IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING, LOCKING, AND CONTROLLING RAILWAY SWITCHES, POINTS, AND SIGNALS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Hannaford, of No. 3*, Finsbury
Place, South, in the City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING, LOCKING, AND CONTROLLING
RAILWAY SWITCHES, POINTS, AND SIGNALS."
Sealed the 6th May 1870, and dated the 13th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Hannaford
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th November 1869.
I, GEORGE HENRY HANNAFORD, of No. 3*, Finsbury Place, South, in
the City of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING, LOCKING,
AND CONTROLLING RAILWAY SWITCHES, POINTS, AND SIGNALS," to be as
follows:-
Firstly. My Invention consists of the employment of a toothed spring
hand catch rod attached to each of the ordinary hand levers, and also

page_text: of connecting to the sides of the said toothed catch rods triangular-
shaped adjusting plates, which plates by the movement of the catch
rod act on or press against a notched locking bar (or bars) supported
on racks and horizontally arranged immediately behind the catch
rods, giving the said bar a horizontal movement, and thereby and
by means of the notched or unnotched portions of said locking bars
engaging or escaping the teeth of other catch rods, as the case may
be, thus holding secure or allowing motion to such other catch rods,
as required.
F
Secondly. My Invention further consists of an extra but independent
locking of the catch rod of the point lever after such lever has been
pulled over, by which means it is prevented from being jerked out of
its position by the vibration caused by a passing train which sometimes
happens by the signalman during the passage of a train, and before it
has cleared the points unlocking the point lever by replacing his
signal to danger. I accomplish this by the following method :-In
the widened part of the catch rod which fits into the notch in the
quadrant I cut a slot, and between the notches in the quadrant I
place a spring bolt which shoots into the slot as the catch rod shoots
home in its notch. By this means the catch rod of the point lever is
locked independently of the locking occasioned by the movement of
the catch rod of the signal lever, and thus a signalman may replace
his signal to danger while even a train is passing over the points
without entirely unlocking the point lever, and thereby preventing the
danger of the point lever springing back to its normal position by the
vibration caused by the passing train. The unlocking of the spring bolt
is accomplished thus:-To the spring bolt is attached a tread plate fixed
conveniently on the apparatus, and the signalman in order to free the
bolt presses his foot on the tread plate, whereupon he can move the
catch rod at his pleasure.
The above described- locking arrangement can be carried out in
sight of the signalman, or below the platform on which he operates,
or both, as desired.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Henry Hannaford in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY HANNAFORD, of 3*, Finsbury Place, South, in the City of
London, Gentleman, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Henry Hannaford,
Her special licence, that I, the said George Henry Hannaford, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Henry Hannaford, 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 WORKING, LOCKING,
AND CONTROLLING RAILWAY SWITCHES, POINTS, AND SIGNALS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Henry Hannaford, my exe-
cutors 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 Henry Hannaford, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
Firstly. My Invention consists of the employment of a toothed spring.
hand catch rod attached to each of the ordinary hand levers, and also
of connecting to the sides of the said toothed catch rods triangular-
shaped adjusting plates, which plates by the movement of the catch

page_text: rod act on or press against a notched locking bar (or bars) supported
on racks and horizontally arranged immediately behind the catch
rods, giving the said bar a horizontal movement, and thereby (and
by means of the notched or unnotched portions of said locking bars)
engaging or escaping the teeth of other catch rods, as the case
may be, thus holding secure or allowing motion to such other catch
rods as required.
Secondly. My Invention further consists of an extra but independent
locking of the catch rod of the point lever after such lever has been
pulled over, by which means it is prevented from being jerked out of
its position by the vibration caused by a passing train, which sometimes
happens by the signalman during the passage of a train and before it
has cleared the points unlocking the point lever by replacing his signal
to danger. I accomplish this by the following method:-In the
widened part of the catch rod which fits into the notch in the quadrant
I cut a slot, and between the notches in the quadrant I place a spring
bolt which shoots into the slot as the catch rod shoots home in its notch.
By this means the catch rod of the point lever is locked independently
of the locking occasioned by the movement of the catch rod of the
signal lever, and thus a signalman may replace his signal to danger
while even a train is passing over the points without entirely unlocking
the point lever, and thereby preventing the danger of the point lever
springing back to its normal position by the vibration caused by the
passing train. The unlocking of the spring bolt is accomplished thus:-
To the spring bolt is attached a tread plate fixed conveniently on the
apparatus, and the signalman in order to free the bolt presses his foot
on the tread plate, whereupon he can move the catch rod at his pleasure.
The above described locking arrangement can be carried out in sight
of the signalman, or below the platform on which he operates, or both,
as desired.
I will now proceed to describe my Invention with reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 is a side view shewing the toothed spring hand catch rod (a)
attached to the ordinary hand lever (6) with the triangular-shaped
adjusting plate (c), which actuates the notched locking bar (d) fitted
in the rack (e). Two springs (f) and (g) are here shown for actuating

