IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Knight, of Pencardair, in the County of
Carmarthen, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-ACTING RAILWAY
SIGNALS."
Sealed the 30th November 1866, and dated the 2nd June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Knight at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1866.
I, JOSEPH KNIGHT, of Pencardair, in the County of Carmarthen, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF-
ACTING RAILWAY SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain arrangements of mechanism whereby the
necessary indications of a train having passed any particular portion of the
line either by day or night are automatically given without manual aid.
Wherever a signal is required a bed plate of iron or wood is provided in
juxtaposition and transverse to one of the rails, and to which bed plate is
fixed a bearing, upon which a lever centered thereto works for the purpose of
giving motion to the signals. This lever is attached by suitable jointed con-
nections, such as are well known and understood, to a lever above, which last-

page_text: mentioned lever works at right angles to the lower one and longitudinally to
the rails, and so as to be capable of being acted upon by one or more wheels
of the engine of any passing train. Upon the train passing over the rails
the levers will be simultaneously depressed, and thereby give the necessary
action to the signals; this is effected by means of a chain attached to the end
of the lower lever, the same working from or under a pulley fixed to the bed
plate. At the end of the chain is a connection to which are fastened the
requisite number of smaller chains, wires, or rods, by means of which the
danger signals will be actuated. When chains or wires are employed they
pass over or under suitable pulleys fixed to and adjacent to the signal posts,
and in the case of rods being used the same are jointed together for the
purpose of transmitting motion, as well understood. The signals are retained
in position by suitable catches provided with counterbalance weights until the
train passes the signal post in advance, when the-last danger signal will be
released simultaneously with the putting up of another signal at any desired
distance. This is accomplished by means of a connection from the bottom
lever which will actuate a chain, wire, or. rods from post to post, and release
the catch which retains the danger signal in position until the train passes
the post in advance. For the purpose of signalling by day the ordinary
semaphore signals are applicable to the purposes of this Invention, whilst for
night signals it can be used in connection with any suitable system of lights.
For the purpose of compensating for the expansion and contraction of the
wires by which the signals are actuated the following arrangement is
adopted: A weight is suspended by and attached to the wire, such weight
working between two posts or uprights, at the upper part of which are
pulleys for the carriage of the wire. Plates of iron are attached to the posts
or uprights, the same being drilled and sloped so as to admit of the entrance
of pins or catches which are fixed to the weight, and which pins or catches
will retain the weight in an effective position at the time the releasing pull is
made. The weight will also rise or fall in accordance with the contraction
or expansion of the wire, and will thereby prevent the breaking thereof by
contraction and also render the same effective when from any cause it has
become expanded. This apparatus may be placed in the immediate vicinity of
each signal post or at any convenient distance therefrom. The arrangements
for signalling before described can be used either for single or double lines
of rails.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Knight in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
KNIGHT, of Poncardair, in the County of Carmarthen, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Knight, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Knight, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Knight, 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 SELF-ACTING
RAILWAY SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Knight, 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 Joseph Knight, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the.
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
My said Invention consists in certain arrangements of mechanism whereby
the necessary indications of a train having passed any particular portion of
the line either by day or night are automatically given without manual aid.
Wherever it is desired that a signal shall be placed a bed plate of iron or
wood is provided in juxtaposition and transverse to or parallel
rails, and to which bed plate is fixed a bearing, a lever
thereon for the purpose of giving motion to the signals.
mentioned lever is attached by suitable jointed connectious, such as are well
with one of the
being centered
The said last-

page_text: known and understood, to a lever above, which last-mentioned lever works at
right angles to the lower one and longitudinally to the rails, and so as to be
capable of being acted upon by one or more wheels of the engine or of any
other carriage of which a passing train consists, such wheel or wheels being
provided with a projecting flange for the purpose of acting upon the levers.
Upon the train passing over the rails the levers will be simultaneously
depressed and thereby give the necessary action to the signals; this is effected
by means of a chain attached to the end of the wire or lower lever, the same
working over or under a pulley fixed to the bed plate. At the end of the
wire or chain is a connection, to which are fastened the requisite number of
smaller chains or wires or rods, and by means of which the danger signals
I will be actuated. When chains or wires are employed they pass over or
under suitable pulleys fixed to and adjacent to the signal posts, additional
friction pulleys or carriers being also provided wherever necessary, and in the
case of rods being used the same are jointed together for the purpose of
transmitting motion as well understood. The signals are retained in position
by suitable catches provided with counterbalance weights until the train passes
the signal post in advance, when the last danger signal will be released
simultaneously with the putting up of another signal at any desired distance;
this is accomplished by means of a connection from the bottom lever, which
will actuate a chain, wire, or rods from post to post, and release the catch
which retains the danger signal in position until the train passes the post in
advance. For the purposes of signalling by day the ordinary semaphore
signals are applicable to the purposes of my said Invention, whilst for night
signals it can be used in connection with any suitable system of lights. In
order to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the wires by which
the signals are actuated the following arrangement is adopted :-A weight is
suspended by a chain and attached to the wire, such weight working between
two posts or uprights, at the upper part of which are pulleys for the carriage
of the wire. Plates of iron are attached to the posts or uprights, the same
being drilled and sloped so as to admit of the entrance of pins or catches
which are fixed to the weight, and which pins or catches will retain the weight
in an effective position at the time the releasing pull is made. This arrange-
ment may be varied in its details without departing from its main principles.
The weight will rise or fall in accordance with the contraction or expansion
of the wire, and will thereby prevent the breaking thereof by contraction
and also render the same effective when from any cause it has become
expanded. This apparatus may be placed in the immediate vicinity of each

