IMPROVEMENTS IN INDICATING THE NAMES OF STATIONS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES " APPARATUS FOR
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Boswell Palmer at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd January 1883.
HENRY BOSWELL PALMER, of District Railway Station Approach, Putney
Bridge, in the County of Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN
INDICATING THE NAMES OF STATIONS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES
"
APPARATUS FOR
My invention relates to apparatus for indicating the names of stations to
passengers in railway carriages. Its object is to provide improved means
whereby passengers may see at a glance the name of the next station at which
the train will stop and also the destination of the train For these purposes I
construct in the manner hereinafter described, what I term a "next station
indicator and a "train destination" indicator; and I provide means whereby these
indicators can be operated, by the engine driver or the guard of a train, by means
of compressed air or by a vacuum, as hereinafter set forth
"
The
The next station" indicator consists essentially of a roller or rollers each
having four or more flat sides, which sides may, if desired, be formed with grooves
for the reception of projections on the inner side of name-tablets which are
attached to an endless band passing over the said roller or rollers; these grooves
and projections prevent the possibility of the tablets slipping on the rollers.
rollers, when two are employed, are placed at such a distance apart, one below the
other, as to stretch the endless band bearing the tablets. The said tablets are
made of wood, bone, metal or other suitable material and have the names of the
stations marked thereon in any suitable manner, one or more tablets being left
blank if desired. If a train is intended to perform a double, or to-and fro, journey
in contradistinction to a circular journey, two series of stations are marked upon
the tablets in order that the names of the stations having been made to appear say
from A to Z on the forward journey, the continued movement of the endless band
in the same direction will cause the names of the stations to appear in the reverse
order, that is to say, from Z to A on the return journey, thus obviating any
necessity for reversing the action of the mechanism
The indicating apparatus is arranged within or upon the ends of the carriage,
or the partitions thereof the name of one station at a time being made to shew

page_text: through a suitable aperture and the endless band being moved by the means
hereinafter described, so as to shew the names in their required order
The train destination indicator is constructed and arranged in a similar manner
to the next station indicator, except when but few destinations are required to be
shown, in which case one roller only is provided having four or more flat sides
with the destination stations printed thereon.
The desired action of the said rollers is obtained in the following manner that
is to say:
The roller, or one of the rollers, of each indicator (preferably the upper one
when two rollers are employed) is provided at one end with a ratchet wheel or
similar device with the teeth of which a lever pivoted on the axis of the roller is
arranged to engage. The said teeth are equal in number to the said flat sides of
the roller. Instead of causing the names of the stations to move past an aperture
I sometimes arrange the apparatus so that the names are stationary the desired
name being indicated by a pointer carried by an endless band passing over a
roller or rollers
In combination with each indicator I employ in some cases a cylinder or a
suitably shaped box or casing fitted with a piston and piston-rod arranged to be
operated by compressed air or by a vacuum and in other cases I employ a diaphragm
or suitable bellows operated in like manner for the purpose hereinafter specified
This cylinder or box is provided at one end with a cover perforated for the
admission or exhaustion of air by means of a tube as hereinafter described, the
other end of the cylinder or box being open with the exception of a cross-picce
which serves as a guide to the piston-rod. Stops are fixed inside the cylinder or
box in such a manner as to limit the travel of the piston, and a spring is sometimes
fitted between the said cross piece and the piston to serve as a cushion or buffer to
diminish the concussion-An aperture is also formed in the cylinder or box at
such a position as to allow air to escape when the piston has reached the end of
its stroke.
The said piston is weighted and if desired provided with a spring to insure its.
return to its normal position
The free end of the aforesaid lever is arranged to be acted upon by the upward
movement of the said piston-rod which is fitted with a head so inclined that as
long as it is in contact with the lever it will tend to keep the same close to the
end of the roller and engaged with one of the said teeth. When the said piston-rod
descends the lever falls by its own weight passing first down the inclined face of
one of the teeth, after which it is then directed by a guide so that it will engage
with the next succeeding tooth. A stop is fixed in such a position as to prevent
the said lever from moving further than is necessary to cause the roller at each
impulse to present another name to the said aperture
A tooth wheel is sometimes fixed on the opposite end of the roller to that
carrying the ratchet-wheel, and a detent, is provided in combination with the
said tooth wheel; or a spring is arranged to press against one side of the roller;
or in some cases I use both of these devices to prevent any backward movement
or detrimental freedom of movement of the said roller
When a vacuum is employed to operate the piston, the cylinder or box is placed
above, instead of below, the lever, and the latter is moved upward when the
exhaustion of the air from the cylinder causes the piston to rise within it; a
suitable attachment at the lower end of the piston rod engaging with the lever
for this purpose. In this case the normal position of the piston is at the lower 5
end of the cylinder and its return to this position is provided for by its being
sufficiently weighted to fall by the action of gravity when the vacuum above the
piston is destroyed. If desired a suitable spring is provided between the piston
and the piston-rod-guide at the open end of the cylinder to assist the downward
movement of the piston
To facilitate the return of the piston to its normal position a small aperture is
sometimes formed in the piston itself, or in the cylinder cover, to allow, when
5

page_text: compressed air is used, of the gradual escape of air from the cylinder; or, when a
vacuum is employed, to allow of the gradual admission of air to destroy the partial
vacuum in the cylinder.
On each carriage I provide a fixed main pipe for each series of indicators, that
is to say, one for the next station indicators and one for the train destination
indicators. These pipes extend from end to end of the carriage, the indicators
being connected by branch pipes with the said main pipes. The two main pipes
are prefarably so arranged upon each carriage that when the carriages are coupled
together the ends of the pipes are in juxta-position At each end of the carriage
the ends of the two pipes are fitted into a single flexible hose pipe. These hose
pipes are provided with couplings in such a manner that the said two main pipes
can both be coupled together at one operation; and when these connections are
made between each of the carriages two continuous pipes are thus formed
throughout the train one connected by branch pipes with the "next station"
indicators, and the other connected by branch pipes with the "train destination
indicators
"
These main pipes are connected with a source of power at each end of the train,
for example with a reservoir of compressed air, or with a chamber in which a
partial vacuum is formed, the degree of pressure or vacuum being regulated in
any suitable manner
In the case of trains fitted with continuous air or vacuum brakes the power
necessary for working the indicators may be obtained from the brake apparatus
In other cases I employ a reservoir charged with air by an air-pump on the engine;
or by an air-pump or compressor in or below the guard's van arranged to be
operated, when desired, by the rotation of the axle underneath
In each guards van in a train a stop cock of convenient form is fitted in each
main pipe. These cocks are intended to be operated at either end of the train
the stop cocks at the other end of the train being shut; the opening of the stop
cock in either of the main pipes causes the respective indicators to make one
movement, or to move forward, so as to show the name of the next station, this
movement being effected as often as the cocks are shut and opened again
cocks are, if desired, so arranged that when shut off they can be opened in another
direction to allow of the escape of air from the indicators and pipes, when com-
pressed air is used, and, when a vacuum is employed, for the admission of
atmospheric air to hasten the destruction of such vacuum
The