IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SELF-REGULATING AND ADJUSTING THE WIRES OF DISTANT AND OTHER RAILWAY SIGNALS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Beynon, of 19, Salisbury Street,
Strand, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR SELF-REGULATING AND ADJUSTING THE WIRES OF DISTANT AND OTHER
RAILWAY SIGNALS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George William Beynon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 9th April 1874.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM BEYNON, of 19, Salisbury Street, Strand, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR SELF-REGULATING AND ADJUSTING THE WIRES OF DISTANT AND
OTHER RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
-
For working or operating railway distant or other signals, level
crossing gates, and other mechanisms under similar circumstances where
long lengths of wire are employed for transmitting a reciprocating
motion, the variation in length by elongations and shortenings to which

page_text: such wires are subject necessarilly derange the action of the moving or
actuating apparatus or proper condition of the object or apparatus that
has to be acted upon, or of both the actuating and actuated apparatus or
machinery with the object of enabling such changes in the length of the
wire to be compensated for or adjusted self actingly. I interpose between
the end of the rod or tube connected with the actuating lever or signal-
man's handle, and the home end of the long wire a mechanical con-
trivance or apparatus as follows: -I connect to the home end of the wire a
longitudinally traversing bar of suitable section working freely back and
forth between guide rollers carried on fixed standards. The other or home
end of this bar has connected to or with it a wire strand or rope, or a chain
having a freely suspended counterweight or load directly attached thereto
or through, or by means of a lever and weight or a weight directly (or
indirectly) acting on the bar to keep it in its proper position so as only
to take up the slack or elongation of the wire and also allow of the
natural contraction or shortening of the wire due to reductions of atmo-
spheric temperature, and such like, and other causes. Instead of the
rod, bar, or tube coming from the signal lever being attached to the
home end of this sliding bar it is connected to the long end of a bent
lever or short rod moving parallel to it, the one end of which slides freely
between rollers which may be mounted within one of the standards or
carriages in which the bar slides. This short rod has its other end
turned down as a tail peice or formed as a bent lever, and it is carried by
or on a stud or pin mounted or working in the upper end of the
traversing carriage which is formed by two cheek plates having also
fitted between them on pins or studs two clutch blocks or bits for
grasping the upper and lower edges of the longitudinal traversing bar,
to the outer end of which bar the home end of the signal wire is con-
nected. The clutch pieces or bits are each centred between the cheek
plates of the carriage, the one above and the other below the bar, so
that when the lever or rod and the carriage are pulled or drawn in one
direction the bar is grasped firmly and is thus drawn through the rollers,
whilst when it is pushed against suitable stop pieces provided most con-
veniently on the back standard through which the wire connected end
of the bar slides, the sliding bar then is freed from the grip or grasp
produced by the pressure of the tail end of the lever, or the rod con-
nected with the signal handle and the counterweight on the sliding bar
is then free to act or to be acted upon. The lower end of the pendant
arm or tail of the lever should have a projection on each side of it and

page_text: beyond the cheeks of the carriages which comes in contact with the studs
or stops and set the clutch blocks or bits free from canted or angular
strains or pressure on the edges of the bar.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George William Beynon in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WILLIAM BEYNON, of 19, Salisbury Street, Strand, London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George William Beynon, Her special
licence, that I, the said George William Beynon, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George William
Beynon, 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 APPARATUS FOR SELF-REGULATING AND ADJUSTING THE WIRES
OF DISTANT AND OTHER RAILWAY SIGNALS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George William Beynon,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 George William Beynon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the sanc
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying Sheet of Drawings:-
For working or operating railway distant or other signals, level

