IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS POR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND FOR VENTILATING THE SAME
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Smith, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Strect, in the City of London,
Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS POR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND FOR
VENTILATING THE SAME."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Porter Michaels and Lewis Wells Broadwell, both residing at
Vienna, in the Empire of Austria.
Sealed the 9th August 1872, and dated the 15th February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th February 1872.
I, THOMAS JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and
Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS
OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND FOR
VENTILATING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improved means of communicating from one
carriage to another of a railway train, or from any carriage thereof to

page_text: the guard; and consists chiefly in fixing or arranging one or more tubes
along the upper part of cach carriage in such a manner that a scream
or a cry for assistance could be heard through a portion or through the
whole of the train. The tube or tubes, covered or not with a non-
conductor, is preferably arranged in the inside or on the outside and
near the roof of each carriage, and is provided with bell or conical
shaped openings through which any unusual sound, such as a scream or
a cry for assistance, would pass and be then carried along the tube to
the next carriage or to the guard's van according to circumstances.
Each bell or cone is provided with a flap or valve, which is always
partially closed to prevent a rush of air into the compartment. The
outside ends of the tube have each a conical or other shaped mouth or
connecting piece for establishing a communication from carriage to
carriage, the mouth picces being made of flexible material with springs
in the inside so that it will yield under pressure and maintain a tight
fitting joint at all times.
The tube may have a telegraph wire in or on it, the free ends of which
can be arranged to touch to complete the line from one end of the
train to the other; by this means the guard at the rear of the train could
operate upon a bell or gong upon the engine, and thus draw the driver's
attention to him at any moment.
The tube with its bell-shaped openings also serves to ventilate each
compartment, a very necessary adjunct, not only because smoking
carriages are attached to every train but because vitiated air accumulates
when the windows are closed.
The joints or mouthpieces herein-before mentioned are also applicable
for pipes used for conveying steam, gas, or air for heating the compart-
ments of the carriages.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas James Smith in the Great Seal Patent 30
Office on the 15th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES SMITH, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166,
Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Thomas James Smith, Her special licence
that I, the said Thomas James Smith, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas James Smith, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN RAILWAY CARRIAGES, AND FOR Ventilating
THE SAME," (a communication from abroad by Joseph Porter Michaels
and Lewis Wells Broadwell, both residing at Vienna, in the Empire of
Austria, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
James Smith, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas James Smith, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 improved means of communicating from
one carriage to another of a railway train, or from any carriage thereof
to the guard, and consists chiefly in fixing or arranging one or more
tubes along the upper part of each carriage in such a manner that a
scream or a cry for assistance could be heard through a portion or
through the whole of the train. The tube or tubes, covered or not with
a non-conductor, is preferably arranged in the inside or on the outside
and near the roof of each carriage, and is provided with bell or conical-
shaped openings, through which any unusual sound, such as a scream or
a cry for assistance, would pass, and be then carried along the tube to
the next carriage or to the guard's van, according to circumstances.

page_text: Each bell or cone is provided with a flap or valve, which is always
partially closed to prevent a rush of air into the compartment. The
outside ends of the tube have each a conical or other shaped mouth or
connecting piece for establishing a communication from carriage to
carriage, the mouth pieces being made of flexible material, with springs
in the inside, so that they will yield under pressure and maintain a
tight fitting joint at all times.
The tube may have a telegraph wire in or on it, the free ends of which
can be arranged to touch to complete the line from one end of the train
to the other. By this means the guard at the rear of the train could
operate upon a bell or gong upon the engine, and thus draw the driver's
attention to him at any moment.
The tube with its bell-shaped openings also serves to ventilate each
compartment, a very necessary adjunct, not only because smoking
carriages are attached to every train, but because vitiated air accumulates
when the windows are closed.
The joints or mouthpieces herein-before mentioned are also applicable
for pipes used for conveying steam, gas, or air for heating the com-
partments of the carriages.
The manner of carrying the Invention into effect is represented in
the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a sectional view
of part of a railway carriage with the sound conducting tube a arranged
along the inside of the roof, and passing out at the ends, where conical-
shaped connection pieces b, b, are attached to complete the passage
through the required length of the train. The tube a is supported from
the roof by ring brackets or by the partitions c, as shewn, which divide
the carriage into compartments, in cach of which a bell or cone d is
attached to the tube a, for the purpose of catching any unusual loud
noise, and enable it to enter the tube, along which it would be free to
travel to the guard's van or to the conductor's compartment to make him
cognizant of his attention being required. The bells or cones can be of
thin sensitive metal capable of expanding or developing sound within
the tube, particularly those sounds proceeding from persons in danger
or seized with fright, and when assistance is needed. The bells or
cones may, however, be of any material, and a sound developing body
can be fitted in the tube over each bell.
In Figure 1 a flat plate e is shewn upon pivots, the plate being
slightly heavier on one side than on the other, so that the passage of air

