IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE- WITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Bell, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumber-
land, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING
RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH."
Sealed the 12th September 1865, and dated the 16th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Bell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
March 1865.
ROBERT BELL, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WORKING RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to arrange the lever handles for working
points, station and distant signals in one frame, and to be so connected,
locked, and arranged as to prevent the possibility of contrary signals being
simultaneously given at the points of junction on railways, or a safety signal
being shown when the points are not in corresponding position, and also when
the points, station and distant signals are set for a train to pass the junction
the points will be so locked that it will be impossible to change their position
until both distant and station signals are brought to danger. Supposing a
set of handles, nine in number, when these handles are set forward they are

page_text: arranged that four only are free, the remaining five are locked, neither of
these five can be moved until the leading point or signal lever, as the case
may be, is first brought into a backward position. The moving of this lever
locks all points and signals contrary to it, at same time it unlocks the following
signal lever, which in its turn unlocks the next to follow, viz., the distant
signal lever. The backward motion of the second lever backlocks the first,
the backward motion of the third lever backlocks the second. After the
passing of a train it will be the duty of the signalman to put the levers to
their original position, in doing so they must be returned thus -The lever of
the distant signal first, the station signal lever second, which forelocks the
listant signal, and the point lever last, which forelocks the station signal. The
arranging of these backlocks are to prevent the pointsman from turning the
points contrary to the signal given. The moving of any one handle lever is
caused to operate as may be desired upon any other lever or set of apparatus,
whether for working points or signals, the operation of one lever being so
arranged that it locks all signals and points contradictory to it, at same time
it unlocks the signal which is to be brought next into operation, thus any
lever can be so arranged as to lock in three different ways. For this purpose
there is placed in front and back of the machine, or in any convenient position
thereof, one or more bars, on which are placed notched locks to work either
up or down for the purpose of securing the levers where required; this bar,
on which are fixed L-shaped or other suitable projections, can be wrought by
cranks, cams, screws, pinions, weights, or other contrivance. The locks are
also so arranged that two or more siguals may forelock any one lever if neces-
sary. This system of locking the levers at a point high up prevents the
possibility of moving the points so as to cause an engine to "bite "the points,
although the pointsman by mistake or otherwise should take hold and attempt
to draw the point levers whilst a train is passing over them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Bell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th 3
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BELL, of Carlisle, in the County of Cumberland, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Bell, Her special license that I, the said Robert Bell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Bell, my executors, administrators, or 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
WORKING RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Bell,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Bell, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention has for its object the arrangement of the lever handles
for working points, station and distant signals in one frame, and to be so con-
nected, locked, and arranged as to prevent the possibility of contrary signals
being simultaneously given at the points of junction on railways, or a safety
signal being shown when the points are not in corresponding position, and also
when the points, station and distant signals are set for a train to pass the
junction. The points will be so locked that it will be impossible to change
their position until both distant and station signals are brought to danger.
Supposing a set of handles, 9 in number, when these handles are set forward
they are arranged that 4 only are free, the remaining 5 are locked, neither of
these 5 can be moved until the leading point or signal lever, as the case may
be, is first brought into a backward position. The moving of this lever locks
all points and signals contrary to it, at same time it unlocks the following
signal lever, which in its turn unlocks the next to follow, viz., the distant
signal lever. The backward motion of the second lever backlocks the first,
the backward motion of the third lever backlocks the second. After the
passing of a train it will be the duty of the signalman to put the levers to
their signal position, in doing so they must be returned thus:-The levers of

page_text: the distant signal first, the station signal lever second, which forelocks the
distant signal; the point lever last, which forelocks the station signal. The
arranging of these backlocks are to prevent the pointsman from turning the
points contrary to the signal given. The moving of any one handle lever is
caused to operate as may be desired upon any other lever or set of apparatus,
whether for working points or signals. The operation of one lever being so,
arranged that it locks all signals and points contrary to it, at same time
it unlocks the signal which is to be brought next into operation. Thus any
lever can be so arranged as to lock in three different ways. For this purpose
there is placed in front and back of the machine, or in any convenient position
thereof, one or more bars, on which are placed notched locks, to work either
up or down, for the purpose of securing the levers where required. This bar,
on which are fixed L-shaped or other suitable projections, can be wrought by
cranks, cams, screws, pinions, weights, or other contrivance. The locks are also
so arranged that two or more signals may forelock any one lever if necessary.
The system of locking the levers at a point high up prevents the possibility of
moving the points so as to cause an engine to bite the points, although the
pointsman by mistake or otherwise should take hold and attempt to draw the
point levers whilst a train is passing over them.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the Figures on the explanatory Sheet of Drawings,
for the purpose of showing the system or mode of carrying the same into
practical effect, that is to say :-
The accompanying Sheet of Drawings shows two different views of this
Invention as applied to a sixteen-handled apparatus, of which, in Figure 1,
the part on the left side of the dotted line c, c, is a longitudinal section taken
on the line b, b, Figure 2, when the right-hand side represents a side view
of the apparatus; Figure 2 is a cross section on line a, a, Figure 1, and
Figure 3 represents the plan of a junction, for which the apparatus shown in
Figures 1 and 2 is especially constructed, and serves to distinguish the working
of the same more clearly than herein-before described.
The apparatus, as shown in the appended Sheet of Drawings, has 16 handle
levers marked in Figure 1 respectively with 1, 2, A, B, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, C, D, 11, and 12, each of which stands in communication with either a
signal or point, and by moving a handle lever to the position shown in dotted
lines in Figure 2, its corresponding signal or point will also alter its position.
A junction, as shown in Figure 3, requires 8 home signals, 4 distant signals,
and 4 points. The handle levers of the apparatus marked 1, 2, 11, and 12,
being the outer ones, stand in communication with the distant siguals, those

