IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH RAILWAY SIGNALLING
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Morris of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Gentleman for an invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH
RAILWAY SIGNALLING "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Morris at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th March 1882.
HENRY MORRIS of Manchester in the County of Lancaster Gentleman.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH RAILWAY SIGNALLING
و"
My improvements relate to the invention for which Letters Patent were granted
to me bearing date the 26th April A.D. 1881. No. 1796, and consist first in the
application of a tilting rail to be used in combination with the swinging arm and
secondly in the application of clectricity to sound continuously a bell or gong on
the engine or tender when the signal is at block until the circuit has been broken
by the driver or stoker.
I pivot a tilting rail which is curved downward at one end on a bracket fixed
to a sleeper, and weight it so that it will fall to a level with or below the rails
when the swinging arm is pulled to 'clear'; when the signal is at block the arm
which swings parallel with the rails is raised and it lifts one end of the tilting
rail so that it forms an inclined plane up which the antifriction roller on the
tappet under the tender runs, thereby operating the bell or gong and the brake, if
air or electric brakes are used.
I fit an electric apparatus on the tender connected to a hammer that will strike
a bell or gong when the circuit is made, and I use a lever one end of which rests
below a catch piece on the rod so that when the rod is moved by the action of the
tappet the lever completes the circuit and the bell or gong is sounded continuously
till the lever has been moved back by the driver or stoker. When electric brakes
are used a separate electric apparatus is not needed for the bell or gong.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th September 1882.
HENRY MORRIS of Manchester in the County of Lancaster, Gentleman.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH RAILWAY SIGNALLING
32
My improvements relate to the invention for which Letters Patent were granted
to me bearing date the 26th April A.D. 1881 No. 1796 and consist first in the
application of a tilting rail to be used in combination with the swinging arm and
secondly in the application of electricity to sound continuously a bell or gong on
the engine or tender when the signal is at block until the circuit has been broken
by the driver or stoker.
I pivot a tilting rail which is curved downward at one end on a bracket fixed to a
sleeper or otherwise and weight it so that it will fall to a level with or below the rails
when the swinging arm is pulled to "clear": when the signal is at block the arm
which swings parallel with the rails is raised and it lifts one end of the tilting
rail so that it forms an inclined plane up which the antifriction roller on the
tappet under the tender runs thereby operating the bell or gong and the brake, if
air or electric brakes are used.
I fit an electric apparatus on the tender connected to a hammer that will strike
a bell or gong when the circuit is made and I use a lever one end of which rests
below a catch piece on the rod so that when the rod is moved by the action of the
tappet the lever completes the circuit and the bell or gong is sounded continuously
till the lever has been moved back by the driver or stoker.
And in order that my invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will describe the accompanying sheet of drawings referenco being
had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 shows a tender and part of the permanent way of a railway to which my
invention is applied and Fig. 2 is a detailed view showing how the electric circuit
is made to sound the bell or gong continuously.
:
A is the swinging arm or lever connected by a chain or otherwise to the signal
station substantially as described in my Patent No. 1796 A.D. 1881. and shown
(without the connection) on Fig. 3 of that drawing. A¹ is the tilting rail or plane
pivoted between the rails so that its curved end rests on or above the swinging
arm A the counterpoise on the rail A' almost balances it so that it rests in a
horizontal position when the arm A is pulled to "clear," and it is lifted by a very
slight pressure of the arm A as it falls into a vertical position for "danger." The
antifriction roller at the end of the lever or tappet C runs easily up the rail A'
when it is raised without shock or jar: the rail A is curved downward at one end
so that the antifriction roller may run up it the reverse way in case of shunting.
When the lever C is raised it depresses the lever E and draws down the rod H
connected to it: the upper catch on the rod H causes the hammer J to strike the
gong I (see Fig. 2) and the lower catch on the rod H depresses one arm M of an
elbow lever and causes the other arm N of the lever to press the piece O connected
by a wire to one pole of the Leclanche or other battery R against the piece P
connected by a wire to the other pole of the battery and so completes the circuit:
the battery is connected by the wires S S to the hammer of a bell or gong which
may be placed in front of the driver near the steam gauge on the locomotive
or in other convenient position: the circuit remains complete and the bell rings
continuously until the elbow lever M N is moved back by hand into its normal
position. The battery R may be placed in any convenient position. A separate

page_text: hammer may be fitted at the large gong on the tender to work by electricity or a
small electric bell may be fitted on the tender, but in any case the bell or gong
would be sounded continuously after a signal at "danger" had been passed until
the lever M N had been moved back to its normal position by the driver or
stoker.
Having stated the nature of my invention and described the manner of
performing the same
I declare that I claim.
1. The tilting rail A' substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and
described.
2. The application of electricity to sound a bell or gong continuously substantially
as and for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof I the said Henry Morris have hereunto set my hand
and seal this twenty-seventh day of September One thousand eight hundred
and eighty-two.
HENRY MOKKIS (L.S.)