IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE ENGINE DRIVERS AND THE. GUARDS OF RAILWAY. TRAINS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Connor, of Coventry, in the County of"
Warwickshire, Carver and Gilder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN.
APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE ENGINE DRIVERS AND THE.
GUARDS OF RAILWAY. TRAINS."
Sealed the 28th September 1855, and dated the 5th July 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Connor at the Office.
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th July..
1855.
I, JAMES CONNOR, of Coventry, in the County of Warwickshire, Carver and
Gilder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE ENGINE DRIVERS AND THE GUARDS
OF RAILWAY TRAINS" to be as follows:-
My said Invention refers to a mode of arranging an iron rod or rods attached
to each vehicle of a railway train in such a manner that they shall be self-
connecting, and so form a continuous rod or shaft, operated by a winch or
like means for turning the same wholly or partially round.
Under each vehicle throughout a railway train I affix a metal rod by
means of two or more hangers in which it may rotate or slide. One end of
this rod may carry a perforated disc or wheel, with four or more apertures on
the outer edge, and the opposite end of the rod may be forked, such, fork
being fixed or made to slide in and out of a barrel containing a spiral spring.
This forked end must be of such form and dimensions that it will readily enter
two of the chamfered openings in the disc wheel or other arrangement for

page_text: clutching it, and so on throughout the train, until the several rods being thereby.
locked; represent a continuous rigid shaft from end to end of the train. The
rods, under the locomotive tender, guard's van, or other vehicles terminating
the train, must be supplied with bevelled wheels, or like proper gearing, to
operate an upright shaft or other suitable means for striking any desired
alarum, or for working signals by rotating the main shaft at either end.
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described in the place-
ment of my self-connecting communicator rods, or to the materials or dimen-
sions of the same, as these may be considerably modified.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Connor in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th
January 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CONNOR, of Coventry, in the County of Warwickshire, Carver and Gilder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One.
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Connor, Her spécial licence that I, the said James Connor, my execu
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Connor,
iny 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 APPARATUS FOR COM-
-MUNICATING BETWEEN THE ENGINE DRIVERS AND THE GUARDS OF RAILWAY TRAINS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Connor, my
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 said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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. James Connor, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, .and..in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My said Invention refers to a mode of arranging an iron or other rod or
rods attached to each vehicle of a railway train in such a manner that they
shall be self-connecting, and so form a continuous rod or shaft, operated by a
winch or like means for turning the same wholly or partially round. And for
the better understanding of my said improvements I will now proceed to detail
the particulars thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
in which the same letters apply to like parts throughout.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figures 1 and 2 are front views of my improved communicator rods, and
the operating apparatus, as attached to each end of a railway train; Figure 3
is a like view of the intermediate rod or rods as applied to each vehicle
between the locomotive and the guard's van throughout a railway train;
Figure 4 is a view from within the carriage of one arrangement of alarum,
of which Figures 1 and 2 afford end elevations; and Figure 5, Nos. 1 and 2,
are enlarged end views A and B, of the communicator rods.
A, B, A, C, B, C, are metallic communicator rods or tubes, their ends
terminating in the enlarged barrels or tubes D; E, F. Supposing the rod A, B,
to be attached to the locomotive or tender of a train, then A, C, would repre-
sent the position of another rod applied to the guard's van, or vice versa, the
terminal communicator rods having fixed on their ends A a toothed wheel c".
The communicator rods between the terminal rods A, B, and A, C, of the train
are each like the rod B, C, Figure 3, the barrel end E containing a spiral
spring to protrude the prongs E', while the barrel F is simply closed with a
disc, Figure 5, No. 1, perforated with three or more wide apertures to receive
the prongs E' of any adjoining communicator rod, thereby acting as a clutch.
In Figure 5 the disc No. 1 shows three perforations C', enlarged on the.face
and tapering inwards; and No. 2 shows the ends of the prongs E'. The rods
arranged in the order described form one continuous shaft capable of rotation
throughout its length. To employ it in operating an alarum, there may be
attached to the back framework a, b, a spur wheel and pinion, enclosed by a
guard plate c, c; the axle of the spur wheel being at d, may have a bevel
wheel thereon, and be rotated by another bevel wheel on the vertical shaft e,
turned by the winch handle f; between b and c is a pinion working into the
pinion c, fixed to the ends A of the terminal communicator rods, and on the
barrels D of these rods at p, p, are two tappets, each of which, when the rods
rotate by turning the. handle-f, strike-a- catch-n,-draw-it-down, and thereby

page_text: ring the alarum g, the hammer h having a spring i secured at i to the frame
a, a, b, and a stop at j, against which it can be drawn by the wire k attached to
When
the bell crank l, to which and the catch n is affixed the bell wire m.
D rotates in the direction of the arrow it rings the alarum, but when
rotated in the direction ¹ it simply raises n without ringing; hence, if the
engineer operates by rotating the communicator rods or shaft to the right, the
guard will have to signal by giving a reverse action when communicating with
the engineer.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, I would observe that in
applying it to a railway train I affix a metal rod to each vehicle by means of
two or more hangers or brackets, in which the same can rotate or slide. One
end of this rod may carry a perforated disc or wheel with three or more
apertures champhered on their outer edge, and the opposite end of the rod may
be forked, such fork being either fixed or made to slide in and out of a barrel
or tube containing a spiral spring. This forked end must be of such form and
dimensions that its prongs will readily enter the champhered openings in the
disc, wheel, or other arrangement for clutching it, and so on throughout the
train, until the several rods being thereby locked, represent a continuous rigid
shaft from end to end of the train. The rods under the locomotive and tender,
and under the guard's van or other vehicle or vehicles terminating the train,
must be supplied with suitable toothed and bevelled wheels or like proper
gearing to operate an upright shaft or other means for striking any desired
alarum, or for working signals by rotating the main shaft at either required
end. I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise
details herein described in the placement of my communicator rods, or to the
materials, dimensions, or number of the same, as these may be considerably
modified; and I do declare that what I claim as my Invention is, namely,
the peculiar arrangement of self-connecting communicator rods for signalling
on railway trains, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Connor, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
JAMES CONNOR. (L.S.)