A MACHINE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CAUSING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE GUARDS AND ENGINE DRIVERS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES WHILST TRAVELLING ON RAILWAYS AND ALSO FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN VESSELS AT SEA AND THE SHORE, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES, AND WHICH INVENTION IT IS INTENDED TO CALL
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GRORGE
WELLS, of 7, Penton Place, Walworth, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of November, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Wells, my exors, admors, and assign, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said George Wells, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such other as I, the said George Wells, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, in England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "A MACHINE FOR THE PURPOSE OF CAUSING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN
THE GUARDS AND ENGINE DRIVERS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES WHILST TRAVELLING ON
RAILWAYS, AND ALSO FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN VESSELS AT SEA AND THE SHORE,
AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES, AND WHICH INVENTION IT IS INTENDED TO CALL
:

page_text: AN ATMOSPHERIC SIGNAL BY LAND OR WATER;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said George Wells, shall cause &
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Wells, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention of improve-
ments in machinery or apparatus for producing audible signals, and the
manner in which the same may be carried into practical effect, are herein-
after duly ascertained by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My improvements consist in the construction and arrangement of parts
forming a machine by which sound or noise can be produced instantaneously
and at pleasure, without the aid of steam or other permanently compressed
fluid, these sounds being applicable as signals of communication from one
place to another, such as between the positions of guards and engine drivers
on railway trains when travelling, or between vessels at sea and the shore,
and in all other cases where the distance will not be so great as to render
the transmission of the sound doubtful.
Fig. 1 in the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a side elevation
of the apparatus constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2, a front
elevation of the same; and Figures 3 and 4, opposite sections of the con-
densation chamber or cylinder detached.. A, A, is a plank of wood or other
material suitable as a framework, which can be readily attached to a railway
carriage or in any other situation where it may be desired. On this frame I
affix a chamber or cylinder B, by means of a bracket C or other suitable
contrivance. This cylinder B, which may be made of iron, brass, or copper,
or other suitable material, does not require to be bored out, but has a flexible
diaphragm b secured between the flanches a, a, by means of the bolts which
secure the two halves of the chamber B together. This diaphragm 6 I prefer
to make of leather, gutter percha, or india rubber, but other substances
rendered. air-tight might be employed. It is so formed that it will readily
accommodate itself to the interior of the chamber, as will be seen by reference
to Figs. 3 and 4. A piston rod D is connected to the diaphragm by means
of two flanches c, d, which prevent the escape of air from one side of the
diaphragm to the other. The piston rod D passes through a stuffing box Ẹ

page_text: "
b
on the upper part of the cylinder, which, together with the guide F'attached
to the frame A, maintained the parellelism of the rod in its reciprocating motion.
To the piston rod D is attached a cap or cross piece G, through which passes
a pin e, forming the jointed attachment of the piston rod and the forked arms
of the connecting rod H, the opposite end being attached by the brasses f, fo
to a crank I, the shaft of which is fitted in brass bearings g, g, on a light
cast-iron frame O, attached by bolts to the standard A. The throw of the
crank I is regulated so that a semi-revolution will cause the diaphragm 6 to
be moved from the bottom to the top of the cylinder, and "vice versa." A
handle K is fitted to one end of the crank shaft, by which it is actuated by
the person intrusted with the care of the machine, and on the other end a
fly-wheel L is hung, for the purpose of producing a uniformity in the motion
so communicated. Two valves opening inwards to the chamber B are placed
at the top and bottom thereof, and covered with perforated casings on
guards h, h, to prevent their receiving any injury, the outlet valves being
placed in the caps or projections i, i, on the cylinder B, these being connected
with the tube k leading to the whistle l, or other suitable instrument.
The action of this machine is as follows:-Motion being communicated to
the crank I, as explained, a reciprocating movement will be transmitted to
the connecting rod H, and thence by the piston rod D to the diaphragm 6;
now, when the diaphragm b is thus caused to traverse from one end of the
cylinder to the other, the air contained in the capacity on one side will be
condensed, while that on the other side will be rarified, which will have the
effect of causing air to enter by one of the valves opening inwards on that
side of the diaphragm 6 where the distance is increased between it and one
end of the cylinder B, while the air contained in the chamber on the other
side of the diaphragm will be expelled through one of the valves opening into
the tube k, by which it is conveyed to the whistle l, or other instrument
employed for the purpose of producing the signal, without let or obstruction
of any kind. Thus it will be seen that the instant any motion is communi-
cated to the diaphragm the air will be forced out at the whistle without any
previous compression, as has hitherto been the case when compressed air has
been the medium resorted to for the production of audible signals.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be performed, I desire it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein described; but what I claim as
new and of my Invention is the employment of a flexible diaphragm within a
chamber or cylinder, having suitable inlet and outlet valves for the purpose of

page_text: forcing air through some instrument or instruments capable of producing an
audible signal.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth
day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-eight.
GEORGE (L.s.) WELLS.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the
presence of *
Enrolled the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-eight.