page_text: the catch rod; one only however is actually necessary; I prefer that
marked g.
Figure 2 is a back view of the toothed catch rod (a) and lever (b),
with the triangular-shaped adjusting plates (c) attached thereto.
Figure 3 is a plan of the locking bar (d), showing the bevelled edgo
to suit the adjusting plates (c).
Figure 4 is an edge view of the locking bar (d), showing the stop used
to prevent the bar travelling too far.
The foregoing description relates to the front locking, thus, suppose
lever (6), Figure 1, to be a point lever, by pressing the handle of the
catch rod (d) against the lever (b) the adjusting plate (c) causes the
locking bar (d) to travel and instantly engage an unnotched portion of
itself in the teeth of the catch rod of a conflicting lever, and at the same
time partly free its own signal lever. It will thus be seen that by
replacing the catch rod the inverted adjusting plate (c) will give a
vicê versà action to the locking bar, restoring it to its normal position.
Figure 5 shews a side view of a point lever after having been pulled
over with the catch rod secured, and in the widened part of the catcli
rod which fits into the notch (4) in the quadrant (i) is the slot into
which a spring tread bolt (j) herein-after more fully described shoots
in order to lock the catch rod.
Figure 6 is a plan shewing a combination of links and bars for an
apparatus of three levers which serve for both front and back locking,
thus, No. 1 is the link for a point lever; No. 2 is the link for its
single lever, and No. 3 the link of a conflicting lever. By the motion
of the point lever through No. 1 link it gradually frees its signal lever
in No. 2 link and locks the conflicting lever in No 3 link in the front.
By the motion of the signal lever No. 2 the point lever is locked in
No. 1 link at the back, and vice versa.
Figure 7 is a side view shewing a mode of applying the spring tread
bolt to the front locking of the catch rod equally as well as to the
back locking. Both front and back locking can be accomplished by
one action of a double tread bolt, the front locking being on one side
of the quadrant as here shewn, and the back locking on the reverse side,
as shewn in Figure 5.

page_text: In order to free the catch
Figure 8 is a front view of an apparatus of three levers. No. 4 is a
point lever, No. 5 is its signal lever, and No. 6 is a conflicting lever.
Although only threo levers are here shewn a larger number can be
worked in one frame with the requisite additions. To the point lever
No. 4 and conflicting lever No. 6 are shewn the double spring tread
bolt with a pin (/) projecting downwards, and beneath is an edge view
of the locking links and bars Figure 6. The object of the pin (k) is as
follows: Beneath each pin in the bar is cut a slot as shown in Figure 6
letter (). When the double tread bolt is employed the catch rod of
every point lever stands locked in the front.
rod the tread plate or bolt has to be pressed down into the slot, and the
moment the lever is travelled in the link (as before described) a con-
flicting point lever is locked by the bar shifting the slot from beneath the
pin, thus it is impossible to free the catch rod of a conflicting lever
from the front lock of the tread bolt. Moreover the catch rod of a
point lever is also locked in its turn at the back by a similar motion of
the bar caused by the motion of its own signal lever. The bolt of the
tread plate is fitted by means of a slot and pin as shown in Figures 5
and 7 letter (m). The dotted lines of Figure 7 represent a point lever
after having being pulled over with the catch rod (a) inadvertently
lodged on the verge of the notch instead of being secured in its notch
(h) in the quadrant. This is a source of serious danger, because with
many apparatuses the signal lever can, notwithstanding this inadvertence
be put to the all right position, and should the signal lever be put
back to danger during the passage of a train over the points, the point
lever being then unlocked would spring back to its normal position,
the inevitable result of which would be an overturning of the carriages
or of their being thrown off the metals. In my arrangement this is
prevented by the catch rod (a) of the point lever being secured in its
notch before the signal can be given and there locked by means of the
tread bolt, thus the signal may be given and then replaced to danger
even while a train is passing the points without entirely unlocking the
catch rod of the point lever.
Having described my Invention I wish it to be understood that I do
not claim the principle of locking the catch rod, that being already the
subject of a Patent No. 927, in the year of our Lord One thousand cight
hundred and sixty-seven, but I claim the modes or methods liercin

page_text: described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings, of locking the
catch rods and the locking of the spring tread bolts, all of which are
additional modes or methods of working the Patent Nos. 927 and 2142
in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and sixty-seven,
and No. 509 in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-eight, of which I am a registered part owner.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Hannaford, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
JOHN M. HASSELL,
GEORGE HY. HANNAFORD. (L.S.)
21, Curistor Street,
Chancery Lane,
Law Clerk.