IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING SIGNALLING APPARATUS APPLICABLE FOR USE ON RAILWAYS OR TRAKWAYS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSEE.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garner Johnson, of Coombe Fields, in
the County of Warwick, Civil and Mechanical Engineer, for the
luvention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING SIGNALLING APPARATUS
APPLICABLE FOR USE ON RAILWAYS OR TRAKWAYS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSEE.">
Sealed the 13th July 1869, and dated the 16th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the sail John Garner Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of l'atents, with his Petition,
on the 16th January 1869.
I, JOHN GARNER JOHNSON, of Coombe Fields, in the County of
Warwick, Civil and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING SIGNALLING
APPARATUS APPLICABLE FOR USE ON RAILWAYS OR TRAMWAYS AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
When my improved signalling apparatus is intended to be used upon a
railway or tramway I attach to a convenient frame or support fixed by
the side of the railway or tramway a signal arm and also an index
Price 8.1

page_text: pointer and dial in such a manner that the tire of the wheel of the passing
engine or carriage or some part of the engine or carriage may act upon
a bar which acts upon a cam so as to give motion through a connecting
rod and lever to a rod attached to the frame or support. To one end of
the rod is attached a rack, and at the other end is a piston working in a
suitable cylinder like that of a force pump. The rod on being raised or
lowered acts upon and turns a pinion which carries with it the signal
arm and also the index pointer which moves on the face of a dial like
that of a clock. The passing engine or carriage acts by means of the
levers and rod above mentioned upon the pinion wheel, and so upon the
signal arm and index pointer, which are thereby set at a given position,
for example, so that the index pointer points to zero on the dial plate.
The rod and with it the piston being raised produces a vacuum in the
cylinder which is connected with a suitable small reservoir or vessel
containing water or other fluid. The fluid rushes in through the suction
pipe and fills the cylinder. The piston and signal rod and any necessary
weight that may be attached to them begin then to press upon the water
or other fluid contained in the cylinder with a constant and uniform
pressure. The water or other fluid is then allowed to flow out of the
cylinder through a small aperture at a given speed, which may be
regulated by any suitable valve; as the fluid issues the piston descends
and moves the signal arm and the index pointer on the clock dial at any
given rate. I prefer that the rate be that of the minute hand of a
clock moving through spaces representing sixty minutes to the hour.
Any observer looking at the signal arm and index pointer after an
engine or carriage or train had passed the signal station would be able
to know how long a time had elapsed since the passage, and to calculate
if the speed of travelling were known how far the engine or carriage or
train might be expected to be ahead. It is obvious that instead of the
hydraulic apparatus, which I prefer to employ as being the most simple
and economical and least liable to derangement, other apparatus con-
structed upon similar principle or upon mechanical principle so as to
indicate the length of time in which a signal arm or pointer moves or
falls from one position to another might be employed. Instead of using
a metallic cylinder like that of a force pump other vessels made of other
materials, such as leather or gutta percha, might be used. It will be
obvious that my system of signalling apparatus may be applied to other
purposes besides being used for railways, and may be used in all cases
where it is required that the position of a signal arm or index pointer at

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Garner Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARNER JOHNSON, of Coombe Fields, in the County of Warwick, Civil
and Mechanical Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Garner Johnson, Her special licence
that I, the said John Garner Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Garner Johnson, 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
SELF-ACTING SIGNALLING APPARATUS APPLICABLE FOR USE ON RAILWAYS, TRAX-
WAYS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said John Garner Johnson, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, 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 John Garner Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the sume
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The Invention relates to improved self-acting signalling apparatus.
When my apparatus is applied to railways I use apparatus constructed

page_text: as herein-after described, which when acted upon by the passing train or
carriage indicates the signals in ordinary use upon railways or other
required signals without manual aid, and also indicates the interval of
time that may have elapsed since the passing of the previous train.
The traffic may thereby be conveniently regulated by equalizing the
space and time between the passage of succeeding trains, and by dividing
heavy luggage trains the wear and tear of rails may be reduced and a
great saving in the maintenance of the road may be effected, as lighter
engines might then be made use of. When my improved signalling
apparatus is intended to be used upon a railway or tramway it is con-
veniently applied by attaching to a convenient frame or support fixed
by the side of the railway or tramway a signal arm and also an index
pointer and dial, in such a manner that the tyres of the wheel of the
passing engine or carriage or some part of the engine or carriage may
act upon a bar which acts upon a cam so as to give motion through a
connecting rod and lever to a rod attached to the frame or support. To
one end of the rod is attached a rack and at the other end is a piston
working in a suitable cylinder like that of a force pump. The rod on
being raised or lowered acts upon and turns a pinion which carries
with it the signal arm and also the index pointer which moves on the
face of the dial like that of a clock. The passing engine or carriage acts
by means of the levers and rod above mentioned upon the pinion
wheel, and so upon the signal arm and index pointer, which are thereby
set at a given position, for example, so that the index pointer points to
zero on the dial plate. The rod and with it the piston being raised
produces a vacuum in the cylinder, which is connected with a suitable
small reservoir or vessel containing water or other fluid. The fluid
rushes in through the suction pipe and fills the cylinder. The piston
and signal rod and any necessary weight that may be attached to them
begin then to press upon the water or other fluid contained in the
cylinder with a constant and uniform pressure. The water or other
fluid is then allowed to flow out of the cylinder through a small aperture
at a given speed, which may be regulated by any suitable valve; as the
fluid issues the piston descends and moves the signal arm and the index
pointer on the clock dial at any given rate. I prefer that the rate be
that of the minute hand of a clock moving through spaces representing
sixty minutes to the hour. Any observer looking at the signal arm and
index pointer after an engine or carriage or train had passed the signal
station would be able to know how long a time had elapsed since the

