IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING RAILWAY GATES, AND INTERLOCKING THEM WITH POINTS AND SIGNALS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Black, junior, of No. 1, Canterbury Terrace, Kilburn;
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING RAILWAY GATES, AND INTERLOCKING THEM
WITH POINTS AND SIGNALS."
Sealed the 28th August 1877, and dated the 27th June 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Black at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th June 1877.
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3
PETER BLACK, junior, of No. 1, Canterbury Terrace, Kilburn, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING RAILWAY.
GATES, AND INTERLOCKING THEM WITH POINTS AND SIGNALS."
My Invention relates to means and apparatus for securing railway gates, and
interlocking them with points and signals in such a manner that whilst the signal
is displayed inviting the passage of a train, or when points are set suitable for such
passage, such gates cannot be opened to give admission to the line of railway, and.
that when such gates are opened to give admission signals cannot be displayed, nor
can points be set so as to permit traffic along the line. For this purpose I provide
each gate or pair of gates with a bolting apparatus, one part of which on the gate,
or on one of them, is connected by suitable rods and levers to a lever interlocked
with those used for working points and signals (it may be at a distance from the
said gates), and another part of which on the post or other gate operates as a bolt,
which can be moved by an attendant at the gate or gates. Those two parts are so
arranged relatively to one another as to operate in the following manner :- _When
the attendant at the gate closes it, thereby leaving the line of railway free, he
shoots the bolt so as to secure the gate in that position, and by doing so he removes
an obstruction to the movement of the other portion of the bolting apparatus, so
that the signalman is enabled to move the lever connected to that portion. The.
signalman, by moving the said lever, effects two: objects, the one is to lock the bolt

page_text: at the gate so that it cannot be withdrawn, and the other is to unlock such of the
point or signal levers as may be safely worked while the gate remains bolted.
When it is safe and necessary to open the gate, giving admission to the line of
railway, the signalman first moves such of the point and signal levers as it may be
necessary to move for the purpose of closing the line to traffic, and he thereby
unlocks the lever communicating with the bolting apparatus on the gate. He moves
that lever, thereby releasing the gate bolt, which the attendant at the gate can then
withdraw, but this withdrawal of the bolt automatically places the obstruction
above mentioned, which prevents the lever from being again moved until the gate
is again bolted, and this lever being interlocked with the point and signal levers the
signalman is thus prevented from moving them so as to give passage for a train
until the line is cleared by the closing and bolting of the gate, as above described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Peter Black in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th December
1877.
PETER BLACK, junior, of No. 1, Canterbury Terrace, Kilburn, in the County of
Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING RAILWAY
GATES, AND INTERLOCKING THEM WITH POINTS AND SIGNALS."
My Invention relates to means and apparatus for securing railway gates, and
interlocking them with points and signals in such a manner that whilst a signal is
displayed inviting the passage of a train, or when points are set suitable for such
passage, such gates cannot be opened to give admission to the line of railway, and
that when such gates are opened to give admission signals cannot be displayed, nor
can points be set so as to permit traffic along the line. For this purpose I provide
each gate or pair of gates with a bolting apparatus, one part of which on the gate,
or on one of them, is connected by suitable rods and levers to a lever interlocked
with those used for working points and signals (it may be at a distance from the
said gates), and another part of which on the post or other gate operates as a bolt,
which can be moved by an attendant at the gate or gates. Those two parts are so
arranged relatively to one another as to operate in the following manner.:-When
the attendant at the gate closes it, thereby leaving the line of railway free, he shoots
the bolt so as to secure the gate in that position, and by doing so he removes an
obstruction to the movement of the other portion of the bolting apparatus, so that
the signalman is enabled to move the lever connected to that portion. The signal-
man by moving the said lever effects two objects, the one is to lock the bolt at the
gate so that it cannot be withdrawn, and the other is to unlock such of the point
or signal levers as may be safely worked while the gate remains bolted.
When it is safe and necessary to open the gate, giving admission to the line of
railway, the signalman first moves such of the point and signal levers as it may be
necessary to move for the purpose of closing the line to traffic, and he thereby
unlocks the lever communicating with the bolting apparatus on the gate. He
moves that lever, thereby releasing the gate bolt, which the attendant at the gate
can then withdraw, but this withdrawal of the bolt automatically places the obstruc-
tion above mentioned, which prevents the lever from being again moved until the
gate is again bolted, and this lever being interlocked with the point and signal

