IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Tyer, of No. 4, Old Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY
TRAINS."
Sealed the 26th November 1875, and dated the 4th September 1875..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Tyer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th September 1875.
I, EDWARD TYER, of No. 4, Old Street, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION IN
RAILWAY TRAINS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a method of effecting communication
throughout a railway train as from guards to drivers, or from passengers
to guards or drivers, and to apparatus for that purpose, arranged in
such a manner that no coupling or uncoupling is required in putting a
train together or taking it apart.
On the end of each carriage I mount a lever arm having a weight or
spring urging it to move in one direction, but usually the said arm is

page_text: sustained in opposition to such weight or spring by a catch or trigger,
to which is connected a cord or rod extending along the carriage, with
pulls accessible to passengers in any compartment thereof, the end of
such communicating cord or rod being attached at the end of the
-carriage opposite to that where the trigger is situated to a lever which
is within the range of the weighted-arm-of_the_next carriage. Thus
when the cord or rod of any carriage is pulled it withdraws the catch
or trigger from the weighted arm of the carriage, and the weighted
arm being thus discharged strikes the lever of the cord or rod of the
next carriage, causing it to discharge its weighted arm, and so on from
carriage to carriage until the last of these weighted arms is made to
strike a bell or gong, or to open a whistle cock, or otherwise to give an
audible, or it might be a visible, alarum. As the line of communica-
tion effected in this manner extends only from the carriage from which
the signal proceded, it can at once be seen whence the signal was given.
The levers and triggers above described are preferably provided in
duplicate, so that the movement is communicated in both directions
from any carriage, and that whichever way the carriage may be turned
the communication as above described is effected. As the contiguous
ends of two carriages shift laterally, somewhat relatively to each other
in travelling, I ensure the striking of the lever by the falling weighted
arm in every position which the former can assume by spreading out
its end into a stirrup shape.
•
As in some cases the carriages are so closely coupled that there would
not be the requisite space for the weighted arm to fall I, in such cases,
substitute for the arm a guided weight, which is held in a raised position
_by_the before-mentioned catch, so that by releasing this the weight will
fall and actuate tlic lever of the next carriage.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edward Tyer, Her,special
license that I, the said Edward Tyer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Tyer, 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
THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING COMMUNICATION IN RAILWAY TRAINS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Tyer,
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 Edward Tyer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked.thereon, that
is to say :-
My Invention relates to a method of effecting communication
throughout a railway train as from guards to drivers, or from passengers
to guards or drivers, and to apparatus for that purpose, arranged in
in such manner that no coupling or uncoupling is required in putting a
train together or taking it apart.
On the end of each carriage I mount a lever arm having a weight or
spring urging it to move in one direction, but usually the said arm is
sustained in opposition to such weight or spring by a catch or trigger,
to which is connected a cord or rod extending along the carriage, with
pulls accessible to passengers in any compartment thereof, the end of
such communicating cord or rod being attached at the end of the

page_text: carriage opposite to that where the trigger is situated, to a lever which
is within the range of the weighted arm of the next carriage. Thus
when the cord or rod of any carriage is pulled it withdraws the catch
or trigger from the weighted arm of the carriage, and the weighted
arm being thus discharged strikes the lever of the cord or rod of the
next carriage, causing it to-discharge its weighted arm, and so on from
carriage to carriage, until the last of these weighted arms is made-to-
strike a bell or gong, or to open a whistle cock, or otherwise give an
audible, or it might be a visible, alarum. As the line of communica-
tion effected in this manner extends only from the carriage from which
the signal proceeded it can at once be seen whence the signal was given.
The levers and triggers above described, are preferably provided in
duplicate, so that the movement is communicated in both directions from
any carriage, and that whichever way the carriage may be turned,
the communication as above described is effected. As the contiguous
ends of two carriages shift laterally somewhat relatively to each other
in travelling, I insure the striking of the lever by the falling weighted
in every position which the former can assume by spreading out
its end into à stirrup shape.
arm
As in some cases the carriages are so closely coupled that there would
not be the requisite space for the weighted arm to fall, I in such cases,
substitute for the arm a guided weight, which is held in a raised
position by the before-mentioned catch, so that by releasing this the
weight will fall and actuate the lever of the next carriage.

