IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING OR WORKING SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Sykes, of Nunhead, in the County.
of Surrey, Telegraph Engineer, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS
IN SIGNALLING OR WORKING SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MEANS OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Sykes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd February 1875.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT SYKES, of Nunhead, in the County of Surrey,
Telegraph Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING OR WORKING SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS, AND IN
THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is a novel system of signalling or of
working signals on railways, whereby it becomes impossible for a signal-
man to give the signal for a train to proceed until he has received a signal

page_text: from the next station or signalling point that the previous train has
passed and the intermediate portion of the line is therefore clear. My
system is, in fact, a combined lock and block system, the movement of a
signal lever for a train to proceed having the effect of locking that lever
until the lock is released by the movement of a lever at the next station
or signalling point after the train has passed it, while the lever at the
said next station cannot be moved until freed by the movement of a lever
at a third station or signalling point shewing that the line between the
second and third points is clear.
These levers are all worked in connection with and interlocked with
the ordinary signal and point levers in the manner well understood, and
also in connection with the ordinary telegraph instruments where
required.
Having stated the nature and object of my Invention I will now pro-
ceed to explain the manner of carrying it into effect, and I will for this
purpose describe the application and operation at the intermediate station
or signalling point B of three given stations or signalling points A, B, C.
The signalman has in front of him an upright oblong box with two
circular openings. Behind one of these openings, the lower one for
example, and within the box is a fixed board painted with the words
"Train from A," on a white ground, while behind the other opening is
a fixed board painted red. There is sufficient space between the boards
and the front of the box to allow of the interposition of discs, as herein-
after described, the disc which (when up) comes in front of the lower
board being red, while the disc which (when down) comes in front of the
upper or red board is marked "Clear. to. O." Above each of the
openings is a pair of electro-magnets having an armature, which is
attached at one end to a pin or pivot, on which it can move within a
given limit. The lower pair of electro-magnets when the disc is raised
communicates on the one side through the intermediation of a spring
contiguous to the signal lever, as herein-after described, with the one pole
of a battery, the other pole of which communicates by a wire with the
upper pair of electro-magnets at station A; on the other side the lower
pair of electro-magnets is in communication with earth. The upper pair
of electro-magnets communicates on the one side when the disc is raised
with one pole of a battery, the other pole of which communicates by a
wire with the lower pair of electro-magnets at station C. On the other
side of the upper pair of electro-magnets the current goes to "earth."

page_text: Each of the discs is carried by one arm of a corresponding lever, to the
other arm of which the upper end of a vertical rod is connected. The
two vertical rods have slotted links at their lower ends, in which works
one arm of a bell crank, the other arm of which is jointed to a strong
horizontal pin passing through an eye in one end of a bar, the opposite
end of the said bar being jointed to the ordinary starting signal lever.
The two vertical rods have each an extension beyond the links in the
form of a lifter or hook, the object of which is herein-after described.
Parallel with the bar which is jointed to the signal lever as above stated
are two catch bars, corresponding respectively with the two lifters. They
are jointed near one end to the frame of the apparatus, and their opposite
ends are free to be lifted and to fall within certain limits.
Attached to each of the discs is an arm, which when the disc is being
raised temporarily lifts the armature of the corresponding electro-
magnets, and as soon as the arm has passed the armature the latter
being assisted by a spring again drops and acts as a catch to the arm,
thereby holding up the disc.
The spring herein-before mentioned as being contiguous to the signal
lever at B is a spring plate carrying a small block of wood, against
which the lever presses. When the signal lever is "home" the spring
is kept pressed by it into contact with a pin on a plate, from which plate
the line wire to A is carried, but when the lever is pulled over to transmit
a signal the spring plate by virtue of its springy action leaves the said
pin, and thus breaks the circuit. Standing out from the plate last men-
tioned is another pin on which is a spring collar. This collar crosses
above the bar before described as being jointed to the signal lever, and
carries a metallic plate, the front edge of which is faced with ebonite or
other non-conducting material.
When the signal lever is pulled over a projection on the said bar comes
against the insulated edge of this plate, and causes the plate with its
collar to turn, but as soon as the projection has passed the plate and
collar are returned by the spring to their normal position, so that as the
signal lever is being returned home the projection by coming against the
uninsulated edge of the plate completes a short electric circuit. The
plate and collar turn as before, but in the reverse direction, and when
the projection has passed they spring back to their normal position,
thereby breaking the short circuit, while the long circuit is re-established

