Improved Electric Devices for the Actuation of Gravity Signal Arms, Points, and the like.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 12th Sept., 1391
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by ANDRÉ HILLAIRET and ALPHONSE CHARLES
ALBERT HUGUET, of No. 22, Rue Vicq-d'Azir, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineers and Contractors.]
Improved Electric Devices for the Actuation of Gravity Signal
Arms, Points, and the like.
I, HENRY HARINGTON LEIGH, Fel. Inst. P.A., Assoc: M. Inst. C.E.,
practising as Phillips & Leigh at No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, 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 consists of improved electric devices for the actuation of gravity
signal arms, points, and the like, and relates to that class of signal mechanism
which is operated in one direction by a lever and in the other by a counterweight.
The action of such lever in working the signal is to raise the counterweight against
gravity, and that of such counterweight is to maintain the signal or point in one
terminal position. Simplicity and safety are the practical advantages of this class,
and the well known Stephenson lever may be instanced as representative of it.
The object of the present invention is to render the operation of such mechanisms
inore easy than has hitherto been the case.
In order that my invention, and the means by which the same is to be carried
into practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will now describe them in
detail, referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as
part of this Specification and read therewith.
Fig. I is partly an elevation and partly a diagram illustrating the Stephenson
lever.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in section illustrating the present invention.
Fig. 3 is a plan, and
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a modification.
Referring to Fig. 1, A B is the lever; O, its fulcrum; D, the weight; and
C, the signal or point rod. To move the weight D into the position D', diametrically
opposite, the work is distributed through a distance sufficient to prevent its being
necessary for the former to exceed a certain maximum which latter can morcover be
ascertained beforehand. When the lever A B is pushed over into the position A' B',
it will be rotated about its axis by the weight dropping into its final position D².
In carrying the present invention into effect, the weight is replaced by a dynamo
adapted, in respect of the way it is mounted, to revolve, after the manner of a
satellite, around the axis of A B by the intermediation of a suitable gear.
Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, E A B is the lever consisting of the two portions A. B
and E A. The former has its fulcrum O in the base S, and is connected to the
rod C in the ordinary way. The latter portion E A has a socket a by which it is
carried on the head of the former A B, and can move freely about the same.
a hand-grip to be used when the invention is to be worked by hand.
E is
Dis the dynamo. It rotates in bearings provided by two brackets d d pendant
from the lever E A near the outer end thereof. F is a pinion; and H, a roller,
both fast on an extension of the axis of the dynamo. G is a crown wheel fast. (in
the sense of not turning about it) upon the lever A B; and 4, a smooth track, for
the pinion F to engage with, and the latter to support the weight of the dynamo
and the top lever EA for the purpose of preventing the pinion G engaging too
deeply.
The electric connections to the dynamo consist of two spring contacts M', M³,
from the respective leads, and two duly insulated rings L, L. The latter are

page_text: carried upon the lever. If the return currentiis to be sent to earth, a single contact
and ring will suffice, the earth wire being connected to some suitable part of the
frame or base.
It must be pointed out that this invention does not require any special construction
of base or of the immediately adjacent mechanical positions, so that the improve-
ments which constitute the present invention can be fixed in a few minutes without
interfering with the train service, and at a very slight cost.
The operation of the invention is as follows:-
When current is sent into the dynamo the latter begins to rotate after the manner
of a satellite around the lever A B and rides up the wheel G to the point necessary
to throw the lever over.
An ampere meter in the circuit would indicate in a satisfactory way a sudden
drop in intensity at the moment when the lever A. B commences to drop. This
drop may be utilised to automatically interrupt the circuit.
The steps of the operation are necessarily always the same, the dynamo always
revolving in the same direction in consequence of the current being always of the
same sign.
A plain ordinary commutator will suffice for the invention as described above, for
the dynamo will not need to be reversed. Moreover, in the starting position, the
dynamo will not be on an incline. It will start with the minimum amount of
current, and quickly attain a speed sufficient to carry it over the maximum point
more economically from an electric point of view, than if the work were otherwise
distributed in respect of the distance traversed.
If it be desired to work the invention by hand, the grip E is made use of. But
the wheel G may be made to disengage from the pinion F by any convenient
means, e.g., by moving a collar I having an inclined surface i through a certain angle
by means of the lever K.
If it be desired to work the invention by changing the direction of the current
in the dynamo, the unused portion of the wheel G may be dispensed with.
Referring to Fig. 4 the motion of the dynamo is not that of a satellite, but along
a linear plane.
Dis the dynamo; d, d, its bearings, Z, its carriage; and Y, Y, its track which is
at riglit angles with the lever A. B. m is a screw fixed in or to the track. n is a
wheel-nut engaging with the screw and adapted to be driven by the dynamo
through suitable gearing. When the dynamo reaches the terminus of its track, it
automatically interrupts the circuit. The dot and dash line D' D' indicates the
opposite position of the track.
To work this modification in an opposite direction, an opposite current is sent
through the magnet without reversing that in the groove. A rack may be substituted
for the screw.
The explanation made above as to no interference with the bases at present in
use applies with equal force to the modification just described.
The said modification does not it is true offer the same advantages when used
with the Stephenson lever. It can, however, be used for a small installation,
especially for batteries, or aggregations of levers in parallel planes, such as are
constantly occurring on important lines.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is,
A device for the electric operation of signals and points in which the counter-
weight is a dynamo run as such by an electric current and thereby moved as a
counterweight whereby the lever proper is thrown over.
Dated this 5th day of August 1901
HENRY H. LEIGH.