Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1888
Complete Left, 21st Feb., 1888
Complete Accepted, 13th Apr., 1888
A. The Frictionless Spring is made in the form of a ribband or watch spring and
is of a size and strength apportioned to the weight of the gate to which it is to bo
attached.
The inner end of the spring is firmly fixed to a perpendicular and immovable bar
carried by a bracket which is securely bolted to the gate-post.
The bar must be placed in a direct line with the centre of the gate-hinges, and may
be most conveniently placed so that the bottom of the box containing the spring shall
rest on the top rail of the gate, to which it is attached by screws.
The outer end of the spring is fixed to another perpendicular bar inserted in or
attached to the gate-rail.
B. The Release.
Section I. To be worked by the gate-keeper.
The gate being pushed open is held by a catch. This catch moves on a pivot
inserted in a post. The gate end of the catch cannot fall lower than the bar of the
gate which is to slip under it. It is kept in a horizontal position by a spring inserted
beneath the other extremity. The end of the catch distant from the gato is depressed
by a wire rope working on pulleys, or by a bar and cranks which are moved by a
lever at the side of the road. To release the gate the lever is pulled, whereby the end
of the catch distant from the gate is depressed & the other end is elevated. The
shoulder of the catch is thus raised above the bar of the gate. The gate is immediately
released and is closed by the force of the Frictionless Spring.
C. The Release.
Section II. To be worked by an approaching train.
A wire rope is attached to the lever of Section I and is extended to any required
It is then
distance along the railway over wheels placed at suitable distances apart.
attached to one arm of a crank to the other arm of which a heavy weight is secured.
The arm of the crank which is thus weighted moves between two upright posts.

page_text: There is a spring catch inserted in the post nearest to the rails which keeps up the
weighted arm, and this catch is withdrawn by a lever so placed that one end of it is
pressed down by the tire of the first wheel of the engine. The weight is thus set
free and descends instantly. It thus forces back the other unweighted arm of the
crank, pulls the lever of section 1, and releases the gate.
The lever under the rail which is moved by the wheel of the engine cannot rise
until the weight is brought up into its first position. Nor can the gate catch of
section I resume its first position until the weight is raised. Consequently the gates
will remain closed-i.e. in such a position as to allow trains to pass until the weight
has been raised.
To do this a wire rope moving over a pulley fixed immediately above the weighted
arm of the crank of section II is attached at its other extremity to a lever placed near
the lever of section I. The gate-keeper pulls this lever, the weight rises and is held
by its spring catch, & the whole apparatus resumes its original position.
Part. A. The Frictionless Spring, may be used alone, and may be applied to gates
of all kinds for the purpose of keeping them closed....
Part. B may be used without part and may be applied to Railway gates at level
crossings, to lodge-gates, and to any other gates which are required to be opened
instantly.
When Part C is used Part B can be used independently of it. The gate-keeper
can move lever section I, and release the gates without in any way interfering with
section II of the Release.
Dated this and do 1000

page_text: I ALFRED BEER Schoolmaster Cleveland College Darlington 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 is an invention for the closing of gates of all sorts and for releasing them
when held open by means of an apparatus to be operated by a gate keeper or by an
approaching train.
It consists of
First, A frictionless spring, that is a spring which exerts its force without the inter-
vention of a sliding or moving bar or of any other part that causes friction.
This spring is made in the form of a ribband or watch-spring as shewn in Fig. 1
and is of a size and strength apportioned to the weight of the gate to which it is to
be attached, and enclosed in a box.
The inner end of the spring (Fig. 1A) is attached to an upright rigid bar carried
by a bracket which is securely bolted to the gatepost. The bar is to be placed as near
as possible in a line with the gate-hinges. The outer end of the spring (Fig. 1B)
is fixed to another upright bar inserted in or attached to the gate. The spring is
properly wound before being attached. It will then keep the gate closed, and if the
gate is pushed open and released it will cause it to close immediately.
Secondly. Release No. I or the Gate-keepers Release. This part of the apparatus
is intended to hold the gate open when it is required to be open, and to release it
instantly when occasion demands.
The gate is held open by means of a catch (Fig. II). The catch moves on a
pivot (C. Fig. II) is supported by a staple (Fig. II D) and kept in position by a
spring ( Fig. 11.
It is placed at such a height that a bar of the gate can slip under its nose and be
held by the shoulder, and when two gates are to be held open together as in Railway
Crossings the two catches are placed side by side at such a distance apart as to allow
the outer uprights of the gates to pass freely between them. To release the gate
it is necessary to depress the tail (F Fig. 1). For this purpose a triangular lever
is used one arm of which is attached, in nearly a horizontal position, by means of a
chain a few inches in length, to the tail (F Fig. If) and the other arm to a lever to
be presently mentioned.
At Railway Level Crossings there are four gates usually to be closed or opened.
To move the four catches and release the gates simultaneously the triangular levers
are joined, first in pairs as shewn in (Fig. ILL) where GH, KL, are transverse bars,
and G H forms the pivot upon which it is worked. Next K. I. is joined to the
corresponding bar of the pair of levers at the other end by a rod each end of which
is formed into a broad loop within which the bar K L or its correspondent at the
other end freely turns. This rod passes under the road in a cavity prepared for the

