Improved Mechanism and Arrangements for Working Tell-Tale and other Signals and Switches
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Oct., 1886
Complete Left, 8th Aug., 1887
Complete Accepted, 8th Oct., 1887
I, JOHN FORD of Reading in the county of Berks, Engineer do hereby declare the
nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates more particularly to certain additions to and improvements
upon my previous invention of "Improved Mechanism and Arrangements for
Working Tell-Tale and other Signals and Switches" for which Letters Patent were
granted to me bearing date May 30th 1874 and numbered 1894.
My present invention consists substantially of the following arrangements. In
place of weighting the compensating lever, as shewn in Figure 8 of the drawings
accompanying my said patent No. 1894 of 1874, I now pivot on the fulcrum of the
said compensator a long arm, or preferably two long arms, one on each side of the
compensator, and I connect such arm or arms by means of a tie-bar or bars with
the upper end of the compensator, so that they stand at a right angle therewith; one
or more weights as required are secured upon these arms by set screws, or other
devices, in the desired position.
In certain cases I make these arms and weights of such proportions that their
weight and leverage combined is sufficient or nearly sufficient to pull off the signal
and the tell-tale or repeater, when such is used, and I then mount a kind of bell-crank
lever, having a long and a short arm, upon a standard just in front of the
compensator.
The short end of the said bell-crank lever is normally in a vertical position and is
connected to the lower end of the compensator by means of a chain, but preferably
by means of a rod jointed in the middle.
The long end of the said bell-crank lever is normally in a horizontal position and is
provided with one or more weights, which are so adjusted as to keep the signal and
repeater "on."
Various holes are provided in the standard, the vertical end of the bell-crank lever
and the rod, to permit of easy adjustment for the required position.
This arrangement admits of the most complete adjustment to suit varying
conditions, and enables long distance signals to be pulled off with the minimum
expenditure of power.

page_text: When the compensator is used with a repeater it may sometimes happen that
the travel of the repeater differs from the travel of the signal, and in that case instead
of placing the upper chain pulley between the cheeks of the compensator, I provide a
portable arm to carry the said pulley, capable of being affixed at any height or
on either side of the said cheeks, to suit the particular circumstances of the case.
on the
The object of using two arms to carry the compensator weights is to allow them to
clear the chain or rod which connects the aforesaid bell-crank lever with the
compensator. But when in place of employing two weighted arms
compensator lever, as above described, to clear the rod or chain connecting it with
the aforesaid weighted bell-crank lever, I employ only one weighted arm on the
compensator, I prefer to use two parallel chains or jointed rods to the bell-crank
lever so that the said weighted arm can pass between them.
Various holes are provided in the lower end of the compensator to permit of the
proper adjustment of the pulley carrying the signal and repeater chain or wire, the
attachment for the bell crank lever and the attachment for the pull off wire.
One of the most important features of my present invention consists in an improved
arrangement of the pulling-off wire.
The said wire is led from the signal lever in the usual way and passes round
a pulley attached by a shackle or other suitable device to the lower end of the
compensator, the wire or chain is led back from the said pulley, parallel, or nearly
parallel, with its former direction and is then taken round a pulley on a standard
placed a short distance from the compensator, and fixed to one end of a link, the
other end of which is pivotted to the upper end of the compensator.
The distance from the fulcrum of the compensator to the pulley round which the
pull off wire or chain passes is preferably shorter than the distance from the fulcrum
to the end of the aforesaid link.
An arm is affixed to this link, by means of a short tie-bar or link or other suitable
device, so that it stands at any desired angle thereto, and one or more weights
are provided on this arm capable of adjustment to take up the slack in the pull
off wire. When a repeater is used, I prefer to employ two arms and weights to allow
the repeater wire to pass between them.
The effect of the whole arrangement is, that changes in the angular position of the
compensator lever due to changes in the length of the signal and repeater wire
(or signal wire, when non-repeating) caused by changes in temperature, leave
the pull-off wire practically unaffected."
The aforesaid compensating apparatus, may, if desired, be arranged in a horizontal
position instead of vertically as above described, and in such case, weights hung on
chains or wires passing over pulleys, may be employed in place of the weighted arms
mentioned.
