IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stroudley of Brighton in the County of Sussex
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY
POINTS AND SIGNALS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stroudley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th June 1882.
WILLIAM STROUDLEY of Brighton in the County of Sussex.
IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS"
"IMPROVEMENTS
The Points and Signals of Railways are usually worked by levers a number of
which for the sake of safety economy and convenience are commonly arranged
together in a signal box in some central or commanding position so that a single
attendant can by their use control the traffic over the part of the railway over
which the connections of his levers extend. As a consequence of this centralisation
some of the Points and Signals are often at a considerable distance from the levers,
to which they are connected by rods and pulls and the labour in working these
is very great. The object of my Invention is to provide means of reducing the
amount of labour required for working a set of Point and Signal levers, so that the
attendant can act rather as the controlling than as the moving power, and to effect
this by the use of auxiliary apparatus which can readily be applied to existing
sets of levers and which does not interfere with the working of the levers by hand
in the usual way, if derangement of the auxiliary apparatus should render that
necessary.
For this purpose I connect to each of the levers or of such of them as require
aid, a piston working in a cylinder subject to fluid pressure and provided
with a suitable slide or set of valves by which the fluid under pressure can be
admitted or discharged or caused to act on the piston in either direction or in
neither at the will of the signalman, who by moving the slide or valves can have
the assistance of the pressure in moving the lever in either direction or can dispense
with that assistance. The fluid employed may be steam or it may be air com-
pressed by pumping or water pumped under pressure into an accumulator or into

page_text: an elevated reservoir, and in cases where there is exposure to great cold, instead of
water a saline or glycerine solution may be used to provide against freezing. The
valves of each auxiliary cylinder may be worked independently by hand or by a
treadle moved by the foot or, in order to avoid complexity in the duties of the
signalman, the valves may in each case be connected to the spring catch of the
lever, so that the act of the signalman in grasping the handle of the spring catch
to release the lever shall give admission to the fluid that is to assist by its pressure
the motion of the lever, and the letting go of the spring catch to hold the lever
shall stop the supply of working fluid or permit its discharge. The spring catches
or the levers themselves may be interlocked in any known manner, and when
treadles are employed to work the valves, these treadles may be interlocked in a
similar way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Stroudley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th December 1882.
WILLIAM STROUDLEY of Brighton in the County of Sussex.
IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY POINTS AND SIGNALS
"
"IMPROVEMENTS
The points and signals of railways are usually worked by levers, a number of
which for the sake of safety, economy and convenience, are commonly arranged
together in a signal box in some central or commanding position, so that a single
attendant can, by their use, control the traffic over the part of the railway over
which the connections of his levers extend. As a consequence of this centralisation,
some of the points and signals are often at a considerable distance from the levers
to which they are connected by rods and pulls, and the labor in working these is
very great. The object of my Invention is to provide means of reducing the
amount of labour required for working a set of point and signal levers, so that the
attendant can act rather as the controlling than as the motive power, and to effect
this by the use of auxiliary apparatus which can readily be applied to existing
sets of levers and which does not interfere with the working of the levers by hand
in the usual way, if derangement of the auxiliary apparatus should render that
necessary.
For this purpose I connect to each of the levers or to such of them as require
aid, a piston working in a cylinder subject to fluid pressure, and provided with a
suitable slide or set of valves by which the fluid under pressure can be admitted
or discharged, or caused to act on the piston in either direction or in neither at
the will of the signalman, who by moving the slide or valves can have the
assistance of the pressure in moving the lever in either direction or can dispense
with that assistance. The fluid employed may be steam or it may be air com-
pressed by pumping, or water pumped under pressure into an accumulator, or into
an elevated reservoir and in cases where there is exposure to great cold, instead of
water, a saline or glycerine solution may be used to provide against freezing. The
valves of each auxiliary cylinder may be worked independently by hand or by a
treadle moved by the foot, or in order to avoid complexity in the duties of the
signalman, the valves may in each case be connected to the spring catch of the
lever, so that the act of the signalman in grasping the handle of the spring catch
to release the lever, shall give admission to the fluid that is to assist by its pressure
the motion of the lever, and the letting go of the spring catch to hold the lever,
shall stop the supply of working fluid or permit its discharge. The spring catches
or the levers themselves may be interlocked in any known manner, and when
treadles are employed to work the valves, these treadles may be interlocked in a
similar way.
The accompanying Drawing is an elevation of one of the ordinary Point or
Signal levers shewing a convenient mode of applying to it the auxiliary fluid
pressure according to my Invention. Lis the lever mounted in the usual way in
a frame and having one of its arms P connected by rods or pulls with the distant
point or signal which it has to work. To this arm I link the piston or plunger of
a cylinder A at the bottom of which is a passage governed by a supply and a
discharge valve arranged within a valve box B. These valves are worked by a
lever C mounted below them, and this lever is connected by a rod D and lever E
to the rod of a treadle F, projecting above the floor in front of the levers. When
the signalman has to pull over the lever L he can by his foot depress the treadle F
thereby causing the supply valve in B to be opened and permitting the discharge

page_text: valve to close. Fluid under pressure which may be steam, compressed air or
water, or uncongealable liquid then entering the cylinder A, presses its piston or.
plunger upwards, and this pressure acting on the lever arm P assists the action of
the signalman in pulling over the lever L and working the point or signal con-
nected to it When the signalman removes his foot from the treadle F, a counter-
weight on one arm of the lever E causes the lever C to move on its pivot so that
the supply valve in the box B closes and the discharge valve opens relieving the
pressure on the piston or plunger. This pressure being relieved the signalman can
when required move back the lever L which can generally easily be done as its
connections are usually strained by counterweights. In cases where the action of
the signalman on the lever has to be aided in both directions the cylinder A may
be made double acting with supply and discharge valves at the upper as well as at
the lower end, or with a slide as for a steam engine cylinder.
Having thus described the nature of my invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim :—
In combination with a railway point or signal lever, a cylinder fitted with a
piston or plunger which can, when required, be subjected to fluid pressure so as to
assist the movement of the lever, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I the said William Stroudley have hereunto set my.
hand and seal this twentysecond day of December in the year of our Lord
one Thousand eight hundred and eighty two.