Improvements in Railway Station and like Indicators.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 25th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Station and like Indicators.
I, JOSEPH FRANCOIS HARTIGAN, of Salem, in the County of Roanoke, and
State of Virginia, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to certain new and useful improvements in railway
station indicators, whereby the naine of the next station is plainly indicated through
an aperture in the casing of the indicator. The apparatus consists of a casing
in which is mounted a rotary drum, which has suitable ratchet wheels thereon
which have oppositely arranged teeth. A. rotary disc is adapted to revolve within
the casing and to carry independently movable pawls for engaging the teeth, and
a stationary stop is provided for holding one of said pawls out of engagement
and at one extreme of its stroke when required. The drum is loosely mounted
upon a central shaft which has a disc fixed thereon which carries the pawls which
engage the ratchet-wheels, and is provided also with a wedge-shaped projection
which engages the drum to release the catch, which holds it in place when required.
One end of the shaft is provided with a crank and pin from which depends a
vertical rod. This rod has a roller at its lower end which engages a cam or
projection, and which projection reciprocates the shaft and rotates the ratchet-
wheels and drum. The amount of rotation required to bring the name of the
station in front of the aperture is regulated by the height of the cam over which
the roller at the end of the operating-rod passes.
Dated this 25th day of April 1891.
W. H. MUNNS,
Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Station and like Indicators.
I, JOSEPH FRANCOIS HARTIGAN, of Salem, in the County of Roanoke and
State of Virginia, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of station-indicators in
which a series of individual tablets each bearing the name of one station or street-
crossing are employed, said tablets being successively brought into view by means
of a drum which receives them from an upper hopper or box, exposes them, and
deposits them into the lower hopper or box, in reverse order.
The objects of the invention are to simplify and to improve the construction of
the mechanism employed, whereby the efficiency and ease of manipulation are
increased, and, further, to provide a machine which may be shifted from one end
of the car to the other, and the hoppers or boxes of which are interchangeable,
whereby they may be transposed to do away with the necessity of changing the
tablets independently.
A further object is to so construct the indicator as it may be operated by a
projection or cam on the track with great certainty and precision irrespective of
the load on the car or the change of position of the body incident to jolting or
change of load.
Raforringe to the

page_text: Figure IS a front elevation of an indicator and its operating mechanism
constructed in accordance with my invention.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the actuating rod and the wheel.
Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the centre of the device.
Fig. 4 is a section on the line a, Fig. 6.
Fig. 5 is an end elevation, and Fig. 6 is a front elevation of one end, with the
casing removed.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts.
Referring particularly to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the indicator proper is
located within a casing A, carried by a base-plate or frame A', which latter is
wedge-shaped and fits in dovetail grooves formed by side pieces A² secured rigidly
to the end wall of the car, making it possible to readily remove the whole indicator
and place it in position elsewhere-as, for instance, in the opposite end of the car.
On the base-plate A' are secured forwardly-extending brackets A³, preferably
of a construction to be presently described, and in the ends of these brackets the
operating-shaft B is journalled, said shaft serving as a support for the drum D,
which is loosely journalled thereon.
In the surface of the drum are formed a series of recesses or depressions d, each
of which at one time in the revolution of the drum comes directly in front of the
sight-opening a in the casing. Tablets or cards having the names of the stations
or crossings thereon are fed into these depressions from a hopper E at the top of
the casing, and are dropped out of the same into the hopper E' at the bottom of
the casing. Thus if the tablets are properly arranged the name of the stations
or crossing may be brought into view, and the tablets deposited in reverse order
in the lower hopper. In order now that it may not be necessary to remove the
the tablets and arrange them in the upper hopper both hoppers are made
removable and interchangeable. Thus when the end of the route is reached it is
only necessary for the hoppers to be exchanged or substituted one for the other to
present the tablets in their proper relative order for the return trip. The preferred
method of attaching the hoppers is to form flanges or dovetail projections e at
each side of opening which engage co-operating recesses or grooves in the casing.
(See Figs. 3 and 4.)
The mechanism for rotating the drums to advance the tablets is as follows: At
one end of the shaft B a balanced crank B' is mounted and to this crank is
removably connected the upper end of the vertical operating-rod F passing down
through the car-floor, and carrying a wheel or roller F which is adapted to come
in contact with suitable cams or projections arranged at suitable points
along the road, and thus elevate the rod and reciprocate the shaft, the weight of
the rod and wheel being relied upon to return the parts to normal position. The
rod F passes through a guide f¹ on the car, an adjustable stop, such as lock-nutsf³
being provided to limit the downward movement, and a hinge-joint f³ to permit
the rod to fold up if it encounters a projection when moving in the wrong direction,
or to permit it to be folded and held entirely out of the way, if desired.
A disc (or equivalent) G is mounted rigidly on the shaft within the casing and
carries two pawls h, i, mounted preferably on a common pivot, and engaging
ratchet-wheels H I secured rigidly on the drum. The pawls are formed to operate
in different directions-that is to say, one will operate to turn the drum in one
direction, and the other to turn it in the opposite direction-and the teeth on the
ratchet-wheels are correspondingly formed, one tooth being provided in each
wheel for each depression or tablet-recess, each tooth being so arranged with
relation to each other and to the pawls so that the pawl which turns the drum
forward will engage its tooth before the pawl working in the opposite direction
engages its tooth.
Thus should the shaft be turned too much, and the pawls
elevated further than necessary, the pawl i will turn the drum back and prevent
the pawl h from moving two teeth at one stroke and consequently advancing the
drum far enough to indicate the wrong station, thus making it practically impossible
for the tablets to be advanced out of their proper order. To release the pawl i