page_text: through the tube may cause and maintain the necessary vibrations by
which the sound is developed and transmitted through the tube. It is
not necessary that the developing plate or body should be flat, as it may
be of any shape, and may be fitted in other parts of the tube. The only
advantage to be derived from the use of the plate is the developing of
sound to cause its volume to be sharper and more sensitive to the
car than it would be were no plate employed.
In many instances the developing plates or bodies would not be
required, as plain tubes with bells or cones would be sufficient in trains
of moderate lengths for conveying sounds from one end to the other,
both in the open and in tunnels, as the Inventors have tested by experi-
ments. Plain tubes can also be used for any length of train by noting
to the occupants of other compartments by a printed card, or otherwise,
that any unusual scream or cry for help heard by them should be
repeated until the guard's attention is arrested. By this means a
perfect system of communication from end to end of a train under
every condition of speed and position can be maintained at moderate
cost; it is also one not requiring manipulation to be put into action,
a result not obtainable by any method yet introduced.
The end cones which are outside the carriages are self-adjusting to
complete the junction, and are composed of a flexible non-conductor of
sound, lined with a spiral, bent, or curved wire of conical shape, as seen
more clearly in Figure 2, and with a broad flange to ensure the faces
meeting when two of them are brought together.
In most cases an electrical conductor or wire is fitted along the inside
of the tube of each carriage, the ends being arranged and exposed upon
the faces of the end junctions for automatically forming a connection
from the driver or the guard at one end to the guard at the other end
of the train, each of which could be furnished with the necessary
instruments for receiving and sending signals. By this means a train
of any length can be made as regards communication as perfect as
possible.
Figure 3 shows the top of a railway carriage with the sound con-
ducting tube upon the outside. The tube is of curved form to escape
the lamps, which are dropped into apertures in the roof, the carriage
being provided with four compartments, in each of which is a bell for
receiving and transmitting the screams or cries of persons requiring help

page_text: from the guard. This tube may be enclosed in an outer tube to prevent
the sound escaping, and the space between them may be filled with felt
or a non-conducting medium, but this is quite immaterial, as the sound
is conveyed for a long distance through the tube.
Figure 4 represents in part sectional view the meeting ends of two
railway carriages with the tube or sound conductor arranged along the
outside of the roofs and with the bottom edges of the bells (which
may be protected by wire gauze or perforated sheet metal) in a line
with the roof beams so as not to interfere with the head way of the
passengers, the two end junctions being in contact both for the sound
and for the telegraphic communication.
In Figure 1 the electrical wire is simply of ring shape slightly pro-
jecting to ensure the wire of the next carriage bearing against it when
brought close enough, but in Figure 2 the electrical wire is arranged
in crossings on two portions of the face, or in lieu of wires they may
be conductable plates with the wires in contact at the back. The
flexibility of the end junctions permit of them not only being com-
pressed when the carriages are being coupled up but also to bend
slightly as shown in Figure 5, so that the tubes in carriages of different
heights can be caused to come into contact, there being sufficient breadth
of face to ensure the tube passage coming into proper order automati-
cally for conveying the sound. The construction or formation of this
kind of junction makes it with slight modification applicable for con-
ducting the pipes through which heated air, gas, or steam are passed,
so that the heating of carriages from the exhaust steam from the engine
can be effected, the steam being directed downwards into a passage or
chamber instead of up through the funnel.
In the case of using heated air it could be caused to flow through
tubes and be driven by a fan such as is represented in Figures 6 to 11,
from which it would travel through pipos to the various compartments
of the train, preferably under the scats, to warm them.
The method of warming carriages by heated air, gas, or by steam is
no novelty in this Invention, and no claim is made thereto, but the
means of forming an automatic joint by the cone-shaped ends is part
of this Invention, whether the cones are made with coiled wire as at A
in Figure 4, or with plate metal bent into spiral or volute shape as in
Figure 12.

page_text: Figures 9, 10, and 11 show some of the details by which the steam
from the engine can be directed into the proper channels, and also for
permitting atmospheric air to mingle with it in its transit. Some of
the tubes are fitted with valves which can be opened or closed when
desired, so that a complete admixture of the heated air, gas, or steam,
with atmospheric air can be ensured to regulate the degree of heat
required according to the external atmospheric.
The method of heating or warming compartments and forming the
junctions can be used independently of the sound giving appliances, and
in that case the electrical wire can be arranged along these tubes and
junctions. Reference is made to warming the compartments only, but
it will be readily understood that by permitting the steam or heated
air to escape by the funnel or elsewhere and the valves opened a corre-
sponding cooling of the compartments will take place by the rush of
atmospheric air through the tubes. The tubes under the seats may
also be perforated or covered with baize or other permeable substance
to permit of the passage of air for cooling or for heating the compart-
ment, as the case may be, the bells or cones in the roof forming an
outlet for the heated air and vapours. By this means a perfect system
of ventilation of each compartment is established whether the windows
be open or closed.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that claim is
made,
Firstly. To fitting one or more tubes along the roof (inside or outside)
of railway carriages when such tubes are furnished with bells or cones,
and with or without vibrating plates for establishing a "sound" commu-
nication, as described and shown.
Secondly. To the fixing of end flexible junctions to each tube in the
manner shown for automatically forming a communication between the
carriages of railway trains.
Thirdly. To fixing or fitting collapsible end junctions to pipes or tubes
by which steam, air, or gas can be conveyed for heating the compart-
ments of the carriages forming the train as described.
Fourthly. To the combination of automatic flexible end junctions with
pipes or tubes in railway carriages when used in the manner and for the
purposes explained.

page_text: Fifthly. To combining with such tubes or pipes and end junctions an
electrical wire for the purposes set forth.
And Sixthly. To the combination of appliances for establishing sound
signals and electrical signals between passengers and guards and guards
and drivers of railway trains, also for heating, cooling, and ventilating
the compartments of such trains, as herein-before set forth and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Smith, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August One
thousand cight hundred and seventy-two.