AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WORKING POINTS AND SIGNALS ON RAIL- WAYS.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James John Stevens, James John Frederick
Stevens, and Warwick Alan Stevens, of No. 237, Southwark Bridge
Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineers, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WORKING POINTS AND SIGNALS ON RAIL-
WAYS.
"
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James John Stevens,
James John Frederick Stevens, and Warwick Alan Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition and
Declaration, on the 14th March 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James John Stevens,
James John Frederick Stevens, and Warwick Alan Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition and
Declaration, on the 14th March 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
JOHN STEVENS, JAMES JOHN FREDERICK STEVENS, and WARWICK ALAN
STEVENS, of No. 237, Southwark Bridge Road, in tlie County of Surrey,

page_text: AN IMPROVED
WHEREAS we are in possession of an Invention for
APPARATUS FOR WORKING POINTS AND SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto us, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that we are the first and true Inventors of the said
Invention.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James John Stevens, James
John Frederick Stevens, and Warwick Alan Stevens, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under our hands and seals,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings and to the
figures, letters, and marks thereon, that is to say :-
As the lines of railway are now ordinarily constructed at junctions
the points are clear for trains passing along the main line up or down,
and the point levers must therefore be pulled over to enable a train
to pass from or to the branch lines at the junction, and the signals
must stand at danger.
In setting the points and signals it is considered absolutely necessary,
first, that the points be set, and then the home and then the distant
signal, shewing all to be clear along the line over which the train is
about to pass. It is essential, therefore, in order to avoid any possibility
of error, that the signalling apparatus should be so constructed that the
home and distant signals cannot be actuated until the points be first
set, and that they should be so secured that they cannot be moved until
the points be first set, and upon setting the points the action should
release the home, and then the home should release the distant signals.
In signalling a train, therefore, the points must be set first, the home
signal next, and, lastly, the distant signal, and these will require to be
put back in reverse order, the distant signal first, home signal next, and
points last.
In operating on one set of points and signals the apparatus should be
50 arranged that all other points and signals which can in any way
interfere with the line desired to be clear should be so secured that their
respective levers cannot be moved by the operator, and thus the
possibility of any error by pulling over a wrong point or signal lever
will be avoided.

page_text: In order to explain this operation we refer to Sheet I. of the Drawings™
to this our Specification. This Drawing represents a main line (up and
down (colored blue), and up and down branch. line (colored pink).
The points of junction are at 5* and 7°. Z represents the signal house;
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 represent the levers, 5 and 7, operating
on the points (6 being a spare lever not in use); 5%, on up branch
points 5*; 7, on down branch points 7*; lever 1 operating on up main
line distant signal 1°; lever 2 on the up branch line distant signal 2*;
lever 3 on the up main home signal 3*; lever 4 on the branch home
signal 4*; lever 8 on the down main home signal 8ª; lever 9 on the
down branch home signal 9; lever 10 on the down main distant
signal 10; and lever 11 on the down branch distant signal 11*..
up
In order to secure perfect safety the apparatus should be so arranged
as to prevent any possible mistake arising in moving the wrong point
or signal lever, and the proper lovers being released and pulled over
the other levers should be so secured that the operator cannot move
them. For instance, a train passing along the main line up from A to B,
being on the main line the points will be clear; on pulling over lever 3
the up home signal 3* will be worked; and then on pulling over lever 1
the up main line distant signal lever will operate on the distant up
main line signal 1*. It will be necessary to secure the lever 5. operating
on up branch point 5*; lever 4 operating on up branch home signal 4ª;
and the lever 2 operating on the up branch distant signal 2*. These
levers being thus firmly secured the points and signals will prevent a
train passing from the branch to the main line.. The train having
passed the order must be reversed; lever 2 must be first put back, then
levers 4, 5, 1, 3, in succession.
If a train passes from the main up line to the branch A to C then the
point lever 5 up branch must be pulled over, operating on the points 5*;
then the up branch home signal lever 4 is pulled over, operating on
signal 4*; then the up branch distant signal lever 2, which operates on
signal 2ª. These then should secure the down main distant signal
lever 10, the down main home signal lever 8, the up main home signal
lever 3, and the up main distant signal lever 1; then the up branch
line will be clear, and the train having passed the levers will be replaced
in the following order :-) -2, 4, and then 5, which should release levers
10. 8. 3. and 1.