page_text: through the spring plate as soon as the lever is home. Below the lower
disc is a gong, against which the disc when it falls strikes so as to attract
the attention of the signalman.
Such being the construction and arrangement of the various parts of
the apparatus I proceed to describe the operation of the same at
station B.
Taking, say, the position of the parts at the commencement of the day
before the traffic has begun, the lower disc, which is red, and corresponds
with station A, is up, and shews through the lower opening in the box,
while the upper disc, which is marked "Clear to C," and corresponds
with station C, is down, and shews through the upper opening in the
box, the circuit to C being broken. The catch bar corresponding with
the upper disc is held up by its lifter, but the other catch bar is down,
so that if the signalman at B attempts to pull over his lever he finds it
locked, because the horizontal pin which runs through the eye of the bar
leading from the said lever comes against the catch of the catch bar.
Now when the signalman at A sends a signal through the wire to
intimate that a train has started at A the electric current from A
entering the lower electro-magnets at B attracts and draws up the
armature of those magnets, and this armature, which held up the lower
disc as before described, now releases the disc, which then falls of its own
weight, strikes the gong, and clears the opening in the box, so that the
signalman sees "Train from A" on the fixed board behind. As the disc
falls the connecting rod attached to the opposite end of the lever con-
sequently rises, and the lifter which forms an extension of this rod there-
fore lifts the corresponding catch bar. The electric circuit being at the
same time broken the armature also falls of its own weight. Both catch
bars being now lifted the signalman at B can pull over his lever, which
he will do when the train from A. is passing him. In doing so the bell
crank draws down the connecting rods of both discs (the lifters descend-
ing at the same time) and raises the discs, which are then held as before
by the armatures, while red is seen through both the openings of the
box. At the same time the circuit with C is completed, so that the lower
disc at C is caused to fall and its lock released, the same, in fact, as
occurred previously between A and B. The spring plate before named
moves from contact with its pin, and thus breaks the circuit with A.
On the signalman at B returning his lever home the circuit with A. is
again completed, thereby lowering the upper disc at A. and releasing its

page_text: lock, and the lever at B is then held by both catch bars. He cannot
again move it until he has had both a signal from O to clear one catch
bar by lifting the upper armature and so allowing the upper disc to fall,
and also a signal from A to clear the other catch bar in the same
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Sykes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT SYKES, of Nunhead, in the County of Surrey, Telegraph
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Sykes,
Her special licence, that I, the said William Robert Sykes, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Robert Sykes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention, for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING OR WORKING SIGNALS ON RAIL-
WAYS, AND IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Sykes, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Sykes, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is a novel system of signalling or of
working signals on railways whereby it becomes impossible for a signal-
man to give a signal for a train to proceed until he has received a signal
from the next station or signalling point that the previous train has
passed and the intermediate portion of the line is therefore clear. My
system is in fact a combined lock and block system, the movement of a
signal lever for a train to proceed having the effect of locking that lever
until the lock is released by the movement of a lever at the next station
or signalling point after the train has passed it, while the lever at the
said next station cannot be moved until freed by the movement of a lever
at a third station or signalling point showing that the line between the
second and third points is clear.
These levers are all worked in connection with and interlocked with
the ordinary signal and point levers in the manner well understood, and
also worked in connection with the ordinary telegraph instruments where
required.
Having stated the nature and object of my Invention I will now
proceed to explain the manner of carrying it into effect, and I will for
this purpose describe the application and operation at the intermediate
station or signalling point B of three given stations or signalling
points A, B, C, and will refer in the first place to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4
of the annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation and
Figure 2 a side elevation of apparatus which I employ; Figure 3 is a
similar view to Figure 1, but with the parts in different positions; and
Figure 4 is a similar view to Figure 2, but shewing only the parts con-
nected with one signal lever in order that they may be seen more
clearly.
The signalman has in front of the starting lever an upright oblong
box, not shewn in the Figures, with two circular openings. Behind one
of these openings, the lower one for example, and within the box is a
fixed board d painted with the words "Train from A" on a white ground,
while behind the other opening is a fixed board e painted red. Between

page_text: the boards and the front of the box are discs f, g, as herein-after described,
the disc f which (when up) comes in front of the lower board a being
red, while the disc g which comes in front of the upper or red board e is
marked "Clear to O." Above each of the openings is a pair of electro-
magnets marked respectively h and i, having an armature k and I, which
is attached at one end to a pin or pivot m, on which it can move within
a given limit. The lower pair of electro-magnetsh when the disc is
raised communicates on the one side, through the intermediation of a
spring n contiguous to the signal lever, as herein-after described, with
the one pole of a battery, the other pole of which communicates by a wire
with the upper pair of electro-magnets at station A; on the other side
the lower pair of electro-magnets is in communication with earth. The
upper pair of electro-magnets i communicates on the one side when the
disc g is raised with one pole of a battery, the other pole of which com-
municates by a wire with the lower pair of electro-magnets at station C.
On the other side of the upper pair of electro-magnets the current goes
to "earth."
Each of the discs f, g, is carried by one arm o of a corresponding lever,
to the other arm p of which the upper end of a vertical rod q and q¹ is
connected. The two vertical rods q, q', have slots and r¹ at their lower
ends, in which works one arm of a bell crank 8, the other arm of which
is jointed to a strong horizontal pin t passing through an eye in one end
of a bar u, the opposite end of the said bar being jointed to the ordinary
starting signal lever v. The two vertical rods q, q', have each an exten-
sion beyond the slots in the form of a lifter or hook w and w', the object
of which is herein-after described. Parallel with the bar u are two catch
bars x and x¹, corresponding respectively with the two lifters w, w¹.
They are jointed near one end at y to the frame of the apparatus, and
their opposite ends are free to be lifted and to fall within certain limits
represented by the pin or stop z.
Attached to each of the discs f, g, is an arm 1, which when the disc
is being raised temporarily lifts the armature of the corresponding
electro-magnets, and as soon as the arm has passed the armature, the
latter being assisted by a spring 2, again drops and acts as a catch to the
arm 1, thereby holding up the disc.
The spring n herein-before mentioned as being contiguous to the signal
lover is a onring plate carving a small block of wood 3 amingt which

page_text: the lever presses. When the lever is "home" the spring n is kept
pressed by it into contact with a pin 4 on a plate 5, from which plate
the line wire to A is carried. But when the lever is pulled over to
transmit a signal the spring plate n by virtue of its springy action leaves
the pin 4, and thus breaks the circuit. Standing out from the plate 5
is another pin, on which is a spring collar 6. This collar crosses above
the bar u and carries a metallic plate 7, the front edge of which is faced
with ebonite or other non-conducting material 8.
When the signal lever o is pulled over a projection 9 on the said bar u
comes against the insulated edge 8 of this plate, and causes the plate
with its collar 6 to turn, but as soon as the projection has passed the plate
and collar are returned by their spring to their normal position, so that
as the signal lever o is being returned home the projection 9 by coming
against the uninsulated edge of the plate 7 completes an electric circuit
to A. The plate and collar turn as before, but in the reverse direction,
and when the projection 9 has passed they spring back to their normal
position, thereby breaking the circuit to A, while the longer circuit is
re-established through the spring plate n as soon as the lever is home.
Below the lower disc f is a gong (not shown), against which the disc
when it falls strikes, so as to attract the attention of the signalman.
Such being the construction and arrangement of the various parts of
the apparatus I proceed to describe the operation of the same at
station B.
Taking, say, the position of the parts at the commencement of the day
before the traffic has begun, the lower disc f, which is red, and cor-
responds with station A, is up, and shews through the lower opening
in the box (see diagram No. 1, Sheet 3), while the upper disc g, which
is marked "Clear to C," and corresponds with station C, is down, and
shews through the upper opening in the box, the circuit to C being
broken. The catch bar x¹ corresponding with the upper disc is held up
by its lifter, but the other catch bar x is down, so that if the signalman
at B attempts to pull over his lever he finds it locked, because the hori
zontal pin which runs through the eye of the bar a leading from the
said lever comes against the catch of the catch bar. Now when the
signalman at A by moving his lever sends a signal through the wire to
intimate that a train has started at A the electric current from A entering
the lower electro-magnets h at B attracts and draws up the armature k

