IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Gough, of the Town and County of Buckingham
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPERATING
RAILWAY SIGNALS."
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Gough at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th February 1882.
ALFRED GOUGH of the Town and County of Buckingham,
IN APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SIGNALS."
"IMPROVEMENTS
My Invention relates to improved means for working railway signals auto-
matically, that is to say, for causing the signals to be raised and lowered by the
passage of the train itself at certain points, whereby to diminish the danger of
collision between following trains.
In carrying out my Invention I provide near each signal to be operated, or in
other suitable position, apparatus constructed and operated in the following
manner. Centrally between the rails there is a longitudinal inclined bar pivoted
at one end and resting at or near the other upon a friction roller carried by an arm
fixed on a transverse rock shaft passing beneath the rails and furnished at one end
with a crank connected with the crank of the adjacent signal arın. The rock
shaft is also provided with a quadrant having a notch with which a pawl engages
to retain the signal arm in the raised position when it has been so set by the
passage of the train, suitable counterweights being provided to ensure the proper
action of the parts. Beneath the guard's van or other vehicle there is mounted a
roller in such position as to come in contact with and depress the inclined bar or
lever before mentioned and depress it, thereby rocking the shaft and raising the
adjacent signal. The pawl by which the signal is held in the raised position, is so
connected by a wire with an arm on the rock shaft of a similar apparatus situated
a certain distance according to the length of the section beyond the said signal,
that on the train passing over this second apparatus, it will be operated and the
signal which was previously raised, as above described, will thereby be released
and allowed to fall. To avoid sudden shock by the roller on the train striking the
pivoted incline, the arrangement may be reversed, that is to say, a downwardly
projecting incline surface may be fixed beneath the guard's van in position to act
on the roller on the arm of the rock shaft, the pivoted inclined bar being dispensed
with. This inclined surface would be double so as to act whichever way the
carriage may run, and it may have a constant or varying inclination.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alfred Gough in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th August
1882.
#
Alfred Gough, of the Town and County of Buckingham. IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR OPERATING RAILWAY SIGNALS."
My Invention relates to improved means for working railway signals auto-
matically, that is to say, for causing the signals to be raised and lowered by the
passage of the train itself at certain points, whereby to diminish the danger of
collision between following trains.
In carrying out my Invention I provide near each signal to be operated, or in
other suitable position, apparatus constructed and operated in the munner herein-
after described and represented in the annexed Drawings which show diagrams in
elevation and plan of a section of railway with my Invention applied. To avoid
as far as possible sudden shocks in the working of the apparatus I prefer to use a
downwardly projecting inclined surface beneath the guard's van or other vehicle of
the train, in position to act on a roller on an arm of a rock shaft whenever the
train passes over one of the signal working apparatus. This incline would be
double so as to act whichever way the carriage may run and it may have a constant
or varying inclination.
Referring to the Drawings A is the double inclined projection beneath the guard's
van and B are the rollers on which it acts. Each roller B is located centrally
between the rails and is carried by an arm C fixed on a transverse rock shaft D
passing beneath the rails and furnished at one end with a crank arm E connected
by a wire or other connection with the signal next in rear. The rock shaft is also
provided_with_a_second_crank arm F connected by a wire or otherwise with a
pawl F which engages with a notch in a disc or quadrant G to retain-the-signal-
ariu when it has been lowered or taken off on the passage by the train of the next
signal in advance, this disc or quadrant G having an arm H which is connected
with the signal arm by a rod or otherwise. The signal arm is raised when the
pawl F is released by the action of a counterweight at I. The disc G is connected
by a wire or chain K attached to its grooved rim, with the arm E of similar
apparatus situated a certain distance in advance according to the length of the
section so that on the train passing over this second apparatus, it will be operated
and its own signal raised whilst the signal which was previously raised, as above
described, will be pulled off by the wire K rotating the disc G until the pawl F¹
reengages with the notch of the disc. The double incline bar A may be made
movable laterally out of the centre line of the van as represented in dotted lines
when it is not required to actuate the signals the lateral movement being
obtained by fitting the bar in horizontal guides and operating it by adjusting
screws a.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing the
same I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is
The combination and arrangement of mechanism constituting the apparatus
for automatically operating railway signals, substantially as shown and described.
In witness whereof I the said Alfred Gough have hereunto set my hand
and seal this fourth day of August in the year of our Lord One thousand
nih hanland and nighty kun