Improvements relating to Railway Carriage Door Locks.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Railway Carriage Door Locks.
I, CHARLES THOMPSON, of 62, Cross Street, Gorton, near Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Hairdresser, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improved means for locking and unlocking railway
carriage doors the principal object of the invention being to ensure that all the
doors of the carriages composing a train shall be automatically locked as soon
as the train is put into motion, and that they shall also be automatically unlocked
as soon as the train is brought to a state of rest at a station or terminus; at the
same time that the guard shall have power to lock all the doors from his van, if
necessary, such power only to be used when the train is stopped (by signal or
otherwise).
It is also so arranged that if any door should be left open on the starting of
the train, it can be closed by hand in the usual manner and will be automatically
locked without any attention whatever from the guard.
For this purpose I connect the buffer rods at one end of the carriage by levers,
and those at the other end by a sliding bar, to two side rods extending along each
side of each carriage and carried in bearers attached to the frame. At the centre,
each of these side rods are provided with a coiled spring, preferably enclosed in
a fixed cylinder or casing, to keep the rods in position but still allow of a certain
amount of longitudinal motion.
The bar which connects the two side rods together and to the buffer rods at one
end of the carriage is also attached by spring connections to one of the draw bars
of the carriage and by levers and spring connections to the other draw bar; and
the buffers and draw bars thus both work in counter-action to slide the side rods,
that is to say, when the train is set in motion the action of the draw bars or of
the buffer springs is to move the side rods in one direction, and when the train
is brought to a stand-still the action of the springs on the side rods will move the
said side rods in the opposite direction. The side rods are connected to levers
which work locks on the doors at each side of the railway carriage so that the action
of the draw bars in starting the train will automatically lock all the doors and
the action of the side springs (when the pull of the draw bars ceases on stopping
the train) will automatically release all the said locks.
The side springs enclosed in the cylinders are strong enough to unlock
all the carriage doors and the springs on the cross bars, buffers, and draw-bars
are provided to meet any extra pressure after the doors are locked, which of course
they will resist.
The side rods are provided with inclined washers or cams acting against fixed
inclined brackets when the train is stopped, and means are provided in the guard's
van whereby he can, if necessary, give a partial revolution to the side rods, thereby

page_text: The sliding bar d which connects the two side rods e together, and to the buffer
rods at one end of the carriage, is also attached, by spring connections i, to
one of the drawbars of the carriage, and by levers and spring connections k to
the other drawbar ; and the buffers and drawbars thus both work in counteraction
to slide the side rods e; that is to say, when the train is set in motion the action
of the draw bars, or of the buffer springs, is to move the side rods e in one direction,
and when the train is brought to a stand-still the action of the springs g on the
side rods e will move the said side rods in the opposite direction.
The side rods e are connected to levers m which work locks n on the doors o
at each side of the railway carriage (see Figs. 1 and 2, also enlarged detached views
Figs. 4 and 5) so that the action of the drawbars, in starting will automatically
lock all the doors o, and the action of the side springs g (when the "pull" of the
draw-bars ceases on stopping the train will automatically release all the said
locks n.
On referring to the transverse sections Figs. 4 and 5 it will be seen that a single
lever m is employed to work each lock n on one side of the carriage, and a double
lever m on the other side. This is requisite as both rods e move in the same
direction but the bolts of the locks are required to move in opposite directions.
Figs. 10 and 11 are enlarged detached views of the lock n, showing that the spring
bolt can act independently of the lever m when closing the door by hand.
The side springs g are enclosed in cylinders h and are strong enough to unlock
all the carriage doors o, and the springs on the sliding cross bar d, buffer bars b*
and draw bars are provided to meet any extra pressure after the doors o are
locked, which of course they will resist.
The side rods e are provided with inclined washers or cams P. (see enlarged
detached views Fig. 3) acting against fixed inclined brackets q which are mado
with slotted holes like the bearers f and means are provided in the guards van
or compartment whereby he can, if necessary, give a half revolution to the side
rods e which by the action of the inclined cams p against the fixed inclined
brackets will cause the said rods to slide in a longitudinal direction, so as to
lock all the doors on an emergency. A convenient way of doing this is to fix
a stud r on the rod e round which passes an endless chain s moved by a hand wheel t
in the guard's compartment or van (see Fig. 1 and also detached view Fig. 6).
The chain is also attached to the wheel by a stud so that half a turn of the wheel t
will give half a turn to the rod e. Fig. 6 shows part of the hand wheel t which
is provided with a spring handle * the other end of which is formed like a pin
and works on the curved plate ** which is provided with a hole at each end, so
that the wheel t can make a half turn only, and may be fixed by the pin in either
position.
The ends e of the side rods e are square and are about level with the buffers,
and the opposing ends are bell-mouthed and so arranged that they will interlock
and couple automatically as the carriages are pushed together, and will be also
automatically disconnected as the carriages are separated, and the form of the
coupling is such (see also Figs. 7, 8 and 9) as to allow the train to pass round a
curve and also allow of a certain amount of vertical movement or displacement
of the carriages without in any way disarranging the action of the apparatus.
The coupling together of the carriages also effects the coupling of the rods c,
the forked end of each rod being bell-mouthed so as to receive the squared end e
of the opposite rod of the next carriage as above mentioned (see Figs. 7, 8 and 9)
the position of the buffers when coupled being shewn by dotted lines at the left
hand of Fig. 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
:-
The improved apparatus for automatically locking and unlocking the doors of