page_text: marked A, B, C, and D, work the points indicated in Figure 3 by same letters in
blue, while the remaining handles situated between the previously mentioned
handle levers, and marked from 3 to 10, correspond with the home signals.
For greater safety the upper end of the handle levers may be finished off in a
different way, as shown in Figure 1, so that if one of the number or letter
plates should accidentally come off, or in darkness, the signal worker would be
enabled to feel his way to the right handle. The communication between the
handle levers and the signals is effected by a cross lever a, Figure 2, to which
the handle lever is fixed, and which works loose on a round axle b. To the
one end the wires or rods coming from the respective signals or points are
fixed, and these will therefore alter their position when the hand lever is
moved.
I shall now, after having thus described the manner in which the different
hand levers stand in communication with the corresponding signals, proceed
to show the locking arrangement, which will be best seen at Figure 2. It
will be observed that the cross lever a projects to the opposite side of its axle
or moving point, and that a connecting rod c is locked to it by one end, while
the other fixed to a crank d fastened (or working loose as the case may
require) on a shaft e, so that if the handle lever is moved the cross lever a
gives motion to the crank d by means of the connecting rod c to the
crank d; or to the shaft e a hook or hooks h are fastened, which work up and
down by the motion of the crank, and which serve to lock those hand levers
which should be out of action. The manner in which this is effected is done
by forming the handle lever in a fork-like shape, and placing small round or
other formed cross pieces between the legs, over which the hooks h can grasp,
and thus fixing the handle lever until the hook is again removed. Between
the end of the cross lever a, to which the signal wire or point rod is fastened,
and the moving point of the lever, another connecting rod c works or moves
upon the crank d', for the same purpose as the herein-before described con-
necting rod c. It is not necessary, however, that each cross lever should
work two cranks, and this depends entirely on the work the apparatus has to
perform. The shafts on which the locking hooks, or as I prefer to call them
locks, are fastened are placed below each other, and work in upright bearings
n, n', behind and before the handle levers; the former, marked, are
called forelocks, and the latter, e, called backlocks. In order that the moving
of one handle lever may work several of the shafts e¹, a connecting rod, as
shown in Figure 2, marked g, is capable of uniting several shafts by their
respective cranks, so that if one of the cranks is moved it moves one of the
others or the other. The one shown in Figure 2 unites three shafts with

page_text: each other, and as it is required that one of the shafts should communicate
motion to one of the others as may be needed, two slide holes are made for
the upper and lower crank pin to move in, while the middle one works in a
round hole. Thus if the lower shaft was moved it would move the middle
one, but not the upper one, on the contrary by moving the upper one the
middle one would be moved upwards or downwards, but the lower one would
not be effected, and as the middle crank works loose on the shaft to which it
belongs neither of the cranks would be effected by its motion. The locks are
either formed so that they over or under hook the cross pieces in the handle
levers, just as the case requires. The whole of this mechanism except the
upper part of the bandle levers is enclosed in a box or stand of iron or other
material, and marked A in the Figures on the appended Sheet of Drawings,
and the mechanism is constructed of iron or any other convenient metal or
material. The part of the handle levers which project over the box or stand
moves in slides i, and is supplied with spring catches k, which also serve as a
lock themselves, and puts the handle levers in their usual position, either.
being brought back or forward.
Having now described the construction of the apparatus, I shall show in
what manner the same is used and worked, and refer for this purpose to
Figure 3, where the red letters A, B, C, D, show the different directions in
which the trains may travel, the blue lines representing the four points for the
different lines. If a train is coming from A to B, and the points have been
set in order to clear the line, it is required to show the home and distant
signal for this line, which in this case might be worked with hand levers
Nos. 10 and No. 12; Figure 2 shows the hand lever No. 12, and the dotted
hand lever in the same Figure may represent No. 10 for the home signal;
No. 12 is, as shown in Figure 2, secured in its position by a lock fastened to
the middle one of the cranks coupled by the connecting rod g. The cross
lever a of No. 10 works by a connecting rod on the lower crank, so that when
this handle lever is moved it unlocks No. 12. Before moving No. 10,
however, to its forward position, No. 12 cannot be moved, which prevents
the distant signal from being shown "line clear" before the home signal.
Supposing that No. 12 is made free by moving No. 10, and No. 12 is also
put in motion, then No. 10 will be locked as soon as No. 12 begins to be
moved to the same position, as the connecting rod c underlocks a cross pin of
the hand lever No. 10, thus preventing the replacing of the home signal
before the distant signal. At the same time when these two hand levers are
pulled those are locked standing in communication with points and signals
which must not be shown, and cannot be moved until the proper points and

page_text: signals are in their proper usual position. This mode of locking and
unlocking one or more of the hand levers, as the case requires, is applied to
each special case, and a list may be arranged for the signal worker to show
which handle levers he is to work.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in which the same is or may be
used or practically carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I
do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein-before described,
as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the true
principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the use or employment of revolving bars or rods on which are fixed
locks moved as required by hand levers employed for setting the points or
signals, for the purpose of preventing contradictory signals being given at
junctions on railways, as herein-before described.
Second, the causing of the placing of a signal in the safety or "all right"
position to lock all points or signals contrary to it, and to keep them locked
until the signals are returned to the danger position, as herein-before
described.
Third, the use of vertical plates or other apparatus, as shown at g, Figure 2,
with slots for pins, which enable the working of a distant signal by one
handle for trains going in any direction after passing the junction, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Bell, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twelfth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five.
ROBERT BELL. (L.S.)