IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKING APPARATUS FOR THE POINTS AND SIGNALS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Saxby, of Canterbury Road, Kilburn,
Railway Signal Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LOCKING APPARATUS FOR THE POINTS AND SIGNALS OF RAILWAYS."
Scaled the 14th November 1871, and dated the 23rd June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Saxby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd June 1871.
I, JOHN SAXBY, of Canterbury Road, Kilburn, Railway Signal En-
gineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCKING APPARATUS FOR THE POINTS AND Signals of Railways,” to be
as follows:-
My Invention relates to the construction and operation of spring catch
mechanism for holding a point or signal lever in position, and for
actuating the locking apparatus of point and signal levers.
Instead of employing a fixed quadrant such as is usually employed
with notches for receiving the spring catch rod, I use mechanism con-
structed as follows:-I mount on a pivot, situated midway or nearly so
in the stroke of the lever, a rocker free to oscillate in a vertical plane

page_text: In this rocker there are two curved slots. A projection from the spring
catch rod of the lever works in one of those slots, and a stud projecting
from the lever itself works in the other slot, which has notches on its
upper side for the reception of the stud. When the lever is in such
position that its stud faces a notch, on letting go the spring catch the 5
rocker drops, so as to bring the notch on to the stud, and thereby to
hold the lever fast. On grasping the catch so as to raise the notch
of the rocker off the stud when it is free to be so raised the lover is left
free to move.
Instead of making the rocker with two curved slots it may be made 1
with one, in which both the projections from the spring catch rod and
the stud of the lever work. In this case the lever stud is made shorter
than the projection from the spring catch rod, and the notches are of
such depth as to take the lever stud, but not to admit the projection from
the spring catch rod. The operation in this case is the same as that 1
already described.
Instead of using the slotted rocker, as above described, I sometimes
employ such a rocker with one curved slot as an addition to and mounted
by the side of the ordinary fixed notched quadrant bar. In this case
there is no stud upon the lever working in the curved slot of the rocker, 2
nor is there any notch in the slot of the rocker, as the spring catch
operates in the ordinary way for holding the lever in position, and acts
on the rocker only for giving movement to the locking gear.
In connection with each of the levers I employ a slotted rocker,
such as I have described, worked by the spring catch, and I connect it 2
to the sliding bars or rocking shafts usually employed for locking, so
that on grasping the spring catch, and thereby raising one end of tho
rocker, the other levers or their rockers are locked, and the locks
upon others of the levers are partly but not entirely withdrawn. The
operating lever being pulled over and the spring catch let go the a
end of the rocker which was formerly raised is raised still farther, the
other end on the opposite side of the fulcrum being depressed. By
this movement the locks of the locked levers are moved farther in gear,
and the locks of the others are fully withdrawn so as to leave them free
to be moved.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Saxby in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SAXBY, of Canterbury Road, Kilburn, Railway Signal Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Saxby, Her special licence that
I, the said John Saxby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said John Saxby, 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 LOCKING APPARATUS
FOR THE POINTS AND SIGNALS OF RAILWAYS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Saxby, 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 John Saxby, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My Invention relates to the construction and operation of spring
catch mechanism for holding a point or signal lever in position, and for
actuating the locking apparatus of point and signal levers.
Instead of employing a fixed quadrant, such as is usually employed
with notches for receiving the spring catch rod, I use mechanism con-
structed as follows:-I mount on a pivot situated midway, or nearly so,

page_text: in the stroke of the lever, a rocker free to oscillate in a vertical plane;
in this rocker there are two curved slots, a projection from the spring
catch rod of the lever works in one of those slots, and a stud projecting
from the lever itself works in the other slot, which has notches on its
upper side for the reception of the stud. This stud or projection from
the side of the lever is a circular arc of such length as to keep the
rocker steady while it travels along the slot. When the lever is in such
position that its stud faces a notch in the rocker, on letting go the spring
catch the rocker drops, so as to bring the notch on to the stud, and
thereby to hold the lever fast. On grasping the spring catch so as to
raise the notch of the rocker off the stud, when it is free to be so raised,
the lever is left free to move.
Instead of making the rocker with two curved slots it may be made
with one, in which both the projection from the spring catch rod and
the stud of the lever work. In this case the lever stud is made shorter,
that is to say, to project a less distance from the side of the lever than
the projection from the spring catch rod, and the notches are of such
depth as to take the lever stud, but not to admit the projection from
the spring catch rod, or the projection and stud may both project to the
same extent from the side of the lever, but be so situated in the slot of
the rocker (that is to say the one behind the other), that the projection
from the catch rod does not take into the notches of the rocker.
The operation in the case where a single slot is used is similar to that
described when the double slot is used.
In connection with each of the levers I employ a slotted rocker, such
as I have described, worked by the spring catch, and I connect it to the
sliding bars or rocking shafts usually employed for locking, so that on
grasping the spring catch of a lever, and thereby raising one end of the
rocker some of the other levers or their rockers are locked, and the
locks upon others of the levers or their rockers are partly but not
entirely withdrawn. The operating lever being "pulled over "and the
spring catch let go the end of the rocker which was formerly raised is
raised still farther, the other end on the opposite side of the fulcrum
being depressed. By this movement the locks of the already locked
levers are moved farther in gear, and the locks of the others are fully
withdrawn, so as to leave them free to be moved.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shown several views of the
apparatus constructed according to my Invention. Figures 1, 2, and 3

