IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOCKING AND UNLOCKING THE DOORS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES OF MOTION
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Matthew Matthews at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th October 1874.
I, JAMES MATTHEW MATTHEWs, of Finsbury Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOCKING AND
UNLOCKING THE DOORS OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES OF MOTION,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to provide means whereby in the
commencement and the cessation of the motion of a railway carriage or
other such vehicle the doors thereof may become locked and unlocked
automatically and instantaneously, while so long as the motion continues
they are firmly locked, so that it would be impossible for a passenger to
enter or leave the carriage unless the train, of which it forms part, were
at a complete standstill.
My Invention consists mainly in applying the motion of the carriage
axle to the above obiect by means of the mechanical appliances which I

page_text: To the bottom of the framework, upon which the railway carriage
body or vehicle is supported I fix bearings, which carry two shafts, one
at either side, and passing the whole length of the carriage. To these
shafts short levers are attached, and these levers are connected to
rocking levers, which are centred upon bearings conveniently placed on
the framework of the carriage; to these rock levers rods are attached
leading to the lock. The lock is formed of another rock lever running
upon a pinion, and so that one end is in connection with the rod last
spoken of, while the other actuates a moveable block or tumbler, with
one end of which it is in contact while the other end bears
the bolt
or latch, by which the fastening of the carriage is effected.
upon
This tumbler is so arranged that so long as it is in its normal position
it retains the bolt, but immediately upon its being raised by the rock
lever before-mentioned the bolt is released, and the carriage door
unlocked.
The lifting of the rock lever is effected by means of an ordinary steam
engine governor, which gears with the carriage axle, and is in connection
with the short lever leading to the shafts before-mentioned. So long as
the axle is in motion the governor of course is in rotation, but so soon
as the axle ceases to work in consequence of the stoppage of the train
the governor arms drop, and their falling causes the rod to be pulled
downwards, and in consequence the end of the lock rock lever in contact
with the tumbler to be lifted, whereby the bolt is released and the
carriage door unlocked.
In order to compensate for the effects which would otherwise be
produced by the slackening and acceleration of speed which takes place
in the gradual stopping or starting of a train I use two cones bearing
upon one another, one upon the carriage axle, and the other upon a
spindle, the other end of which gears into the governor before-mentioned,
and it is through these cones that the motion is communicated to the
governor; or instead of the above arrangement, to the bottom of the
carriage frame and at about the middle I attach a bearing carrying a
pulley, to which motion is directly communicated by means of a strap
from another pulley upon the carriage axle, and the first pulley com-
municates rotary motion to a grooved wheel upon the same axis.
On either side of the bearing last mentioned jointed levers are arranged,
which move upon pins placed at their joints. One end of each of these

page_text: levers carries a stirrup-shaped loop, into which the short levers which
communicate through the rods with the rock lever of the carriage lock
are fitted. The other ends of these jointed levers are provided with
grooved wheels, which are in the same line with the wheel upon the
pulley axis. Upon the bearing of this wheel a case is fixed, in which
there is a channel, and in this channel a little wheel or ball sheathed
with india-rubber is allowed to play freely, so as to be always in contact
both with the periphery of the pulley wheel and the periphery of one or
other of the two lever wheels. The two wheels upon the jointed levers
are prevented from coming into contact with the wheel upon the pulley
axis by means of stops.
The action is as follows:-Rotary motion is imparted to the wheel
upon the pulley axis from the carriage axle so long as the latter is in
motion. The motion of the pulley wheel is imparted to the little
sheathed wheel within the channel, and thus communicate motion to
that one of the lever wheels with which it is in contact, and so pushes
this wheel and the lever which carries it away from the pulley wheel,
and thus lifting the other end of the lever raises the stirrup or loop
depending from it, and by means of the intermediate gearing the rod
which regulates the lock lever is raised, and permits the tumbler to rest
upon the lock bolt; but on the motion of the axle being stopped the
rock lever on the side of the pulley wheel being no longer pushed
outwards by the little wheel in the channel drops, whereby the lock
lever is raised through the intermediate gearing, as will be understood,
and the lock bolt released.
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A rock lever is provided at either side of the pulley wheel, because
the motion of the carriage when travelling up” or “down” will carry
the little sheathed wheel over to that side of the pulley wheel towards
which the train is going.
By connecting the various shafts I can arrange my system so that all
the doors at one side of a carriage could be locked and unlocked
simultaneously by one effort of the guard or other person, and one side
of a train may be kept locked during the whole journey, while the other
side is working in accordance with my Invention.