An Apparatus for Recording the Movements of Railway Trains, Carriages, Steam Ships, Lifts, Tramcars, Auto-motors, and the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Nov., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Aug., 1899-Accepted, 14th Oct., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Apparatus for Recording the Movements of Railway Trains,
Carriages, Steam Ships, Lifts, Tramcars, Auto-motors, and the like.
I, Sir WILLIAM HENRY BAILEY, Knight, of W. H. Bailey and Company Limited,
of Albion Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Brassfounders and
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an apparatus for recording the movements of railway
trains, carriages, steam ships, lifts, tramcars, auto-motors and the like and has
for its object to record the time when the train is in motion and when it stops
as at stations, also to indicate any unusual jolt caused by passing over a loose
or badly fitted fishplate, and in tramp or other steam ships to indicate the times
when the ship was in port, and also when exceptionally rough weather was
experienced, and in lifts to indicate how often the carriage travels.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ a suitable casing in which is
fitted a clock and mechanism for actuating a paper tape; from a coiled spring
pivoted to this casing is suspended an eye through which is passed a horizontal
Tever fulcrumed to the casing at one end and carrying a weight at the other
end and to one portion of this weight is secured a steel spring plate, the end of
which is held normally by the coiled spring mid-way between two adjustable
pointed screws carried by a bracket in the casing.
Pivoted to the eye carried by the coiled spring is an arm which holds the point
of a pencil in contact with the tape of paper which is wound from one drum to
another by the clock mechanism.
To the horizontal lever or its pivot I may or may not connect a vertical arm
which carries a counter balance weight to increase the sensitiveness of the
apparatus.
The casing with the parts enclosed may be placed on any convenient part of
a railway train, carriage, steam ship, lift or other movable body, and when say
the train is in motion the vibration caused by it sets the weighted horizontal
lever in motion and this movement being imparted to the eye bolt causes the
pencil to mark a zig-zag line on the paper tape. During ordinary vibration
the steel spring plate oscillates between the screws above and below it whereby
its movement is limited; but when an excessive vibration arises the weighted
lever moves so much that the spring plate yields momentarily and the pencil
marks an extraordinarily elongated line or lines on the paper. When the train
stops at a station the instrument comes to rest and the pencil remaining stationary
marks a continuous straight line which denotes the length of stoppage of the
train.
The apparatus would work in a similar manner if fixed in a steam ship, lift,
tramcar, auto-motor or the like.

page_text: An Apparatus for Recording the Movements of Railway Trains,
Carriages, Steam Ships, Lifts, Tramcars, Auto-motors and the like.
I, Sir WILLIAM HENRY BAILEY, Knight, of W. H. Bailey and Company Limited,
of Albion Works, Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Brassfounders and
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to an apparatus for recording the movements of railway
trains, carriages, steam ships, lifts, tramcars, automotors and the like, and has
for its object to record the time when the train is in motion and when it stops,
as at stations, also to indicate any unusual jolt caused by passing over a loose
or badly fitted fish-plate, and in tramp or other steam ships to indicate the times
when the ship was in port, and also when exceptionally rough weather was
experienced, and in lifts to indicate how often the carriage travels.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the entire apparatus.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of the apparatus.
Figure 3 is a sectional plan showing the coil of paper tape and the rollers
for actuating and guiding the same.
Figure 4 is a detail view of the paper tape and its rollers showing the tapo
partly marked by the recording pencil.
Figure 5 is a view of an alternative mode of mounting the holder of the
recording pencil.
In these views, a designates the casing of a clock preferably an eight day
clock, and b the rotating band spindle on which is fixed the usual toothed wheel,
cone of the intermediate wheels of the clock movement and which I utilize to
drive by a pinion d a spindle e; on the spindle e is fixed a bevel pinion g which
drives by a similar pinion h a vertical spindle i which forms the axle of a drum j.
A coiled paper tape k is placed in a suitable holder and led thence through a
slot over the surface of the driven drum j upon which it is stretched and held
by two spring clipping rollers m which are pressed against the paper tape / on
the drum. The paper tape & is marked as it passes over the surface of the
rotating drum by a pencil n carried in a holder o which is weighted at o¹ and
is pivoted to one end of a rod p fitted to move up and down vertically in guides q;
the other end of the rod p is connected by a link p¹ to an arm r¹ cast on a lever r
which is weighted at and; the lever is formed with a cross piece. or bar reh
the ends of which are counter sunk to receive the points of two steel centre
bits s which form the centres upon which the lever works. In addition to the
weights and which counterbalance one another, the vibratory movements
of the lever r are restrained at its front end by a plate spring t and at its rear
end by a connected helical spring u, or alternatively, as shown in Fig. 5, by a
single coiled spring w connected to the front end of the lever and to the casing.
The clock casing with the parts enclosed may be placed on any convenient
part of a railway train, carriage, steam ship, lift, or other moving body, and
when, say, the train is in motion, the vibration set up causes the counter balanced
horizontal lever r to oscillate up and down and this movement being transmitted
to the holder o and pencil a causes the latter to mark a zig-zag line on the paper
tape as it travels over and with the surface of the rotating drum j. During
ordinary vibration the lever r oscillates practically uniformly and within certain
limits; but when an excessive vibration, due to a sudden jerk, takes place, the
8

page_text: springs t and u yield momentarily and allow the pencil to mark an extraordinary
or elongated line on the paper tape k thus indicating in diagrammatic form that
an imperfection in the permanent way existed at a certain point. When the train
stops at a station, or elsewhere the instrument comes to rest and the pencil,
ceasing to vibrate, marks a continuous straight line which denotes the length of
the stoppage of the train.
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 a clock and gearing for actuating from the clock
movement a travelling paper tape, of a pencil supported by a vibrating counter-
balanced lever and arranged to record the movements of the travelling body in
which the mechanism is carried substantially as herein set forth.
2. The general combination and arrangement of parts constituting an apparatus
for recording the vibratory movements of railway trains and other travelling
bodies substantially as and for the purposes herein described with reference
to the drawings.