IMPROVED MEANS OF SIGNALLING ON RAILWAYS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nathan Ager, of 28, Grosvenor Road, Thames
Bank, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, and William Percival
Pickering, of 11, Angel Court, in the City of London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF SIGNALLING ON RAILWAYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nathan Ager and
William Percival Pickering at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 9th December 1870.
We, NATHAN AGER, of 28, Grosvenor Road, Thames Bank, Pimlico,
in the County of Middlesex, and WILLIAM PERCIVAL PICKERING, of
11, Angel Court, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF SIGNALLING ON RAILWAYS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to means of signalling on railways whereby
trains can be signalled from a distance, and thus indicate to the driver
or guard, or both, the fact of the line being blocked through an
accident or otherwise.

page_text: The Invention is applicable to night and day service, and can be used
with advantage in dull or foggy weather.
One method of carrying our Invention into effect is to carry a rod or
wire from a fixed station, such as a signal box or other signal point.
This rod is in connection with levers, rods, or other appliances at a 5
distance therefrom, and these lead to other levers or rods, which have
a rising and falling motion imparted to them to bring an arm or one of
the levers up into a vertical position, so that a bar or other appliance
(on the engine, carriage, or brake) in connection with a gong or other
sound-creating instrument shall be struck or sounded, and thus indicate 1
that the line is obstructed.
Rollers wheels, and chains may he employed to assist the working of
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Nathan Ager and William Percival Pickering 1
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, NATHAN
AGER, of 28, Grosvenor Road, Thames Bank, Pimlico, in the County of
Middlesex, and WILLIAM PERCIVAL PICKERING, of 11, Angel Court, in
the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Nathan Ager and William Percival
Pickering, Her special licence that I, the said Nathan Ager and
William Percival Pickering, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Nathan Ager and William Percival
Pickering, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for

page_text: "IMPROVED MEANS OF SIGNALLING ON RAILWAYS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Nathan Ager and William Percival
Pickering, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or one of our or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and.
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NÓW´ KNOW, YE, that we, the said Nathan Ager and William Percival
Pickering, do hereby declare the nature of our said, Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference.
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to means of signalling on railways whereby
trains can be signalled from a distance, and thus indicate to the driver
or guard, or both, the fact of the line being blocked through an accident
or; otherwise.
:
The Invention is applicable to night and day service, and can be used
with advantage in dull or foggy weather:
One method of carrying our Invention into effect is to carry a rod or
wire from a fixed station, such as a signal box or other signal point.
This rod is in connection with levers, rods, or other appliances at a
distance therefrom, and these lead to other levers or rods which have a
rising and falling motion imparted to them to bring an arm or one of the
levers up into. a vertical position, so that a bar or other appliance on the
engine, carriage, or break in connection with a gong or other sound-
giving instrument shall be struck or sounded, and thus indicate that the
line is obstructed.
0 Rollers, wheels, and chains may be employed to assist the working of
the apparatus as found necessary.
The manner of carrying our Invention into effect is represented in
the accompanying Drawings, in which a, Figure 1, is a lever or camber
which has a rising motion imparted to it by the action of the pull cord
5 actuated at the signal box or other point, and also a falling motion
through the action of a counterpoise or weight.

page_text: a is the lever or camber working in a kind of box or frame & to pre-
serve its parallel vertical movements. The bed plate of the box 6 has
a planed surface on which a brace or sliding frame c moves, and it is
this brace which causes the camber a to rise by small rollers d, d, on its
sides riding up the inclines of the plates or cheeks e, e, as will be under-
stood. One end of the brace has the pull cord or rod leading from
the signal point fastened to it, while the other end has a chain g, on the
end of which a counterpoise or weight is suspended, so that when the
pull lever is released the descent of the weight causes the camber to
lower itself, which it does by the rollers d, d, riding down the inclines.
of the checks e, e. When the camber is in its raised position, as shown
in the Figure, it stands in the way of a roller i fitted in a bracket j
secured on the side frame of an engine, a break, or other carriage, the
bracket being of the form shown in the front and side views, Figures 2
and 3.
The top edge of the camber a iş rounded, and as the roller rides over
it the roller is raised and its stem & thereby acts upon a cord 7 which
is in connection with a striker or hammer of a gong m or other sound-
giving instrument on the engine, break, or carriage, and within call of
the driver, guard, or other attendant. This will be clearly understood?
on reference to Figure 4, in which an engine is shown with a bracket j
on its side frame, and with a roller i in connection with a gong m
through a cord running under the side foot plate. The axle of the
roller i is supported by a strap o, and its outer ends have square blocks
on them to slide in slots or grooves in the bracket to preserve the 2
vertical action, and to prevent the strap and roller twisting. Cushions
of rubber or other materials, z, are employed to lessen the concussion of
the stem and its roller

page_text: The spindle or axle pins p, p, of this camber carry short arms q, q, to
one of which the pull cord f is attached, and to the other the chain of
the counterpoise h. We fit a stop piecor on the frame for the camber
to abut against when it is brought into a vertical position, and also for
it to rest upon when it is turned down to be out of action.
This form of camber may be of any length and curvature to suit the
position and the
purpose for which it is employed, and the frame may be
formed with metal ends and with the space between filled in with wood
or in any other manner.
In most cases we propose to fit the stop piece at the centre of the
apparatus, but it may be fitted at any other part, or it may have two of
such stop pieces.
We do not in all cases fit the camber a in a frame to rest upon the
ground, as it can be arranged on the engine in the manner shown in
Figure 11, so that it can be swung to one side when it strikes against a
roller & thrown up in its way; this roller s'is upon short arms t, t, and
the axle ends have cords and a counterpoise for actuating the roller in a
similar manner to the last-mentioned camber, as shewn in the separate
views, Figures 12 and 13.
The camber shown in Figure 11 is centred upon a pin at u, and from
this part two arms v, v, extend to carry cords or wires w, wo, leading to
a slip hammer or striker of the gong m.
The pull cord or rod may be in connection with semaphore arms or
signal lights, and these may work in conjunction with the camber of
the first and second arrangements, or with the roller of the third arrange-
ment if found desirable. .
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as
our Invention,--
Firstly. The means of signalling on railways, as herein-before described
and shown.
Secondly. The apparatus and its modification herein-before described
and shown in Figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: And, thirdly. We claim the apparatus herein described and shown in
Figures 11, 12, and 13 of the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, we, the said Nathan Ager and William
Percival Pickering, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Eighth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and seventy- t
one.
Witness,
H. GARDNER,
Patent Office,
.166, Fleet Street,
E.C.
NATHAN AGER. (L.S.)
W. P. PICKERING. (L.S.)
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