page_text: purpose. As the bar is straight and must have free motion within small limits
the cavity must be in a straight line and of such a size as to allow a space of four
inches above and below the bar. The arms of the levers will not be less than ten
inches long.
Having now joined the pairs of levers by means of a rod running the whole length of
the road from within one pair of gates to within the other pair, the next thing is to join
this rod to a hand lever working at right-angles to the rails. For this purpose
another triangular lever is placed horizontally about two feet from the end of the bar,
with the apex pivoted towards the side of the road from which it is to be worked, and
at such a level as to allow a straight rod to pass from it under the rails. (no arm is
then joined by a jointed rod to the end of the bar that passes under the road as
described above, and the other arm to a rod passing under the rails to the gate keepers
lever having a movable joint at a distance of about eighteen inches from the latter.
This is the manner of fixing the gate-keepers lever. It is a straight bar about three
feet six inches long. It moves on a pivot about a foot deeper than the rod that joins
it to the triangular lever in the middle of the roadway. It is allowed to incline
towards the rails at an angle of thirty degrees and is to be pulled outwards at the
same angle to release the gates.
Now we have Release No. 1. complete. A small pull at the gate-keepers lever
depresses the tails and raises the noses of the gate catches and the four gates simul-
taneously and immediately close.
Thirdly. Release No. 2. The automatic, to be operated by the engine. For this
purpose a hent lever with one arm loaded is attached by a chain to the gate-keepers
lever before mentioned, in such a way that when the weighted arm falls the gate-
keepers lever is pulled and the release operated. It must be attached by a chain,
otherwise it would prevent the gate-keeper from using his lever.
Since the bent weighted lever is attached in such a way as to operate the gate
release when the weight falls, the weighted arm must be kept in a raised position
from which to he released by an approaching train.
To keep the weighted arm in a raised position a sloping rail is set up at right
angles to it at such a height as that to which it is required to be raised. About two
feet six inches off close to the lever arm a post is fixed to which is hung by a staple
a strong iron rod called the setter bar, the free end of which moves on the sloping
rail. On the opposite side of the weighted lever another post is fixed a bar, bent to
an angle of nearly ninety degrees, and hinged in such a way that the arm of the
weighted lever moves between the arms of this drop bar. When the arm of the
weighted lever is raised it presses upwards the upper arm of the drop bar and brings
the lower arm into a horizontal position, when the setter bar is drawn under its
extremity. Thus the weighted lever is raised and may be released by a very small
movement of the setter bar.
To release the weighted lever a straight bar called the key is placed under the near
rail of the railway at any required distance from the gate. This is pivoted between the
two rails it has an inclined plane brought up to nearly the level of the rail so that
the tire of the wheel can depress it.
:
Outside the rail it is held in position by a staple and is raised to the height of the
staple by a spring. At right angles to this key and therefore in a line parallel to the
rail another bar is placed also kept in position by two staples. This bar is called
the lock. It has a slot or notch on the under side which fits over the key bar by
which it is thus held. The end of the lock furthest from the gates is attached by a
hinged bar to a lever at right angles to it, which is moved by a frictionless spring.
The other end is attached by a wire rope moving over wheels and through staples
placed at proper intervals to the seiter bar already described and this rope is kept in `
a proper state of tension by a nut and swivel screw inserted near its junction with
the setter bar. It is so adjusted that when the weighted lever is sustained in a raised
position by the setter bar, the lock bar is firmly held by the key bar, and the lever of 5
the frictionless spring joining the lock is pulled in the direction of the gates. On the
other side of the lever at the distance of a foot or more or less as may be required a

page_text: stop block is placed to stop the lever when the lock bar is set free. This completes
the distant automatic release.
For when the train approaches, the tire of the wheel depresses the key bar and sets
free the lock-bar, which is instantly carried backwards by the spring, and thus by
means of the wire rope disengages the setter bar and allows the weighted lever to
drop and release the gates. Before the gates can be held open again it is necessary
to lift the weighted lever to its raised position.
A similar arrangement of spring key bar and lock bar is placed on the other side
of the gates at an equal distance for trains coming in the opposite direction. The
wire rope is brought down by the side of the railway, through a tube under the
crossing, across the line by triangular levers and is then joined to the wire rope
already laid down, at a distance of a yard or two from the setter bar.
To shew the relative position of some of the parts and elucidate the manner of
operating the release, diagrams (not drawn to scale) are appended, of which this is
an explanation.
Fig. I. Diagram of Frictionless Spring not shewing cover or bracket. A Inner
end B Outer end.
Fig. II Diagram of Catch shewing mode of depressing the tail. C Pivot D Staple
F tail N nose E spring. Fig. II (a) for the gates furthest from gate-keeper's lever
Fig. II (b) for the others.
Fig. III Diagram shewing a pair of united triangular levers 1. 2 arms connected
with F by a chain G H, K L transverse connecting bars G H forming pivot M broad
loop by which rod is connected.
Fig. IV. Diagram shewing plan of release for weighted lever, a post for drop bar,
b drop bar, c post for setter bar, d setter bar, e sloping rail, wire rope g weighted
lever.
Fig. V Diagram shewing end section of drop-bar, a post bb the two arms of drop
bar d, position of setter bar, g position of arm of weighted lever.
Fig. VI Diagram of sloping rail k. k posts r. r. rail d setter bar.
Fig. VII Diagram of plan of distant release W near or left hand rail of railroad,
X key bar, Y lock-bar, J staples, S spring and lever, T stop block f wire rope con-
necting with d (Fig. IV).
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The frictionless spring of which one end is joined to a fixed bar and the other
joined directly without a sliding bar to the object to be moved.
2. The apparatus for releasing either one gate, or several gates simultaneously from
any point distant from the gates.
3. The apparatus for sustaining and releasing a weighted lever.
4. The apparatus by which a train or engine in motion on rails can by liberating
a spring communicate a force to a distant place for any purpose whatever.
Dated this 17th day of February 1888.