Improved Means for Automatically Operating Railway Brakes.
Year: 1886

page_text: Improved Means for Automatically Operating Railway Brakes.
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention, which has been communicated to me from abroad by
Frank Eugene Kiusman, of 145, Broadway, in the City and State of New York,
United States of America, Electrician, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the brakes for a
railway train may be automatically set or applied when the rails of the track are
broken or removed, or when there is a train upon an adjoining section, thus
preventing collisions and accidents from the causes mentioned.
The special object of the invention is to cause the brakes to be applied
independently of the act of any person on the train, and the invention consists in
the combination with the brake apparatus on the train of suitable means whereby
the same may be set or applied as will be hereinafter described, a controlling
electro magnet for governing or operating upon the setting devices, and a normally
closed electric circuit which includes the rails of the track and controls the magnet
in such way that in the event of the breakage of said circuit, either designedly or
accidentally, the brakes will be automatically applied.
The invention consists further in dividing the rails of a railway into a series of
track sections insulated from one another and each forming a part of an electric
circuit which connects with an electro magnet or magnets for acting upon devices
whereby the brakes of a train on any desired section of the track may be auto-
matically applied, the arrangements and connections being such that, when a train
is on a given section of the track, it will complete a circuit that will cause the
electro magnets in another section or sections to be energized so as to apply the
brakes to a train on any such section or sections.

page_text: The invention consists also in an improved means for operating a brake on a
railway train from an electro magnet on the road bed, such means consisting of a
stationary electro magnet or magnets, whose armature is located on the train and
is connected with suitable devices for controlling the action of the brakes, the
arrangement being such that when the armature is over a magnet the magnet is
at the same time energized, the armature will be moved and will open an air
ock or will operate upon any other suitable device for bringing the brakes into
action.
Other novel features of my invention will be described in connection with the
accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and will be more 1
specifically recited in the claims.
In the drawings:-
Fig. 1, is a diagram illustrating the application of my invention to a section of
railway track.
Fig. 2, is a side view of a form of apparatus to be employed upon the locomotive 1
or other vehicle moving over the line of tracks.
Fig. 3, illustrates the manner in which a portion of the rails may be made to
act as the poles of the stationary magnet that operates the armature upon the
train.
Fig. 4, illustrates an arrangement of devices for giving a visual or audible signal
in case of danger.
Fig. 5, is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of circuits for a single track
road where it is desired to automatically apply the brakes to any train or trains
upon sections of track before and behind the section upon which the given train
may be moving.
For causing the operation of the brake through the agency of the electro magnet
many plans may be adopted and will readily suggest themselves to skilled
mechanics. The cock of a steam or air brake may be operated directly by the
armature of the electro magnet, or indirectly through devices controlled by said
electro magnet. The former method is the preferred one and is the one described
in this specification. Or in place of a steam brake other mechanism for operating
the brakes might be employed, said mechanism being released or brought into
action by the electro magnet acting directly by its armature, or by other devices
controlled by said armature.
In Fig. 1, a, a, indicate the two rails of a section of railroad track, which section
may be of any length found desirable in practice, say one mile. The rails of
adjoining sections on either side are indicated at c, c, and b, b, respectively.
B, B, indicate galvanic batteries or other suitable generators of electricity
connected to the rails a, a, at or near one end of the section, and each having the
same pole to a rail so as, by the mutual opposition of batteries having like poles
opposed to one another, to diminish the tendency of each battery to form a shunt
circuit through the opposite rail and the other battery.
At the remote ends of the section each rail is connected to a return conductor 6,
carried by posts or underground to the opposite pole of a battery and including at
any desired point a relay electro magnet C. The circuit 6, passes as indicated
through the armature lever D, of the electro magnet C, and the front contact
stop 5, therefor, so that, when the circuit is broken at any point, the reclosing of
the circuit will not restore the armature to its original position owing to the
rupture at 5. The armature will therefore remain against its back contact closing
the circuit to be presently described in which is the controlling electro magnet or
magnets for the brake, until restored by some other means, and any break of the
main circuit of however little duration will be effectual in bringing the controlling
magnets of the brake into operation and causing them to remain in operation.
H, indicates a second battery or generator in the circuit of which indicated by
the numeral 9, are one or more electro magnets M, which serve to bring the brakes
of a railroad train into operation.

page_text: These electro magnets are in the present case placed at intervals along the road
bed, either between or beside the tracks, and preferably sufficiently close to one
another at several points on a section to give a practically continued pull for some
distance upon an armature carried by the train in close proximity to the poles of
the magnets, when the train is moving at a normal speed.
The electro magnets are indicated at M, in top view and are distributed
throughout the section, one or more however being placed at the end of a
preceding section b, b, so that in case of derangement in section a, a, 'at a
point near b, the train may be brought to a stop before reaching the break in the
track.
:
The arrangement is shown for a double track road on which trains are moving
in the direction of the arrow 10. For a single track road the series of electro
magnets M, should obviously overlap into section c, c, in the same manner.
The circuit 9, 9, is completed by the contact of either armature with its back
stop 7, in obvious manner the armature lever and stop forming a portion of the
circuit.
In Fig. 2, L, indicates the armature of electro magnet M. Said armature is
mounted in any suitable manner upon the locomotive or other portion of the train.
It is here shown as pivotted on a frame X, on the locomotive.
R, indicates the controlling cock, valve, or other device in a pipe of a steam or
air brake apparatus and connected by a rod S, or other suitable means directly or
indirectly with the armature L. Said cock is constructed in proper manner so
that friction or other means will cause it to retain any position into which
it is put.
The operation is as follows:-
So long as armature L, remains unattracted by an electro magnet M, the air or
steam brake is off.
If either rail circuit be ruptured the current of battery H, through the electro
magnets M, is closed so that the armature L, of any train for the time being on
the section or subsequently approaching the same will be attracted, thus imme-
diately putting on the brake and bringing the train to a stop.
In order to provide for applying the brakes automatically to a train which
passes upon a section of track before a train in advance, I propose to control the
circuit of electro magnets M, by a second relay C², as shown, or by any other
suitable arrangement of circuits such as are employed in railroad signalling for
operating a signal from a section in advance. Relay C³, is connected by wires
19, 19, with section c, c, of the track through a battery M, B2, so that the wheels
and axles of any train on. section c, c, will close the circuit of said relay, thus
closing through front contact 16, the circuit 15, including a battery H², and electro
magnets M. So long therefore as a train is on section c, c, the electro magnets M,
will be energized and any following train approaching or coming on to section a, a,
will be brought to a stop.
Fig. 3, shows how the rail itself may be made to act on the armature which for
that purpose should be suitably mounted to move in close proximity thereto.
N, S, indicate the abutting ends of two rails separated by some non-magnetic
material and magnetically insulated from one another by any suitable incans as
indicated, one rail being in magnetic connection with the north pole and the other
with the south pole of electro magnet M. Electric connection between the two
rails may be made by a wire 17, of copper or the non-magnetic material mag-
netically insulating the rails may be of a conducting material such as copper.
desired the abutting ends of all the rails may be used in this manner, care being
taken to so apply the electro magnets that the opposite ends of the same rail shall
be of opposite polarity.
If
In order to give visual or audible notice of the existence of danger to the
engineer of an approaching train, or to the station attendant beside the track, so

page_text: 5
that the latter may warn the engineer of the train by signal, I may employ an
arrangement of circuits such as is shown in Fig. 4, or any other suitable arrange-
ment whereby a visual or audible signal shall be given on the occurence of danger
conditions that would result in putting on the brakes.
For the sake of simplicity I prefer to work the visual or audible signal circuit
from the relays C, C, although they may be worked in the well known way from
the relays placed in other portions of the electrical system shown in Fig. 1. In
Fig. 4, R2, indicates an electro magnet provided with an automatically vibrating
armature operating after the manner of an ordinary vibrator bell by breaking the
circuit of the charging battery M, B4, and the electro magnet. The armature may
work a bell hammer or a signal disc or flag. The battery M, B, is a local battery
and its circuit through R2, is closed, whenever the armature D, of either relay C, is
retracted by means of the auxiliary insulated contact spring and stop at T, in
obvious fashion. The other circuits are omitted from Fig. 4, for the sake of
simplicity.
Fig. 5, illustrates the arrangement which would be employed when it is desired
that the presence of a train on a section of track as for instance
shall cause
α, ar
the stoppage of trains on sections b, b, c, c, to either side of said section. In this
instance, the circuit 19, 19, completed through presence of a train on section a, a,
contains two relays, one controlling the circuit of magnets M, and section b, b, and
the other controlling magnets M, on section c, c. A single relay might be obviously
used in place of the two.
Many modifications of the invention will readily suggest themselves in the
details.
I do not limit myself to any particular construction of the devices, nor to any
particular arrangements of the circuits. The rail or other circuit may control
electro magnet M, directly in obvious fashion, the relay being dispensed with, and
said electro magnet may be in any position provided the circuits and connections
be properly made to the same so that it will be automatically energized by the
rupture of the track circuits.
It is obvious also that said magnet instead of acting directly through its
armature upon the mechanism for putting on the brake may act indirectly by
setting or releasing devices which shall act on or trip said mechanism.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The combination with the controlling devices for a railway brake, of a
governing electro magnet for said device, an armature for said magnet on the
locomotive or train, and a normally closed safety circuit controlling the action of
said magnet and including the rails of a section of track.
2. The combination with the controlling devices for a railway brake mechanism,
of a governing electro magnet for said devices, a section of railroad track to the
two rails of which the two poles of a battery are respectively connected, and an
electro.magnet in circuit with said battery, for controlling the operation of the
electro magnet that governs the brake whereby the brake may be automatically
applied when the two rails of the section are connected by a train upon them..
3. The combination with a steam or other brake on a railway train, of a
controlling electro magnet, a battery and relay electro magnet connected to the
rails of the track, and a relayed or supplemental battery for energizing the con-
trolling electro magnet, said battery being controlled by the operation of the relay
electro magnet connected to the rails.
4. The combination with the cock for an air or steam brake on a railway train,
of one or more controlling electro magnets on the road bed.
5. The combination with the governing devices for a railway car brake, of an
armature mounted on the car or locomotive and connected with said controlling.

page_text: devices, and one or more electro magnets on the road bed arranged to attract the
armature when the same is in position opposite them.
6. The combination with the governing devices for a railway car brake, of a
controlling armature carried by the car, and a rail which is polarized so as to act
as an attracting pole for the armature.
7. The combination with an armature on a moving railway train, of a stationary
electro magnet the poles of which are connected to the abutting magnetically
separated ends of two rails.