IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Emmanuel Marais, of Ferrières la Verrerie
(Orne), France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
SIGNALS."
Sealed the 19th September 1856, and dated the 2nd July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Emmanuel
Marais at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd July 1856.
I, THOMAS EMMANUEL MARAIS, of Ferrières la Verrerie (Orne), France, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in arranging apparatus in such a manner that a
detonating signal is, by the passage of a train along the line, brought into
position to be exploded by the passage of any following train, and so that it is
held in this position during any period of time, and is then withdrawn by the
action of the apparatus. For this purpose I place a bar of metal by the side
of the line of rail, which bar is moved by the passage of tho train, and by
means of suitable levers, brings the signal into position; the passage of the
train also liberates a weighted piston, working in a cylinder containing fluid,
and extends a spring: the piston descends by the action of the weight, the

page_text: fluid passing through a hole in the piston, which, when it arrives at the end of
its stroke, by suitable levers withdraws the signal and liberates the spring,
which again raises the weighted piston and brings the other parts into position
to be again acted on.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Emmanuel Marais in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
EMMANUEL MARAIS, of Ferrierès le Verrerie (Orne), France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas
Emmanuel Marais, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Emmanuel
Marais, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Emmanuel Marais, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Emmanuel Marais, 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 Thomas- Emmanuel Marais, 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, that is to say :-
. This invention consists in arranging apparatus in such a manner that a
detonating signal is, by the passage of a train along the line, brought into
position to be exploded by the passage of any following train, and so that it is
held in this position during any period of time, and is then withdrawn by the

page_text: action of the apparatus; and in order that my said Invention may be most
fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the
Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING...
Figure 1. is a side view, and Figure 2.. a plan of an apparatus arranged
according to my Invention.. a is a bar of, metal. placed by the side of the liné
of rail; it has a stem a', round. which the spiral spring a³ is coiled. This
spring raises the bar a each time after it is depressed by the passage of a train;
6 is a lever, on which the stem a.of the bar a rests. The lever b is mounted
on the axis 6'; and 6' is another lever keyed on the same axis, which, by means
of the connecting bar c and the lever d, communicates the motion received by
the axis 6 from, the bar a to the axis d', on which the lever d is mounted;
d, d, are also levers fixed on the axis d', and furnished at their outer ends
with the counterpoise weights d³, da, for which springs may be substituted if it
be preferred; d is an arm keyed on the same axis d¹; and e is a spring catch
which, when the weights d' are raised by the passing of a train, catches the end
of the arm d', and prevents the weights from descending when the action of
the wheels of the train on the bar a ceases. By the same motion by which
the counterpoise weights d³ are raised the inner ends of the levers d² are de-
pressed out of contact with the studs f fixed on the cross head f¹ of the piston
rod f, thus the piston f³ is left free to sink in the cylinder g, which contains
oil or water, and the speed at which the piston sinks depends on the size of
the aperture h, which is adjusted by the screw plug i, and also upon the size
of the weights 4 on the ends of the cross head f¹. When the piston has
descended a short distance, the projection on the piston rod f* comes in con-
tact with the tail of the spring catch k and raises it clear of the end of the
arm l, which is carried by a boss capable of turning freely on the axis d¹, but
furnished with stops which limit its motion on the axis to a quarter of a
revolution or thereabouts. On the same boss with the arm 2 is formed another
arm l', on which is mounted the weight 1; this, when the spring catch k is
raised, as before mentioned, descends until it is arrested by the stop on the
axis d', and in its motion it carries with it the lever l³ (on the same boss as the
arms and ¹), in connection with which is the rod 1, having at its end a
frame for holding the fog signals m, m; these are thus brought under a
hammer n, which is brought into action by the passage of a train by means of
a horizontal bar, with stem and spring similar to the horizontal bar a and the
stem and spring a¹, a³. After raising the catch k the piston f³ continues to
descend until the piece f, on the upper end of the piston-rod f, comes in con-

page_text: tact with the tail of the spring catch e, which is thus caused to liberate the
arm d' and the counterpoise weights d³, which in descending raise the piston f
to its starting position, as shown in the Drawing, and also raise the weight l'
until the spring catch k falls in front of the arm 1. At the same time that the
weight 1 is raised the fog signals m are withdrawn from under the hammer n,
and the instrument is then ready to be again put in motion by the passage of
the next train. In place of causing the withdrawal of the fog signals to be
effected by the descent of a weighted piston, as above described, such with-
drawal may be effected by the passage of the train over an instrument placed
at a distance from the signal apparatus and connected therewith by a wire and
levers, as an ordinary distance signal is connected with the handle which
actuates it.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Emmanuel Marais, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. BASSET,
2, Rue Drouot.
THOMAS EMMANUEL MARAIS. (L.B.)
Certifié la signature ci-dessus,
Le chef des Gares,
Cron