As it is frequently desirable to have a short stroke to the signal lever, I sometimes
employ the following arrangement to effect this purpose:-1 pivot on a standard,
preferably placed near the signal box, an arm or lever having two rows of holes
at right angles to each other, the one row being further from the pivot than the other.
The wire from the cabin is led to a shackle in one of the holes in the row nearest
to the pivot, and a shackle in one of the holes in the outer row, has the end of the
long pull-off wire affixed thereto.
By this means the motion of the lever in the cabin can be short, and the travel of
the pull-off wire can be adjusted with great ease by means of this arrangement.
It will be understood that points switches locking gear and other like devices may
be worked by my apparatus in combination with or in place of a signal, as in
my previous patent No. 1894 of 1874.
Dated this 7th day of Datahan 1000

page_text: I, JOHN FORD of Reading in the county of Berks, Engineer 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 more particularly to certain additions to and improvements
upon my previous invention of "Improved Mechanisin and Arrangements for Working
Tell-tale and other Signals and Switches" for which Letters Patent were granted to
me bearing date May 30th 1874 and numbered 1894.
My present invention consists substantially of the arrangements, as hereinafter
described and illustrated by the accompanying three sheets of drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 is a plan of a compensating arrangement to be
used in working a distant signal in combination with my mechanical repeater. Fig. 3
is a side elevation and Fig. 4 is a plan of a similar compensating arrangement to be
used in working a distant signal without a repeater. Fig. 5 is a detached plan of
part of Figs. 2 and 4. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of an improved arrangement for
locking a signal or other lever or levers in combination with a mechanical repeater.
Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a device to be used in shortening the stroke of the lever
for long distance signals, and Fig. 8 is a device to be used in adjusting the position of
the pull-off chain on the said lever.
Similar letters of reference are used to denote similar or corresponding parts
throughout the said drawings.
In Figs. 1 and 2 the compensator is mainly an improved form of the compensator
shewn in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings accompanying the specification of my afore-
said Letters Patent, No. 1894 of 1874. A, A is a timber, forming a foundation to
which the various parts of the apparatus are attached. This timber is shewn as
bolted or screwed to four short cross timbers or sleepers B, B, B, B, sunk in the
ballast, but it may be secured in any other suitable manner. C is a bed plate bolted
to A, A, and having the standards D, D' affixed to it by means of countersunk square
headed bolts E. The openings in the plate (for the said bolts are slotted as shewn
in Fig. 5, to permit of the distance between the standards D, D₁ being adjusted as
required. F, F are two bars, which form the compensating lever. They are secured
together at the ends by rivets or bolts and distance pieces, and are provided with
bosses, at or near their centre, which are bored to receive the fulcrum pin F². Instead
of weighting the lever F, F, after the manner shewn at V in Fig. 8 of the drawings
of my aforesaid patent No. 1894 of 1874, I provide a long arm H, having a forked
end H, the extremities of the fork being made with lugs or projections H2, which
embrace the edges of the bars F, F. The said arm H may thus be slid up or down
for adjustment and secured by a bolt or set screws H³. One or more weights J, J¹
are secured on the armn H, and in order to take the strain off the joint at H³ a link K,
with forked ends, is pivotted to the arm H and secured by a bolt in one or other of
the series of holes formed in the upper ends of the levers F, F. Two flat links may
ી

page_text: be used in place of the single link with forked ends, if desired. L, L', are pulleys,
pivotted on bolts or pins within the sides of the lever F, F.
A chain M. passes
around the said pullies, the wire M' actuating the distant signal being affixed to one
end, and the wire M2 actuating the mechanical repeater or tell talo, being affixed to
the other end thereof. If the apparatus be situated halfway between the distant signal
and the repeater, the pulleys L, L' are placed at equal distances from the centre F²,
but if otherwise then the said pulleys are shifted, by means of the holes shewn in the
ends of the compensating lever, so that their distances from the centre shall be in
proportion to the distances of the apparatus from the distant signal and repeater
respectively. It is however generally advisable to place the compensator as nearly as
may be practicable at an equal distance from both the said points.
preferably make the levers F, F, arm H and weights J, J of such proportions
that their weight and leverage combined are sufficient or nearly sufficient to pull off
the signal and the repeater or tell tale, and I then mount on the timber A, A, a bell
crank lever N, N³, having a long arm N, and a short arm N'. The short arm N¹ is
normally in a vertical position and is connected to the lower end of the compen-
sator F, F by means of a pair of rods O, O', jointed in the middle, as shewn.
