Improvements in Indicators for Railway and other Carriages.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 25th July, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th Apr., 1890-Accepted, 10th May, 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Indicators for Railway and other Carriages.
I, HENRY LANE, of Waterside, Londonderry, in the County of Londonderry,
Ireland, Shipowner, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in indicators for railway and other carriages
and consists of a dial placed in each compartment of a railway carriage, on which are
marked the various stations on the line travelled over by the said carriages. An index.
is fixed on the said dial and denotes the name of the station at which the train enters.
and stops.
This index is operated by the guard with the aid of a cord or wire
attached to each dial and running over the top of the carriages or in any other
suitable manner. The dial may be moreover furnished with suitable information
relating to change of carriages so that there should be no need for calling out the
names of the stations, and that passengers may be thus prevented from being carried.
beyond their destination.
Dated this 25th day of July 1889.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Indicators for Railway and other Carriages.
I, HENRY LANE, of Waterside Londonderry in the County of Londonderry,
Ireland, Shipowner 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 thereof that is to say —
My invention relates to improvements in indicators for railway and other carriage.
and consists chiefly of a case placed between two adjacent compartments of a railway
carriage and exhibiting two dials, one for each compartment on which are marked in
successive order the various stations on the line travelled over by the said carriages.
An index or pointer is mounted on an axis forming part of the mechanism likewise
inclosed in the case and moves upon the said dial denoting the name of the station
at which the train arrives and stops. This index may be operated by the guard
with the aid of a cord or wire connected by the above mechanism, to each dial and
passing along the top of the carriages or arranged in any other suitable manner.
Or. I may operate the indicator by means of electricity a current from a battery
stored in the guards van for instance being sent along one or more suitably
insulated wire passing likewise along the top of the carriages.
The mechanism above mentioned consists in both cases of a pair of ratchet wheels
mounted one in front of the other on an axis upon which is likewise keyed between
these two wheels a break disc actuated by a spring. Two pawls are capable of gearing
in turn one. with the front and the other with the hind wheel so that one of the
wheels and the pointers connected therewith may be turned in one direction by
one pawl, while the other pawl is disconnected. until all the stations on the dial
have been successively indicated by the said pointers and the train has come to the
end of its journey. On the return journey the first pawl is disconnected and the
second brought into gear so as to turn in a reverse direction the other wheel and
the pointers likewise connected with it the stations being now exhibited in a reverse
order.
The pawls may be actuated by mechanical means with the aid of a suitable frame

page_text: capable of sliding up and down within the said case and to which the two pawls
are pivoted. To the upper part of this frame is pivoted the central arm of a beam
provided with two links connected respectively at their lower ends with the said
pawls.
The sliding frame is actuated by the guard with the aid of a cord as before
stated one of the pawls being disconnected and the other thrown in gear by means
of a knob fixed above to the beain and turned by the guard at each journey's end.
Or the pawls may be actuated by électricity being each attached to the armature
of an electro-magnet, into which a current is sent from a battery on the guard
pressing a button -fixed in-his-van wherein--the said battery is stored. In either
case that is to say whethera pull is given to the cord or an electric current is sent
along the line wire the ratchet wheel in gear is moved one tooth thus causing the
index to turn upon the adjoining name on the dial.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevation partly in section of my
improved apparatus operated mechanically from the guards van. Fig. 2. is a cross
section of the same. Fig. 3. is a front elevation of one of the indicating dials and
its case, and Fig. 4 is a diagram view showing the means for operating the mechanism
from the guards van.
a, a are the indicator dials -upon which the names of the stations are marked, and
which are carried in a case fixed to a division between two compartments of a
carriage c, c are two ratchet wheels mounted upon an axis d' which carries likewise
two pointers e e indicating the names of the stations on the dials. The ratchet
wheels cehave as many teeth as there are divisions or names on the dial. The sides
of the case 6 facing each compartment of the carriage are provided with glass
fronts ff. A brake comprising a notched wheel g (Fig¨ 8.) and two springs g
is fixed to the axis between the ratchet wheels to prevent the said wheels, moving
more than one 'tooth at a time. The ratchet wheels are operated by means of
pawls pivoted to a frame i capable of vertical movement in guides fitted to the.
