Improvements in or relating to Electric Signal Alarm and Safety Devices for Railways.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Nov., 1899-Accepted, 3rd Mar., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Electric Signal Alarm and Safety
Devices for Railways.
A communication from FERNAND CUMONT, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Engineer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT, of 111, Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and, in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The present invention relates to apparatus actuated by electricity, intended to
call the attention of the driver or other official of a train when the latter passes
a stop or danger signal, and also, by means of a special device, to exactly control
the passage of the train beyond such a danger signal. The apparatus differs
essentially from those used at present in that it is actuated exclusively by
electricity, and the alarm does not cease to act after the train had passed the
danger signal, and can be stopped only by the person in charge of the train by a
certain action on his part, which, at the same time, registers by means of a special
device the passage of the train beyond the said danger signal.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure 1 represents a schematic view of one practical form of construction of
this alarm and safety device, Figure 2 being a schematic view of another form of
construction.
"
23
1 indicates a signal of any kind near the track of a railway, which signal is
provided with a contact plate or part 22, which, according to whether the track
19 open or closed," is either separated from the contacts 23, 24, or in contact
with them, thereby completing the electric circuit of a battery 21. Between the
rails 2 are insulators 3 made of wood or of other insulating material, arranged
parallel with the rails and covered on the top with metallic plates 4, 5, on which.
slide metallic brushes 6, 7, or any other appropriate contact device carried by
the locomotive or tender, and intended to conduct the current to an alarm
apparatus arranged in a case S within easy reach of the driver.
In cases where the return current can be passed along one of the rails or through
the earth, it is sufficient to have only one contact instead of two.
9 represents a relay of the apparatus, and 10 an electric bell device, 11 is a
fixed ratchet wheel 12. and 13 being metallic contact plates or segments on the
ratchet wheel 11 and insulated from one another and from the wheel itself;
14 is a handle or lever provided with a contact 25 and a pawl 15. The latter is
intended to prevent a rotation of the lever 14 in a backward direction and during
the forward rotation of the lever the contact 25 presses on the contact strips 12
or 13.
16 represents a toothed pinion fixed on the axle carrying the lever and turning
with the latter. This pinion gears with a toothed wheel 17, the upper surface or
side of which is provided with numbers registering the operations carried out by
the said wheel. The relative number of teeth on the pinion 16, 17 is such
(although not so shown in the drawing) that each operation of the lever 14 will

page_text: cause the next number in the series of numbers 1, 2, 3
to appear behind an opening in the case.
on the pinion 17,
The wheel 17 is also provided with the projection 18, which strikes against a
stop 19 whenever the said wheel completes a full turn.
20 represents a battery within the case containing the apparatus, and 21 the
battery of the track signal.
When the track signal 1 is set to indicate danger or that the track is closed,
the contact 22 becomes inserted between the two contacts 23, and 24, as repre-
sented in the accompanying drawing, and, when the train arrives before the
signal, the circuit of battery 21 is closed through the parts 21, 24, 22, 23, 4, 6,
26, 27,-9, 30, 7 and 5 back to the battery, and the electro-magnet 9 becoming thus
energised attracts its armature 31 and effects the closing of the alarm contacts 32
and 33 (Figure 1). From that moment, although the brushes 6 and 7 may no
longer be in contact with the contact plates 4 and 5, the electro-magnet 9 remains
energised by the circuit passing over 9, 27, 34, 25, 14, 35, 36, 20, 37, 32, 38, back
to 9, as long as the lever 14 occupies the position indicated in the drawing.
.
The contact 33, remaining closed, the alarm bell 10 is actuated by the circuit
passing through 33, 36, 20, 39, 10, 40, 41 to 33.
This alarm bell may be replaced by any other indicating device actuated by an
electromagnet such as for instance a whistle, a conduit pipe of compressed air or
the like.