page_text: crossing gates, and other mechanisms under similar circumstances where
long lengths of wire are employed for transmitting a reciprocating
motion, the variations in length by elongations and shortenings to which
such wires are subject by changes of atmospheric temperatures necessarily
derange the action of the moving or actuating apparatus or the proper
condition of the object or apparatus that has to be acted upon, or of both
the actuating and actuated apparatus or machinery. With the object
of enabling such changes in the length of the wire to be compensated
for or adjusted self actingly, I by this Invention construct the apparatus
herein-after described and interpose it, by preference, close to the signal
box between the signal lever or handle (or the actuating rod therefrom)
and the home end of the wire of the distant signal or level crossing gate
or other apparatus to be moved or operated, or between the home end
of the connecting wire thereof, and the rod or bar from the signalman's
lever or handle, and such apparatus consists of a horizontally traversing
bar carried between rollers mounted in two standards placed at a suitable
distance apart, the outer end of this bar being connected with the "home
end" of the wire, whilst the "home end" of the bar is connected with
or attached to a freely suspended counter weight or to a weighted lever
or other suitable adjustment provided for "taking up" the slack of the
wire or enabling the weight to yield to its contraction when freed, and
so overcome the friction of the supporting and guiding pulleys without
overcoming the counterbalance weight of the signal itself. Upon or to
the outer end thereof this bar is freely mounted, a clutch carriage con-
taining at the lower part thereof two clutching or binding bits fitted on
studs and free to cant and grip the edges of the bar when the carriage
is pulled over through or by a drawing rod mounted or carried in or at
the upper part of the same carriage. The shorter pendant end or tail
piece of this drawing rod rests upon and against the carriage and tends
to cant it and move or slide the bar, but when the carriage is pushed
back to the full extent of its motion against a suitable stop or stops at
the outer end of its stroke or motion the horizontally sliding bar is
ungripped (or set free) and may then slide through this traversing
carriage and effect a proper adjustment of the tension of the wire
between the signal or other apparatus to be functioned and the signal-
man's lever or handle. To one end of the sliding bar is attached the
end of the wire leading to the signal, to the other is fastened a chain or
wire running over a pulley wheel overhanging a shoot sunk in the
ground close to the box, of a sufficient depth to allow a counterweight

page_text: to ascend or descend therein a sufficient depth or distance to compensate
for the expansion or lengthening of the signal wire and its travel or
motion, or any similar mechanical arrangement which may be placed
above ground may be substituted for the pulley, chain, and weight. The
weight does not of itself compensate for the expansion of the wire by
drawing in the extra length but it serves to keep the wire "taut" and
to control the compensation, as all slack wire or expansion is hauled in
by the apparatus from time to time in conjunction with the weight, this
being effected by the differential clutch frame (as before mentioned and
herein-after described more fully) acting upon the flat bar so as to tako
hold of it firmly wherever required, and when pulled over it is thereby
canted and made to grip.
The contraction of the wire (or the free action of the weighted sema-
plore arm) draws the flat bar through its rollers, when it is freed from
the grip of the clutches, a sufficient distance to compensate for the
decrease in length of the wire, and this is effected when the clutch frame
has been forced against the stop or stud at the outer end of the stroke,
as before mentioned.*
. The smooth flat bar is acted upon and scized by the clutch picces
within the clutch frame and the inner faces (either or both) of which clutch
pieces may be roughed similar to a file. Thus it will be understood that so
long as the clutch frame remains at an angle of 90 degrees with the bar
the clutch blocks have no action on the bar, but as soon as the angle is
decreased, that is when the clutch frame is pulled at the top by the
draw rod working parallel to and with the lower bar, this draw rod
is worked back and forth by motion transmitted either from the signal
box or a lover; the clutch blocks seize the bar and draw it through its
rollers far enough to effectually work the signal by putting it into the
position of "all right."
66.
In order to provide for the clutch frame being maintained at an angle
of 90 degrees when the signal arm is permanently balanced to stand at
danger," upon the foremost bracket are cast two stops which act upon
the lower end of the clutch frame and maintain it vertically when it is
forced against these projections, and upon the end of the draw rod
nearest the clutch frame are forged projecting stop pieces which push
and hold the upper part of the clutch frame against the stops on the
fixed standard or carriage at the outer end of its motion, and so they
keep the clutch frame at an angle of 90°.