page_text: levers the signalman is thus prevented from moving them, so as to give passage for
a train until the line is cleared by the closing and bolting of the gate, as above
described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a plan of a set of gates at a level crossing of a railway; and
Fig. 2 represents an elevation of a pair of those gates.
Figs. 3, 4, and 5 represent to an enlarged scale bolting apparatus, according
to my Invention, for such gates, Fig. 3 being a front view partly in section, Fig. 4 a
sectional plan, and Fig. 5 a transverse section thereof.
The
One one of the gates is mounted a key bolt A, which can be turned partly round, and
also advanced and retracted. On the other gate is mounted a draw bolt B, which is
connected by a bell crank to a vertical rod b that rests on another rod b¹ connected
by suitable cranks and rods to a bolting lever in the signal cabin or other signal-
man's station, which may be at a distance. The end of the key bolt A can be
thrust through a keyhole in a casing C and into a disc D. On turning the bolt A
partly round a notch d in this disc is brought to face the end of the bolt B.
signalman at a distance can thereupon, by working his bolting lever, raise the rods
b and b, and so cause the bolt B to be thrust forward through the notch d. This
being done the bolt A cannot be withdrawn on account of the tongue of its key end
no longer facing the keyhole, and it cannot be turned so as to bring the key tongue.
round because the disc D is held by the bolt B lying in its notch d. If however
the signalman by working his lever allows the rod b to descend, then the bolt B
being thus withdrawn the disc D and key bolt A can be turned, and the latter can
be withdrawn, leaving the gates unbolted, and the disc D is thus left in such a
position that the bolt B cannot be advanced, and consequently the bolting lever at
a distance cannot be worked. A spring tumbler a is preferably fitted in the lock
case to prevent the disc D from being turned except by the insertion of the key
bolt A. A plate E is provided on the heel of the gate, which when the gate is
opened bears on the top of the rod b¹, and so keeps the bolting lever locked till the
gate
again closed.
.
Fig. 6 represents the elevation of a single gate with a modified form of the locking
arrangement applied thereto, Fig. 6a being a section shewing the position of the
locking disc when the gate is bolted. In this case the vertical rod b, connected to
the bolting lever at a distance, acts as the bolt. The key bolt A turns a disc D,
which is flattened on one side so as to allow the bolt b to be shot. When b is
shot the disc D cannot be turned round, and consequently the key bolt A cannot be
withdrawn.
A modified arrangement is shewn in the part elevation, Fig. 7, and the detailed
views, Figs. 8 and 9, Fig. 8 being a longitudinal, and Fig. 9 a transverse section of
the lock box. In this case the draw bolt B has jointed to it a slide slide F, having a
hole through which can pass the vertical rod b worked from the bolting lever at a
distance.
The key bolt A is shewn in Fig. 8 in the position from which it cannot be with-
drawn, the slide F and draw bolt B being held by the rod b thrust through the hole
in F. When the signalman at a distance, by working his bolting lever, draws the
rod b down out of the hole in F, then the attendant at the gates can thrust forward
the key bolt A till the disc D, into which it is inserted, passes a feather G fixed in
this lock case. He can then turn round the disc D till the tongue of the key faces
the keyhole, and can thereupon withdraw the key bolt, leaving the gates free to be
opened. Furthermore, as in this condition there is no hole in F facing the rod b,
the bolting lever at a distance cannot be moved until the gates being closed the key
bolt A. is again inserted, turned round, and drawn back to the position shewn in
Fig. 8, bringing with it the bolt B and slide F, so as again to present the hole for
the entrance of the rod b.
Fig. 10 shews a modified arrangement, in which a locking apparatus like that
described with reference to Figs. 3, 4, and 5 is employed, but the draw bolt B is

page_text: jointed to a slide F, which is directly connected to a bell crank worked from the
bolting lever at a distance.
As an additional precaution in the use of this apparatus a vertical draw bolt H
may be fitted on the gate, the lower end of this bolt entering a step fixed on the
ground, and its upper end entering the lock case immediately across the keyhole,
so that unless the bolt H. be shot down into its step the key bolt A cannot be
inserted, and when the key bolt is inserted the bolt H cannot be withdrawn.
A modified form of the apparatus, with the locking gear fixed in the ground, is
shewn in elevation in Fig. 11, and a sectional plan of the lock box is shewn in
Fig. 12. In this case each leaf of the gate is provided with a vertical key bolt K
and L, which respectively shoot into keyholes formed in discs M and N mounted
so as to turn on vertical axes within the lock box. A slide bar O, connected to a
bolting lever in the signal cabin or elsewhere, passes through the lock box, and has
suitable circular notches cut on its edge, so that when it is in the position shewn in
Fig 12 the discs M and N can either or both be turned. When they are so turned,
as shewn by the position of N, the bar O cannot be moved, and consequently the
bolting lever is locked, but the discs M and N are flatted off on one side, as shewn
at m and n, and when both are turned to the position of M in Fig. 12, then the bar
O can be moved, and being so moved the discs M. and N cannot be turned, and
consequently the key bolts K and L cannot be withdrawn.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim,―
First. Securing railway gates by means of key bolts which control and are con-
trolled by bolting levers interlocked with the point and signal levers of the line,
substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Second. The use, for the purpose referred to in the preceding claim, of bolting
apparatus constructed and operating substantially as herein described with reference.
to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Black, junior, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
PETER BLACK, JUN”, (L.S.)