Improvements in Fog Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Fog Signalling Apparatus for Railways.
We, HENRY PAINTER of 38 King Street, Cornwall Road, Lambeth, S.E.
Coppersmith, CHARLES ROBERT BURTON of 3 Broadway, Ludgate Hill, in the
City of London, E.C. Auctioneer and ARCHIBALD KAY, of 28 Nelson Square,
Blackfriars Road, S.E. Warehouseman, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This our invention relates to improvements in fog signalling apparatus for
railways, and the object of our said invention is to devise an apparatus intended to
be used for placing detonators on the line during foggy weather, thus dispensing
with the necessity for manual labour at the points at which the detonators are
required to be fired.
In order that my invention may be readily understood, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings in which-
Figure 1, is a plan view of a portion of a rail with my improved device applied
thereto, the top plate or cover being removed.
Figure 2, is a longitudinal section of the same.
Figure 3, is a transverse section on the line xx in Figure 2.
Figure 4, is a horizontal section on the lines y y Figure 2.
Figure 5, is a transverse vertical section on the line z z Figure 2.
Throughout the several figures like letters are used to indicate corresponding
parts.
'
A is the rail to which our invention is applied, B is a shaft at right angles
thereto, C is a casting at right angles to the said rail A, having a channel c on or
through the same. The shaft B before mentioned is carried in bearings a respectively
formed in the rail at one end and in the casting C at the other end. D is a shoot
or vertical guide in which the detonators are placed and from which they are
transferred one by one into the channel c before referred to, by the mechanism
hereinafter described.
Upon the shaft B is a bevel wheel badapted to gear with another bevel wheel 61
mounted vertically, the shaft of the latter having secured thereon a cam disc E which
is shaped as shown in plan Figure 1. The said shaft B and the cam disc E only
require to make a partial revolution to the extent of rather more than one half.
Upon the rotation of the shaft B by means of the device hereinafter described, the
cam disc E will be rotated and the recessed portiou e of the cam disc will bring
the lowermost detonator from the shoot D and place it in alignment with the
channel c. Upon the reverse movement of the shaft, the cam disc rotating in the
reverse direction, will cause the detonator to be forced along the channel c by
the portion of the cam el.
At the other end of the before mentioned shaft B is fixed a cam disc or
eccentric F, the said eccentric engages with a vertical slot g formed in a block G
The said block G is
mounted in guides having a reciprocatory vertical movement.
also slotted to afford a passage for the shaft B. The upper face of the block G, when
the latter in its lowest position, is in alignment with the bottom of the channel c
before described, while when the block is in its raised position, the said upper face
is a little below the top of the rail A.
The rail A at the point to which our invention is applied, is preferably solid, so
as to afford additional strength, or a casting may be bolted on or otherwise secured
to the rail.
The detonators passing along the channel c and forced forward by means of the
rotation of the cam E, in the direction indicated by the arrow w in Figure 1, are

page_text: placed in succession upon the top of the block G which, when the shaft is rotated
in the reverse direction, raises the detonator above the level of the surface of the
rail in which position it is discharged by the passing of the train over or along the
track. Upon the falling of the block & the discharged detonator is forced forward
into a chamber H formed in the body of the rail, through which it falls into a
hollow or recess beneath the track.
The rotation of the shaft is effected by means of a segment or pinion I which is
keyed on the outer end thereof, and gears ith a rack (not shown in the drawings)
operated by means of a hand lever and suitable connecting rods from an adjacent
signal box or other convenient point.
The length of the shoot or guide D, may be adapted to receive any desired
number of detonators, and it will thus be seen that the necessity for manual labour
for fog signalling according to the system now in general use, is dispensed with.
The work entailed by the system at present employed, is very dangerous, and has
to be paid for by the railway companies at a high rate, and our invention will be
found to provide a simple and effective means by which the placing of the
detonators upon the rails and the removal of the same after discharge, may be
effected by the signalman, who, it is absolutely necessary to maintain at the work.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. Fog signalling apparatus for railways, consisting of an arm at right angles to
the rail, having a channel on or in said arm, a shoot or guide for feeding the
detonators, a block for raising the detonators into their firing position and a
rotating can for feeding the detonators, the whole being constructed and operating
substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a fog signalling apparatus the means for feeding the detonators to the rail,
consisting essentially of a guide or shoot for holding the detonators, a cam adapted
to withdraw the lower detonator and feed it forward toward the rail, means for
rotating the said cam, the whole being constructed and operating substantially as
described and illustrated.
3. In a fog signalling apparatus the combination with the mechanism for feeding
the detonators, of a rising and falling block adapted to raise the detonator into its
firing position, the means for reciprocating the said block, and a channel through
which the discharged detonators are capable of falling, the whole being constructed
and operating substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
4. The manufacture and use of an apparatus for fog signalling for railways
constructed and operating substantially as described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 25th day of February 1893.
HORN & SON,
Applicants' Agents.