completed their travel, the projection B³ on the bar B,
having passed beyond a¹ of the bar A, would drop to its lower or normal position,
thus bringing projection B¹ of the bar B below the arm D* of the crank lever D D*
and allowing the said lever to be moved back when required.
In order to put the gates again across the railway, the signalman would, by
moving his gate stop lever through the greater portion of its travel in a contrary
direction to that above referred to, lower the roadway stops and raise those in the
six foot to receive the gates in that position. The movement of the gate stop lever
would cause the part A of the bar A which would be at A', to travel from A³ to A³,
and, through the projection a², move the lever D D* from D' to D' and lower the
tumblers to admit of the gates being moved into position across the railway. The
completion of the travel of the gate stop lever in the cabin, after the gates have
been moved, moves the lever D D* from D² to D¹. This movement however does
not really affect the stops F2 F3 but locks up the tumblers of the stops F and F and
prevents their being depressed. On the return motion of the lever D D* on the
projection d' on the end of the rod d travels up an incline and releases itself from
the projection a' on the bar A. This admits of the bar A being again moved
without actuating the lever D, D*.
In simple crossings, the arrangement hereinbefore described might be modified
by dispensing with one set of the combined apparatus (Fig. 1), and connecting the
levers DD of the gate stops F3, F³ as shewn by the dotted lines M M', but two
sets are shown for more clearly describing the nature of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Providing in connection with a gate such as a railway level crossing gate or
the like and stops for securing the same in alternative positions, mechanism
adapted to be operated by a stop lever for unlocking the gates when locked and
mechanism whereby a gate as it is moved from one closed position to its alternative
closed position itself raises or permits the raising of the stops it is approaching,
the arrangement being such that the stops as required are raised by the gate itself
and only lowered by means of the stop lever.
2. Railway gate locking mechanism in which the gate stops or locks are
controlled and worked partly by the action of a gate stop lever and partly by the
gates themselves, the arrangement being such as hereinabove set forth that the
stops will be in a position offering no obstruction except when the gates are
closed across the roadway or occupy a position inore or less near to the said stops
and in which position the gates offer an obstruction to anyone passing along the
roadway.
3. In connection with gates such as railway level crossing gates adapted to be
locked in alternative positions locking apparatus constructed, arranged and

page_text: operating substantially as hereinabove described with reference to the examples
illustrated respectively in Figs. 2 to 4 inclusive and in Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7.
Dated this 28th day of August 1895.
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.