A New or Improved Railway Indicator or Apparatus for Displaying Particulars of Train Departures or other like Purposes.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Railway Indicator or Apparatus for Displaying
Particulars of Train Departures or other like Purposes.
I, DAVID FOSTER of "Burnside," Thorpe Road, Selby, in the County of York,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a new or improved railway indicator or apparatus
for displaying particulars of train departures or other like purposes and consists
of a case or casing a series of rollers (viz: winding and unwinding rollers, guide
rollers, etc.) flexible bands or lengths of material connected to said rollers and
adapted to be wound off one roller onto the other backwards and forwards and
in so doing pass across an aperture or apertures in said case, means to guide said
flexible bands or lengths of material between said rollers; means to operate said
rollers, another band or bands and corresponding rollers therefor in juxta-
position to but independently operated if desired from the first-named
band and its rollers, means to change at will any desired particular or matter to
be displayed for instance to change readily the number of the platform
from which each train is going to start by providing means carried on the
band or on the casing and having many advantages over other apparatus for a
similar purpose.
In this apparatus four winding rollers or more or less may be provided and
same may be revolved by driving chain or chains connected thereto or by a crank
handle or handles or other suitable means to intermittently revolve said rollers
either independently or collectively, in the latter event suitable connections being
provided between said rollers to revolve them all simultaneously by applying
motion to one of them.
For railway purposes the apparatus may advantageously be entirely cased in
so as to prevent same being tampered with by unauthorised persons the front
and back parts being advantageously hinged and having openings therein provided
with glass if desired while if desired an inner frame may be provided also
advantageously provided with glass between which the band or length of flexible
material. (having the aforesaid particulars displayed thereon) is guided and by
providing a powerful light inside or outside same can be readily seen either by
daylight or by night.
Various means for changing at will the number of the departure platform
may be employed as desired for instance a disc pivotally mounted on the inside
of the case and having the necessary numbers.thereón may be revolved so as to
bring the desired number opposite an aperture in the case (the necessary number
of such revoluble discs being arranged all the way down on the inside of the
case) or I may use slides pushed in from the side or plates mounted in position
by a pin thereon fitting in a hole on the outside of the case or said discs or plates
may be hung direct onto the band the requisite number of these discs slides or
plates being provided each with a separate number or numbers thereon.
Also if desired the case may be provided in addition with pointers or index

page_text: arms pointing to the respective platforms and also provided with any permanent
notice or notices thereon as desired.
If desired two sets of independent driving chains or independent cranks may
be used to revolve the winding rollers independently of each other.
Such railway station indicator for the aforesaid purposes would usually be
double-fronted as before described but if desired both back and front length of
flexib.e material may be wound backwards and forwards by only one winding
roller at the top and one roller at the bottom these rollers being common to both
lengths of said material one end of each of which is secured to the lower roller
and the other end of both to the upper roller which rollers are placed about
centrally in the case and are respectively revolved by an endless chain crank
handle or other suitable means as before described while the said lengths of
material are guided by idle rollers as they are together wound off one roller on
to the other.
The edges of the aforesaid flexible material or bands may pass along grooves
down the vertical edges of the opening in the case or otherwise be guided in
passing between the rollers on which they are respectively wound.
For facility of inserting these edges in such grooves or guides I may form
one side of such groove removable for instance like a bead or beading hinged
or otherwise removable.
Thus the time of departure is exhibited, the place or places (or some of them)
the train is going to, the platform the train starts from, etc., and a number of
trains (for instance 10 or more) are exhibited at one time in rotation according to
their time of leaving and as they depart they can be rolled out of sight and
others simultaneously caused to appear thus always having the 10 or other
number of departing trains exhibited.
.
1000
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
A New or Improved Railway Indicator or Apparatus for Displaying
Particulars of Train Departures or other like Purposes.
I, DAVID FOSTER, of "Burnside," Thorpe Road, Selby, in the County of York,
Merchant, 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:-
This invention relates to a new or improved railway indicator or apparatus
for displaying particulars of train departures or other like purposes and consists
of a case or casing a series of rollers (viz: winding and unwinding rollers, guide
rollers, etc.) flexible bands or lengths of material connected to said rollers and
adapted to be wound off one roller onto the other backwards and forwards and
in so doing pass across an aperture or apertures in said case, means to guide said
flexible bands or lengths of material between said rollers; means to operate said
rollers another band or bands and corresponding rollers therefor in juxta-
position to but independently operated if desired from the first-named
band and its rollers, means to change at will any desired particular or
matter to be displayed for instance to change readily the number of the plat-
form from which each train is going to start by providing means carried on the
band or on the casing and having many advantages over other apparatus for a
similar purpose.