page_text: represent modifications in the forms and arrangement of the slotted
rockers in connection with the point and signal levers and the spring
catch rods thereof; Figures 4 and 5 are intended to illustrate the appli-
cation of my Invention to the working of locking gear. The same
5 letters and figures are used in the several views to denote like or
corresponding parts.
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a rocker constructed according
to my Invention in connection with a point or signal lover; A is the
framing of the apparatus, and D the lever; F is a double slotted rocker
mounted close by the side of the lever D on a bearing or pivot B; the
upper slot of this rocker F receives a projection G from the spring catch
rod E, and the lower slot receives an elongated stud C¹ projecting from
the side of the lover D, and has a notch at each end, into which this
stud can take; H is the pivot or fulcrum of the lever D. The slots in
the rocker are circular, struck from the centre H when the rocker is at
middle stroke.
Figure 2 represents a rocker with one curved slot theroin (with
notches) and the projection G from the spring catch rod E, so situated
in relation to the stud C¹ that it does not enter the notches.
Figure 3 represents a lever fitted with a rocker and a guide block L
fixed to the side of the lever in such a position that when the rocker is
raised by grasping the spring catch the guide block L bears on the
upper surface of the rocker. As the lever is "moved over" this guido
block L serves to steady the rocker and thus renders the elongation of
the stud O³ unnecessary. When the rocker is in the position represented
in the several views in the Drawing the stud of the lever D is held in
the front notch of the rocker slot, and the lever cannot be moved. On
grasping the spring catch, so as to raise its rod E, the notch of the
rocker is raised off the stud of the lever, and the lever can then bo
moved, its stud travelling along the slot, which is then centred from H,
the pivot of the lever. When the lever is "drawn over," so as to bring
its stud opposite the back notch Cч, on the spring catch being let go
this back notch drops on to the stud, and thereby secures the lever D
in its back position. The movements imparted to the rocker from the
spring catch thus serve to fix or release the lever D. When for locking
purposes the stroke of the point K requires to be increased the rocker.

page_text: may be constructed with a prolonged end, as represented in Figure 3; or
when it is desired to diminish or reverse the stroke of K the rocker may
be made to act through a lever or levers. The end of the rocker F has
a pin or joint K, by which it is connected to locking gear in the manner
described in the Specification of a Patent granted to me on the 17th of
June 1871, No. 1601, the description of which locking gear is here
repeated for the purpose of showing the mode in which my present
Invention is put in practice, and it will be necessarily understood that
no claim is made to the locking gear referred to nor to the Drawings
illustrating the same.
Figure 4 represents a side view and Figure 5 a front elevation of a
locking apparatus for one point lever and two signal levers, shewing
the application of a single slotted rocker to the working of the locking
gear. a¹, a³, a³, are vertically sliding bars, one to each lever, connected
respectively to the ends K of the rockers F; and c is a horizontally
sliding bar mounted in the framing; d is an oblique-sided projection
from the bar a¹ taking into a notch in the bar c, and 63, 6³, are
rectangular projections from the bars a³, a³, which can enter notches
in the bar c. When the three levers are in the attitudes indicated in
Figure 4 the point is supposed to be set for the main line, and both the
main line and the branch line signals are raised to "danger." In this
condition there is a notch c³ in the bar c facing the projection * and
affording passage for that projection. But if the spring catch of the
lever 1 be grasped the bar a¹ is raised by the action of the rocker
belonging to that lever, and the oblique projection & acting in the slot
of the bar c moves that bar in the direction of the arrow.
This move-
ment of c carries the notch c³ past the projection 6* and the notch c³
towards but not up. to the projection 6³. If now the lever 1 be drawn
back so as to shift the points from the main line to the branch and the
spring catch let go the further action of the rocker, as described above,
raises still farther the bar a¹, and thus causes the bar c to move farther
in the direction of the arrow till the notch c³ is brought opposite the
projection 6*, so as to give that projection free passage. The reciprocal
action of projections, such as b, and notches such as those in c, so as to
effect locking and unlocking, is well known and understood, and this
action, or the apparatus used as above described for effecting it, forms
no part of my present Invention, and is, as before stated, described here
for the purpose of showing a convenient mode of applying my Invention
to locking gear of the kind above mentioned.

page_text: It may be readily understood that the action of the rocker could be
applied to "locking gear" of other kinds, the movement of the rocker
being communicated by bell cranks, rocking shafts, or other known
means to the various parts of the apparatus which it is intended to set
in motion or arrest.
Having now described my Invention, and in what manner it is to be
performed, I would have it understood that I do not claim by itself tho
use of a rocker for conveying movement from the spring catch to the
locking gear of railway point and signal levers, as such use is described
and claimed in the Specification of my Patent of 17th June 1871,
No. 1601, already referred to; but what I claim is, the use of a slotted
rocker, such as is herein described, for the combined purpose of holding
a lever in position, and also working the locking gear of the point and
signal apparatus of railways, thereby enabling the ordinary notched
quadrant to be dispensed with, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Saxby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JOHN SAXBY. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM HENRY SMITH,
Assistant to
William Smith, C.E.,
19, Salisbury Street, Strand, W.C.
Dec. 22/71: