Improvements in Apparatus for Locking and Protecting the Points of Railway Sidings.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Mar., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 8th Dec., 1890-Accepted, 10th Jen., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Locking and Protecting the Points
of Railway Sidings.
1, WILLIAM PINKERTON, of the Larno Engineering and Wood Works, Larno, in the
County of Antrim, Ireland, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows, that is to say :-
My said invention has for its object to combine with apparatus described in the
Specification of Patent 95 of 1881, granted to me, certain improved details rendering
the apparatus capable of being used with the tablets now employed instead of the staff's
formerly used.
In the apparatus the lever or levers for moving the points of a railway siding are
enclosed in a box which cannot be opened without the application of the tablet, and
the door of which cannot be opened or the tablet he withdrawn until the switch lever
or levers are moved into a position or positions within the box such as to keep the
main lino clear. The door is held closed by pins on levers on a spindle which is rocked
by means of the tablet to unlock or lock the door. To receive the tablet a sliding
plate is provided having a recess for the tablet, and arranged so that it can be drawn
out by means of a handle through a slot only when it is in one position. The sliding
plate is suitably guided and can be turned about a longitudinal axis when it is pushed
completely in. When the siding switch is to be moved the guard or train attendant
turns the sliding plate into the proper position (it being weighted to assume a different
position when free) draws it out, inserts the tablet, pushes the sliding plate completely
in, and turns it. The tablet itself will then act on an arm or lever on the locking
spindle and cause the unlocking of the door. The sliding plate cannot be removed
and the tablet be withdrawn without closing the door; that is, without making the
main line clear. A shield is provided for covering the slot through which the sliding
plate works, and this shield may be arranged to be locked by means of a key if
desired.
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1 1
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1 1040
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Locking and Protecting the Points
of Railway Sidings
I, WILLIAM PINKERTON, of the Larne Engineering and Wood Works, Jarne, in
the County of Antrim, Ireland, Engineer, do hereby declaré the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
My said invention has for its object to combine with apparatus described in the
Specification of Patent 95 of 1881 granted to me certain improved details rendering
the apparatus capable of being used with the tablets now employed instead of the
staffs formerly used.
And in order that my said invention and the manner of performing the saine may
be properly understood I hereunto append a sheet of explanatory drawings to be
hereinafter referred to and showing a simple and convenient modification of my
improved apparatus.
Figure, 1, on the accompanying sheet of drawings is a side elevation of a box for
holding the apparatus.

page_text: Figure, 2, is a vertical section and
Figures, 3, and 4, are horizontal sections of the box and details for locking the
apparatus and protecting the points of a railway siding.
Figures, 5, and 6, are a plan and a transverse section of the tablet.
In these drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like
parts wherever they are repeated.
In the apparatus the lever, (or levers) 24, for moving the points of a railway siding
are enclosed in a box, 7, which is represented as may be made of cast iron and of a
rectangular form as seen in horizontal section. The door, 8, hinged in
any convenient
manner to the box, 7, is at the left-hand side of each of the Figures, 1 to 4, and its
open position is indicated by dotted lines, 9, in Figures, 2 and 4. The opening of
the door, 8, is effected by the application of a tablet 18, (Figures 5 and 6) which
cannot be withdrawn until the switch lever, 24, is moved into position within the
box, 7, and the door, 8, is closed so as to keep the main line clear. The door, 8, is
held closed hy pins, 10, (shown by small dotted circles in Figure 4) fixed or formed
on the ends of levers, 11, fixed or formed on a horizontal spindle, 12, which is rocked
by means of the tublot, 18, to unlock or lock the door. The pins, 10, enter holes in
projections or plates, 13, formed or fixed on the inside of the door, 8, at its upper
part. For further security one of the levers, 11, has jointed to it a rod, 14, which when
the door is closed enters a hole in a projection, 15, fixed or formed on the door inside
at about the middle of its outer edge. The rocking spindle, 12, with the locking
levers, 11, is conveniently arranged in a small box or compartment, 16, fixod in the
upper part of the main box, 7; and a third lever, 17, on the same shaft and extending
in the opposite direction to the two-levers, -11,-is-the part acted on by the tablet, 18.
To receive the tablet, 18, a sliding plate, 19, is provided having a-recess for the tablet,
and arranged so that it can be drawn out as shown in Figure, 3, by means of a
handle, 20, through a slot, 21, in one end of the small box, 16, only when it is in one
position. A counterweight, 22, is attached to the inner end of the sliding plate, 19,
which end is narrower and is supported and guided by a bracket, 28, fixed to one side-
of the small box. 16. The sliding plate, 19, is also fitted with straps, 27, which slide
on and are guided by a plate, 28, extending from the bracket, 23, to the slot, 21, this
plate being provided for the purpose of preventing the tablet, 18, from tilting when
acting on the lever, 17. When pushed completely in (Figure 4.) the sliding plate, 19,
can be turned about its longitudinal axis, and when a siding switch is to be moved
the guard or train attendant turns the sliding plate, 19, by means of the handle, 20,
into the proper position for passing through the slot, 21, (the counterweight, 22,
causing it to assume a different position when free) draws it out, inserts the tablet, 18,
pushes the sliding plate, 19, completely in, and then turns it. The tablet, 18, engages
in a fork formed at the end of the lever, 17, depresses that lever and thereby makes
the rocking spindle, 12, turn up its other levers, 11, so as to take their pins, 10, and
the rod, 14, out of the holes in the door pieces, 13, 15, thus causing the unlocking
of the door, 8, which can then he opened by means of its handle. The means used for
preventing the sliding plate, 19, from being removed and the tablet, 18, withdrawn
without closing the door, that is without making the main line clear being substantially
the same as that used to prevent the withdrawal of the staff used in the apparatus
described in the earlier Specification hereinbefore referred to, it will not be necessary
to describe it here and it forms no part of my present invention. A shield, 29, is
provided for covering the slot, 21, through which the sliding plate, 19, works and this
shield may be arranged to be locked by means of a key if desired.
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 :-
In apparatus of the kind to which my present invention relates, for locking and
protecting the points of railway sidings, the combination therewith of a sliding plate
fitted to hold a tablet and to effect the locking or unlocking by means of such tablet,
the said sliding plate being shaped to be movable through a slot in the box only when

page_text: turned into the proper position, the parts being arranged and operating substantially
as herein before described.
Date L
11000
EDMUND HUNT,
Applicant's Agent.