page_text: Fig. 8 is a part end view of a carriage with the apparatus arranged to
act sideways in cases where carriages are coupled closely together, Fig. 8ª
being a side view of the said apparatus; and Fig. 9 is an end view
with a modified form of the weighted arm and catch which may be
used in such cases.
A., A, are guide tubes fitted in each carriage, preferably close up to
the ceiling thereof, enclosing the communicating cord B, a portion of
which is exposed in each compartment between two pullies C, one of
which is mounted at the end of each piece of guide tube, so that a
passenger can pull the exposed portion down into a bend or loop, thereby
drawing the cord when he desires to give a signal. The hanging
bend or loop of cord thus produced serves as a tell tale to inform the
guard or official of the compartment from which the signal has been
given. In order to prevent the cord after it has been pulled from being
straightened inside the carriage by thrusting it into the tube, I pass it
through a hole in a caoutchouc washer a, Fig. 6, fixed at the outer end
of the tube. After the official ascertains where the cord has been pulled
he can, by drawing the end outside the carriage, straighten it again.
The cord B at one end of the carriage it attached to the catch D which
holds up the loaded arm E, so that on the cord being pulled the catch D
is raised and the loaded arm E is free to fall; in falling it strikes the
forked lever F which is mounted on the end of the next carriage, and
in order to diminish the shock and noise of the blow I prefer to stretch
across the gap of the lever F a piece of rope or cord ƒ which receives
the blow of the loaded arm E; to the shaft of the forked lever F is
attached another cord G which is carried along the carriage on which F is
mounted either under it, as shewn, or it might be over it, and is led by
guide pullies to the catch D at the opposite end of the carriage, so that
when the lever F on one carriage is forced down by the blow of the
arm E on the carriage next to it the catch D on the same carriage with F
is drawn up, releasing the arm E on the same carriage, which in its
turn falls, striking a forked lever F on the next carriage, and so on, from
carriage to carriage along the train; as each carriage is provided at
each of its ends with an arm E and its catch D on one side of the centre
line, and with a forked lever Fon the other side of the centre linc,
whichever way the carriage may be turned, it will always present an
arm E facing a lever F on the next carriage and a lever F facing an
arm E on the next carriage. And furthermore, when the cord B is

page_text: pulled in a carriage, releasing its two loaded arms E, that is to say, the
arm'at each of its ends, the result is, that a communication is effected
by the stroke of these arms both forwards and backwards throughout
the whole train; the guard or official can therefore at once discover
from which carriage a signal has proceeded, by finding that whence the
forward and also the backward communication has originated, and
having so determined the particular carriage he can determine the par-
ticular compartment thereof where the signal was made, by observing
in it the loose loop of the pulled cord. On the guard's. van or loco-
motive, or on both, I place an audible or visible alarum of any known
construction; one convenient form is a bell with its hammers worked
by a revolving barrel. In connection with this instrument I mount a
loaded arm H, Fig. 10, which usually rests on a lever I similar to the
loaded arms E already described. When by the movement communicated
along the train the lever I is allowed to drop, then the loaded arm H
is free to descend, which it does gradually, working the alarum during
its descent by the tension of the cord / by which it is connected to
the alarum.
After a signal has been given and communicated, as above described,
the train having stopped, the guard or official can walk along the
train, raising all the loaded arms and engaging them in their respective
catches, and ascertaining the compartment whence the signal proceeded,
whereupon, the apparatus is set ready for action as before. The arm E
instead of having the weight at its end may be loaded by a weight e near
its axis, as shewn in Fig. 7.
When carriages are coupled so closely together as to leave insuffi-
cient.space.between them for the movement of the loaded arms E away
from-the-carriage,-a-modified-form-of-the-apparatus, as shewn in Figs.
8, 8, and 9, may be employed. According to the modification, shewn
in Figs. 8 and 8, a vertically sliding loaded bar K is substituted for the
loaded arm E and a lever L for the forked lever F.
The bar K is held up
by a catch k to which is attached the signal cord. When this catch is
withdrawn by the pull of the cord the bar K descends, and its lower
end which is of forked form, with a piece of cord or rope stretched
across it, as shewn in the side view, Fig. 8ª, strikes the lever corre- 3
sponding to L on the next carriage. This lever L being connected by a
cord to a catch corresponding to % at the other end of its carriage, the
said catch is released by the movement of L, and the movement is thus

page_text: communicated from carriage to carriage. Instead of a vertically sliding
bar K a loaded arm M, pivotted as shewn in Fig. 9, may be employed,
the action being the same as that already described, with a transverse
instead of a longitudinal movement of the arm.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
"
'
First. The method, substantially as herein described, of effecting
communication throughout a railway train, by providing each carriage
of the train with a loaded arm held up by a catch which is connected
to a lever at the opposite end of the carriage within range of a like
loaded arm on the next carriage, in such a manner that when the catch
on any carriage is withdrawn, the loaded arm falling strikes the lever on
the next carriage, and thus releases the next loaded arm, and so on from
carriage to carriage till a loaded arm descending works an alarum in a
guard's brake or on the locomotive.
Second. The use for effecting communication throughout a railway
train of apparatus on each carriage, consisting of a pull cord partly
exposed in each compartment attached to the catch of a loaded arm,
the said catch being also connected by a cord to a forked lever or trigger
at the opposite end of the carriage, which lever or trigger is mounted
within range of the loaded arm on the next carriage, all constructed and
operating, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Tyer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
EDW TYER. /rel