IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING OR CONTROLLING RAILWAY SWITCHES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and
W. Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the county of Middlesex, Fellow of the
Institute of Patent Agents for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR WORKING OR CONTROLLING RAILWAY SWITCHES communicated to him from
Abroad by The Railway Specialty Manufacturing Company (a corporation
organized under the laws of the State of New York) of New York city,
United States of America
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st December 1883.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
" IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING OR CONTROLLING RAILWAY
SWITCHES" [communicated to him from Abroad by The Railway Specialty
Manufacturing Company (a corporation organized under the laws of the State
of New York) of New York city, United States of America]
This Invention relates to means for operating switches, which when closed are
held in place by a spring, so that a train passing through the closed switch, is
permitted to force it over, and so pass on to the main line without derailment, and
when it has passed the switch, the same will close automatically thereby leaving
the main line, always open and free for trains to pass either way.
It consists in combining with a switch stand or box and lever for actuating
the switch points, a powerful spring and moving fulcrum which is connected to
said lever and automatically locked and unlocked so that when the spring is
locked, the switch may be freely moved and set in either direction by the lever,
independently of the spring; but when set as desired and the lever locked, the
spring and movable fulcrum is automatically unlocked, and said switch is then
under the control of the spring or moving fulcrum, leaving it in the condition of a
spring safety switch.

page_text: The object of the Invention is to devise an absolute safety switch stand, which
is manipulated with ease, and certainty, and by the automatic arrangement of the
locking device, the act of unlocking the lever to move the switch points in either
direction, automatically locks the spring or moving fulcrum, thereby making the
same a fixed fulcrum, and thus making it impossible to lock the lever until the
switch points are in the proper place to correspond with the main line rail.
the switch is properly set, the locking of the lever automatically unlocks the spring
or moving fulcrum, thus leaving the switch perfectly safe against accidents of any
kind.
When
The lever which is pivoted to the fulcrum block is attached at its lower end to
the switch points by a rod and its upper end extends above the arch or quadrant,
passing between same and a locking arm. This locking arm has projections which
extend back of the lever forming a slot or recess for the reception of said lever.
On the inner face of the quadrant is a projection which extends the required length
of the stroke or throw of the lever which forms the lock for the lever when used
as a safety switch. The lever when drawn over past the end of one of the
projections on the quadrant drops against the face thereof, and moves freely in
the recess, thus formed by said quadrant and locking arm, and is secured in this
position by locking or pinning through lugs, attached to the quadrant or other
locking device. The said locking arm is pivoted to the quadrant frame and its
lower ends extend down and are formed with projections or detents to pass through
the case or stand and embrace the ends of the moving fulcrum block. The said
block is suspended in the stand upon horizontal bars and a spring is placed around
one of these bars between projecting ears of the block. When the switch is locked
over to the right side by the lever, the flange of the wheel passing between the
rails will force them apart and draw the lower end of the lever in same direction,
thus carrying the fulcrum block with it which is pivoted to said lever. The spring
is thereby compressed at same time being prevented from passing along its bar by
a flanged sleeve, along which the projecting ears of the block move freely. The
spring remains compressed until the train has passed through the switch and then
the elasticity of said spring forces the fulcrum block to the centre, and the switch
points back to their former position with relation to the fixed rail of the siding
line. The operation is the same when the switch is set on either side. When the
switch is required to be set in either direction the lock or pin is removed, and
the lever is drawn forward of the projection on the quadrant the upper end of the
locking arm is also brought forward which causes the projections or detents on
the lower end of the locking arms to pass through the case and embrace the ends
of the fulcrum block, securely holding said block from moving when the switch is
to be moved by the lever which makes same an independent switch stand for this
operation, and unless the switch points are in their proper position, the lever
cannot be locked as there is no elasticity in the fulcrum block and lever when
secured in the manner described. Another important feature in the Invention is
that by putting the spring in the top of the stand, I am enabled to encase it in and
protect it from ice, snow &., whereas in the present system of using safety springs,
they are exposed and being placed close to the ground between the rails, they often
get frozen, and have to be cleared before they will act