case b. These pawis are connected by links to a rocking beam whereby one of
the said pawls is put into gear with one of the ratchet wheels whilst the other is
kept out of gear with the other wheel, so that moving the beam by means of
the knob or by suitable mechanism connected with the guards van, one or other
of the ratchet wheels may be operated to actuate the pointers in one direction or
the other. Movement is communicated to the frame i by means of an inclined
sliding piece over which runs a roller m carried by the frame i. The inclined
slide has a projecting part through which passes the cord or chain n leading
from the guards van and provided with stops or buttons n¹ bearing against the
parts so that upon pulling this cord or chain the sliding pieces fitted to each
carriage are moved underneath the rollers m and raises the frames thus operating
the pointers e e. The inclined slides are brought back to their normal position
when the cord or chain is released by means of springs o. As shown in Fig. 4
the cord or chain may be operated by a pivoted handle p arranged in the guards
van from which handle it should be disconnected when travelling between stations
to allow of its giving to the varying intervals which may be formed between the
carriages: Fig. 5 Sheet 2 is a front view and Fig. 6 a cross section of my improved
indicating apparatus wherein the pawls are operated by electricity. Fig. 7.is a
front elevation of the indicating dial and case and Fig. 8 is an elevation of the
brake wheel fixed to the axis of the ratchet wheels showing part of the bind
fatchet wheel in dotted lines. The same letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts to those shown in Figs. 1..to '4.
'
According to this arrangement the pawls hare pivoted to the armatures q. q' of
two sets of electro-magnets mounted in the case b, so that when a current is sent
along the line wire or w² the armature g or q¹ is attracted by its magnet, the
pawlhor engages with a tooth of one of the corresponding ratchet wheels and
turns the said wheel the extent of one tooth thus 'moving the index on the dial to
the next name.
When the circuit. is subsequently broken the armature g or glis
brought back into its normal position by the spring 9, at the end of each journey the

page_text: mechanism is reversed so as to bring the other pawl into action by means of the
pivoted beam k before described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. The break
wheel g is mounted upon the axis d between the ratchet wheels c c¹ and is furnished
with as many notches as there are teeth in the wheel wheels c c¹ so that when either
of the latter wheel is moved one tooth the wheel g is moved one notch the curved end
of a pair of springs g g¹ entering two opposite notches and exerting a pressure thereon
and hence on the axis and the wheels c c¹ thus preventing the latter from moving
more than one tooth at a time. I may likewise use a revolving dial, in which case
the pointer would be fixed, the mechanism actuating the dial instead of the pointer.
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.
1. In station indicators for railway and other carriages the arrangement of an index
moving upon a dial furnished with the names of stations and actuated in turn by one
or the other of a pair of ratchet wheels fixed upon the axis of the said index and
controlled by a break spring the said wheels being each moved by a pawl operated by
means of a cord passing along the top of the railway carriages and attached to a
vertical sliding frame upon which these pawls are pivoted substantially as and for the
purpose described.
2. In combination with the above claimed mechanism the device for disconnecting
one pawl from one of the two ratchet wheels and throwing the other pawl in gear
with the other wheel, consisting of a beam oscillating upon the top of the sliding
framed aforesaid and carrying two links the lower ends of which are connected to
the said pawls, this beam being set by a knob at the end of each journey substantially
as and for the purpose described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, Sheet 1 of the
accompanying drawings.
->
3. The modification of my invention according to which the pawls claimed above
may be operated by electricity with the aid of a battery two line wires, two electro
magnets and armatures substantially as and for the purpose described with reference
to Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8, Sheet 2 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 5th day of March 1890.
HUGHES, ELI & HUGHES,
76, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.