CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING RAILWAY BREAKS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Hodson and Richard Hill, both of Bolton,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING RAILWAY
BREAKS."
Sealed the 16th June 1871, and dated the 6th January 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Hodson and
Richard Hill at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 6th January 1871.
We, EDWARD HODSON and RICHARD HILL, both of Bolton, in the
6 County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
APPLYING RAILWAY BREAKS," to be as follows:-

page_text: to the driver of a passing train, so as to call the attention of the said
driver when owing to fogs or other causes the usual signals cannot be
seen, also to open the safety or other valves, and to apply the breaks.
In performing our Invention we employ an inclined plane or other
equivalent, either between or on one or both sides of the rails; this
inclined plane or other equivalent can be raised or lowered by a lever
actuated by the official at the station, and when it is raised it acts on a
lever or other equivalent connected to the locomotive engine; this lever
is connected to the whistle or other alarum on the engine to give notice
to the driver, or it may be connected to the safety or other valve to
blow off the steam, or it may be made to apply the breaks by connecting
the break lever to the lever actuated by the inclined plane. It is evident
that the inclined plane or other equivalent may be placed at any distance
from a station, crossing, or siding, so as to give the signal, blow off the
steam or apply the breaks at the proper time.
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Hodson and Richard Hill in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 4th July 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
HODSON and RICHARD HILL, both of Bolton, in the County of Lancaster,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Edward Hodson and Richard Hill;
Her special licence that we, the said Edward Hodson and Richard
Hill, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Edward Hodson and Richard Hill, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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
'

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAILWAY SIGNALS AND IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING RAILWAY BREAKS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edward Hodson and
Richard Hill, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nattire. 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 Ietters
Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edward Hodson and Richard
Hill, 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 (that is to say) :-
The object of our Invention is to place the control of the engine
whistle or other alarum in the hands of the station master or other
official at the station or other part of a railway, to communicate signals
to the driver of an incoming or passing train, so as to call the attention.
of the driver to the fact that the signals are against him when owing
to fogs or other causes the usual signals cannot be seen, also to open
the safety or other valve and to apply the breaks if requisite.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily.
carried into operation we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 represents the sleepers, rails, and part of an ordinary loco-
imotive steam engine to which our improvements are applied; Fig. 2 is
an end view, and Fig. 3 a plan of the same. In these views a, a, are the
sleepers; b, b, the rails; c, the fire-box of a locomotive, and d the steam
whistle, which parts are made as usual; e is a long lever which is jointed
at e to a stud passing through the bracket f secured to any of the
sleepers a; this lever is placed near the distance signal or at any con-
venient distance beyond it, and its upper surface forms a double incline,
through this lever is a slot in which the stud projecting from the lever g
passes, this lever g is fixed on the shaft. g', which is supported in. the
bearings secured to two of the sleepers a. To the shaft is also

page_text: fixed the weighted tumbler lever g³, and the lever ³ which is connected
by wires p to the ordinary semaphore. To the front of the fire-box c;
or to any other convenient part of the locomotive engine or tender, is
fixed the plate i, which forms the bearing for one end of the shaft j,
the other end of which is supported in the bearing k. To the shaft ; is
fixed the flat lever j", and the short lever 12, which is connected by the
links to the vertical rod m, the upper end of which is connected
to the tap for admitting or shutting off steam to the steam whistle d:
The rod m when down, as shewn in Fig. 2, is held down by the catch n,
which is liberated by the attendant when required.
The mode of operation is as follows, and the Drawing represents the
parts in the positions they occupy when the signal has been given by
letting the steam act on the steam whistle :-As soon as the attendant
unlatches the catch », and the flat lever j¹ has been carried beyond the
inclined lever e, the flat lever j¹ assumes the, vertical position shewn in
dotted lines, thereby lifting the rod m and shutting the steam off the
whistle. The signalman at the station or crossing by acting on the
semaphore and through it on the lever g³ can then turn the shaft g³ so
as to bring the upper surface of the long lever e rather below the level
of the rails to enable the flat lever j¹ to pass without coming in contact
with it until it is again necessary to communicate a signal to the driver
of the train, when the attendant again lifts the long lever e by turning
the shaft g' partially round.
By this arrangement the station master or other official can communi-
cate signals to the driver of an incoming train, when owing to fogs or
other causes the usual signals cannot be seen.
We wish to observe that our Invention may be modified by dispensing
with the lever and links I, and using instead the eccentric segment o,.
sce Figs. 4 and 5; this segment fits in the hoop m' at the bottom of the
rod m, and as the shaft j is moved partly round raises or lowers the
rod m.
The rod m or its equivalent may be connected to any other
alarum, or to the safety valve, or a similar arrangement of machinery
may be connected to the break lever if required in order to apply the
breaks to the wheels in addition to giving the signal.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described a con-
venient manner of performing the same, we declare that we claim the

page_text: improved combinations of machinery shewn and described for signalling
on railways, and for applying railway breaks if required.
-
In witness whereof, we, the said Edward Hodson and Richard
Hill, have hereto set our hands and seals, this Third day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.