A NEW OR IMPROVED SIGNALLING APPARATUS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Jackson, of Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED SIGNALLING APPARATUS."
Sealed the 30th May 1854, and dated the 30th November 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Jackson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th November 1853.
I, JOSHUA JACKSON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturer; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW OR IMPROVED SIGNALLING APPARATUS" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a strong closed metallic or other vessel or
reservoir furnished with a condensing syringe or pump, and one or more
railway whistles. The said pump or syringe, and each of the said
whistles, is furnished with a stop cock, by which communication with
the reservoir may be opened and closed. By working the syringe the
air in the interior of the reservoir may be condensed to any desired
extent, and when the reservoir has been filled with condensed air the

page_text: apparatus is ready for immediate use. On opening the stop cock of
either of the whistles, or on opening both, the condensed air issues
from the reservoir and sounds the whistle or whistles; the noise pro-
duced is sufficiently loud to be heard from one end of a railway train
to the other. Although my Invention is especially adapted for sig-
nalling on railways, yet it is applicable for general signalling purposes.
Instead of employing atmospheric air condensed by a syringe or
pump, I sometimes use condensed carbonic acid gas or hydrogen, in
which case the condensing syringe or pump is dispensed with, the said
gases being generated under pressure in the reservoir by the materials
proper to generate the said gases being put in the said reservoir. A
safety valve may be placed on the reservoir to prevent accidents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joshua Jackson in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 30th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSHUA JACKSON, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, för Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Jackson, Her special
licence that I, the said Joshua Jackson, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Jackson, 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 "A
NEW OR IMPROVED SIGNALLING APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joshua Jackson, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under my hand and seal, 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 Joshua Jackson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
:-
My Invention consists of a strong closed metallic or other vessel or
reservoir furnished with a condensing syringe or pump, and also fur-
nished with one or more railway whistles or other instrument capable
of producing a loud noise under the influence of a current of air.
My said Invention, although especially adapted for signalling on
railways, is also applicable to signalling purposes generally. Figure 1,
represents my Invention in elevation, and Figure 2, represents the same
in vertical section; a is the reservoir made of sheet iron; b is a con-
densing syringe or pump fixed underneath the said reservoir a; c is an
armi or lever jointed to the framing d, at e; a railway whistle f, Figure 1,
or three railway whistles f, g, h, Figure 2, are situated at the top of the
reservoir a, and communicate therewith through the pipe i; k is a valve,
by the opening or closing of which the communication between the
reservoir ȧ, and the whistles f, g, h, is opened or closed; the said valve
is opened by the depression of the rod l, and the said rod is depressed
through the handle m, connecting rod n, and lever o, the said lever o
being jointed to the upright p, on the reservoir a. By working the
syringe or pump 6, air may be condensed in the interior of the said
reservoir until it has attained any desired pressure, and when the
reservoir has been filled with condensed air the apparatus is ready for
immediate use. By depressing the handle m, the valve k is opened, and
condensed air from the reservoir a, passing up the pipe i, sounds the
whistle f, or whistles f, g, h. Instead of the air pump 6 and pipe i
being separated from the reservoir a only by the valves and g, stop
cocks may be interposed between the said pump and whistles and the
reservoir a, so as more effectually to retain the condensed air in the

page_text: said reservoir a, when the instrument is not in use. Instead of employing
atmospheric air condensed by a syringe or pump, I sometimes use con-
densed carbonic acid gas or hydrogen, in which case the condensing
syringe or pump is dispensed with, the said gases being generated under
pressure in the reservoir by the materials proper to generate the said
gases being put in the said reservoir, but I prefer the use of condensed
air. A safety valve may be attached to the reservoir a, to prevent
accident from the overcharging of the said reservoir, and a pressure
guage may also be attached to the said reservoir for the purpose of
indicating the pressure of the air within.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise method herein described, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said
Invention; but I claim as my Invention the construction of a signalling
apparatus in which condensed atmospheric air or other gas is made to
sound a railway whistle or other instrument, capable of producing, by
the action of a stream of condensed air, a noise sufficiently loud for
signalling purposes on railways and elsewhere.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Jackson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JOSHUA JACKSON (L.S.)