The driver or any other responsible official is obliged to turn the lever 14 from
the left to the right, as indicated by the arrow, in order to stop the ringing of
the alarm for in moving the crank in this manner the contact 25 of the latter
will pass from the contact plate 12 over to the contact plate 13, in doing which
the electromagnet 9 will be demagnetised, since the current will be broken owing
to the gap between the two plates 12 and 13, but on the other hand, the circuit
of the indicating device will be freshly established by the circuit passing
through 20, 36, 35, 14, 25, 13, 42, 41, 40, 10, 39, back to battery 20, and in order
to break this last circuit it is necessary that the contact 25 should pass over the
whole contact plate 13 until it arrives again on contact plate 12, thus having
made a whole revolution inasmuch as the pawl 15 prevents any return movement
of the lever.
The lever having arrived at its first point of departure, the apparatus is now so
placed again as to be ready to repeat the same operation, should another stop or
danger signal be encountered on the line; but at the same time, the lever 14 by
means of the toothed wheel 16 has turned the wheel 17 through a certain angle,
owing to which one of the numbers 12 3,
. . on the front face of the
said wheel, will appear in an opening provided for that purpose in the cover of
of the case. In order to prevent the possibility of fraud, the case is completely
closed on all sides with the exception of the handle of the lever 14 which passes
through the lid or side of the case, and is movable in a slot provided for that
purpose. The responsible official of the train, cannot therefore interfere with
the pawl 15, so as to be able to turn the lever backwards, nor with any other part
of the apparatus. Moreover he cannot,. after having sufficiently turned the
lever 14, return the wheel 17 to its original position, because as soon as the last
of the numbers (8 in this example) has appeared under the little window or aper-
ture in the cover, the projection 18 strikes against the stop 19 and thereby
prevents any further rotation of the wheel 17 and of the lever 14. If the guard
or driver does not actuate the lever and with it the controlling device, the alarm
bell will continue to be operated incessantly, and will by this act draw attention
to the omission.
In order to return the apparatus to its starting point, the box is opened and
the pawl 15 raised by hand, whereupon the pinions can be rotated backwards to
bring the pinion 17 to its starting position.
It is therefore evident that the alarm apparatus cannot be stopped unless the
controlling device is actuated.

page_text: The same effect may be obtained by employing two electric batteries instead
of one only, as indicated in Figure 2, and suppressing the contact device 33.
In this second form of construction the alarm device, whenever the contacts 6
and 7 press against the contacts 4 and 5 of the track, the circuit of the electro-
magnet 9 will be closed as in the preceding case, the armature 31 of this electro-
magnet producing the closing of the contact 32, and the electro-magnet 9 will
thereupon continue to be energized by the current passing through 9, 41, 32, 42,
14, 12, 43, 44, 45, back to 9.
The contact 32 remaining closed, the alarm device 10 will be actuated through
the circuit 10, 46, 47, 48, 49, 42, 32, 50, 51, and 10.
Whenever the lever 14 is moved on to the contact plate 13 the circuit of the
electro-magnet 9 is broken and the contact 32 is opened, but the alarm device
will be still actuated by the current passing over 10, 46, 47, 48, 49, 42, 14; 13,
50, 51, 10.
Finally, when the lever 14 has been moved back on to the contact plate 12, the
circuit actuating the alarm device remains open and the apparatus is ready to
start again.
In the second form of construction of the alarm indicator the controlling device
is not indicated because it is identical with that employed in the apparatus repre-
sented in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. An electrically operated signal or alarm device for the purpose of indicating
to the driver of a train that he is passing a danger signal, comprising an alarm
device actuated exclusively by electricity in which the energizing of an electro-
magnet in an alarm bell or like circuit and consequently actuation of the bell or
the like continues after the momentary energizing produced by a contact made
by the passing train when near a danger signal by reason of a second circuit
being completed in the apparatus carried in the train whereby the bell or the like
is kept operating until an indicator has been moved substantially as described.
2. In apparatus of the kind described a control device in which the operation
of the alarm device cannot be stopped without the driver or official actuating the
said control device, whereby a permanent indication is recorded, the said control
device being arranged so as to render any fraud or wrong working of the apparatus
impossible, substantially as described.
3. An electrically operated signal or alarm device substantially as described or
illustrated in Figure 1 or in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 21st day of November 1899.
BOULT, WADE & KILBURN,
Agents for the Applicant.