In this apparatus four winding rollers or more or less may be provided and

page_text: same may be revolved by driving chain or chains connected thereto or other
suitable means to intermittently revolve said rollers either independently or
collectively in the latter event suitable connections being provided between
said rollers to revolve them all simultaneously by applying motion to one of
them.
If desired two sets of independent driving chains etc may be used to revolve
the winding rollers independently of each other.
For railway purposes the apparatus may advantageously be entirely cased-in
80 as to prevent same being tampered with by unauthorised persons the front
and back parts being advantageously hinged and having openings therein provided
with glass if desired while if desired an inner frame may be provided also
advantageously provided with glass between which the band or length of flexible
material (having the aforesaid particulars transparently displayed thereon-or
the said material may be transparent) is guided and by providing a powerful
light inside or outside said particulars can be readily seen either by daylight
or by night.
Various means for changing at will the number of the departure platform
may be employed as desired for instance a disc pivotally mounted on the inside
of the case and having the necessary numbers thereon may be revolved sa as to
bring the desired number opposite an aperture in the case (the necessary number
of such revoluble discs being arranged all the way down on the inside of the
case) or I may use slides pushed in from the side, or plates mounted in position
by a pin thereon fitting in a hole on the outside of the case, or said discs or plates
or other devices may be hung direct onto the band-or onto the framework-
the requisite number of these discs slides or plates etc. being provided each with a
separate number or numbers thereon.
or index
Also if desired the case may be provided in addition with pointers
arms pointing to the respective platform and also provided with any permanent
notice or notices thereon as desired...
Such railway station indicator for the aforesaid purpose would usually be
double-fronted as before described but if desired both back and front length of
flexible material may be wound backwards and forwards by only one winding
roller at the top and one roller at the bottom these rollers being common to both
lengths of said material one end of each of which is secured to the lower roller
and the other end of both to the upper roller which rollers are placed about
centrally in the case and are respectively revolved by an endless chain or other
suitable means as before described while the said lengths of material are guided
by idle rollers as they are together wound off one roller on to the other.
The edges of the aforesaid flexible material or bands may pass along grooves
down the vertical edges of the opening in the case or otherwise be guided in
passing between the rollers on which they are respectively wound.
For facility of inserting these edges in such grooves or guides I may form
one side of such groove removable for instance like a bead or beading hinged
or otherwise removable.
Thus the time of departure is exhibited, the place or places (or some of them)
the train is going to, the platform the train starts from, etc., and a number of
trains (for instance 10 or more) are exhibited at one time in rotation according to
their time of leaving and as they depart they can be rolled out of sight and
others simultaneously caused to appear thus always having the 10 or other
number of departing trains exhibited.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Figs. 1 to 6 illustrate my present invention as applied to railway indicator
or apparatus for the purpose of displaying particulars (time of departure, number
of platform, destination, etc.) of each train.
Fig. 1 being a perspective view of a double-fronted device, and
Fig. 2 a front view of same, and

page_text: In this apparatus the respective rollers d e f g are revolved by driving
chains and i-d being connected to f and è connected to g by separate
chains y and z respectively.
The apparatus is entirely eased-in so as to prevent same being tampered with
by unauthorised persons the front and back parts m and a being advantageously
hinged (and provided with glass o if desired) while the parts m¹ n' respectively
are fixed or may be fixed (and also advantageously provided with glass 2) between
which parts or frames m m the material u (having the aforesaid particulars
displayed thereon) is guided and similarly between the parts or frames n n' and
by providing a powerful light inside or outside the matter displayed on the
material can be readily seen either by daylight or at night or the glass may
be dispensed with or any other suitable guides used.
In Fig. 2 I have illustrated various means for interchanging at will the number
of the departure platform as desired for instance a disc r mounted on the inside
of the ease and having the necessary number thereon may be independently
revolved so as to bring the desired number opposite an aperture in the case (the
necessary number of such revoluble discs being arranged all the way down on
the inside of the case) or I may use slides such as a pushed in from the side or
plates such as t mounted in position by a pin thereon fitting in a hole on the
outside of the case the requisite number of these slides or plates being
provided each with a separate number or numbers thereon.
In Figs. 4 to 6 I have illustrated some slight modifications-Fig. 4 being a
front elevation and Fig. 5 a vertical section of similar arrangement to Figs. 1 to 3
only the case shown in Fig. 4 is provided in addition with pointers or index arms
pointing to the respective platforms.