The object of these double rods being to allow the arm H with its weights J, J¹ to
pass between them when moving downwards. The long arm N is normally in a
horizontal position and is provided with one or more weights P, which are so adjusted
as to keep the signal and repeater "on.". Various holes are provided in the lever and
standard to permit of adjustment and the arm N is cranked as shewn in Fig. 2 to
clear the signal wire M.
This arrangement admits of the most complete adjustment to suit varying conditions
and enables long distance signals to be pulled off with the minimum expenditure of
power.
One of the most important features of my present invention consists in an improved
arrangement for connecting the pull-off wire Q with the compensator F, F. This
wire is led from the signal lever in the usual way and connected to a chain Q which
passes around a pulley R pivotted in the end of the joint arm 02 which is pivotted in
the lower end of the compensator and has the rods O, O' attached to its other end,
this chain is then led back from the pulley R parallel or nearly parallel with its
former direction and is taken round a pulley R', carried on a standard, as shewn, at a
short distance from the compensator, and fixed to one end of a link R2, which is
pivotted to the upper end of the compensator.
The distance from the fulcrum F2 of the compensator to the pulley R is preferably
shorter than the distance from the said fulcrum to the pivot of the link R². A
weight S is hung from the link R² to take up the slack in the pull-off chain Q¹ and
wire Q.
Various holes are provided in the link R2 so that the effect of the said weight S
may be regulated according to the hole from which it is hung.
It will be seen clearly, that, as the result of this arrangement, changes in the
angular position of the compensator F, F', due to changes in the length of the signal
and repeater wire M, M², caused by changes in temperature, leave the pull-off
wire practically unaffected and so enable the signal and repeater to be pulled
"off," or allowed to go "on," with certainty, without regard being had to such
changes of temperature.
An adjustable stop m may be bolted on the chain M in front of the bottom end of
the compensator. It is preferably made in halves to clip the chain, so that it can
readily be fixed where required, and its object is to cause the repeater to be auto-
matically pulled "off," and so give warning in the cabin, in the event of breakage of
the signal wire M', of the rods 0, 0, or of tampering with the distant signal.
A gong may be connected with the repeater in order to render such warning more
effective.
The above description of Figs. 1 and 2 will, to a great extent, apply to the non-
repeating arrangement shewn in Figs. 3 and 4; the exceptions being that as the
chain M does not pass through the compensator no pulleys L, L' are required, and

page_text: the signal wire M' is permanently connected to the lower end of the compensator
and the said compensator may therefore be formed of a single flat bar F, as shewn.
Again, the arm H is placed at the centre of the compensator, and the cheeks of the
said arm serve as bosses thereto. This arm may be adjusted at any angle with
the compensator, that may be required, by means of the holes in the top end of the
said compensator and the stay bar K. This arrangement of the arm H, may, if
desired, be applied to the repeating apparatus in Figs. 1 and 2 in place of that shewn.
In place of jointed rods to connect the bell crank lever N, N₁ with the compensator,
chains O, O are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 as an alternative arrangement.
Either of the aforesaid forms of compensating apparatus may, if desired, be arranged
in a horizontal instead of a vertical position, as shewn, and in that case, weights hung
in a pit or pits by chains passing over pulleys would be employed in place of the
various weighted arms and links, as shewn and described.
In the case of signals at a great distance from the cabin, say for distances over
1100 yards, in order to keep the stroke of the lever of the ordinary length I employ
the arrangement shewn in Fig. 7 to effect this purpose. I pivot on a Standard T,
preferably placed near the signal box, an arm or lever T, T, having two rows of
holes as shewn, arranged at right angles to each other. The wire U from the lever
in the cabin is led to a shackle fixed in one of the holes in the row T, and a
shackle Jin one of the holes in the row T2 has the end of the long pull off wire Q
affixed thereto, this wire is led downwards and passes under the pulley V to the
Compensator.
