A Railway Carriage Door Safety indicator.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 6th June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 16th Feb., 1595-Accepted, 11th May, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Railway Carriage Door Safety indicator.
JOHN NICHOLSON 25 Walkers Place, Londonderry, House Painter, Decorator,
&c., do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
An invention to prevent accidents to passengers while travelling in railway
carriages-it indicates to them if the door is properly shut by the "guard" or not
and it will not work if the handle or latch is in bad order: when the door
properly shut, the latch falls on the end of one of the levers, & presses it to the one
side a sign is thrown upwards inside the carriage displaying the word "Shut "-
the withdrawal of the latch strikes a reversible lever & gives place to the word
"Open" which is seen through the cover with a little pane of glass in it.
Index to drawings:-"A" is the cover. "B" the plates between which the
levers are placed that passes through the door frame into the receiver of the
latch. "C" the levers. "D" shaft to carry shutter. "E" movable shutter:
"F" stationary shutter. "G" hinge.
"H" pivots.
"I" end of levers to catch
latch. "J" glass through which the words "Shut" and "Open" are seen.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1894.
JOHN NICHOLSON.
1 JOHN NICHOLSON of No. 25 Walkers Place in the City of Londonderry in
the County of Londonderry, House Painter and Decorator do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
It is an invention to protect railway companies from actions or claims respecting
the opening and closing of railway carriage doors, and also to protect passengers
while travelling in railway carriages.
It is screwed on to the inside of the railway carriage door frame, so that the
word "Open" or "Shut" will be on a level with the eye of a passenger sitting
inside the carriage, and also level with the eye of the guard standing outside, who
has also the advantage of seeing if the offside door is "shut or "open."
It is constructed on the lever principle and shows all defects in latches. The
action of the carriage-door latch, when the door is being shut, falls on the end of
the lower lever causing it to pass to the one side to allow the latch to go into its
proper place; at the same time the upper or reversible lever is travelling over the
top of the latch. The side of the lower lever is now bearing against the side of
the latch making it secure the pressure on the lower lever also raises on a vertical
steel bar a small tablet with the word "Shut" painted thereon. Similarly the
word "Open" is shown on the back plate by the action of the door-latch upon the
reversible lever when the door is being opened.
The cover as shown on the drawing attached hereto, is marked with the
letter "A," and the plates, which constitute the part of the cover between which
the levers work, and which pass through the door-frame into the receiver of

page_text: "
the latch by attaching to the inside of door-frame, are marked with the
letter "B." The levers are marked with the letter "C." The steel-bar with
the letter "D." The tablet with the word "Shut" painted thereon is marked with
the letter " E." The back plate with the word "Open" painted thereon is
marked with the letter "F." The glass portion of the cover through which the
words " Open ог "Shut" are seen is marked with the letter "J." The pivits
upon which the levers work, and which also keep the plates together, are marked
with the letter "H." The end of the levers upon which the latch strikes thereby
causing the indicator to act, showing the words "Open or "Shut" as the case
may be, is marked with the letter "I." The drawing holes at end of levers,
through which pivits on end of bar work, are marked with the letter "K."
"
The tablet " F" on map is a thin piece of steel with a returned edge. It is
fitted in at the back and extends down behind the tablet "E.”
It fulfils several purposes viz. :-—
(1.) It forms the back and the word "Open" is upon it.
(2.) The returned edge forms a slide or groove for the tablet "E
and down in.
"
to move up
(3.) The returned edge presses against the glass and keeps it in its proper place
and also prevents the tablet "E" from rubbing against the glass when rising or
falling. The front view in the drawings shows the lower part of the returned edge
of this tablet "F" broken away.
$6
As to tablet E" it also has a returned edge to prevent it rubbing against or
defacing the letters on the tablet "F" while it is working up and down in the
slide or groove of the tablet "F."
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The lever principle upon which the indicator works, and the drawing holes at
end of levers, and 1 ask that both the levers & the drawing holes be patented as
being original and novel in their construction. No railway carriage door safety
indicator is constructed with these levers & drawing holes.
2. The construction of both the tablets "F" and "E" and their method of
working.
Dated 20th March 1005