Apparatus for Shewing Names of Stations in a Railway Carriage.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 16th Mar., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Shewing Names of Stations in a Railway Carriage.
We, JOHN STEEL DIXON SHANKS, of 42 Brougham Street, Belfast, County
Antrim, Ireland, Engineer, and THOMAS HARRISON of Craigavad, County Down,
Ireland, Barrister at Law, 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:-
This invention relates to means of shewing in a railway carriage the names of
the successive stations.
For this purpose the names of the stations are printed or otherwise marked on a
tape or ribbon, which is moved by rollers on the roof of the carriage so as to
present visibly in the carriage the name of the station which the train is
approaching. The movement of the rollers is effected by ratchet and pawl gear
worked by an arm, which hangs from the carriage, and is moved laterally by
coming in contact with and travelling along a bar fixed on the ground between the
rails at an angle to the line. In order that the desired action may take place
when the carriage is turned end for end, two bars are provided one on each side of
the centre line the one moving the arm when the carriage has its one end foremost,
the other moving it when the carriage is turned end for end. In cases where the
carriage has to run along a branch or different branches of a railway, several sets
of the indicator tapes are provided, and by means of another arm acted on by bars
placed at an angle to the line, as the train enters a branch, the action of the
pendent arm first mentioned is transferred to the indicator tape appropriate to the
branch.
The accompanying drawings represent apparatus according to our invention,
the same letters of reference being used as far as possible in the several figures to
denote the same parts.
Fig. 1 is an end view and Fig. 2 is a part side view of the carriage.
Fig. 3 is a diagram plan of part of the line and of a line branching from it.
Fig. 4 shews details of the pendent arms and their connections for moving the
tapes and tape rollers.
Fig. 5 is another view of the first pendent arm partly in section.
Fig. 6 is a similar view of the second pendent arm and its connections for shifting
from one set of tapes to another.
Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively front and side views of the tape rollers.
Fig. 9 is a view of part of the window through which the names of the stations
are seen.
Fig. 10 is a section of the casing containing the tape rollers.
Fig. 11 is a diagram plan of part of a main line and branches and suited for a
modified arrangement of mechanism for shifting the action on the tapes.
Fig. 12 is a side view of the gear for this purpose.
A and B are the two arms pendent from the end of each carriage, each having
mounted at its lower end a roller which in the case of A runs along the one or the
other of two obliquely placed bars a a according as the one or the other end of the
carriage is foremost. The roller of the arm B runs between a pair of guide bars,
placed near the entrance to a branch line, the ends of the bars being at an angle to
the line. The arm A is one of a three armed lever pivotted at A', its vertical
arın A containing a spring plunger, having mounted on its top a roller a running
on the one or the other of two stationary inclines a³, so that when the arm A¹ is

page_text: moved aside by the oblique bar a, and the roller a³ is thus caused to travel along
one of the inclines a³, the spring acts so as to cause the roller to run back to the
middle position between the inclines, the arm A being thus restored to its normal
position when it passes the oblique bar a. The third arm A³ of the lever is
connected by a rod A' to an arm A' of a rocking shaft A which is mounted in
bearings within a casing on the roof of the carriage. On this rocking shaft a
notched disc A' is fitted to slide on a feather so that it must rock with the
shaft.
The arm B is not mounted so as to swing like A but is fitted to slide step by
step along a guide B¹ which has a number of wedge shaped recesses into one or
other of which enters a roller b' mounted on a spring plunger accommodated in B.
Thus, when the carriage enters a branch line, the roller at the lower end of B in
passing between the two oblique guide bars causes B to move along B¹ one
division, and the spring pressed roller entering one of the recesses of B₁ holds B
in the position to which it has been laterally moved. When the carriage enters
another branch, another pair of guide bars situated nearer to or farther from the
middle line between the rails, causes the movement of B another step, and so on
for every branch, B is moved a step to the one side of its first position. A pin
on B works in a slot of the one arm B2 of a bell crank lever, the other arm B³ of
which is linked to one arm of a bell crank B pivotted on the roof of the carriage.
The upper arm of B is connected by a link B' to the disc A', so that as B is
moved step by step, the disc A' is also moved step by step along the rocking
shaft A so as to have its notch engaged with the tooth of one of a set of levers
mounted free to turn on an axle C. Each of these levers is connected by a link c
to a sliding rod C₁ (Fig. 7). On this rod are pivotted two spring pawls C² C³,
which act on pins el e²e projecting from the face of a drum D. Each drum has a
grooved flange d into which engages the √ shaped edges of flanges on two smaller
drums QQ the arms of which are urged towards each other by a bent spring R.