page_text: signal post or at any convenient distance therefrom. It may be here
observed that the arrangements for signalling herein-before described, and
which constitute my said Invention, can be used either for single or double
lines of rails.
My said Invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the
annexed Drawings.
Figure 1 is a plan view of a permanent rail with the connection thereto of
the jointed inclined lever over which the wheel of the engine or carriage will
pass as before mentioned, and thereby depress it and give the motion whereby
the signals are actuated; it is equally capable of adaptation to either longi-
tudinal or cross sleeper roads; Figure 2 is an elevation of the rail, shewing
the inclination of the lever and its connection with the bottom lever through
which motion is given to the signals; Figure 3 is a plan of the bed plate and
its casing, and also of the levers, bearings, and pulleys by which the signals
are actuated (as shewn by the dotted lines) by means of chains, wires, or
otherwise working over the pulleys E, F, G, fixed to or near the bottom of
the signal posts; Figure 4 is a plan of a signal post and pulleys, and shews
the positions and connections of the wires or chains to and from the levers for
both lines. The chain attached to the lever marked C (in Figure 3) will
pass under the vertical pulley E, and thus actuate the signal, and the
adjoining wire or chain passing over the horizontal pulley marked F will pull
the wire or chain connected with the catch at the post last passed and
release the signal arın at that place and shew the road clear. The wire or
chain passes over the pulley marked G and over the pulley marked H at the
top of the post in Figures 9 and 10 to the balance weight of the catch, and
releases the arm by pulling up the catch. The wires or chains attached to
the lever D act in the same way for the other line. Figure 5 is an elevation
of the lever C with its bearings and connection with the top lever over which
the wheel will pass, and also the pulley under which the wire or chain will
pass to the pulleys attached to the posts. This Figure also shews an
elevation of the bed plate and casing. Figures 6, 7, and 8 shew the bottom
part of the signal post, with the pulleys attached thereto, through and over
which the wires or chains work to put up and release the signals; Figures 9
and 10 shew in elevation the top parts of signal posts with the arms put up at
danger in Figure 9. The wire or chain passes over the pulleys marked H at
the top and to the balance weight on the arm of the catch, as shewn in
Figure 10, so that when a wheel passes over the inclined jointed lever it
raises the catch, the end of which will work or slide against a plate of iron

page_text: fitted to the arin to the proper curve and let down the arm at the same time
that it puts up the arm in advance, when the wheel passes over the inclined
jointed lever. The same can be applied to set the arm at "caution" by
using a second catch, and pulls from the second post in advance or at an
intermediate place, when the action can be attained by using the combination
of pulleys or motion in any case, as shewn in Figure 11, in place of the levers:
Ċ and D..
Figure 11 represents another method by which motion can be given
to the signals instead of by the levers C and D; Figures 12, 13, and
14 shew a crank action that can be used to give motion to the signals,
instead of by the ordinary method, on to and from which can be fixed and
worked the danger and caution glasses for the lamps at night instead
of by the ordinary means. The lamps, if preferred, can be placed for use on
a level with the arms when up, and will therefore be raised several feet
higher than lamps are usually placed for use. Figure 15 is an elevation of
apparatus for preventing the signal wires from breaking in consequence of
their contraction, and also for keeping the wires to their proper tension when
expanded. When the wire contracts it will gradually raise the weight by
means of the wires or chains working over the pulleys, as shewn by the dotted
lines. When the wire expands the weight will descend and so keep the
wires to their proper strain and be effective for a pull.
When a pull
is made to let down an arm the pin or catch fixed to the weight will
at once pass into the nearest aperture shewn in Figure 17, of which
Figure 16 is a section, and thereby an effective pull can be made at any
distance.
Figures 18 and 19 shew in elevation and section another method whereby
the pin or catch on the weight will be caught and prevent the weight
rising when a pull is made. The mode of construction is clearly shewn by
the catches being hung on centres between two plates of iron.
Figure 20 is an elevation of another method of keeping the wires to the
requisite degree of tension so as to be effective when a pull is made.
Having thus fully declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in conclusion
that I do not restrict or limit myself to the precise details herein-before.
described, inasmuch as variations may be made therefrom without departing
from the principles or main features of my said Invention; and that what I
consider novel and original and therefore claim as constituting the Invention
secured to me by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the

page_text: combination and arrangement of parts and mechanism for signalling on
railways, as substantially herein-before set forth and described, or any mero
modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Knight, bave hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
E. P. H. VAUGHAN,
54, Chancery Lane,
Agent for the Patentee.
JOSH. KNIGHT. (L.B.)