page_text: To the top of the clutch frame may be attached a spiral spring, the
other end of which would be fastened to the draw rod, and this serves to
render the action of the clutch frame and clutch blocks more prompt as
well as to preclude any possibility of the joints holding by becoming
clogged with oil or from any other frictional causes; and between the
fixed standards or brackets, and at the home end of the bar may be
placed a stop with which the opposite side of the clutch frame is brought
into contact (as shown at Figure 8) when the signal is at "all right" in
order to prevent the apparatus being maliciously tampered with so as to
let the signal back to "danger."
What I have described as the action of the apparatus when working
railway distant signals in like manner applies to the working of level
crossing gates, the loading or weighting of which or the mode of hanging
or hingeing being similar in its operation to that adopted for loading or
weighting the signal arm, so that in case of the wire breaking it falls to
"danger," the gates being so hung as to protect the line from side traffic
(or closes the cross road) in the event of the connecting wires or rods
breaking.
In order to illustrate my Invention, I have in the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings shown 8 Figures, of which Figures 1 and 2 show one
of the forms in which I prefer to make the apparatus, and these views
are intended to show the positions thereof, when as at Figure 1 the
semaphore signal arm is raised horizontally or to " danger;" whilst
Figure 2 shows the same apparatus when the signal arm is lowered or
dependant vertically to signify "all right."
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 show details of the parts of the apparatus,
generally sections, taken on the lines A, B, C, D, E, F, of Figure 1,
Figure 6 being the rigid tail piece at the (jointed) outer ond of the
traversing draw rod.
Figure 7 shows a side view of a modified form of the clutch frame
and dependant end of the draw rod with spring attached thereto, the
whole being in the position due to the bar, being free to work and travel
between the clutch pieces as when the signal is at "danger." Figure 8
shows a side view of the same modified clutch frame (Figure 7) whilst
the pull of the draw rod is upon it, by which the clutch frame is canted
and caused to grip the bar, the lower portion of the frame being in this
instance drawn against an adjustable stop piece, the signal being then

page_text: held at "all right," and it does not permit of any malicious interference
with the position of the apparatus or the signal connected therewith.
In the several Figures that have letters of reference upon them a is
one of the two side plates of the clutch frame, which frame is caused to
travel freely along the bar on edge 6 in one direction only, to which bar
the signal lever is attached at one end and the counterweight is secured
to the other. c, c, are the top and bottom clutch pieces freely mounted
on pins or studs within the clutch frame a, the dependant end of the
draw rod d bears against the cheek plates of the clutch frame when it is
pushed forward to bring the semaphore signal arm to "danger" or to
set it free to rise to that position. The clutch frame is freely suspended
from the pink on the outer end of the draw rod. e is the draw rod to
which the lever for moving it is connected; f, the side cheeks of the
outer frame or carriage containing two rollers g, g, between which the
sliding bar on edge runs freely. The cheeks of the other frame wherein
rollers are mounted are also indicated by f, f, and the two friction rollers
therein are also marked g, g; h, h, are the two friction rollers between
which the draw rod e travels back and forth; i, i, are the two pins for
carrying the clutch pieces; the pin k above them forms the hinge for the
clutch frame; m is the bevil projection on each cheek of the fixed frame
or carriage, and by which the clutch frame when forced against it is
kept upright and the clutch pieces are made to free the bar b; is the
counterweight with its connection to the home end of the travelling bar
on edge.
Having now described the nature of, my said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, which in most cases I prefer in
practice to employ, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to
confine myself to the precise dimensions, proportions, nor to the shape
and configuration of the several parts of the apparatus, as shown in the
illustrative Sheet of Drawings accompanying the Specification, as the
same may be varied according to the requirements or to the necessities
of the case or the particular application in each instance; I also wish it
to be understood that I am aware that drums or cylinders with reversed
chains and balance weights have heretofore been used or employed for a
like purpose as well as other contrivances depending for their action
upon the combination of pullies, drums, and cylinders with chains and
balance weights; and I am also aware that traversing rack bars or
ratchets, or bars having holes or dentations formed therein into which

page_text: pins, studs, hooks, or grapnel pieces enter or take into from and actuated
by a moving piece which slides over it and so causes it to take into or
enter into a ratchet tooth or teeth, or into a hole or holes, but which
grapnel hook or pin is put out of gear by being driven up an inclined
plane at one end of its stroke formed within a case or box, by sliding up |
which it is ungeared from the rack; and various other contrivances of a
similar kind have also been proposed for effecting similar objects, but
what I claim as my Invention is,―
First. The improvements in apparatus for self-regulating and adjusting
the wires of distant and other railway signals, and for other similar ]
purposes herein described.
Secondly. The apparatus herein described and illustrated in the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings for the purposes of self-regulating and
adjusting the wires of railway distant signals.
Thirdly. The use or employment of a smooth flat bar running between 1
rollers mounted in fixed brackets in combination with a clutch frame
(all as herein described and as illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings), in the manner and for the purposes herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George William Beynon, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of October, 2
in the year of our Lord 1874.
GEORGE WILLIAM BEYNON. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM HENRY SMITH,
Assistant to Mr. William Smith, C.E.,
(Consulting Engineer,)
19, Salisbury Street,
Strand,
London.