AN IMPROVED SWITCH FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HEARD WILD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Third day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Heard Wild, Her especial license that I, the said Charles Heard Wild, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Heard
Wild, 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, within
Eugland, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SWITCH FOR RAILWAY PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Heard Wild, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance of the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Heard Wild, do hereby declare that as switches are at present
constructed they are open to two objections, inaccuracy of guage and want of
safety. My object has therefore been to construct a switch which shall be
perfect in guage when opened for diverging lines, and which shall be perfectly
safe. And the nature of my Invention for this purpose consists in the use of
safety tongue rails, either fixed and the ordinary rails moveable into line with
them, or moveable themselves into line with the ordinary rails; one main
feature of my Invention being that whatever the mechanical means adopted
may be to effect either of those movements, those means must be such as will
cause the moveable rails to move through certain different degrees of space,
though those means are acted upon by one lever always moving through one
uniform degree of space. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I,
the said Charles Heard Wild, do hereby describe the manner in which
my said
Invention is to be performed, by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, similar letters being used to denote similar parts in all the Drawings

page_text: the extremities of the external extension lever bars P, P'. In this Drawing
No. 1 the switch is open for the main line. The inside edges of the rail A¹
and- the rail C coincide, as likewise the inside edges of the rail A and the
tongue rail C. If the connecting rod Q be now drawn over in the direction
of the arrow, it is evident that motion will be communicated to the four rails
A, A, B, and C, which will then take the position shown by red lines. Upon
reference to the Drawing it is also evident that the ends of the rails A, A¹, B, C,
which slide upon the chairs N, N¹, move through different spaces, owing to
the rails B and C being acted upon through the medium of the extension lever
bars P, P, while the rails A, A¹, are acted upon directly by the connecting
rod Q, so that when the rail C has come into contact with the back of the
point of the tongue rail B'; the rail A¹ has traversed over a still further space,
and has covered that point, and thus caused the inside edges of the main-line
rail A' and the tongue rail B' to coincide. Supposing the switch to be in the
position shown in Drawing No. 1; if an engine or carriage were to travel from
the diverging line to the single line, the flange of the wheel, acting against the
inside of the rail B, would move the rails B, C, and A, A', into the position
shown by the red lines, thus completing the guage for itself, and becoming a
safety switch.
Figure 2 represents a section of the chair N¹, and of the end of the
rail A¹ in its two positions. A projection W may be cast upon that por-
tion of the surface of the two chairs N and N¹, upon which the ends of the rail
A and A¹ slide, which will serve to keep them more steady in their proper
position.
:
Figures 3 and 4 represent a plan and section of a switch lever box
similar to those in general use. The arrangement thereon would, from the
position of the weight R, always keep the main line open. This self-acting
weight, however, forms no part of my Invention, and may be varied, or omitted
altogether, according to circumstances.
Drawing No. 2 represents another arrangement of my switch, wherein the
four rails A, A, B, and C, are connected together by means of two connecting
rods Q, Q, and their extremities are moved through different spaces. by means
of two levers T, T, upon, the same shaft in the switch box, by which means I
do away with the extension lever bars P, P¹, which, however, I consider the
better plan. The action of this modification of my switch is similar to that
herein-before described.
Drawing No. 3 represents that modification of my switch which requires
the ordinary rails to be fixed, and the safety tongue rails to be moveable.
A, A', are the two rails of the single main line, the ends of which resting upon

page_text: the two chairs M, M', are firmly secured to them, while the other ends slide
upon the chairs N, N¹.
In this Drawing the switch is shown open for the
main line. The internal edges of the rails A¹ and C coincide, and likewise
those of the internal tongue rail C₁ and the rail A. If the connecting rod Q
be now drawn over in the direction of the arrow, it is evident that the levers
S, S', will act, S₁ to push the rail A¹ inward through a space corresponding
with the thickness of the end of the tongue rail B', and the lever S to push
the rail A outwards through a similar space, while the inequality in length of
the arms of the same lever will allow the ends of the tongue rails to pass
through the greater space necessary for their proper position, without causing
the rails A, A¹, to project too far either way; and thus the two internal
tongue rails C¹ and B¹ being put in motion, and likewise the rails A, A¹, the
latter will move through such spaces in the opposite direction as will cause
the end of the rail A¹ to cover the point of the internal tongue rail B¹ when it
comes in contact with the rail C, and the internal edges of the rails A¹, B¹,
will now coincide, and also those of the rails A and B, thus completing the
guage for the diverging line.
Figure 2 represents a section of the chair N¹, with a side view of the lever S¹.
Figures 3 and 4 represent a section and plan of a switch lever box in
ordinary use. The position of the weight R upon the lever keeps the switch
securely in the position it may be placed in; this, however, forms no part of
my Invention, and may be varied or omitted according to circumstances.
Drawing No. 4 represents another arrangement of the modification shown
on Drawing No. 3, corresponding with that shown on Drawing No. 2, wherein
I connect the four rails A, A, B, and C, together by means of two connecting
rods QQ, and their extremities are moved through different spaces in
opposite directions by means of a lever and an excentric, fixed upon the same
shaft in the switch box, as shown at Figure 2. In this Drawing the action of
this modification of my switch is similar to that herein-before described on
Drawing No. 3, though effected by a different modification of machinery. It
is evident that either side of the line may be worked singly in any of these
manners, if desirable.
Now, whereas I claim as my Invention generally an improved safety tongue
rail switch, in which the ordinary main-line rails A, A¹, are made to move in
connection with the ordinary rails B, C, or in connection with the safety tongue
rails B and C. And also I claim the safety switch herein-before described, in
which the moveable rails (whether the tongue rails or the ordinary rails are made
the moveable rails) are made to slide through different degrees of space,-first, as
shown in Drawing No. 1, where the tongue rails are the fixed rails, by means of

page_text: the extension lever bars P, P¹, which I specially claim as my Invention, or by
means of the two connecting rods Q, Q', shown in Drawing No. 2, where the
tongue rails are also the fixed rails; and, secondly, as shown in Drawing No. 3,
where the tongue rails are moveable rails, by means of the levers S and S¹,
which I also specially claim as my Invention, or by means of the two connecting
rods shown in Drawing No. 4, in which also the safety tongue rails are
moveable. And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and
belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
said Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve
or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained. Wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Heard Wild, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
CHARLES HEARD (LS.) WILD.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Charles Heard Wild came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-three.