IM- PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James John Stevens, of Darlington Works, South-
wark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention .of." IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James John Stevens at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1859.
I, JAMES JOHN STEVENS, of Darlington Works, Southwark, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUSES," to be as follows:-
My present Invention refers to improvements upon and additions to railway
semaphore apparatuses, for which Letters Patent were previously granted to
me. Instead of forming the upright semaphore pillars of wood, and of fixing
a ladder to them for the purpose of carrying up the signal lamps, &c., I con-
struct them wholly or partially of iron, whereby they will be more durable,
and in the manner to be fully described in my Complete Specification; and
form in or upon the pillars a V-rail or tongue. I connect or place the signal
lanterns upon a carriage or slide, the back of which is provided with grooves,
to fit in and travel along the V-tongue, and I hoist the carriage and lanterns
by means of a chain carried over a pulley in the upper part of the pillar, and
a windlass fitted to the pillar at a convenient height from the ground.
Another part of my Invention consists in means of and apparatuses for
compensating for the expansion and contraction in the wires used to work
signals at a distance. The pull-over lever to actuate the signal is attached to

page_text: a wheel with two grooves; the signal wire is secured to the wheel and one
groove, while a chain or rope is secured in the other groove, and is carried up
over a roller or pulley in the top end of the lever, and secured to a weight free
to travel up and down the lever. The face of the lever is cut with ratchet
teeth directed downwards, and the weight is furnished with similar teeth set
upwards; as long as the lever is at rest, the weight is free to move both
upwards and downwards, but upon its being inclined to move the signal, the
teeth on the weight become engaged in those in the lever, and a firm pull is
ensured. Where the ordinary levers are desired to be retained, then I fit a
modification of my toothed lever and compensating weight arrangement of
apparatus at some point between the ordinary lever and the signal. Another
means of obviating the inconvenience arising from the contraction or expansion
of the wires, consists in connecting a chain to the signal wire, and in passing
the chain with a weight suspended through a windlass or barrel, with an
aperture for the chain to pass through. On turning the barrel round, a pull
is ensured, whatever may have been the expansion or contraction in the signal
wire or rope.
For signals to be worked by passing trains, I fit a guard or shield plate
outside of the rail, and so close to it as to be pushed outwards by the flange
on the wheels. To this guard is affixed one end of a rod, the opposite end of
which is thinned off, and which, when the apparatus is at rest, engages in a
nick in a wheel, to which a weight and signal wire or rope are attached.
On the passing of a train, the inner end of the rod is disengaged from the nick
in the wheel, which, under the: influence of the. weight, causes the required
signal to be made. An incline on the side of the signal wheel pushes out the
rod after being disengaged from the nick, and drives the guard clear of the
flanges of all the remaining wheels after being acted on by the first. A spring
or weight draws the rod inwards after the passing of a train, and on the
weight being pulled up, and the nick in. the signal wheel being brought
opposite the rod, it becomes again engaged, and ready to act as before..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James John Stevens in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
JOHN STEVENS, of Darlington Works, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James John Stevens, Her special licence that I, the said James John
Stevens, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James John Stevens, 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 RAILWAY SIGNAL APPARATUSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James John Stevens, 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 James John Stevens, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
My present Invention refers to improvements upon and additions to railway
semaphore apparatuses, for which Letters Patent were previously granted to
me. Instead of forming the upright semaphore pillars of wood, and of fixing
a ladder to them for the purpose of carrying up the signal lamps, &c., I con-
struct them wholly or partially of iron, whereby they will be more durable,
and form in or upon the pillars a V or Trail or tongue. I connect or place
the signal lanterns upon a carriage or slide, the back of which is provided
.with grooves to fit in and travel along the tongue, and I hoist the carriage
and lanterns by means of a chain carried over a pulley in the upper part of
the pillar, and a windlass fitted to the pillar at a convenient height from the
ground.
Another part of my Invention consists in means of and apparatuses for
compensating for the expansion and contraction in the wires used to work
signals at a distance. The pull-over lever to actuate the signal is attached to
a wheel with two grooves; the signal wire is secured to the wheel in one
groove, while a cliain or rope is secured in the other groove, and is carried up

page_text: over a roller or pulley in the top end of the lever and secured to a weight
free to travel up and down the lever. The face of the lever is cut with
ratchet teeth directed downwards, and the weight is furnished with similar
teeth set upwards; as long as the lever is at rest the weight is free to move
both upwards and downwards, but upon its being inclined to move the signal, the
teeth on the weight become engaged in those in the lever, and a firm pull is
ensured. Where the ordinary levers are desired to be retained, then I fit a
modification of my toothed lever and compensating weight arrangement of
apparatus at some point between the ordinary lever and the signal. Another
means of obviating the inconvenience arising from the contraction or expansion
of the wires, consists in connecting a chain to the signal wire, and in passing
the chain with a weight suspended through a windlass or barrel, with an
aperture for the chain to pass through. On turning the barrel round, a pull
is ensured, whatever may have been the expansion or contraction in the signal
wire or rope.
For signals to be worked by passing trains, I fit a guard or shield plate
outside of the rail, and so close to it as to be pushed outwards by the flange
on the wheels. To this guard is affixed one end of a rod, the opposite end of
which is thinned off, and which, when the apparatus is at test, engages in a
nick in a wheel, to which a weight and signal wire or rope are attached.
On the passing of a train, the inner end of the rod is disengaged from the
nick in the wheel, which, under the influence of the weight, causes the
required signal to be made. An incline on the side of the signal wheel
pushes out the rod after being disengaged from the nick, and drives the guard
clear of the flanges of all the remaining wheels after being acted on by the
first. A spring or weight draws the rod inwards after the passing of a train,
and or the weight being pulled up, and the nick in the signal wheel being
brought opposite the rod, it becomes again engaged, and ready to act as
before. Figure 1, Drawing No. 1 of the accompanying Drawings, is an
elevation Figure 2 is a plan; and Figure 3 is a section on the line C of
Figure 1 of a railway sigual pillar constructed according to my Invention.
G is an upright pillar, made of cast iron; the upper part of the pillar
terminates in flanges a, on which the side pieces H, H, for carrying the signal
arms are bolted; these pieces are strengthened at top by a cross piece b,
and have holes formed in them, through which spindles are passed for sus-
pending the signal arms. Figure 4 is a side elevation; Figure 5 is a front
elevation; and Figure 6 is a plan of another form of signal pillar; and
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, are sections on the lines A, B, C, D, E, F,
respectively of Figure 4. I, I, are the sides of the signal pillar, formed of