page_text: Again, supposing a train going from B to A, being tho main line, the
points will be clear, the signal lever 8, the down main home signal
lever must be pulled over, operating on the signal 8*, then lever 10,
the down main distant signal lever operating on signal 10"; these should
secure the point levers 5 and 7, viz., the up branch points and the
down branch points so as to prevent those levers being moved. Then
the levers 2, 4, 9, 11, viz., the up branch distant signal lever, the up
branch home signal lever, the down branch home signal level, and the
lown branch distant signal lever which will prevent the respective
signals 2, 4*. 9, and 11ª from being moved. The train having passed
the lever 10 and then 8 will be replaced in succession, which should
release the levers 5, 7, 2, 4, 9, and 11.
And, lastly, supposing a train going from C to À the points 7 must
be first set by pulling over the down branch point lever 7, then the
down branch home signal lever 9, and then the down branch distant
signal lever 11, which will operate on the points 7, the signal 9, the
branch home signal, and 11" the distant signal on the branch line. These
should secure the down main distant signal lever 10, and the down main
home signal lever 8. And when the train has passed in order to replace
the points 7 to clear the down main line the distante branch signal
lever 11 is replaced; then the home branch signal lever 9; and, lastly,
the down branch point lever 7.
The principle of this arrangement in order to obtain the above results
is not new.
Various contrivances have been in use in order to effect
this object. For instance we have had in use an apparatus with sliding
bars which are armed with projections and catches corresponding with
the respective levers required to be secured, a lever being pushed
forward will slide the bar laterally and throw the catch over the lever
required to be held back, and on the lever being thrown back the sliding
bar is carried back to its original position by means of a spring.
Another apparatus for effecting the same object is described in a
Patent dated 19th July 1860, and numbered 1754, where the levers
themselves in being passed forward or backward operate on a series of
horizontal bars right or left, thus securing or releasing the levers which
require to be secured or released by thrusting these horizontal bars to
one side or the other.

page_text: Our present Invention relates to an improved apparatus for carrying
out the same objects in a more simple and effectual manner.
t
Sheet II., Figure I., represents the front elevation of a signalling
apparatus for a single junction 1 and 2; 10 and 11 are the distant
signal levers; 3, 4, 8, and 9 are the home signal levers; 5, 6, and 7
are the point levers. Figure II. is the side elevation; i is a point not
pulled over; i, i, a home signal lever pulled over; i, i, i, distant single
lever thrown over; these levers communicate with the points and
signals in the well-known and usual manner by the levers and chains, as
shewn in the Drawing, viz., i, i, , to distant signal, i, , to home
signal, and to points. This frame (Figure II.) is of metal, and is cast
with the apertures as shewn at b, b, b; these apertures will be regulated
by the number of guide bars required, the present shewing only those
required for a single junction. These guide bars are of iron and are
shewn in Sheet II., Figure II., c, d, e, and f, and in Figure I. at A, A,
and B, B. In Figure III. a plan of the lower guide bar d of A, A, is
shewn, and in Figure IV. a plan of the lower guide bar ƒ of B, B, is
shewn in Sheet III., Figure V., is shewn the front elevation of the
guide bars A, A, on a larger scale, and Figure VI. the plan of the
guide bar d, same as that shewn in Figure III., Sheet I., but on a larger
scale. We place between the guide bars c and d and e and f the
travelling pieces, which secure or disengage the levers in the manner
afterwards described. To the levers are attached brackets, the number
of which will be regulated by the number of points and signals required
to be operated on. Figure VII., Sheet III., shews the side elevation of
a point lever with two brackets g and h. When the lever is not in work
the end of each bracket enters and respectively passes between the guide
bars and I, A, A, and B, B, as shewn in Figure VII. These brackets
are shewn in plan, Figures III. and IV., Sheet II., and in plan, Figure VI.,
Sheet III., as belonging to their respective levers 1', 3¹, 5¹, 7', 8', and 10',
Figure III., and 21, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 11', Figure IV. And the front
elevation, Figure I. and Figure V., at the corresponding numbers 1', etc.
Between these guide bars are travelling pieces of metal, one of them in
full size as shewn at Figure VIII. i, and this piece is shewn in its place
between the guide bars A, A, at i, Figure I., and in the plans, Figures
III. and V. The two slots j and k, Figure VIII., enable this travelling
piece to work backwards and forwards right or left, the same being kept