page_text: passage, and to calculate if the speed of travelling were known how
far the engine or carriage or train might be expected to be ahead. It
is obvious that instead of the hydraulic apparatus, which I prefer to
employ as being the most simple and economical and least liable to
derangement, other apparatus constructed upon similar principle or
upon mechanical principles so as to indicate the length of time in which
a signal arm or pointer moves or falls from one position to another
might be employed. Instead of using a metallic cylinder like that of a
force pump, other vessels made of other materials, such as leather or gutta
percha, might be used. It will be obvious that my system of signalling
apparatus may be applied to other purposes besides being used for
railways, and may be used in all cases where it is required that the
position of a signal arm or index pointer at any given time shall indicate
how long a time has elapsed since the arm or pointer was started from
zero. By fixing a pencil or pointed instrument upon the signal rod,
and causing a coil of paper to revolve against it by means of the clock-
work, the number of trains, the time between each, and the space passed
over in a given time would be indicated upon the diagram, which would
show if transmitted to the manager how the trains had been worked
throughout the line on the previous day. To this arrangement I make no
claim as forming a part of my Invention.
.
I will now proceed to describe in detail the modifications of my
apparatus which I have found to be successful in practice, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings, where corresponding parts
are marked by like letters in the different Figures.
Sheet 1, Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 4, a portion of my
improved signal apparatus shewing its connection with the outer rail,
and Figure 5 the lever or bar upon which the tyre of the wheel acts,
producing the necessary motion to the whole; upon making it of suffi-
cient length its action would be exactly the same as the eccentrics upon
the force pump of the locomotive.
(a) represents the lever, which on being slightly depressed by the tyre
of the wheel of the passing train transmits the motion through the jaw
to the cam (6), thence by the connecting rod or bar to the lever (c);
which is connected by two side rods to the plunger (d) and signal
rod (e); upon this rod being raised motion would be produced by the
rack (f), Figure 2, to the pinion (9), which is fixed upon the shaft or

page_text: spindle and carries with it the plate (h), Figure 3, and the hand or index
pointer (i); from the plate (h) a stud (j) projects which comes in
contact with another upon the signal arm (k) (when the signal is raised
and remains so during its depression), carrying with it the signal
arm (k) and coloured glasses (l), and also the pulley (m), all of which
are made to revolve loose upon the shaft or spindle. To this pulley a
weight is suspended by a short chain made fast to it, which raises the
arm slowly and independently of the engine wheel's action upon the
lever or bar (a), at the same time keeps the two studs in close contact in
the same way as the driver acts upon a carrier in a lathe when turning a
bar of iron. The plunger (d) represents the power, the studs transmit it,
and the weight (n) acts as the resisting force, which may be a flat plate
with coloured glasses placed before a second lamp fixed upon the side of
the post, or one made hollow, so that, by the insertion of a few shots or
like substances to increase or diminish its weight, it should so alter the
power of the plunger's action upon the water in the cylinder, as they
act in opposition to each other in the same way as two unequal weights
would do if suspended by a cord over a loose pulley. The difference can
be made equal to anything we please, but as only a slight power is
required to press upon the water in the pump in addition to the friction
of the parts a few pounds will suffice. Upon the plunger (d) being
raised the water from the reservoir (o) (which can be placed in any con-
venient position) rushes into the cylinder (p) through the pipe (9) and
fills it, and as there are no other means for its escape only at a regulated
speed through the outlet pipe (r) a slow but regular motion is produced,
which is transmitted as the plunger sinks through the rod (e) to the
signal arm index, pointer lights, &c., thereby indicating all the signals
in use and time between trains.
Having described the mode in which the signal is raised and lowered,
I have only to add that in order to reduce the friction by the packing
of the pump to a minimum and make it a constant quantity two
washers (s, s,) are placed round the plunger, with a metal one (t)
between them into grooves; in the former an india-rubber ring is
placed, the tension of which not only keeps them perfectly tight until
they are worn out, but causes the friction to be always the same when
once made fast by the gland. Points may also be opened or kept closed
for any fixed interval of time upon similar principles by the action of
the plunger of a force pump upon a cam or lever with a slot in the end,