The tape or ribbon on which are painted the names of the successive stations on a
main line or branch, wound on the drum Q, passes partly round D, the guide
rollers d' d' along behind a glass W, then by the rollers d³ and d (which can be
shifted so as to tighten the tape) again partly round D to the other drum Q. The
drum D may have pins projecting from its circumference to engage the tape and
ensure its movement with the drum. It is to be understood that there are as many
sets of drums D, Q Q all side by side in a casing, as there are levers on C, steps
on B' and sets of oblique guide bars b, that is to say, one set of each for every
branch line. All the drums are situated in a casing E or on the roof of the carriage
over an inclined glass W through which the passengers in the compartment can
see the names of the stations on the tapes behind the glass. There are as many of
the casings E and their contents as there are compartments, the rods c connecting
the sliding bar C₁ of each to that of the next in order.
In cases where there are many branch lines for a carriage to pass over, there
may not be room between the rails to accommodate all the guide bars 6 in their
proper relative positions. In such cases we adopt the modified arrangements shewn
in Figs. 11 and 12. In this case instead of the sliding arm B (Fig. 4) we employ
a pendent arm like A acted on by inclined bars situated near the entrances to the
branches, and like the bars a provided in duplicate, so that the one or the other
operates according as the one or the other end of the carriage is foremost. This
pendent arm is linked as A. is linked to a lever H and notched disc H (see Fig. 12)
mounted on the roof of the carriage, the notch engaging with a tooth of a lever K
on which are pivotted two spring pawls K K arranged to engage with pins on a
sliding bar L which is linked to the notched disc A' on the rocking shaft A which
disc acts on one or other of the levers on C.
The apparatus operates as follows:- -The arm B being in its initial position
holding the disc A' engaged with the first of the levers on C, the arm A is moved
aside by passing the first of the oblique bars a, and by this movement rocks the
shaft A and notched disc A' moving the first lever on C, and thereby the sliding

page_text: bars C, in the casings E for the several compartments of the carriage. The first
of the drums D in each casing E is thus turned one third round, turning by
frictional contact the smaller drums Q Q' and moving the tape so as to present
through the glass W the name of the next station. This action is repeated as long
as the carriage runs along the main line, the first of the set of levers on C and
drums D, Q and Q' alone being acted on.
If after a number of such actions, the
carriage runs into a branch, then the arm B is moved by the oblique guide bars b
one step to the side, moving the disc A' along the rocking shaft A so as to engage
with the second of the levers on C. The second of the bars C¹ is now subject to
the action of A, and by the movement of the second of the set of drums D, Q Q
a second tape bearing the name of stations on the branch line is moved by the
action of A. When the carriage enters another branch, the arm B is moved
another step, and thus a third tape is brought into action, and so on for successive
branches. When the arrangement shewn in Figs. 11 and 12 is employed, the arm
which takes the place of B, in passing from the main line 1 to a branch 2 meets an
oblique bar and thus motion is imparted to the notched disc H, the lever K and
pawls K' K2 by which the slide L and disc A' is moved one step to the right.
When the carriage passes from branch 2 to branch 3 another oblique bar h causes
the disc A to be moved another step. Again, when the carriage passes from 1 into
branch 4, the three sets of bars move the disc A' three steps, and when the
carriage enters another branch 5, another bar h causes the disc A' to move still
another step. Thus for every branch a separate tape is brought into action, each
It is to be under-
of these tapes bearing the names of the stations on the branch.
stood that each tape has the space for one name left blank, this blank space being
presented until the carriage has entered the branch, when the tape is moved to
present the name of the first station on the branch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for shewing names of stations in a railway carriage the
combination of the oblique bar a the pendent arm A and its connections to the
rocking shaft A, the notched disc A7, the lever C moved by it and over each
compartment, the pawl bar C₁ connected to C, the drums D, QQ', the guide
pulleys and tape marked with names of successive stations, substantially as
described.
2. For each branch line the combination of the obliquely ended guide bars b, the
sliding arm B and its connections to the notched disc A' sliding along the rocking
shaft A, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The modified arrangement for branches, consisting of sets of oblique bars
such as a, a pendent arm such as A and its connections to the notched disc Hº, the
said notched disc, the pawl lever K and sliding bar L connected to the notched
disc A', substantially as described.
4. The duplication of the oblique bars a, and to allow for the carriage
travelling either end foremost.
Dated this 17th day of January 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicants.