Interlocking Points and Signals on Railways.
Year: 1885

page_text: Interlocking Points and Signals on Railways.
I SAMUEL TELFORD DUTTON of N° 1 Saint George's Square in the City of
Worcester Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING AND INTERLOCKING
POINTS AND SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS" to be as follows:-
My invention consists of improvements on an invention for which Letters Patent
bearing date the 7th day of June 1873 N° 2034 were granted to Thomas Clunes,
Walter Holland and myself for improvements in machinery or apparatus for
working and interlocking points and signals on railways.
My present invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the
machinery or apparatus described represented and claimed in the specification of
the said Letters Patent whereby the mechanism is simplified and made to work
with greater precision and the moving parts are more nearly balanced. By my
improvements facilities are afforded for varied and complicated combinations of
locking and forming the connections to and between the levers.
Each of the levers actuates a motion piece turning on an independent fulcrum.
The said motion piece is connected with the lever by means of a stud on the
lever working in a slot in the motion piece. The figure of this slot is such that
when the lever is in certain parts of its path it produces a vertical motion
in the movement piece while in other portions of its path it has no action on
the movement piece. By the vertical motion of the movement piece two arms
at right angles to each other on the axis of the movement piece are operated the
one arm producing a vertical motion in the horizontal bar and the other a
horizontal motion in the vibrating shafts hereinafter referred to.
The said horizontal bar turns upon a fulcrum at one end and moves between a
series of short levers or armatures fixed on the vibrating shafts hereinbefore
referred to. These short levers or armatures are capable of vibrating through a
small angle by the motion of the shafts on which they are fixed The horizontal
bar has fixed on it at the required distances snugs or projecting pieces the lower
edges of which have a curvature struck from the radius of the armatures. These
snugs or projecting pieces by their engagement with or disengagement from the
armatures effect the locking releasing and backlocking of the various levers as may
be required.
'

page_text: The shaft on which the armatures are fixed have a series of concave longitudinal
flutes by which great strength and lightness are secured and a better grip for the
armatures is provided.
.
For adjusting the bolting of the attachment of signal wires to the lever and
maintaining it in a proper state of tension I do not connect the said wire directly
to the lever but to a secondary lever nearly parallel to the upper arm of the signal
lever to which the upper end of the said supplementary lever is jointed. The wire
or chain after passing over a pulley on the lower end of the signal lever is con-
nected to the lower end of the supplementary lever. The supplementary lever
may be drawn more or less towards parallelism with the upper arm of the signal
lever by means of a screw bearing against the edge of the signal lever and the
required tension thus given to the wire or chain.
In order to effect the locking or releasing of a signal lever in one frame which
lever I will call the first lever by the action of a signal lever in another frame
which lever I will call the second lever with the wire or rod in tension I arrange
the locks in such a manner that the second or releasing lever is free to move and
when it has moved through a portion of its path it releases the other or first lever.
When the released or first lever is pulled over the second lever becomes locked
that is can neither be moved backwards nor forwards. When the first lever is put
back in order to reestablish the normal position of the levers it is necessary to pull
the second lever all the way over that is through its full range and then put it
back when the parts resume their normal positions.
DL121°
1100r

page_text: Interlocking Points and Signals on Railways.
I SAMUEL TELFORD DUTTON of N° 1 Saint George's Square in the City of
Worcester, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING AND INTERLOCKING
POINTS AND SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS" and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention consists of improvements on an invention for which Letters
Patent bearing date the 7th day of June 1873, No 2034 were granted to Thomas
Clunes, Walter Holland and myself for improvements in machinery or apparatus
for working and interlocking points and signals on railways.
My present invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the
machinery or apparatus described represented and claimed in the specification of
the said Letters Patent, whereby the mechanism is simplified and made to work with
greater precision and the moving parts are more nearly balanced. By my improve-
ments facilities are afforded for varied and complicated combinations of locking and
forming the connections to and between the levers.
Each of the levers actuates a motion piece turning on an independent fulcrum
The said motion piece is connected with the lever by means of a stud on the lever
working in a slot in the motion piece. The figure of this slot is such that when
the lever is in certain parts of its path it produces a vertical motion in the move.
ment piece while in other portions of its path it has no action on the movement
piece. By the vertical motion of the movement piece two arms at right angles to
each other on the axis of the movement piece, are operated, the one arm producing
a vertical motion in the horizontal bar and the other a horizontal motion in the
vibrating shafts hereinafter referred to.
The said horizontal bar turns upon a fulcrum at one end and moves between a
series of short levers or armatures fixed on the vibrating shafts hereinbefore
referred to. These short levers or armatures are capable of vibrating through a
small angle by the motion of the shafts on which they are fixed. The horizontal
bar has fixed on it at the required distances, snugs or projecting pieces the lower
edges of which have a curvature struck from the radius of the armatures. These
snugs or projecting pieces by their engagement with or disengagement from the
armatures effect the locking releasing and backlocking of the various levers as may
be required.
The shaft on which the armatures are fixed has a series of concave longitudinal
flutes by which great strength and lightness are secured and a better grip for the
armatures is provided.
For adjusting the bolting of the attachment of signal wires to the lever and
maintaining it in a proper state of tension I do not connect the said wire directly
to the lever but to a secondary lever nearly parallel to the upper arm of the signal
lever to which the upper end of the said supplementary lever is jointed. The wire
or chain after passing over a pulley on the lower end of the signal lever is
connected to the lower end of the supplementary lever. The supplementary lever

page_text: may be drawn more or less towards parallelism with the upper arm of the signal
lever by means of a screw bearing against the edge of the signal lever and the
required tension thus given to the wire or chain.
In order to effect the locking or releasing of. a signal lever in one frame, which
lever I will call the first lever, by the action of a signal lever in another frame,
which lever I will call the second lever, with the wire or rod in tension I arrange
the locks in such a manner that the second or releasing lever is free to move and
when it has moved through a portion of its path it releases the other or first lever.
When the released or first lever is pulled over, the second lever becomes locked,
that is, can neither be moved backwards nor forwards. When the first lever is
put back in order to reestablish the normal position of the levers, it is necessary to
pull the second lever all the way over, that is, through its full range and then put
it back when the parts resume their normal positions.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figures 1 and 2 represent in transverse section taken through the locking frame,
mechanism constructed according to my invention for locking releasing and back
locking the point and signal levers carried in the said frame the said mechanisin
being constructed according to my invention; Figure 3 is an elevation of the same
looking from the rear of the four levers shown in Figures 1 and 2 with the locking
apparatus attached; Figures 45 and 6 are respectively a side elevation, end
elevation and plan drawn to a larger scale of the horizontal bar, rocking shafts,
armatures and snugs of the locking apparatus. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in Figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5 and 6; a and a¹ are the point levers
and b, b' are the signal levers, cand o are the motion pieces of the point levers a
and a¹ and d and d¹ are the motion pieces of the signal levers 6 and b'. The said
motion pieces c, c¹ and d, d¹ turn upon the spindle or axis x and are operated upon
by a stud e on each of the levers working in a slot in the motion piece as seen in
Figures 1 and 2. The figure of the slot y is such that when any one of the levers
is in certain parts of its path it produces a vertical movement in the motion piece
while in the other portions of its path it has no action on the motion piece. On
the end of each motion piece are two arms at right angles to one another. These
arms are marked c, d, d³, c', c, d and do. The arms marked c, d and d³ are for
giving vertical motion to the horizontal bars f, f1, f of the locking apparatus, the
said bars vibrating on centres g and the arms marked c, c, d, do are for giving
motion to the parallel rocking shafts h, h¹ and the other rocking shafts used: In
Figures 1, 2 and 3, the arms c¹ and c³ are only represented connected to the
shafts h, h' but the other shafts are shown in Figures 4 and 5. On the said
rocking shafts are fixed the armatures i, i, is, is, which engage with the snugs
or projecting pieces j, j and the other snuga bolted to the horizontal bars f, f',ƒ³
and the other bars used.
By the vertical motion of the motion piece d (or the other motion piece) the two
arins attached to it are operated, the arm d² producing a vertical motion in the
horizontal barf and the arm d producing a horizontal motion in the rocking
shaft h. By the movement of the other motion pieces the horizontal bars and
shafts to which they are connected are operated. The shafts carrying the armatures
are fluted longitudinally as seen in the section Figure 4.
In Figure 1, the point lever a is shown in its normal position and the signal
lever b is shown pulled over depressing the horizontal bar f1 and thereby placing
the vertical face of the snug j in front of the V part of the armature i and thus 5
locking or preventing the point lever a from being moved. Prior to the pulling
over of the signal lever 6 the point lever a could have been moved as the radial
part of the top of the armature i would have passed under the curved bottom
part of the snug ; and while in that position the signal lever b would have been
locked as the horizontal bar of that lever could not be depressed.
In Figure 2 for the sake of clearness the locking mechanism of the levers a
and b is removed. The point lever a¹ is shown pulled over bringing forward the
5

page_text: armature clear of the vertical face of the snug ¹ and allowing the signal lever b¹
to be pulled over, depressing the horizontal bar f' and placing the vertical face of
the snug behind the V part of the armature ¹ and thereby backlocking the point
lever a¹. Prior to moving the point lever a² the signal lever 6' could not be moved
as the horizontal bar of that lever could not be depressed, the V point of the
armature being under the curved part of the snug as best seen in Figure 4 with
respect to the armature i³ and snug j. It will also be seen by referring to the said
Figure 4 that the horizontal bar f cannot be depressed until the armature i is
moved to the position indicated by the dotted lines is clear of the vertical face of
the snug j. The middle snug on the other side of the bar (see Figures 5 and 6)
has two vertical faces and the bar consequently can be depressed in either of the
extreme positions of the armature but not at any intermediate position; thus a
lever connected with the armature through the rocking shaft h³ would be
locked in both extreme positions on the depression of the horizontal bar actuated
by another lever.
In many cases of locking it will be necessary for one lever to actuate both a
rocking shaft and a horizontal bar by means of one motion piece and the snugs
may have their top sides curved for the purpose of locking, the armature being
lengthened and formed accordingly It will be seen that the horizontal bar and
Bnuga counterbalance to a great extent if not wholly the overhanging portion of
the motion pieces. As the levers have no weight of locks and their balances to
sustain them as in the patented invention before referred to, the moving parts of
the locking mechanism are nearly balanced.
The ease with which the snugs and armatures may be varied in form to suit the
various modifications of locking required and in fixing and altering the same
without interfering with each other will be readily understood by an examination
of the Drawings.
Figure 7 represents in transverse section taken through the locking frame and
Figure 8 in front elevation my arrangement for attaching the signal wire to the
lever and maintaining the wire in a proper state of tension; k is the signal lever
to the upper arm of which is jointed the secondary or supplementary lever for
the purpose of regulating the tension of the signal wire; is the signal wire
passing over the pulley before being connected with the secondary lever k³ thereby.
maintaining nearly an equal travel above and below the fulcrum of the principal
lever k; m is a link jointed to the lever k¹. The said link works between guides
on the lever k and has at its free end a hollow screw. A screwed pin n takes into
the hollow screw in the link m and the end of the screw n bears against the edge
of the lever k. By driving home the screw n by means of the removeable spanner o
the secondary lever k¹ is drawn towards the principal lever and the wire k
tightened to the required degree. By the reverse motion of the screw n the 'wire k³,
may be slackened.
Figures 9 and 10 represent transverse sections of two locking lever frames
situated at a distance from each other constructed according to my invention, a
connecting wire or rod in tension between the two frames being used for the
purpose of locking or releasing a signal or other lever in one frame by a lever in
another frame.
8
In Figure 9, the lever p is shown locked by a cross bolt arrangement q the vertical
bolting rod which is actuated by a lever at a distance being extended upwards
to an indicator & which informs the signalman whether his lever has been unlocked
or not. By means of the weighted levert the connecting wire or rod p* between
the two levers is maintained in a state of tension. The dotted line p* indicates the
position of the lever p when pulled over.
In Figure 10 the lever u is shown in the normal position and capable of being
pulled over. To release the lever p in the frame, Figure 9, it is necessary to pull
over the lever u in the frame, Figure 10, to the intermediate position indicated by
the dotted line u¹ thereupon the counterbalance lock v which was kept down by the
stud w pressing on the upper curved surface of the lock till the lever attained the

page_text: position u¹ is raised to the position v bringing the shoulder of the lock in front of
the stud wand preventing the lever at from being put back. The lever p
Figure 9 is then pulled over to the position p* thereby locking the vertical rod r of
the said lever p in the position to which it has been, brought and the lever u is
incapable of motion from the position u¹ either backward or forward until the
lever p, Figure 9, has been restored to its normal position, when by pulling the
lever u Figure 10 over still further to the position indicated by the dotted line u³
the lock further rises to the position v³ and the stud w can then enter the groove
and the lever u be put back to its normal position. The spring closes up the
groove x when the stud w engages on the top surface of the lock v.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that
I claim as my invention of "Improvements in machinery or apparatus for working
and interlocking points and signals on railways"
1
First. With respect to the machinery or apparatus for locking releasing and
backlocking point and signal levers carried in the same frame herein before described
and represented in Figures 1, 2, 3 4 and 5 of the accompanying Drawings;-
The combination with each of the levers and motion pieces in the locking frame
of a horizontal vibrating bar provided with a fixing snug or fixing snugs together
with a rocking shaft having an armature fixed upon it, the said vibrating bar and
rocking shaft being operated by the motion piece constructed as described and
illustrated, the said vibrating bar fixing snugs being so formed as to gear with the
armatures on the rocking shafts and to arrest or permit of the motion of the
armatures and their shafts and so constructing the armatures that they permit or
arrest the motion of the vibrating bars and by means of the motion pieces lock the
levers substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of parts hereinbefore described and
illustrated in Figures 7 and 8 of the accompanying Drawings for attaching the wire
or chain to the signal or point lever and for maintaining the said wire or chain in
a state of tension; that is to say, the combination with the primary lever of a
secondary or supplementary lever to which the wire or chain is directly connected.
and putting the required tension on the wire or chain through the said secondary
or supplementary lever substantially as described and illustrated.
Thirdly. Locking or releasing a signal or point lever in one frame by a signal or
point lever in another and distant frame, the said levers being connected together
by a wire or rod in a state of tension the motion of the releasing lever being regu-
lated by the automatic lock, the several parts being constructed and arranged and
working substantially as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 9 and 10
of the accompanying Drawings.
Dated this Twenty sixth day of December 1885.