An Improved Appliance for Calling the Guard in Railway Trains.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 10th Apr., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 11th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1897
An Improved Appliance for Calling the Guard in Railway Trains.
I, JULES CHOME of 14 Rue Stevin, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Military Auditor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide, in each compartment of a railway
carriage, means for giving notice to the guard that his services are required, for
the purposes of opening the carriage door, answering a question as to the route, or
for any other purpose, and quite distinct from the usual alarm signal.
In carrying out this invention, a kind of semaphore or similar contrivance is
pivotted to the wall of the compartment in such a manner that it can be extended
outwards from the carriage. The tail of this signal, which may be in the form of a
loop or hook, projects into the compartment, and being depressed by the passenger
requiring to see the guard, the signal will be raised.
The passenger holds down the loop or hook until the guard appears in response
to the signal, and the appliance is then let go, and falls by its own weight against
the side of the carriage, or into a recess provided for it.
Dated this 10th dor of Anril 1906
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Appliance for Calling the Guard in Railway Trains.
1 JULES CHOMÉ of 14 Rue Stevin, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Military Auditor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
It frequently happens that railway passengers desire to communicate with the
guard, either for the purpose of asking for information, or to get the door
opened, or for any other purpose other than purposes of alarm.
It is not always convenient to put one's head out of window, and the object of
the present invention is to provide some means that can be manipulated from the
interior of the carriage, to signal to an official the desires of the traveller.

page_text: To this end, I provide a semaphore arm pivotted to the side of the carriage, and
provided with a handle by which it may be operated.
In the accompanying drawing,
Figs. 1 and 2 shew, in sectional elevation, two forms of signalling apparatus.
A is a semaphore arm of any suitable form, which, in its normal position, lies
against the side wall of the carriage. This arm passes from the outside through
an opening in the side wall of the carriage, and is there mounted upon a pivot
pin B.
The arm A, at its pivot end, has a small hooked lever or loop C, which the
passengers can take hold of, to operate the arm A.
When a passenger desires to call the guard, or another official, for any purpose
other than an alarm, he presses upon the lever C in such manner as to raise the
semaphore arm A, and he should keep the arm in that position till the guard or
official comes to ascertain what is wanted.
When the passenger ceases to press upon the lever C, the arm A falls down again
by its own weight, so that the guard will know his services are no longer required.
In this way it can always be seen who it is that has signalled, and useless calls are
avoided.
The semaphore arm may consist of a simple plate of some bright colour, which
when let fall, enters wholly or partly into a recess cut in the wall of the carriage,
as shown at Fig. 1.
It may also consist of a piece of fabric fixed at one edge to the wall of the
carriage, and at the ether to a rigid rod forming an extension of the lever, and
opening and shutting like a fan, as shown at Fig. 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
A warning signal for railway carriages, consisting of a pivotted semaphore arm,
or its equivalent, arranged to extend outside the wall of the carriage, and manipulated
from within, by pressing upon a lever connected therewith, the said signal falling
down and disappearing when the pressure on the lever ceases, as shewn and
described, and for the purpose indicated.
Dated this 11th day of January 1897
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.