page_text: at the bottom of its stroke as is necessary to permit of another independent
upward movement an arm K is secured to the base-plate and passes over the shaft
and down behind the pawl in position to trip the pawl out of engagement with its
ratchet-wheel just as it reaches lowest position.
The drum itself is locked in position when the tablet is exposed by a metal
spring-pressed catch or latch M pivoted on the end of a forwardly-projecting
stud N on the base-plate, and it engages recesses or depressions m in the end face
of the drum. The catch is released by a cam or wedge projection n on the disc
which passes under the rear end of the catch as the disc rotates upward and before
the pawls engage, as clearly shown in Fig. 6.
Variations in the load of the car might under some instances cause the operating-
rod to be moved upward further than the circle described by the crank would
permit, and unless some provision were made to prevent it the shaft or rod would
be bent, or some part of the apparatus destroyed. In order to overcome this
difficulty I propose, if desired, to support the casing and complemental parts
directly on the shaft with a bearing against the base-plate, the shaft in this instance
being mounted in bearings and capable of vertical movement, as illustrated in
Fig. 5, in which it will be seen that the lower arm of the brackets have open and
vertically-elongated bearings O, and the upper arm serves merely as a retainer to
hold the shaft in place. With this arrangement it will now be seen that any
upward movement of the rod further than permitted by the sweep of the crank-arm
will simply elevate the shaft and prevent any injury to the operating mechanism.
When in operation the base-plate carrying the indicator is slipped into its guides
at the forward end of the car, the tablets, of course, being in their proper order in
the upper hopper. The connection with the operating-rod is then made and when
it rides up over the first cam or projection the pawl is caused to advance the same
distance necessary to bring the tablet indicating the next stop into view, the
pawl preventing any excessive upward movement of the pawl with relation to
the drum, and the cam projection releasing the latch and holding it out of
engagement until the drum has started in its forward rotation. At the end of the
route the attendant has simply to remove the hoppers, and substitute one for the
other, or present the tablets in proper order for the return trip, and if the car
is not turned bodily around he may disconnect the operating-rod, lift the whole
device out of its supports, carry it to the other end of the car, and make the
proper connections with the duplicate operating-rod at that end, thus dispensing
with the necessity of employing two indicators with each car.
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The opening a is preferably divided as at a¹ making a separate opening a".
The tablets or cards have the name of the station printed upon them at one end,
so as to be exposed through the opening a, and have advertisements printed at
their opposite end, and which show through the opening a¹.
Although I have shown my indicator adapted to be placed against the end of the
car, it will be readily understood, that by making the casing A cylindrical, and with
an opening at each side, it can be readily secured in an opening in a partition of a
railway-car, and thus serve for two compartments
While I have particularly described the indicator as operated by a rod moved
by stationary cams or projections alongside the track, it is obvious that any of the
ordinary well known mechanisms may be employed to give the necessary movement
at the proper times, or the conductor or brakeman may operate the same by hand
in the ordinary manner.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a station indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum, having the
tablet recess therein, mechanism for rotating the drum, and the casing having
the sight-opening, and the interchangeable hoppers dovetailed into the casing above
and below the drum, substantially as described.

page_text: 2. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum and ratchet-
wheels on said drum having oppositely arranged teeth, of the independently-movable
operating pawls, engaging said teeth to rotate the drum in opposite directions, and
a stationary stop for holding one of said pawls out of engagement at one extreme
of its stroke, substantially as described.
3. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum, and the ratchet-
wheels on said drum having oppositely-arranged teeth, of the independently-
movable operating-pawls mounted on a common carrier to rotate the drum in
opposite direction, and a stationary stop for holding one of said pawls out of
engagement at one extreme of its stroke, substantially as described.
4. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the rotary drum and the ratchet-
wheels thereon, having the oppositely-arranged teeth, of the rotary disc carrying
independently-movable pawls for engaging said teeth, and a stationary stop for
holding one of said pawls out of engagement at one extreme of its stroke,
substantially as described.
5. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the central shaft having the
drum mounted loosely thereon, the ratchet-wheels on the drum, and the disc fixed
on the shaft and carrying the pawls engaging the ratchet-wheels, of the pivot
catch engaging the drum to hold it in locked position, and the wedge-shaped
projection on the disc engaging the catch to release the same, substantially as
described.
6. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the shaft having the drum
mounted loosely thereon, and pawl and ratchet connections between said drum and
shaft, of the crank on the shaft, the vertical operating rod connected to the crank,
the roller on the lower end of the rod, and the cam or projection with which the
roller engages to reciprocate the shaft, substantially as described.
7. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the support having the side
pieces forming dovetail grooves, and the indicator-casing having the base fitting in
said grooves, whereby the casing may be removed, substantially as described.
8. In a station-indicator, as herein described, the casing having an opening
divided into two parts, the tablets having the name of the station printed at one end,
and an advertisement at the other end, and adapted to be seen through the
openings, substantially as and in the manner herein before set forth.
9. In a station-indicator as herein described, the casing made cylindrical and
having an opening at both sides thereof, and the said casing adapted to be secured
in an opening in the division of a railway-car, as and for the purposes hereinbefore
.şet forth.
Dated this 25th day of January 1892
W. H. MUNNS,
Applicant's Agent.