Improvements in Railway Switches and Mechanism for Operating same.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 4th Jan., 1900 -Accepted, 10th Feb., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Switches and Mechanism for Operating
same.
I, EPHRAIM BEINEY, of Ellwood, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in railway
switches and mechanism for operating them; the object of the invention being
to provide a device of simple construction combined with the switch-tongues
in such manner as to be capable of operation by improved means on the plat-
form of railway cars.
By these my improvements, the switch-tongues are connected by a cross-
rod. A lever is pivoted to a suitable frame and pivotally connected at one end
to the cross-rod. A pin projects upwardly from the opposite end of the lever
through a slot in a suitable cover-plate. A spring normally holds the lever in
position to close the switch. A catch-arm projects laterally from the lever
and is adapted to be engaged by a bevelled catch on a latch-bolt; the engage-
ment being maintained by means of a spring. A slotted lever, pivoted at
its lower end, has its upper end projecting upwardly above the surface of the
cover plate through a slot therein and is connected to the latch-bolt by means
of a pin which passes through the slot in the lever into the latch-bolt.
The mechanism aforedescribed is operated by means of a triangular shoe,
having a wheel journalled therein, and depending from a vertical plate slidably
mounted through the car-platform and capable of beind raised or lowered when
required by a hand-lever adjustable in any position by means of a segment rack
and spring-pawl. When lowered, the shoe engages the lever or pin which
operates the latch-bolt and permits the switch-tongues to be moved.
By means of a rock-shaft pivoted below the car platform at one end, and pro-
vided with a crank-bend connected to the hand-lever at the opposite end of the
car by a rod, the mechanism may be operated from the opposite end of the car to
that upon which it is situated.
T
1
111
1000
P. R. J. WILLIS,
Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Railway Switches and Mechanism for Operating
same.
I, EPHRAIM BEHNEY, of Elwood, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.,
Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
Price 8d71

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:―
My invention relates to mechanism for shifting the switches of railways, more
particularly relating to devices to be attached to electric or other railway cars
for operating certain mechanisms attached to the switch.
The object of the invention is to furnish improved means, attached to a
passenger car and operated by the motorman, for bringing into play devices
suspended below the car, whereby as the car approaches the switch said sus-
pended devices will actuate mechanism attached to the switch to shift the switch
tongues and retain them in their shifted position until released by certain other
mechanism after the wheels have passed upon the switch.
With this object in view my invention consists in the improved construction
and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described and afterwards specifically
pointed out in the claims.
Reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
specification:-
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a railway and switch equipped
with the switch shifting mechanism which forms part of the invention, the car
and part of its operative mechanism being shewn in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a
bottom plan view of a car, illustrating that portion of my invention which
depends below the bottom of the car. Fig. is a vertical longitudinal section
taken on the plane indicated by the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a
detail sectional view on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional
view taken on the transverse plane indicated by the broken line 5-5 of Fig. 3.
Fig. 6 is a top plan view of that portion of my switch-operating mechanism
which is below ground, the protecting cover being removed. Fig. 7 is a vertical
longitudinal sectional view on the broken line 7-7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a
vertical transverse sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6. Fig. 9 is a detail
sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view
of the latch-bar of the releasing mechanism detached from its connected parts.
Like numerals of reference indicate the same parts wherever they occur
throughout the several drawings.
Referring to the drawings by numerals, 20 and 21 indicate the main rails
of a track, and 22 and 23 the switch-rails, switch-tongues 24 and 25 being
pivoted at 26 and 27 and connected together by a cross-bar 28, pivotally con-
nected to the switch tongues at 29 and 30. A lever 31 pivoted at 32 is connected
at one end pivotally to the cross-bar 28 and is provided at its opposite end with
an upright pin 33, which projects above the surface, passing through a curved
slot 34 in a projecting cover 35, the lever and other switch-shifting mechanism
connected with the track being situated in a depression of pit formed between
the rails.
A spring 36, attached to a bracket 37, (to which the before-mentioned lever 31
is pivoted) normally bears against one side of the lever 31 near its junction
with the cross-rod 28, the tendency of the spring being to force the lever and
the cross-rod laterally in a different direction to normally hold the switch
tongue 24 away from the rail 20 and the switch tongue 25 against the rail 23,
thus maintaining a main line open and the switch closed.