page_text: for when once full it cannot possibly move until the water is allowed to
escape.
Upon mechanical principles the same object may be accomplished by
substituting, as herein-after described, clockwork provided with a
balance wheel or pendulum instead of a pump, so as to indicate the
length of time in which the signal arın or pointer moves or falls from
one position to another. The clockwork mechanism may be fixed upon
a supporting frame or column in any convenient position in a suitable
case, which may be affixed outside the frame or column or be placed
inside. By connecting the minute movements of a clock (placed by the
side of or in the post, by catches and ratchets to the signal rod by the
intervention of a lever, the weight upon the lower portion shewn in
the Drawings on Sheet 1 and 3, could then be dispensed with, and the
clock weight made to take the place of it.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, on Sheet 2, are elevations showing how the same
can be accomplished, and Figure 4, a plan shewing the connections and
arrangements of the whole. The wheels with the pinions employed are
numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, need no description, as they are the same as used
in ordinary clockwork, also the pendulum, drum, and weight, which, as
before stated, is transferred from the signal rod, but made to produce
the same motion and action throughout. The signal rod in this arrange-
ment is in two pieces, being connected by two levers with catches that
act upon two ratchet wheels placed upon each side of the one to which
the upper portion of the signal rod is fixed.
Figure 4 shows the whole arrangement. Upon the rod (a) being
raised, as shewn in the Drawings on Sheet 1, Figures 4 and 5, and on
Sheet 3, Figures 1 and 2, reference being made to the descriptions
thereof, it lifts the lever (b) and catch (c) (which moves on a stud (d)
fixed into the lever (e)) out of the ratchet wheel (f), when the whole
is liberated and drawn up to the required position by the smaller
weight (g); the catch (c) then falls again into the ratchet wheel (f)
and is pulled back again by the weight (h) action upon the wheels, and
the wheel's action through the catch (c) to the ratchet wheel (f), and
the same is repeated whenever the lower rod is raised, it being discon-
nected with the lever (6), and only raises it when contact is made by,
pressure upon the rod (a). The catch (i) fixed upon the end of the lever
slips upon the ratchet wheel (j), when the signal and rod goes up and
prevents it descending again only at the rate the ratchet wheel (f).

page_text: and (j) move. The lower rod (a) has a stud (k) fixed in the upper
portion which raises the lever fixed to the post by the pin (m), as well
as the lever (6); when lifted it throws the catch (n) out of the one at
the end of the signal rod (o), which prevents the signal and rod going up
until released by the wheel's action upon the rod (a). There is also
another catch at the lower end of (c), which comes in contact with a
fixed plate (p) upon the post, which throws (c) out of the ratchet wheel
() when the signal arm is down, and the clock still goes on. By the
clock's motion signals at any fixed interval of time might be indicated by
causing the lever (b) to be lifted by the teeth of a ratchet wheel fixed
upon one of the spindles or shafts.
Figure 1, Sheet 3, represents a front elevation of another modification
of my improved signal apparatus; Figure 2, a side view of the same;
and Figure 3 the apparatus showing how the same is worked, which is
marked with the same letters as are upon the Drawings on Sheet 1,
before referred to, but arranged, so as to be made available for almost
any kind of traffic, omnibusses in particular. Upon Figure 1 (a) is a
flat plate fixed in the gutter on the side of the street, which transmits
by the pressure of the wheel passing over it motion through angular
levers upon the same principle as a weighing machine motion to a
second lever (c), to which the weight (d) and the signal rod (e) is fixed;
upon this rod being raised it moves by its action a second lever (f),
Figure 3, to which is attached (or a rack and pinion may be used) the
plate (g) and the hand or index pointer (h), all of which are fixed upon
the shaft or arbor (i) and move together; the arm (k) and the pulley (l)
being separately connected are acted upon by the smaller weight (o),
Figure 1, being loose upon the shaft, as.in the previous Drawing. Upon
the rim of the pulley (l) a chain is fixed, to which the weight (o),
Figure 1, is suspended. Upon the outer edge of the plate (g) a stud (j)
projects, which on coming in contact with the other projecting stud from
the arm carries it with it, causing the pulley (l) to revolve slowly and
lift the smaller weight (o). Upon the side of this pulley a catch (m) is
fixed which slips over the teeth of the ratchet wheel (n) by the action
of the smaller weight, when the signal rod is raised, which also raises
the arm to the required position. When up the catch enters the teeth
of the ratchet wheel (2), which is connected by a collar to the minute
wheel (p) of the clockwork, both of which are loose upon the shaft; the
power of the weight (d) and signal rod is then transmitted through the
whole by means of the stud and ratchet wheel to the clockwork which

page_text: is set in motion, it being of the same description as that in ordinary use
for the measurment of time requires no explanation.
Having now described my Invention, I would have it understood that
I do not claim the use of the mechanical parts separately and apart
from the combinations herein described; but I claim, the combinations
of parts forming respectively the vaious modifications of self-acting
signalling apparatus constructed and applied substantially as herein
described.
I also claim the use of force pumps fitted with india-rubber rings
stretched round the washers and employed with liquids, such as glycerine,
or a mixture of liquids that are not liable to freeze, for the purpose of
indicating time and distant signals, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Garner Johnson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine
JOHN G. JOHNSON. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the above-named John Garner
Johnson, in the presence of
J. E. ROBBINS,
Clerk to Messrs. Robinson & Preston,
Solicitors, 35, Lin. Inn Fields.