A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LOCK- ING AND UNLOCKING GATES, TURNSTILES, AND STILES ON RAILWAY CROSSINGS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Daws, of Penge, in the County of Surrey, for
the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR LOCK-
ING AND UNLOCKING GATES, TURNSTILES, AND STILES ON RAILWAY CROSSINGS."
Sealed the 1st June 1866, and dated the 6th December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Daws at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
December 1865.
I, GEORGE DAWS, of Penge, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF AND AP-
PARATUS FOR LOCKING AND UNLOCKING GATES, TURNSTILES, AND STILES ON RAILWAY
CROSSINGS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to lock and unlock gates, turnstiles, and stiles on
railway crossings by the action of a passing train, and in such manner that as a
train approaches a crossing, no matter on which line it is running, will lock
the gates on both sides of the line, and thereby prevent persons entering (but
not prevent their passing off the line) until the train has passed to a given
distance, when it again unlocks the gates. Supposing ordinary turnstiles are
used for admitting persons to and from the line, upon the lower end of the
stile post and under the platform I mount a ratchet wheel or a wheel having
any desired number of notches cut in it, four for example. When no train is
passing on either line there is nothing to prevent the rotation of the stile in
the ordinary way, but on a train approaching the apparatus or arrangement

page_text: of mechanism about to be described comes into action, throws a lever into the
ratchet formed on the wheels attached to the lower end of the stile posts, and
the latter are so prevented from revolving in the direction that would admit
persons on the line. The lever which takes into the ratchet is mounted and
has its fulcrum on or in a post fixed in the ground; one end of this lever is
somewhat pointed to freely take into the teeth of the ratchet; the other end
or tail of the lever rests on a spring, which is also attached to the post and
supported on a ledge formed on a bell-crank lever, to one arm of which cranked
lever a wire is attached and led along the line to any approved or desired
distance, where it is united to another bell-crank lever, the other arm of which
latter lever leads to the rail, where it is united to a point or piece of metal
placed at the side of the rail. As the train passes over the point it stretches
or brings suddenly into a state of tension the wire uniting the two bell-crank
levers, and thereby depressing the tail of the lever at the post throws the
other or pointed end thereof into the ratchet, and so prevents the turnstile
being moved to admit a person on the line. To simultaneously lock the gates
on both sides of the line I connect the two crank levers at the post by wires,
so that no matter whether a train is travelling on the up or down line- both
gates will be locked. To unlock the gates I place by preference a spring
under the tail of the lever at the post, which by a wire is united to a bell-
crank or other lever at, for example, a similar distance on the other side of the
gate to that at which the other crank is placed, and it is united to a metal at
the side of the line by a wire, so that as the train passes it stretches the wire,
raises the tails of the levers at the post, and so removing the ends from the
ratchets unlocks the gates. In this position the gates remain until the pass-
ing of another train, and so the gates become locked and unlocked as each
successive train passes. To facilitate the rotation of the stile post I place a
balanced lever beneath the ratchet wheel, carrying a wheel at its outer end
and a weight at the other, so that as the turnstile revolves the weight causes
the wheel to press against the under side of the ratchet, and to materially s
facilitate the rotation.
I do not limit myself to the precise mechanical arrangements herein-before
described for carrying my Invention into effect, as other mechanical equiva-
lents might be employed, the Invention essentially consisting in causing the
passing of a train to act on certain cranks and levers, whereby the gates,
turnstiles, or stiles are locked and unlocked substantially in manner herein-
before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Daws in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAWS, of Penge, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Daws, Her special licence that I, the said George Daws,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Daws, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND APPARATUS FOR LOCKING AND UNLOCKING GATES, TURNSTILES, AND STILES
ON RAILWAY CROSSINGS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Daws, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 George Daws, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to lock and unlock gates, turnstiles, and
stiles on railway crossings by the action of a passing train, and in such
manner that as a train approaches a crossing, no matter on which line it
is running, it will lock the gates on both sides of the line, and thereby
prevent persons entering (but not prevent their passing off the line) until
the train has passed to a given distance, when it again unlocks the gates.
Supposing ordinary turnstiles are used for admitting persons to and from
the line, upon the lower end of the stile post and under the platform L