All of the underground switch-shifting mechanism is mounted in a frame 38,
to which the bracket 37 is attached and in which is secured a small frame 39,
in which a latch bolt 40 is mounted to slide longitudinally. The latch-bolt 40
is provided with a bevelled catch 41 and is normally held with the bevelled
catch 41 opposite a notch 42 in the frame 39 by means of a vertical spring 43.
rigidly secured at its lower end by a pin 44 to the side of the frame 39 and
engaging near its upper end between two pins 45, projecting laterally from the
latch bolt. A lever 46 is pivotally secured at 47 to the side of the frame 39
and passes upward above the surface through a slot 48 in the protecting cover 35.

page_text: This lever is connected to the latch bolt 40 by a pin 50, which passes through
a slot 51 in the lever and into the latch bolt.
A catch-arm 52 projects laterally from the bar 31 near its rear end and in
line with the bevelled catch 41 of the latch bolt and the notch 42 of the frame 39.
When the lever 31 is moved laterally in the direction to throw the switch
open, the catch arm 52 passes over the latch-bar, riding over the bevelled
catch 41 until a hook 53 on its outer end engages over the edge of said catch,
it being normally pressed downward to assure such engagement, by spring 54,
secured to the underside of the top of the frame. When the lever 46 is moved
in either direction on its pivot 47, it will move the latch-bolt 40 longitudinally
and will move the catch 41 laterally out of engagement with the hook 53 on
the catch arm 52 of the lever 31, thus releasing said lever and permitting the
frame 36 to throw the lever into its normal position with the switch closed.
From the foregoing description it will be readily understood how the switch
tongue may be shifted by the movement of the pin 33 and lever 46, and I will
now proceed to describe the construction of the mechanism attached to the
car by means of which the lever and pin are actuated while the car is passing
over them.
55 indicates the floor of a car; 56 and 57 the wheels; 58 and 59 the plat-
form; and 60 and 61 the dashboard. 62 indicates a vertical bar mounted to
slide through the platform. A triangular shaped frame 63 is secured to the
lower end of said bar, the side representing the altitude of the triangle lying
in a longitudinal plane and that representing the base lying in a transverse
plane, the third side 64, which represents the hypotenuse, forming a vertical
but laterally inclined surface in line with the pin 33. As the car moves forward
this inclined plane may be brought into contact with the side of the pin 33 to
move it laterally, the contact being cushioned by a spring 65, secured in front
of the inclined surface 64.
66 indicates a hand-lever pivoted at 67 above the platform of the car and is
provided with a pawl 68 to engage the notches of a rack 69 to hold the lever
in any adjusted position, a lever 70 serving to release the pawl from engagement
with the rack. This lever is connected to the upper end of the bar 62 by means
of a screw 71, which passes through the sides of the bar and through its slot 72
in the lever 66. When the sliding bar 62 is depressed a wheel 73, journalled
in its lower end, will rest upon the ground.
74 indicates a cross-bar or rock-shaft journalled in brackets 75 and provided
with cranked bends 76 and 77. A rod 78 is secured at one end to the cranked
bend 77 and passes through a supporting bracket 79 on the bottom of the car-
floor, the rod being secured at the opposite end of the car to the lower end of a
lever 80, pivoted at 81 above the platform and provided with an operating
handle 82 at its upper end. A pawl 83, pivotally connected to the lever,
engages the teeth of a curved rack 84, by means of which the lever may be
retained in any adjustment, a trigger-lever 85 serving to release the pawl when
it is desired to remove the lever.
