IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKING, GOVERNING, OR LOCKING OF RAILWAY SIGNALS AND SWITCHES."
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hill, of the Town and County of the Town of
Nottingham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKING,
GOVERNING, OR LOCKING OF RAILWAY SIGNALS AND SWITCHES."
GOVERNING, OR LOCKING OF RAILWAY SIGNALS AND SWITCHES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hill at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd June
1866.
I, HENRY HILL, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
WORKING, GOVERNING, OR LOCKING OF RAILWAY SIGNALS AND SWITCHES," to be as
follows:-
I arrange levers in a frame in such manner as shall admit of certain of
them having two different movements, for instance, a forward and a backward
movement. I provide the levers with slotted rods, chains, or cams, which
connect them with two or more signals or switches, so that each movement of
the lever shall affect one signal or switch without altering the position of
the other signal or switch.
Secondly, I make the levers pass through plates in which are openings or
perforations with straight, diagonal, or otherwise shaped slots, and arranged

page_text: in suchwise that one plate may be acted upon by more than one lever, so as
to be capable of producing more than one combination, whereby if any one of
the levers is moved all other levers actuating the signals or switches which it
would be dangerous to move at the same time will be locked or fastened, and
all those levers actuating signals or switches the movement of which would
pot be dangerous will be liberated.
Thirdly, I arrange my apparatus in such manner that the movement of any
lever causes the locking plate or plates to slide backwards or forwards, so that
the stops which are formed by the slots cut in the plate or plates shall be
presented to or be moved across the edge or edges of the other levers
actuating the signals or switches which it would be dangerous to move at the
same time. These sluts I cut in such form that no signals can be moved
until the corresponding points or switches are in proper position, and such
signals when lowered or placed at "all right" will fasten the corresponding
points or switches so that they cannot be altered until the signals are returned
to "danger,"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HILL, of the Town and County of the Town of Nottingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Hill, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Hill, executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Hill, my
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WORKING,
GOVERNING, OR LOCKING OF RAILWAY SIGNALS AND SWITCHES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Hill, executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that Ì, the said Henry Hill, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :--
I arrange levers in a frame in such manner as to admit of certain of themi
having two different movements, a forward and a backward movement. I
provide such levers with slotted rods or with chains or cams, which connect
them with two or more signals or switches, so that each movement of the
lever shall affect one signal or switch without altering the position of the
other signal or switch.
Secondly, I make the levers pass through plates in which are openings,
apertures, or perforations with straight, diagonal, or otherwise shaped slots,
and arranged in such wise that one plate generally is acted upon by more than
one lever, so as to be capable of producing more than one combination,
whereby if any one of the levers is moved all other levers actuating the
signals or switches which it would be dangerous to move at the same time
will be locked or fastened, and all those levers actuating signals or switches, the
movement of which would not be dangerous, will be liberated.
Thirdly, I arrange my apparatus in such manner that the movement of any
lever causes the locking plate or plates to slide backwards or forwards, so that
the stops which are formed by the slots cut in the plate or plates shall be
presented to or moved across the edge or edges of the other levers actuating
signals or switches which it would be dangerous to move at the same time.
I cut these slots in such form or shape that no signals can be moved until
the corresponding points or switches are in proper position, and such signals
when lowered or placed at "all right" will fasten the corresponding points
or switches so that they cannot be altered until the signals are returned to
"danger."
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I now proceed to
describe more fully the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

page_text: line of rails marked K, a main up line of rails K¹, and a branch down
line K, also a branch up line K³, connected respectively with the main down
line and main up line, and the signal house K, in which is contained the
apparatus hereafter referred to for moving the signals and switches belonging
to the said lines of railway. The number of plates (also hereafter referred
to) and the perforations in the same will depend upon the number of levers
required, and upon the arrangement and combination of the locking of the
levers actuating the signals and switches which the junction or junctions of
the railway may render necessary; hence I have considered it to be necessary
only to shew the application of my Invention by way of exemplification as-
applied to a junction of two branch lines of railway with two main lines of
railway, as shewn at Figure 1.
Figure 1* is a sectional view of an apparatus constructed according to my
improvements adapted to the arrangement shewn in Figure 1, looking from
une end; Figure 2, a sectional view as seen from the side thereof, seen length-
wise of the apparatus; in this view the same number of hand levers are
shewn as are seen at Figure 1*.
The apparatus shown at Figures 1 and 2 consists of two end standards A
and an intermediate but somewhat shorter standard A¹ (the number of such
standards will of course depend upon the number of levers employed); each
such standard forms a bearing for an axle or axles, upon which rock certain
levers hereafter referred to. These standards are firmly bolted down or
otherwise secured to strong beams B, which are supported by the walls of the
signal house, upon two of the floor joists B¹ of which is laid a strong cast-iron
plate frame C, which is bolted or otherwise secured to and supported by the
standards. Upon the upper side of this plate a slotted cover plate D is secured
by screws, in the slots of which plate D slide hand levers H, H, H³, H³,
which have bosses upon their lower ends, and which are bored out to receive
the axle or axles supported by the standards, the intermediate spaces between
such bosses are filled by collars slipped upon the axle or axles. Upon the
top of the plate C are secured a number of slotted brackets E, in the slots of
which slide two plates F perforated with straight, diagonal, or other shaped
slots in the direction of the width of the plates. Through these slots and also
through the slots in the cover plate D, and likewise through the open space in
the frame C, pass levers H, H1, H2, H; the plates F are also slotted in the
direction of their length; the upper plate has two such slots, and the lower
plate has four such slots; the length of these slots and also the form of the
slots across the plates are seen in each of the plates at Figures 8 and 9, which
represent respectively the upper and lower plate with the levers E, H¹, H', H³,