page_text: in its place by the pins and m, Figure V. The operation of this picce
will explain our arrangement. The lever 1 cannot be worked until
lever 3 is thrown over, because the bracket 1' of lever 1 is arrested by
*the travelling piece i at the points or shoulders ++ (sec Sheet III.,
*Figure VI.) it cannot move to one side as its course is arrested by the
*bracket 3¹ of lever 3 at >< if however lever 3 is pulled over its bracket 3¹
is pressed forward between the guide bars c, d, of A, A. The travelling
piece n will be thrust aside by the two shoulders at □ □ coming in
-contact, on lever 3 being pulled over the shoulder 3" passes the
"travelling piece i at the point "; if now the lever 1 is pulled over the
picce will now pass working in the slot j, k, on the pins l, m, and will
thus secure 3 lever. The travelling piece n being driven to the right
will secure lever 5 at the points; it will be seen that 5 is the branch
up
point lever, 3 up main home signal lever, and 1 up main line distant
signal lever. Thus a train going A to B the points 5 being clear
are secured by working the up main home signal 3, which disengages
the travelling picce i which enables the up main line distant signal
to be operated on. The home branch signal 4 and the distant branch
signal 2ª will be secured, and this is effected in the following manner :-
"The point levers have two brackets, as shewn in Figure VII., Sheet III.,
the upper operating in the guide bars A, A, and the lower in the guide
bars B, B. We have shown how the bracket 5¹ of the point lever 5 is
secured by the travelling piece n. Figure IV. shews the plan of guide
bar of B, B, with the travelling pieces; 5 represents the duplicato
lower bracket corresponding to h in Figure VII. It will be seen that
the travelling picce o (Figure IV.) is prevented from moving to the
right, and it abuts against the shoulder of the bracket 4' of lever 4
on the left, and will prevent the bracket from passing between the guide
bars e, f, of B, B, and the bracket 4' will keep in its place the travelling
piece p and prevent the bracket 2¹ of lever 2 from moving, or, in other
words, the levers 4 and 2 will be secured as required. Taking then a
train passing from A to C, Sheet I., the point lever 5 is thrown over and
will work points 5*, so as to allow the train to pass to the up branch.
We have then to work the home signal 4* and the distant signal 2*; these
point levers have two brackets, an upper and lower, as above described;
by pulling over this lever 5 the shoulder + of 5¹¹ will pass the lower
incline of the travelling piece o; this will disengage the bracket of the
lever of the home branch signal 4, and on passing over this lever the

page_text: bracket 4 will press the travelling piece o towards 5 and secure 5
over of 5; this will disengage the travelling piece p and enable the
lever of the up branch distant signal lever 2 to be pulled over, and its
bracket 2 will throw to the right the travelling piece p (which works
on pins and slots, as before described, with travelling piece i), and the
lower incline of p will pass over the shoulder + of 4', which will be
advanced past this incline and secure lever 4, pulling over point lever 5,
the down main home signal 8ª, and the down main distant signal 10* will
be secured as required in the following manner :- -The bar q shewn in
Figure V, front elevation of the upper surface of the guide bar c of A, A,
and also shewn in plan, Figure III. and Figure VI., is rivetted to the
two travelling pieces and 8 working in slots, so that if r be pressed to
the right it will carry with it 8. It will be seen that on the point
lever 5 being pulled over the travelling piece will be thrust to the right
by the bracket 5' passing through the guide bars c, d, of A, A, and s
will be also pressed to the right and secures the bracket 8¹ of lever 8 by
the right shoulder of s coming under the shoulder + of the bracket 8¹
of lever 8, and thus secures the lever actuating the down home main
signal and prevents the lever from being pushed over, and the travelling
piece (working on pins and slots, as before described) will be kept
firmly in its place which secures the bracket 10¹ of lever 10 (the down
main distant lever signal) at the shoulder + and in like manner the
home and distant up main signal levers 3 and 1 will be likewise secured, for
it will be seen that on passing over the point lever 5, Figure III., the
travelling piece n will be passed to the left by the bracket 5', and which
travelling piece n will secure lever 3 by placing the incline at □ under
the shoulder of bracket 3', and the travelling piece i being kept in its
place by the bracket 3¹ the bracket 1' is prevented from being advanced,
as shewn at the inclines ++ and thus the up main distant signal 1 is
secured. The travelling piece o being small we prefer making a slot in the
upper and lower guide bars and place a flange along the upper and lower
surface of the piece o, so that these flanges work in the slots instead of slots
in the piece working on pins, as before described in piece i. Supposing
the train to be passing from B to A, being on the main line the points
will be clear, we have to work the down main home signal 8" and the down
main distant signal 10° and secure the two point levers 5 and 7 and the
levers of the up home branch signal lever 4, up branch distant signal
lever 2, the down home branch signal lever 9, and the down branch
t