page_text: wrought or cast iron, held together by rods or braces d, d; e, e, is a V or T
rail or tongue; K is a carriage or slide for supporting the lanterns L, L.
The carriage is formed at back with a V or T groove, to correspond with and
run on the V or T rail e. M is a chain attached at one end to the carriage;
it is passed over a pulley f and fastened at its other end to the barrel of a
windlass 9, fitted to the lower part of the pillar; N, N, are the signal arms,
connected to levers O, O, worked by the handles P, P, fitted to the pillar in
the usual manner.
Figure 1, Drawing No. 2, is a front elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan, of
my compensating distant signal pull-over lever; Figure 3 is a section on the
line A, A; and Figure 4 is a section on the line B, B, of Figure 2; Figure 5
shews in plan the pull-over lever depressed; Figure 6 is a section on the
line C, C, of Figure 5. D is the pull-over lever, which is attached to a
wheel E having two grooves a, b, formed on it. The chain F is fixed to one
of the grooves a, carried up over a pulley G and hooked, as shewn to a
movable weight I provided with ratchet teeth, which take into corresponding
teeth formed on the pull-over lever D. The end of the other chain I is made
fast in the groove b, and passes to the signal. When the lever D' is depressed,
the teeth in the weight H take into those formed on the lever D, all slack in
the signal chain or wire is compensated for, and a firm pull on the signal
is ensured.
Figure 7, Drawing No. 2, is a front, and Figure 8 is a side elevation of a
modification of my toothed lever and compensating weight apparatus, to be
placed at some point between the ordinary pull-over lever and the signal.
L is a chain fixed at one end to the pull-over lever, and at the other to a
toothed lever M, having its fulcrum at a, and carrying a weight N at its
lower part; O is a guide rod for the lever M to slide against; P, P, are
pulleys, round which the signal chain Q passes, and is fixed to the weight R
provided with a paul to take into the ratchet teeth formed on the lever M.
When the chain L is pulled, the paul on the weight R becomes engaged in
the ratchet teeth, and a firm pull on the signal is ensured.
Figure 1, Drawing No. 3, is an elevation of my signal apparatus to be worked
by a passing train; Figure 2 is a view of the apparatus to which the signal is
communicated. The signal here is shewn in the form of a bell, but it will
apply to other than bell signals. Figure 3 is a plan of Figure 1, and Figure 4
is a section through the line A, A, of Figure 3. B is a guard or shield plate
fitted outside the rail L; C is a rod, by preference of T iron, attached at one
end to this guard, and entering at the other into a nick a formed on a wheel
D. This wheel has double grooves formed in it. One end of a chain E is

page_text: attached in one of these grooves, and passing over a pulley F is secured at its
other end to a weight G working in a box or case H. Another chain I is
secured in and passes from the other groove in the. pulley to the signal
apparatus, Figure 2, where it is connected to a weighted lever J. K is
another weighted lever, to which a spring carrying a bell is attached. As the
train passes over the line L, the wheel O pushes outwards the guard or shield B,
which disengages the rod C. from the nick in the wheel, the weight G
descends, causes the wheel to revolve, and in so doing pulls the chain I, which
causes the projection or the weighted lever J to strike that on the other lever
K, and so ring the bell. As soon as the wheel begins to revolve, the incline
on its side pushes the shield B through the rod C clear of the succeeding
wheels in the train. M is a spring for keeping the rod. C engaged in the nick
of the wheel until released, as before explained.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction of railway signal posts or pillars of cast or wrought
iron, as herein-before described and illustrated in Drawing No. 1 hereunto
annexed.
Second, the means and appliances herein-before described and illustrated at
Figures 4 to 12, Drawing No. 1 of the accompanying Drawings, for raising
and lowering the lanterns in railway signalling apparatuses.
Third, the means of and apparatuses for compensating for the expansion and
contraction in the wires used to work signals at a distance, herein-before
described and illustrated at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Drawing No. 2 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Fourth, the arrangement of compensating apparatus to be placed at some
point between the ordinary lever and the signal herein-before described and
illustrated at Figures 7 and 8, Drawing No. 2, of the accompanying Drawings.
And, fifth, the arrangement of signalling apparatuses to be worked by a
passing train, herein-before described and illustrated in Drawing No. 3 of the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James John Stevens, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
JAMES JOHN STEVENS. (L.S.)