page_text: shown in section passing through them. The lower plate, except at such
times when it is acted upon by one or other of the levers H1, H3, is held in a
normal position by the weighted bell-crank levers G, of which there are two
to each plate F, each lever being provided with an adjustable stop, as shewn ;
the ends of the said levers which operate upon the upper plate, shown at
Figure 8, pass through the longest slots in the lower plate and take into the
slots in the direction of the length of the upper plate, so that although these
levers operate upon one or other of the ends of the upper plate, they are free
to slide to and fro in the long slots in the lower plate without operating upon
the said lower plate; the other pair of weighted levers which operate upon the
lowest plate have their upper ends passed into the shortest slots in the plate,
as seen at Figure 9, and as such lever ends are somewhat shorter than the
ends of the levers operating upon the upper plate, they therefore do not
interfero with the movements of the upper plate. The positions of the levers
H, H, H, H, are the same as those shown in Figures 1 and 2. The
signals for the four lines of railway, as shown at Figure 1, are actuated by the
levers H and H' in the following manner :-Both levers at their lowest end
have an axle or pin passed through and secured in them, so as to project on
each side thereof, and upon each side of the levers is a slotted link or rod, the
end of which is secured upon the axle or pin by a washer and nut in such
manner that the slotted link or rod is secured to the lever end, but the axle
or pin is capable of sliding in the slots in suchwise that when the levers aro
thrust to the right the slotted link or rod on the right will be moved without
operating upon the one on the left, and vice versa. The slotted link may
form one end of a rod connected directly with the crank of the signals, or it
may form one of a series of links, rods, and cranks for actuating the signals.
The slotted ends of a pair of such links or rod ends are shown in side view at
Figure 5, and in plan at Figure 6. In like manner the levers H² and H³
may have their lower ends attached to the forked ends of rods, which may be
attached to other links, rods, or cranks, to move the points or switches.
At Figure 7 is represented an enlarged plan of the plate frame C and
slotted cover plate D, the recesses in the slots of which are marked L and L'
to L' respectively, in order to denote the several positions in which the levers
may be placed. Thus, if the four levers were placed as seen at Figures 1^,
2, 7, 8, and 9, all the signals would denote "danger," but the main down line
and the main up line switches would be open or set, in such case the levers
H and I would stand at the points L' and L, as seen at Figures 7, and the
levers Hand H³ at the points L³ and L³, and the levers actuating the main
up and the main down line signals would be at liberty to be moved. The

page_text: levers placed as seen at Figure 3 would stand at the points L, L, L', L';
the levers placed at the several points marked at Figure 7 indicate as follows,
viz L, the main down line signal "all right;" L', "danger;" L, the
branch down line signal "all right;" L, "main down line points set;"
L, "branch down line points set ;" L, main up line signal "all right;"
L', "danger;" L', branch up line signal "all right;" L³, "main up line
points set;" L, "branch up line points set.
In describing the working of the plates F it will be sufficient, for example,
to trace the results of working one or two of the levers. Thus when the
levers Hand H are in the position of Figure 8, the main down line points
are set and the signal is at "danger," but the lever H is at liberty to be acted
upon in a direction towards the line of rails, which would be upwards on the
plan, which movement would place the main down line signal at "all right,"
and would cause the plate to slide to the right, carrying the weighted lever at
the left-hand towards the right, thereby locking the lever II; then when
the lever H is moved back, the weighted lever on the left will bring the
plate again to its normal position; or if the lever H³ is moved first downwards,
or from the rails, it will lock the main down line signal at "danger," and will
liberate the lever H ready to set the branch down line signal at "all right;"
this lever H also locks the main up line signal lever H' at "danger," then if the
lever H, which is at liberty in the direction from the line, is moved downwards
as on plan, it places the branch down line signal at "all right," and also
fastens the branch down line points in position.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I declare that I claim the arrangement
and combination of apparatus substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hill, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
GEO. JON. ROBINSON,
Patent Office,
Nottingham.
HENRY HILL. (L.S.)