As before stated the normal position of the switch is closed it being held in
that position by the spring 36. When a car moving along the main track is
to be turned into the switch, the motorman operates the lever 66 downwards
depressing the sliding bars 62 and the triangular frame 63 until the wheel 73
rests upon the ground. The contact of the triangular frame or shoe 63 with
the side of the pin 33, projecting through the slot 34 in the covering plate 35,
will move said pin laterally, carrying the long end of the lever 31 with it, mov-
ing the outer end of the lever in the opposite direction against the action of
the spring 36 and through the medium of the cross-bar 38 shifting the switch
tongues 24 and 25 laterally and opening the switch. The motorman will now
raise the lever 66, the switch being retained in its open position by the engage-
ment of the hook 53 of the latch-arm 52 with the bevelled catch 41 of the latch-
bolt 40. The motorman will now lower the lever 80, which will cause its lower

page_text: end to draw upon the rod 78, oscillating the rock-shaft 74 and bringing the
cranked bend 77 into a vertical position. This cranked bend being in the rear
of the wheels of the car and in line with the lever 46, projecting through the
slot 48 in the covering plate 35, will come in contact with that lever after the
wheels of the car have all passed onto the switch-rail. This contact of the
cranked bend 77 with the lever 46 will move said lever on its pivot and slide
the latch-bolt longitudinally a sufficient distance to cause the catch 41 to pass
out of engagement with the hook 53 of the catch-arm 52, thus releasing the
lever 31, which will be immediately thrown back into its normal position, by
the spring 36 again closing the switch.
The mechanisms described for operating the switch are duplicated at the
opposite ends of the car, so that the car mechanism will be equally operated no
matter which end is approaching the switch. The switch will be maintained
normally closed, so that no action is necessary on the part of the motorman
unless he desires to run the car upon the switch, in which case the depression
of the lever 66 will bring the triangular shoe 63 in position to throw the switch
open, and the latch-arm 52 by engaging with the latch 41 will hold it open and
permit him to raise the shoe at once to prevent it from coming into contact
with the main rail while passing upon the switch. At any time before the
car has passed entirely onto the switch he may depress the lever 80, which will
bring the cranked bend 77 of the rock-shaft 74 into position to move the
lever 46 and release the latch-arm 62 to permit the switch tongues to be returned
by the spring 36 to their normal closed position.
From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided easily operated
mechanism for carrying out the objects of my invention, and while I have
illustrated and described the best means now known to me for carrying out
my invention I do not wish to be understood as restricting myself to the exact
details of construction shown and described, but hold that any slight changes
or variations, such as might suggest themselves to the ordinary mechanic,
would properly fall within the limit and scope of my invention.
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 the switch tongues, of the cross-rod pivotally con-
necting them, the lever pivoted to the frame and pivotally connected at one
end to the cross-rod, the pin projecting upward from the opposite end of the
lever through a slot in the cover-plate, the spring for normally holding the
lever in position to close the switch, the catch-arm projecting laterally from
the lever and provided with a hook at its outer end, the latch-bolt provided
with a bevelled catch to engage said hook, and means for moving the latch-bolt
longitudinally to disengage the catch from the hook and release the lever, sub-
stantially as described.
(2) The combination with the switch tongues, of the cross-rod pivotally con-
necting them, the lever pivoted to the frame and pivotally connected at one
end to the cross-rod, the pin projecting upward from the opposite end of the
lever through a slot in the cover-plate, the spring for normally holding the
lever in position to close the switch, the catch-arm projecting laterally from
the lever, the latch-bolt provided with a bevelled catch to engage said hook,
the spring for maintaining the engagement of the latch arm and catch, the
slotted lever pivoted at its lower end and having its upper end projecting above
the surface through a slot in the surface of the cover-plate, and the pin passing
through the slot in the lever and into the latch-bolt substantially as described.
(3) The combination with the car, of the vertical plate slidably mounted
through the platform, the triangular frame or shoe attached to its lower end,
the spring contact plate secured to said shoe, and the wheel journalled in the
shoe, substantially as described.

page_text: (4) The combination with the car of the vertical plate slidably mounted through
the platform, the triangular frame or shoe attached to its lower end, the slotted
hand-lever pivoted above the platform, the pin passing through the vertical
plate and the slot in the lever, the curved rack, and the pawl mechanism
attached to the lever and engaging the rack, substantially as described.
(5) The combination with the car, of a rock-shaft pivoted below the platform
at one end and provided with a cranked bend, a lever pivoted above the platform
at the opposite end of the car and projecting below it, a rod connecting the lower
end of the lever with the cranked bend, the curved rack, and the pawl-and-
lever mechanism for engaging said rack, substantially as described.
Dated this 4th day of Januar 1900.
P. R. J. WILLIS,
Agent for Applicant.