page_text: mount a ratchet wheel, or a wheel having any desired number of notches cut
in it, four for example. When no train is passing on either line there is
nothing to prevent the rotation of the stile in the ordinary way; but on a train
approaching the apparatus or arrangement of mechanism about to be described
comes into action, throws a lever into the ratchet formed on the wheels
attached to the lower end of the stile posts, and the latter are so prevented
from revolving in the direction that would admit persons on the line. The
lever which takes into the ratchet is mounted and has its fulcrum on or in
a post fixed in the ground, or to a plate forming a basement; one end of this
lever is somewhat pointed to freely take into the teeth of the ratchet; the
other end or tail of the lever rests on a spring, which is also attached to the
post and supported on a ledge formed on a bell-crank lever, to one arm of
which cranked lever a wire is attached and led along the line to any approved
or desired distance, where it is united to another bell-crank lever, the other
arm of which latter lever leads to the rail where it is united to a point or
piece of metal placed at the side of the rail. As the train passes over the
point it stretches or brings suddenly into a state of tension the wire uniting
the two bell-crank levers, and thereby depressing the tail of the lever at the
post throws the other or pointed end thereof into the ratchet, and is kept in
this position by a spring taking into a catch. In this manner the turnstile is
prevented from being moved to admit a person on the line. To simultaneously
lock the gates on both sides of the line I connect the two crank levers at the
post by wires, so that no matter whether a train is travelling on the up or
down line both gates will be locked. To unlock a wire is united to a bell-
crank or other lever at, for example, a similar distance on the other side of
the gate to that at which the other crank is placed, and it is united to a metal
at the side of the line by a wire, so that as the train passes it stretches the
wire, releases the spring from the catch, raises the tails of the levers at the
posts, and so removing the ends from the ratchets unlocks the gates. In this
position the gates remain until the passing of another train, and so the gates
become locked and unlocked as each successive train passes. To facilitate
the rotation of the stile post I place a balance lever beneath the ratchet wheel
carrying a wheel at its outer end and a weight at the other, so that as the
turnstile revolves the weight causes the wheel to press against the under side
of the ratchet, and to materially facilitate the rotation.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical section of so much of
a turnstile as will be necessary to illustrate how this part of my Invention
may be carried into effect. A is the post of the turnstile, and B is the
ratchet at the lower end thereof; C is the lever which takes into the ratchet,

page_text: mounted and being free to oscillate on a post D inserted in the ground or
fixed to an iron plate forming the basement; E is a spring on which the tail of
the lever C rests; F is a bell-crank lever in connection with the lever C, and
acting as more clearly described hereafter.
a
:
The free end of the
of the line, say, for
Figure 2 is a view of the treddle over which the train passes; it is supported
on the inside of the line by pin passing through a standard G fixed to an
iron plate covering a box, made by preference of wood.
treddle a when set is somewhat raised above the level
example, one inch and a half; an arm 6 hangs from its outer end, the other
end of the arm being attached to a lever c fixed to a connecting rod d, one
end of which works in an aperture at the side of the box before mentioned;
the rod then passes beneath the metal to the side of the lines; e is another
arm double the length of the arm or lever c, and supported by a standard, not
shown; is a wire attached to the free end of the arm e, and extending to the
crank F at the turnstile, no matter what distance that may be, say, three or
four hundred yards. To the crank F I attach a short link g, the other end of
which works in an eye fixed to the end of the blade spring E, which is
supported by a spiral spring h. This blade spring supports the free and
weighted end of the lever C, the fulcrum of which is at i. Now upon the
train passing over the treddle a the wire h is drawn back by means of the
arms c and e, and in the direction indicated by the arrow; by this means the
bottom arm of the crank F is drawn back, pulling down the spring E, which
is kept down by the spring t fitting into a notch in the catch u, and the
weighted end of the lever C being thus left without support falls, at the same
time sending the-pointed or short end up into one of the teeth in the ratchet
B on the post A, and thus preventing the same and with .it the stile from
being turned in one direction, although by sloping the teeth on
the back
side the stile can be turned the other way, thus preventing people passing
on to the line, and at the same time allowing any person who may be
crossing at the time to go out. I make the stile by preference with four arms
fixed to the post A, before mentioned. The opposite gate is locked by con-
necting the arm of a crank k with the crank F by a wire l, and the crank k
has a wire m connected to it extending beneath the line of rails to the
opposite side, and as shown, by the continuation of the wire m in Figure 1.
To unlock the gates after the passing of a train I use an apparatus similar to
that shown at Figure 2, with the exception that the position of the lever c is
reversed, so that as the train passes over the treddle the wire s in connection
with the spring t draws the latter out of one of the notches in the crank F,
and thus releases the lever C from the ratchet B, through the action of the

page_text: spring E. In this position the gates are free to turn in either direction until
the approach of another train.
When gates for road crossings are locked and unlocked according to my
Invention, I construct and arrange them as shewn in the Diagram, Figure 8.
The gates are hung from the top of the posts by loops, and the lower ends are
free to turn in standards. The ratchet wheel is fixed to two of the gate posts,
and acts similarly to that before described with respect to the turnstiles.
Two curved arms, one above the other, are fixed above the ratchets and
united to other cranks between or rather underneath the line of rails by
means of connecting rods. o, o, are the curved arms on the gate posts; p, p,
are the connecting rods, and 9, 9, are the cranks between the rails. By
communicating motion to one gate all are simultaneously opened; and when
one gate is locked the entire set is locked. The gates are closed by a chain
attached to one of the arms of each gate to which the locking action is not
applied, and passing over a wheel with a weight at the other end.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the precise mechanical arrangements herein-before, described for carrying my
Invention into effect, as other mechanical equivalents might be employed
without departing from the essential features of my Invention; but I claim
the causing of the passing of a train to act on certain cranks and levers,
whereby the gates, turnstiles, and stiles are locked and unlocked, substantially
in manner herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
•
In witness whereof, I, the said George Daws, have hereunto set my