Improvements in and relating to Locking Apparatus whereby the Carriage Doors of a Railway Train may be Simultaneously Fastened or Secured.
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Locking Apparatus whereby the
Carriage Doors of a Railway Train may be Simultaneously
Fastened or Secured.
We, JOHN KENDALL, of School Cottage, Clements Road, Notting Hill, Engineer,
and OWEN COOPER, of 70 High Street, Notting Hill, Butcher, both in the County of
Middlesex 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:
The main object of our invention is to provide improved means whereby all the
carriage doors of a railway passenger train may be simultaneously locked by the
guard, and so retained while the train is in motion, and whereby upon the arrival and
stoppage of the train at a station, the whole of the doors may be simultaneously
released in like manner.
Our improvements can be advantageously applied to existing railway carriages
without the necessity for any alteration in the arrangement for the ordinary fastenings
of the doors.
According to our said invention we arrange a longitudinal shaft just above or
below the doors on each side of the carriage this shaft is supported in suitable bearings
in which it can rotate freely. Suitable means are provided whereby the corresponding
shafts of adjacent carriages will be automatically coupled, when a train is made up,
so that the shafts on each side of the carriages are coupled from end to end and thus
connected with the guard's compartment. Worm and worm-wheel, or bevel or other
gearing, is provided in this compartment whereby the whole line of shafting
on either side may be rotated or partially rotated as required to lock and unlock
the doors.
We fit a bolt to each door in a suitable position to be operated upon by an excentric
or equivalent appliance fitted to the longitudinal shaft, so that the rotation or partial

page_text: rotation of the said shaft in one direction will withdraw the bolt and release the door,
and the rotation or partial rotation of the said shaft in the reverse direction will
secure the door. These bolts are so arranged that if one or more of the doors should
happen to be left open after the train has started and after the guard has adjusted the
bolts to their locking position, such doors, on being closed, will become locked like
the rest.
Springs or weights are moreover fitted either to the bolts or to the shafts in such a
manner that, when a carriage is detached from a train, the whole of the bolts of such
carriage are withdrawn from the doors, which are then left to the security of the
ordinary fastenings only. The said springs or weights are preferably arranged
to counter balance or partially counter balance the locking devices, and so reduce
the force necessary to rotate or partially rotate the said shaft.
In the accompanying drawing we bave shown how our said invention can be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of parts of two railway carriages with our improvements
applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a transverse section drawn to an enlarged scale showing a detail of
construction hereinafter described.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
A. A. are the railway carriages; B, B are the doors thereof; C. C. are longitudinal
shafts carried in bearings I attached to the said carriages A.
a, a are excentries fixed on the shaft C and provided with straps b, the extensions b¹
of which are attached by means of joints c to rods d. The rods d are carried in a
tube or guide e attached to the carriages A. The lower extremities of the said
rods d are connected to bolts or catches by means of pins or studs g attached to
the said bolts or catches f and adapted to work in slots / provided in the said rods d.
The bolts or catches are adapted to engage in sockets i fixed upon the doors B,
and-are cut away upon one side so that they will pass into the said sockets i if the
door B be shut when the bolts or catches fare-in-their-lowermost or locking position.
The pins or studs g will in such case, rise in the slots h, and the bolts or catches will
then full into the sockets i by reason of their weight. To retain the bolts or catches f
normally in their highest position, that is to say, disengaged from the sockets i,
counterweights are attached to the shafts (1. The counterweights are made slightly
heavier than is necessary for raising the bolts or catches the rods h and the
excentric straps and extensions b, b and overcoming the friction consequent upon
this operation. To couple together the shafts Cupon the carriages A we prefer to
employ coupling devices & similar to that described in the specification accompanying
our application for Letters Patent bearing the same date as the present application
and numbered 7551. In this case the coupling rod is made square, or of other
suitable form in transverse section so as to ensure the simultaneous rotation of the
shafts when coupled together.
To retain the coupling devices k in their proper relative position when the shafts
are uncoupled, we employ springs carried in suitable boxes m attached to the
extremities of the carriages A. The springs allow the necessary play for the
universal joints n when rounding curves or ascending or descending inclines or
the like.
One of the shafts C, viz. :-that on the guard's van is provided with toothed wheels
and levers or other suitable gearing by means of which it can be actuated so as to
simultaneously rotate or partially rotate the shafts C, and thus lock or unlock the
doors B. The force required to perform the above operation is considerably reduced
by reason of the counterbalance weights hereinbefore described. Any number of
carriages can be thus coupled together so that all the doors of the said carriages can
be simultaneously locked or unlocked at will from any desired part of the train.
Although we have hereinbefore described what we consider the most convenient
and advantageous method of carrying our said invention into practice, it is obvious
that we can somewhat modify the construction of our apparatus to suit carriages of
various designs without departing from the nature of our said invention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we wish it understood
that we claim :-
First. A locking apparatus for the purposes above specified, comprising longitudinal
shafts provided with couplings, and connected by means of excentrics or otherwise to
suitable bolts or catches adapted to engage in sockets upon the carriage-doors and
means for rotating, or partially rotating the said shafts, substantially as, and for the
purpose, set forth.
Second. A locking apparatus for the purposes above specified, wherein provision is
made for permitting the shutting of one or more of the carriage-doors after the bolts
or catches have been adjusted to the locking position, substantially as described.
Third. The provision of suitable means whereby the doors of a carriage will be
automatically unlocked when the said carriage is uncoupled from a train and will be
kept unlocked until the locking mechanism is operated by hand, substantially as
described.
Fourth. The combination of locking apparatus for the purposes above specified, and
coupling devices whereby the shafts of the said apparatus will be automatically
connected when two carriages are brought together, substantially as and for the
purposes hereinbefore specified.
Fifth. The improved apparatus for simultaneously locking or unlocking the
carriage doors of railway-trains, consisting of the parts constructed and combined
substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying
drawing.
Sixth. The combination, substantially as herein set forth, of our improved locking
apparatus with coupling devices constructed and operating as described in the said
specification No. 7551.
Dated this 22nd day of May 1888.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.