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Patent Office on the 26th May
1884.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M. and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING OR CONTROLLING RAILWAY
SWITCHES A communication to me from abroad by the Railway Specialty
Manufacturing Company (a corporation organised under the laws of the State
of New York) of New York City, United States of America.
33
This Invention relates to means for operating switches, which when closed, are
held in place by a spring, so that a train passing through the closed switch, is
permitted to force it over, and so pass on to the main line without derailment, and
when it has passed the switch, the same will close automatically, thereby leaving
the main line always open and free for trains to pass either way.
It consists in combining with a switch stand or box and lever for actuating the
switch points, a powerful spring and moving fulcrum which is connected to said
lever and automatically locked and unlocked so that when the spring is locked, the
switch may be freely moved and set in either direction by the lever, independently
of the spring; but when set as desired and the lever locked, the spring and movable
fulcrum is automatically unlocked, and said switch is then under the control
of the spring or moving fulcrum, leaving it in the condition of a spring safety
switch.
The object of the invention is to devise an absolute safety switch stand, which
is manipulated with ease and certainty, and by the automatic arrangement of the
locking device, the act of unlocking the lever to move the switch points in either
direction, automatically locks the spring or moving fulcrum, thereby making the
same a fixed fulcrum, and thus making it impossible to lock the lever until the
switch points are in the proper place to correspond with the main line rail. When
the switch. is properly set, the locking of the lever automatically unlocks the spring
or moving fulcrum thus leaving the switch perfectly safe against accidents of any
kind which will be hereinafter more fully explained, reference being had to the
accompanying drawings in which. Figure 1 represents an elevation of a switch
stand disconnected from the rails. Figure 2 represents a plan of stand and switch
points and rails of main and siding lines. Figure 3 represents end elevation of
switch stand, section on line x x figures 1 and 2 shewing the lever as locked when
the switch points are under control of the spring and moving fulcrum, which is
unlocked. Figure represents same view as figure 3, when the spring and
moving fulcrum are locked, and the lever unlocked, and free to move the switch
points in either direction. Figure 5 represents enlarged side elevation of top
part of switch stand in longitudinal section, showing the application of the moving
fulcrum and spring. Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several views.
A is the stand, or case. B quadrant frame. C lever.. D moving fulcrum. block.
E spring. Flocking arm. G lamp or signal, rod. H K¹ switch points. K K¹
fixed rail. H and H' represent siding rails. K and K' represent. main line rails.
The lever C is pivoted to the fulcrum block D at a. The lower end of said
lever is attached to the switch points H, K¹ by the rod b. The upper end of lever
extends above the arc or quadrant B, passing between same and the locking arm F.
Upon said locking arm F are projections e (shown in figure 1) which extend back

page_text: of the lever C forming a slot or recess for the reception of the lever C. On the
inner face of the quadrant B is a projection h which extends the required length
of the stroke or throw of the lever C which forms the lock for the lever when
used as a safety switch. The lever C when drawn over (as shown in figure 1) past
the end of projection h drops against the face of quadrant B and moves freely in
the recess, thus formed by said quadrant and locking arm F, and is secured in this
position by locking or pinning through the lugs ff attached to the quadrant B or
other locking device. The said locking arm F is pivoted to the quadrant frame B
at S, S, the lower ends of which locking arm extend down and are formed with
projections or detents S' S' to pass through the case or stand A and embrace the
ends of the moving fulcrum block D. The said block is suspended in the stand
upon the bars m and .n. The spring is placed around the bar m in the top of case
or stand A between the projecting ears N N of the block D. When the switch is
locked over to the right side by the lever C as shown in figures 1 and 2, the flange
of the wheel passing between the rails H and K at g will force them apart and
draw the lower end of lever c in same direction, which also carries the fulcrum
block with it, which is pivoted to said lever at a. The spring E is thereby
compressed, and said spring is prevented from passing along its bar m by the
flanged sleeve P along which the projecting ears N of block D move freely. The
spring remains compressed until the train has passed through the switch and then
the elasticity of said spring forces the fulcrum block to the centre and the switch
points back to their former position with relation to the fixed rail H of the siding
line. The operation is the same when the switch is set on either side. When the
switch is required to be set in either direction the padlock or pin is removed, and
the lever C is drawn forward of the projection h as shown in figure 4 (the dotted
line represents the position of lever C when locked before being drawn forward)
the upper end of locking arm is also brought forward (same being pivoted to
frame B) which causes the projections or detents S¹ S₁ on the lower end of arms F
to pass through the case A and embrace the ends of the fulcrum block D securely
holding said block from moving when the switch is to be moved by the lever C
which makes same an independent switch stand for this operation, and unless the
switch points are in their proper position, the lever C cannot be locked, as there is
no elasticity in the fulcrum block and lever when secured in the manner described.
Another important feature in this invention is that by putting the spring in the
top of the stand, I am enabled to encase it in, and protect it from ice, snow, &c,
whereas in the present system of using safety springs, they are exposed and being
placed close to the ground between the rails, they often get frozen up and have to
be cleared before they will act or perform the duties required. Thus it will be seen,
that by so combining the mechanism I am enabled to construct an absolutely safe
and automatic switch stand whereby it is impossible for accidents to occur through
the negligence of the pointsman.
Having described the nature of the said 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:
1st In a railroad switch stand, the lever fulcrum in combination with a spring
and with detents, whereby, when the lever is locked, the fulcrum is free to yield,
and when the lever is unlocked the fulcrum is fixed, substantially as described.
2nd In a railroad switch stand, the moving fulcrum block D with lever C pivoted
thereto, and also connected with safety spring E, substantially as described.
3rd In a railroad switch stand, the pivoted locking arm F, provided with
projections e, e, and detents S¹, S', in combination with lever C, and the moving
fulcrum block D, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
4th In a railroad switch stand the combination of a moving fulcrum block D,
and lever C pivoted thereto, the arch frame B, with projections h h upon its face for
locking lever C and the locking arm F, with its recesses e e for the lever and with.

page_text: projections or detents S¹ S¹, for embracing the ends of fulcrum block D, and
securely retaining it in such position until released; All to operate automatically,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set my
hand and seal this thirtieth day of April A.D. 1884.