In Fig. 5 I have illustrated two sets of independent driving chains & and i to
revolve the two rollers de independently of the two rollers f g
Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a railway station indicator for the afore-
said purposes and double-fronted as before described only both back and front
length of material u are wound backwards and forwards by only one roller d
at the top and one roller e at the bottom these rollers d and e being common to
both lengths of said material u one end of each of which is secured to the
roller d and the other end of both to the roller e which rollers d and c are placed
about centrally in the case and are respectively revolved by endless chains such
as h and i or other means as before described while the said lengths of the
material u are guided by the "idle" rollers d¹ el fi and g¹ respectively as they
are together wound off one roller on to the other.
Fig. 7 is a front elevation of my railway indicator or apparatus provided with
alternative means of readily changing any of the particulars shown as may be
desired viz: in the arrangement shown in Fig. 7 I provide racks or series of
notches A and A' down each vertical side of the opening in the frame m and I
provide a series of plates or tickets B each having a tooth or so formed on one
edge as to be adapted to fit at any point into and hold onto the rack A such
tickets B being provided with any suitable figures as desired to denote the time.
of the departure of the train so that in the event of its being desired to vary the
time of departure appearing on the material u one of these tickets B showing
the time desired as placed in position in the rack A opposite the train desired
and so as to shut out the time appearing on the material u.
Another series of similar plates or tickets C is provided fixing in the rack A¹
for varying the number of the departure platform.
Also I may provide strips or devices such as D extending across the full width
of the opening hetween the racks A and A such strips D being provided with
tooth or so formed at each end as to be adapted to fit at any point into the
racks AA so as to thus offer a ready means of altering not only the time of
departure and platform hut also the destination or stopping points of the train
etc. or obliterating same as desired or said strip D may be marked with the words
"Not Running" with the time of any train which it is desired to so indicate.

page_text: Or if desired I may use a slip or piece of paper or other suitable material
(for varying any or all of the particulars of any train or trains) sewn, pinned,
gummed, pasted or otherwise affixed or secured to the material u.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A railway indicator or apparatus for displaying particulars of train depar-
tures or for the like purposes consisting of the combination with a frame or case
having an opening therein of a roller arranged on each side of said opening, a
length of flexible material adapted to be passed across said opening by winding
same off one said roller on to the other said roller alternately said flexible material
having particulars of each departing train or other matter displayed thereon
and means to guide the latter between the two rollers aforesaid, means to revolve
said rollers and means to vary the number of the platform the time of
departure substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore
described.
2. A railway indicator or apparatus for displaying particulars of train depar-
tures or for the like purposes, consisting of a case or frame having an opening
therein, of a roller such as d and e arranged at each side of said 'opening, a length
of flexible material such as u adapted to be passed across said opening by winding
same off one said roller on to the other said roller alternately such flexible
material having particulars of each departing train or other matter displayed
thereon, two frames such as m and m² each provided with glass such as o and p
respectively therein, between which frame and glass m o and frame and glass m¹
the flexible material is guided and means such as the devices r s t or A.A¹ B
and C or D to vary the number of the platform the time of departure, etc. and
means to revolve said rollers substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and illustrated.
3. A railway indicator or apparatus for displaying particulars of train depar-
tures or for the like purposes consisting of a cose or frame having an opening at two
opposite faces thereof, of a pair of rollers such as d e arranged at each side of
one such opening, and another pair of rollers f g arranged at each side of the
other said opening, a length of flexible material adapted to be passed across the
first said opening by winding same between the first said pair of rollers de, and
another length of flexible material such as u adapted to be passed across the
other said opening by winding same between the second said pair of rollers f g
each such length of flexible material respectively having the necessary particulars
displayed thereon, two outside frames such as m and n each provided with a
sheet of glass therein two inner frames such as m¹ and ² and means such as the
device rst or A A¹ B and C or D to vary the number of the platform the
time of train departure, destination, etc., and means to revolve said rollers all
arranged and acting substantially in the manner aud for the purposes hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed.
4. A railway indicator or apparatus for displaying particulars of train depar
tures, destination, etc., or for the like purposes constructed, combined, and arranged
To act substantially in the manner and for the purposes hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this 9th day of September 1897
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: LM
15 DARLINGTON. NEWCASTLE &
u
30 SELBY GRANTHAM
&..
33 NEWCASTLE. EDINBORO &
40 NORMANTON. HULL. LIVERPOO
30 SELBY, DONCASTER .GRANTHA
5 NEWCASTLE EDINBORO. &.
23 GRANTHAM LONDON &
45 NORTHALLERTON DARLINGTO
55 LEEDS L&NW
w
57 STOCKTON SUNDERLAND &