page_text: of those magnets, and this armature, which held up the lower disc ƒ as
before described, now releases the disc, which then falls of its own
weight, strikes the gong and clears the opening in the box, so that the
signalman sees "Train from A" on the fixed board & behind. As the
discf falls the connecting rod q attached to the opposite end of the lever
consequently rises, and the lifter w which forms an extension of this rod
therefore lifts the corresponding catch bar x; the electric circuit being
at the same time broken the armature k also falls of its own weight.
Both catch bars x and x¹ being now lifted the signalman at B can pull
over his lever, which he will do before the train from A passes him. In
doing so the bell crank s draws down the connecting rods of both
discs q, q', (the lifters 10, 10¹, descending at the same time) and raises the
discs fand ġ, which are then held as before by the armatures, while red
is seen through both the openings of the box (see diagram No. 3, Sheet 3).
At the same time the circuit with C is completed, so that the lower disc
at C is caused to fall and its lock released, the same, in fact, as occurred
previously between A and B. The spring plate n moves from contact
with its pin 4, and thus breaks the circuit with A.
On the signalman at B returning his lever home the circuit with A is
again completed, thereby lowering the upper disc at A and releasing its
lock, and the lever at B is then held by both catch bars x, x². He
cannot again move it until he has had both a signal from C to clear one
catch bar by lifting the upper armature 7 and so allowing the upper
disc to fall, and also a signal from A to clear the other catch bar ≈ in
the same manner.
If the stations or signalling points are far apart ordinary relays may
be employed in connection with my apparatus, as will be well under-
stood.
I may here remark that the lock of A need not be taken out by the
back motion of the starting lever at B, as I have described, but may be
taken out by the forward motion of the distant lever of B, when the
signalman at B prepares the road to receive a train, as will be well
understood. This will of course be regulated according to the nature of
the traffic.
Figures 5 and 6 represent a modified arrangement, in which the slot r
on the lower end of the vertical rod q receives a pin 11 attached to a
slide 12. This slide has an opening which when the slide is raised gives

page_text: passage to a lock x on the bar u jointed to the signal lever v (see the
smaller view, Figure 7). When the slide 12 is down, as seen in
Figures 5 and 6, the lever v cannot be pulled over, because the lock x
cannot pass, but when the slide 12 is raised by the descent of the disc f
in the manner herein-before described, the lever can be pulled over,
and in so doing the incline 13 by bearing upon the pulley 14 on the
lower end of the slide draws down the slide, and thereby lifts the disc f
until it is again held by the armature K. The electric arrangements are
the same as already described with reference to Figures 1 to 4.
Figure 8 shews the arrangement represented in Figures 5, 6, and 7 1
adapted for a single line railway, the bar u having in this case back and
front locks x, x³, and two inclines 13, so as to act both ways.
My system can be applied to single line railways by employing a
treadle or other like analogous arrangement so situated as to take the
place of station O, the train in passing over such treadle making the 1
necessary electric contact in the manner well known.
Figures 9 and 10 represent another modification, in which there is a
double lock. The slot r on the rod q receives the pin 11 on the slide 12,
which slide when down enters a recess or gap 20 in a cam 21. The slide
12 also carries a lock 22, which when down lies behind a projection on the 2
bar u, which leads to the signalman's lever. The cam 21 is connected to
the baru by a slotted bar 23. The Figures show the parts unlocked, so
that the lever may be pulled over. In this moment the bars u and 23
will give a partial rotation to the cam 21, and thereby force down the
pulley 14 carried by an extension q¹ of the rod q, so that the disc before 2
described will be raised and held by the corresponding armature.
24, 24, are guides.
The general working of my system will be understood by reference to
the diagrams on Sheet 3, which represent a starting station A, an inter-
mediate station B, and a terminal station C.
Diagram No. 1 shews the position of the discs when the line is clear,
that is to say, when there is no train. It will be noticed that the disc
at A (where there is only one disc) shews "Clear to B," one of the discs
at B is red and the other shews "Clear to C," and the disc at C (where
again there is only one) is red.
At diagram 2 the train is supposed to be starting from A, and the
requisite communication having been sent to B the disc at B, which
30
85

page_text: previously shewed red, now shews "Train from A," the change having
been made electrically in the manner herein-before explained.
The other diagrams require no explanation. It need only be remarked
that the signal arms or signal lights cannot be moved at any given
station to allow a train to proceed from that station until the lever has
been released electrically, as already explained, from the stations in front
and behind to indicate that the intermediate portions of the line are clear.
The system is therefore a combined lock and block system, as has
already been stated.
The number of discs and accompanying parts at every station or
signalling point will be regulated by the traffic, as will be well under-
stood.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First. The mode of signalling or working signals on railways forming
a combined lock and block system, substantially as herein-before
described.
Second. The means or apparatus substantially as herein-before described
for effecting or carrying out the said combined lock and block system.
Third. Working electric signals by means of the ordinary signal
levers, substantially in the manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Sykes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
גזזז
DONT AVIT