By reason of the peculiar form of the arm or lever T1, T2, it will be seen that the
motion of the lever in the cabin can be short, or of the usual stroke, while the travel
of the pull-off wire can be adjusted with great ease and exactness.
It will be understood that points, switches, locking gear and other like devices may
be worked by my present apparatus in combination with, or in place of, a signal or
repeater, as in my previous Letters Patent No. 1894 of 1874.
Fig. shews a method of operating a signal lover locking device in combination
with a mechanical repeater. 2 is the mechanical repeater or tell-tale worked from
the next cabin below, with a similar repeater, in connection with my improved
compensating apparatus as shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
3 is a rock shaft pivotted in an arm 4 at each end, these said arms are provided
with slots, as shown, to enable the shaft to be fixed by bolts in any required position.
This shaft has an arm 5 keyed upon it, connected to the lever 6 by the joint rod 7, so
that the said shaft moves when the repeater is worked by the wire M from the com-
pensator. Any desired form of locking gear may be operated by this shaft. As
shewn one or more curved tumblers & are keyed on it which engage with pieces 9 in
brackets bolted on to the levers 10 and so lock the said levers. When the repeater is
pulled off these tumblers release the particular levers with which they are con-
nected. In place of the curved tumbler shewn, sliding or other desired locking
devices may be operated from the shaft 3. 11 is a gong which is worked at the same
time by means of any suitable connection from the said shaft 3.
It is obvious that in place of the repeater 2 in the cabin a signal outside may be
worked from the lever 6, or both a signal and a repeater may be so worked if
desired.
In Fig. 8, 12 is a short sleeve or collar which fits on the lower end of the signal
lever and can be secured in any desired position thereon by the set screw 13, the pull
off wire is attached to the shackle 14 and when the right position is found, the lever
is marked and drilled for the permanent connection with the wire.
With reference to the arrangement shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 for connecting
the pull off wire Q with the compensator, it may be remarked that in cases where
arrangements for taking up the slack in the pull off wire in or near the cabin already
exist, I may dispense with the above described method and attach such wire directly
to the compensator, if specially desired, though I much prefer to make use of my
improved arrangement for this purpose. The compensating apparatus may be made
in such proportions that it can easily be fixed under the nosing of a station platform,

page_text: and a small sized portable form of the apparatus would be found of great value for
temporary use to work a gong or signal to warn men engaged in repairs on the line
of the approach of a train from the nearest station or cabin, more especially when
such work is being carried on during foggy weather, or when the line is hidden by a
curve.
When it is not required to work a repeater in combination with the signal the
compensator may be placed at any distanco from the cabin that is most convenient.
In all the various methods of carrying out my invention, I obtain greater ease and
certainty in pulling a distant signal "off" and in letting it go "on," than is found
possible in existing arrangements. Thus in a non-repeating arrangement, there are
two weighted levers to put the signal to danger and only one to pull "off" at the
compensator, while in the repeating arrangement there are three weights to danger,
and only one to pull "off" as before at the compensator.
The pull off is thus light, while there is ample power to run the wire back when the
signal returns to danger.
When the repeater is used in combination with the automatic compensation,
instant and certain warning is given in the cabin not only of any failure or irregu-
larity in the working of the signal, but also of the exact amount of such failure or
irregularity.
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 arrangement for connecting the pull-off wire Q with the compensator F
so that the length of the said wire is practically unaffected by the automatic action of
the said compensator substantially as herein described and shewn with reference to
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
(2.) The combination with the compensator F of the weighted lever N, N',
substantially as and for the purposes lierein described and shewn with reference to
Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
(3.) The arrangement as herein described and shewn with reference to Figs. 3 and 4
of the accompanying drawings for enabling the weighted arm H to be set at any
desired angle with the compensator F.
(4.) The combination with the chain M of an adjustable stop m, substantially as
and for the purposes herein described and shown.
(5.) The arm or lever for adjusting the ratio between the stroke of the signal
lover and the travel of the pull-off wire, substantially as herein described and shewn
with reference to Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings.
(6.) The combination with my improved compensating apparatus of a rock shaft 3
pivotted in slotted arms 4 and provided with tumblers 8, or other suitable lever
locking devices, substantially as herein described and shewn with reference to Fig. 6
of the accompanying drawings.