page_text: distant signal lever 11. The lever 5 is not moved; on pulling over
lever 8, Figure III., it will operate on the down home signal 8. The
dotted lines shew how this bracket and lever travels forward and operate.
The side to the left will shew the travelling pieces 8 and r (joined
together in the manner before described by the bar 7), or if already to
the left will stop its motion to the right, and the piece will abut against
the shoulder of the bracket 5' of lever 5 at + and thus prevent this
lever from being moved, and at the same time the travelling piece 8 will
in a similar manner secure the point lever 7 at + of its bracket 7'. Lever
8 being pulled over the bracket 8' will assume the position of the dotted
lines, and the shoulder +on' 8' will have passed beyond the sliding
piece and leave room for this travelling piece to pass to the left over
this shoulder. Lever 10 can now be moved, and the bracket 10¹ will
thrust the travelling piece to the left, and the incline of t at + will
pass over the shoulder + of 8', as shewn in the dotted lines, and will
secure and keep firm the lever 8; the dotted lines at lever 10, Figure
III., show the position of this lever and bracket pulled over. The
point lever 5 being secured the bracket 5", Figure IV., holds the
travelling piece o in its place, and keeps the inclined part of o
under the shoulder of the bracket 4¹ of lever 4 at. + + which
will prevent the lever 4 advancing. The point lever 7 being secured it
will be seen that the lever bracket 71 will prevent the travelling piece u
(Figure IV.) from shifting its position to the left, and therefore will abut
against the shoulder of the bracket 9¹ of lever 9 at the points + +
and this lever being thus secured it will prevent the travelling piece
from moving to the left; it will in a similar manner prevent any motion
of the bracket 11' of the lever 11. And if we take a train passing from
C to A (Shect I.) the down branch points 7° must be set and the down
home branch signal 9 and the down branch distant signal 11ª also
properly set, and the levers of the down main distant signal lever 10 and
down main home signal lever 8 secured. This is effected as follows:-
If point lever 7 be pulled over (see Figure IV.) the bracket 7" will
release the travelling piece u as the shoulder + will pass beyond the
travelling piece u. On pulling over lever 9 which works the down home
branch signal 9 the travelling piece u will be thrust to the left and
abut against 7 at the shoulder + of 7"; this will also release the
travelling piece v, and on pulling over the lever 11 the travelling picce v
will be thrust to the left and secure 9 lever at ++ of the bracket 9'

page_text: which will have been passed over. On passing over the point lever 7
(see Figure III.) the bracket 7¹ will thrust to the right the travelling
pieces and abuts against the shoulder of the bracket 8' at + and the
lever 8 which operates on the down home signal 8*, which lever cannot
now be moved forward, and at the same time it will fix the travelling
piece t, which will prevent the lever 10 which actuates the down main
distant signal 10 by preventing any motion of the bracket 10' at +. If
there is a double junction the brackets will be repeated and extra guide
bars placed with travelling pieces to operate on the several levers requiring
to be secured or released; this repetition of the same movements need
not be explained as in all double junctions the same apparatus repeated
is used.
Figure IX., Sheet III., shews a section on line A, A, of the guide bar,
Figure V.
Figure X., Sheet III., is a plan of Figure I. and Figure II. (Sheet.
II.), acting as a roof to the frame, and is curved as shewn in Figure II.
When the levers are pulled over they pass along slots. In Figure X.
levers 10 and 8 are shewn pulled over; the levers for the distant signals
requiring more power are longer than the home signal levers, and there-
fore the slots are cut out longer to throw out the lever further. On the
left of each slot is a rib of iron; at the foot of the levers resting on the
roof is a block where the numbers are placed 1 to 11 in Figures I. and X.
When the lever is required to be pulled over the handle is grasped,
grasping at the same time the extra handle wo, Figures II. and VII.,
which will lift the block and free it of the rim; when the lever is passed
over and the handles are freed the block drops at the other extremity of
the rib, as shewn in Figure X., 8 and 10%; the lever is firmly fixed at
cither extremity until the block is raised. As there is nothing new in
this method of fixing and moving the levers it need not be more
minutely described.
The Drawings are made on the scale of 1½ inches to a foot, except
Figure VIII., which represents a travelling piece in full size.
Having now described our Invention, and the method according to
which we put it in operation, we wish it to be understood that we do
not claim the general system of securing or releasing certain levers that
require to be secured or released for the purposes above explained; but
what we claim is, the mechanical contrivance of apparatus con-

page_text: sisting of brackets fixed to the levers, the guiding bars, and travelling
pieces, substantially as above described, and for the purposes above
explained.
In witness whereof, we, the said James John Stevens, James
John Frederick Stevens, and Warwick Alan Stevens, have 5
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of March,
· One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
JAMES JOHN FREDERICK STEVENS. (L.S.)
WARWICK ALAN STEVENS.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the above-named in the
presence of
C. W. COLLETTE,
23, Lincoln's Inn Fds.,
Sol.
(L.S.)