Improvements in Electrical Contact Apparatus Worked by Passage of Railway Trains.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application. 9th Oct., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 12th June, 1894-Accepted, 14th July, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrical Contact Apparatus Worked by Passage
of Railway Trains.
I, EDWARD TYER, of Ashwin Street, Dalston, in the County of London,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to apparatus such that the movement resulting from the
deflection of a rail as a train passes over it causes an electrical contact to be made
for the purpose of signalling or controlling signals.
For this purpose, I fix at the side of the rail a closed box containing a lever and
a vessel containing mercury. The lever has a short arm projecting beyond the
end of the box and inserted in a hole drilled through the rail. The other arm of
the lever which is long, is jointed to a sleeve that can slide up and down on a
vertical rod with considerable friction, produced by packing the sleeve around the
rod in the manner of a stuffing box.
The vertical rod, which has its stroke limited by stops above and below it, is
linked to the mercury vessel which is mounted on pivots so that it can rock. It is
made of non conducting material and covered by a metal lid from which several
pins project down, but not to touch the mercury when the vessel is at rest.
One of the circuit wires passes through the side of the vessel into the mercury,
the other is connected to the lid. When the rail is depressed by a passing train,
the movement, largely magnified by the leverage, is communicated to the vertical
rod, and from it to the mercury vessel causing it to be canted, and the mercury,
thus being brought in contact with the pins projecting from the lid, closes the
circuit of the wires. When, owing to subsidence or other cause, the level of the
rail becomes altered, the sleeve jointed to the long arm of the lever slides along
the vertical rod when the rod reaches its stop, and thus adjusts the position of its
frictional grip to suit the altered level of the rail.
Dated this 9th day of October 1893.
ABEL & IMKAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrical Contact Apparatus Worked by Passage
of Railway Trains.
I, EDWARD TYER, of Ashwin Street, Dalston, in the County of London,
Electrical Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to apparatus such that the movement resulting from the
deflection of a rail as a train passes over it causes an electrical contact to be made
for the purpose of signalling or controlling signals.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a longitudinal section and Fig. 2 a
plan with the cover removed, of a contact apparatus according to my invention.
1 fix at the side of the rail R a closed box B containing a lever A and a mercury
vessel G. The lever A bas a short arm A' which projects beyond the end of the
box, where it is pivotted, and is inserted in a hole drilled through the rail R.

page_text: The long arm of the lever A is jointed to a sleeve C that can slide up and down
on a vertical rod D with considerable friction which may be produced as shewn by
packing the sleeve C around the rod D in the manner of a stuffing box.
The vertical rod D which has its stroke limited by stops E and F above and
below it, is linked to the mercury vessel G which is mounted on pivots g g on which
it can rock.
The vessel G is made of non conducting material and is covered by a metal
lid H from which several pins h h project down, but not to touch the mercury when
the vessel is at rest. One of the circuit wires L is connected by a spring Q to a
bracket S whence a pin T projects into the mercury. The other wire L'is
similarly connected to a bracket S¹ and thence by a metal strip T' to the lid of
the box.
When the rail R is depressed by a passing train, the movement, largely magnified
by the leverage, is communicated to the vertical rod D, and from it to the mercury
vessel G causing it to be canted, and the mercury thus being undulated and
brought in contact with the pins h h projecting from the lid H, closes the circuit of
the wires L L¹. When owing to subsidence or other cause, the level of the rail R
becomes altered, the sleeve C which is jointed to the lever A can slide along the
vertical rod D when the rod reaches either of its stops, thus adjusting the position
of its frictional grip to suit the altered level of the rail.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
Electrical contact apparatus worked by the passage of a railway train constructed
and operating substantially as described with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 12th day of June 1894.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.