IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY SIGNALS
Year: 1885

page_text: I WILLIAM ROBERT SYKES of 84 Kirkwood Road, Nunhead, in the County
of Surrey, Telegraph Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING RAILWAY SIGNALS" to be as
follows:-
The main object of my invention is to so construct or arrange apparatus for
working railway signals that by mechanical means the signal levers are prevented
working the signals to allow a train to enter a block section while another train is
in that section; the invention is applicable to locking and releasing at the proper
times the starting signal lever at a given station, say A, with what is generally
called the "slot" lever at the next station say B; also to interlocking and releasing
at the proper times the several signal levers at the same station that is to say (for
example) locking and releasing the slot signal lever (connected with the station in
the rear) with the stop signal lever and locking and releasing the stop signal lever
with the starting signal lever, also to interlocking and releasing the levers of what
are generally called "co-acting" signals that is to say signals which cannot be
lowered without the intervention of levers at two or more distinct stations.
The invention essentially consists in connecting with the levers mechanism so
arranged that when a lever is pulled over and again returned to its normal position
it becomes locked and is not released until another lever (which will generally be
that next in advance) whether at the same station or at the next following station
has been pulled over. For example if the starting signal lever at station A has
been freed and then pulled over so as to signal a train to start from A to B and
has been returned to its normal position it becomes locked and the lock is not
again released until the slot signal lever at B has been again pulled over; this in
its turn could not be pulled over until similarly released by the stop signal lever
at B and this again would have to be previously released in like manner by the
starting signal lever at B and so on throughout the system. I have spoken of the
signal levers as respectively the "slot," the starting" and the "stop," but
the invention will apply no matter what may be the number of the signal levers
and what duties they may have to perform.
"
The invention can be carried out in various ways and I will describe several
modifications.
According to the first modification which I will explain with reference to the
locking and releasing of the starting signal lever at one station (A) with the slot

page_text: signal lever at the next station (B), I connect to the starting signal lever a slide or
tappet which is formed with a notch and an incline; to the ordinary balance
weight lever which is operated by a wire or chain from the slot lever at station B
is also connected a slide or tappet and in this slide is an inclined slot; a pin on
a vertical rod works in this slot and a projection on this rod normally holds up a
vertical bar by taking under a projection or notch thereon. This bar has two
pins or projections one of which is acted upon by the incline on the first named
slide and the other acts upon the tail of a click which normally takes into the
notch in this slide and locks it. There is a weighted catch which normally bears
against the side of the vertical rod. The action is as follows:-When the balance
weight lever is operated from station B it pulls the corresponding slide, and the
pin on the vertical rod is therefore caused to travel down the inclined slot; the
vertical rod is thus moved down and the vertical bar comes down with it. One of
the pins on this bar pushes down the tail of the click and thereby lifts the
click out of the notch in the slide of the starting lever which is therefore released
and the other pin on the bar now bears upon this slide. When the starting lever is
pulled over the incline on its slide by acting on the pin lifts the vertical bar and
the weighted catch then falls under the projection or notch of this bar so as to
hold it up. The click now rests on the slide, so that when the lever is returned
to its normal position the click falls into the notch in the slide and again locks the
lever. The return of the balance weight lever lifts the vertical rod which in its
upward movement pushes out the weighted catch from below the projection or
notch of the vertical bar. If it be required to indicate to the eye whether the
starting lever be locked or not a continuation of the vertical bar may carry a disc
working behind a slotted board; the disc is marked with the words "free" and
"locked" (or other like words) and the one or the other of them is seen through
the slot according to the position of the bar.
According to another modification, when the balance weight lever is operated it
acts through the intermediation of a bell crank upon a vertical rod and pulls
it down, a vertical bar which was held up by this rod descending with it; a device
on the vertical bar lifts the catch out of the notch in the slide of the starting
lever and a roller on the bar then rests on an inclined piece or cam connected with
the lever. When the lever is pulled over, the inclined piece or cam acts on the
device on the vertical bar, pushes up the bar and thus allows a weighted catch
similar to that described in the first modification to take under a projection or
notch of the bar; the locking catch now rests upon the lever slide and when the
lever is returned it drops into the notch in this slide.
According to another modification which is more particularly adapted to locking
and releasing the stop lever with the starting lever and the slot lever with the stop
lever at one and the same station,-when a lever which I will call the first lever is
pulled over an incline thereon pushes a piece with tapered ends into a gap in the
slide of the next or second lever so that this lever cannot be pulled over until
the first lever has been returned; when the first lever is pulled over it also by
means of a projection thereon pushes a catch piece to one side so that an arm
which rested on the top of the catch falls while another arm on the same spindle
falls upon the slide of the first lever; when the first lever is returned it becomes
locked by the dropping of the arm which rests thereon behind a raised part and
at the same time a gap in the slide of the first lever comes opposite the tapered
piece and thereby unlocks the second lever because this tapered piece can be
pushed into the gap by the lever as this is being pulled over. When the second
lever is in turn pulled over it not only pushes the tapered piece above described
into the gap of the first lever but also pushes a similar piece into a gap of the
third lever and thus locks both these levers until it is itself returned. The second
lever on being pulled over also pushes the catch piece above described back to its
first position, the catch piece in this movement lifting the arms so that the arm
which held the slide of the first lever becomes clear of the projection on that
slide; and at the same time the second lever pushes a similar catch piece and

page_text: a like pair of arms fall, one of these coming upon the second lever slide precisely
as happened with the first lever when that was pulled over. When the second
lever is returned a similar effect to that described with reference to the return of
the first lever is produced.
In applying the invention in connection with "co-acting" signals, I arrange
that the lever at one station (A) cannot be pulled over to lower a semaphore arm
until the lever at the other station B has been pulled over and when the lever at A
has raised the arm it cannot be used to lower it again until the lever at B has
been returned and again pulled over. In carrying this into effect a slide interposed
between the usual crank on the signal post and the wire or chain which is operated
by the signal lever at A is normally locked; the crank above named and the
balance weight lever at the signal post which is actuated from B are connected
by rods to the respective ends of a cross bar on the post; at the middle of this
bar is a pin which is in a vertical slot in the rod connected with the semaphore arm.
When the balance weight lever is actuated it lifts this pin to the top of the slot
and also pulls the slide connected with this lever. In this slide is an inclined slot
as in the first modification hereinbefore described and a pin on a vertical rod works
in this slot. There is a vertical bar as before which is normally held up by the
rod, and this bar has two pins one of which is to act upon the tail of the click
which locks the slide connected with the lever at A and the other is at the proper
time to rest upon the slide and be pushed up by an incline thereon. When this
slide is unlocked the lever at A can be pulled over and in doing so acts through
the crank upon the cross bar on the post and raises it so that the pin thereon
pushes up the rod connected with the semaphore arm which therefore falls. When
the lever at A is returned it becomes locked as in the modification first described,
the cross bar is lowered and the semaphore arin is raised by its counterweight. It
cannot be lowered again until the lever at B has been returned and again pulled
over because the movement transmitted from the lever at A will not act on
the semaphore arm until the pin on the cross bar has been lifted by the action
of the lever at B as already described to the top of the slot in the rod connected
with the semaphore arm.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Working Railway Signals.
I WILLIAM ROBERT SYKES, of 84 Kirkwood Road, Nunhcad, in the County
of Surrey, Telegraph Engineer 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 my invention is to so construct or arrange apparatus for
working railway signals that by mechanical means the signal levers are prevented
working the signals to allow a train to enter a block section while another train is
in that section; the invention is applicable to locking and releasing at the proper
times the starting signal lever at a given station, say A, with what is generally
called the "slot" lever at the next station say B; also to interlocking and releasing
at the proper times the several signal levers at the same station that is to say (for
example) locking and releasing the slot signal lever (connected with the station in
the rear) with the stop signal lever and locking and releasing the stop signal lever
with the starting signal lever, also to interlocking and releasing the levers of what
are generally called "co-acting" signals; that is to say signals which cannot be
lowered without the intervention of levers at two or more distinct stations.
over.
The invention essentially consists in connecting with the levers mechanism so
arranged that when a lever is pulled over and again returned to its normal position
it becomes locked and cannot be released until another lever (which will generally
be that next in advance) whether at the same station or at the next following
station and under the control of one or more separate signalmen has been pulled
For example, if the starting signal lever at station A has been freed and
then pulled over so as to signal a train to start from A to B and has been returned
to its normal position it becomes locked and the lock is not again released until
the slot signal lever at B has been again pulled over; this in its turn could not be
pulled over until similarly released by the stop signal lever at B and this again
would have to be previously released in like manner by the starting signal lever
at B and so on throughout the system. I have spoken of the signal levers as
respectively the "slot," the "starting" and the "stop," but the invention will
apply no matter what may be the number of the signal levers and what duties they
may have to perform.
The invention can be carried out in various ways and I will describe several
modifications.
According to the first modification which is illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of
the annexed drawings and which I will explain with reference to the locking and
releasing of the starting signal lever at one station (A) with the slot signal lever at
the next station (B), I connect to the starting signal lever L a slide or tappet H
which is formed with a notch a and an incline ; to the ordinary balance weight
lever K which is operated by a wire or chain from the slot lever at station B is also
connected a slide or tappet J and in this slide is an inclined slot c; a pin N on a
vertical rod O works in this slot and a projection d on this rod normally holds up
a vertical bar M by taking under a projection or notch R thereon. This bar has

page_text: two pins or projections P and Q; the pin Q is acted upon by the incline b on the
slide H and the pin P acts upon the tail of a click E which normally takes into the
notch a in this slide and locks it (see Figure 2). There is a weighted catch G
which normally bears against the side of the rod O. The action is as follows:-
When the balance weight lever K is operated from station B it pulls the corre-
sponding slide J, and the pin N on the rod O is therefore caused to travel down
the inclined slot c; the rod O is thus moved down and the bar M comes down with
it. The pin P on this bar pushes down the tail of the click E and thereby lifts the
click out of the notch a in the slide H of the starting lever L which is therefore
released and the pin Q now bears upon this slide (see Figure 1). When the
starting lever L is pulled over the incline b on its slide H by acting on the pin Q
lifts the bar M and the weighted catch G then falls under the projection or notch R
of this bar so as to hold it up. The click E now rests on the slide H, so that when
the lever L is returned to its normal position it falls into the notch a in the slide
and again locks the lever. The return of the balance weight lever K lifts the rod O
which in its upward movement pushes out the weighted catch G from below the
projection or notch R of the bar M. If it be required to indicate to the eye
whether the starting lever be locked or not a continuation of the bar M may carry
a disc working behind a slotted board F; the disc is marked with the words "free"
and "locked" (or other like words) and the one or the other of these words is seen
through the slot according to the position of the bar M.
According to another modification, which is represented in Figures 4 and 5, when
the balance weight lever K is operated it acts through the intermediation of a bell
crank J and pivoted piece N upon a vertical rod O and pulls or lets it down, a
vertical bar M which was held up by this rod descending with it; a device P on
the bar M lifts the catch or lock E out of the notch a in the slide H of the starting
lever L and a roller e on the bar then rests on an inclined piece or cam Q connected
with the lever (see Figure 5). When the lever is pulled over, the inclined piece or
cam Qacts on the device P, pushes up the bar M and thus allows the catch G to
take under a projection or notch R of the bar; the locking catch E now rests upon
the lever slide H and when the lever is returned it drops into the notch a in this
slide (see Figure 4).
According to another modification, which is represented in Figures 6, 7 and 8
and is more particularly adapted to locking and releasing the stop lever with the
starting lever and the slot lever with the stop lever at one and the same station,
when a lever L¹ is pulled over, an incline of a gap a in its slide E pushes a piece H
with tapered ends into a gap b in the slide F of the next or second lever L² so that
this lever cannot be pulled over until the first lever L' has been returned; when
the first lever L' is pulled over it also by means of a projection E¹ thereon pushes
a catch piece R to one side so that an arm T which rested on the top of the catch
falls while another arm V on the same spindle N falls upon the slide E of the
lever L'; when the lever L' is returned it becomes locked by the dropping of the
arm V which rests thereon behind a raised part K and at the same time the gap a
in the slide E of this lever comes opposite the tapered piece H and thereby unlocks
the second lever L² because this tapered piece can be pushed into the gap a by the
lever L as this is being pulled over. When the second lever L is in turn pulled
over it not only pushes the tapered piece H into the gap a of the lever L' but also
pushes a similar piece J into a gap 6 of the third lever L³ and thus locks both these
levers until it is itself returned. The second lever L on being pulled over also
pushes the catch piece R back to its first position the catch piece in this movement
lifting the arins T and V so that the arm V which held the slide E of the lever L¹
becomes clear of the projection on that slide but the lever L is still held by the
piece E.; at the same time the second lever L2 by means of a projection F1 on its
slide F pushes a similar catch piece S and a like pair of arms X and Z fall the
arm Z coming upon the slide F precisely as happened with the first lever L¹ when
that was pulled over. When the second lever L' is returned a similar effect to that
described with reference to the return of the first lever is produced,

page_text: Figures 9 and 10 are front and side elevations of a modification of the arrange-
ment last described. Here when the first lever L¹ is pulled over, its slide H by acting
on an incline on the end of a locking piece J pushes this piece into a hole in the
slide H¹ of the second lever L' and at the same time by means of a bevel piece G
on the slide H pushes a piece R from under a pin F on the catch or locking piece E;
this catch then rests on the slide H and when the lever L' is put back this catch E
drops into the notch S in the slide and locks it. When the lever L³ is pulled over,
its slide H¹ by acting on an incline on the other end of the locking piece J pushes
this piece into a hole in the slide H of the lever L' and at the same time by means
of a bevel piece G¹ on the slide H¹ pushes the piece R under the pin F the incline
on R lifting the pin and therefore raising the catch E out of the notch S in the
slide H. The lever L¹ is however still locked by the piece J, but when the lever L'
has been put back the lever L¹ is no longer locked because the locking piece J is
then opposite the hole in the slide H¹.
In applying the invention in connection with "co-acting" signals I arrange that
the lever at one station (A) cannot be pulled over to lower a semaphore arm until
the lever at the other station B has been pulled over and when the lever at A has
raised the arm it cannot be used to lower it again until the lever at B has been
returned and again pulled over. I can carry this into effect as shown in Figure 11.
A slide H interposed between the usual crank S on the signal post and the signal
lever at A. or the wire or chain which is operated by this lever is normally locked
by the catch E; the crank S and the balance weight lever K at the signal post
which is actuated from B are connected by rods to the respective ends of a cross-
bar T on the post; at the middle of this bar is a pin which is in a vertical slot in
the rod V connected with the semaphore arm W. When the balance weight lever K
is actuated it lifts this pin to the top of the slot and also pulls the slide J connected
with this lever. In this slide is an inclined slot cas in the arrangement shown in
Figures 1 and 2, and a pin N on a vertical rod Oworks in this slot. There is a
vertical bar M which is normally held up by the rod O, and this bar has two pins P
and Q of which P is for acting upon the tail of the click E which locks the slide H
connected with the lever at A, and Q is at the proper time to rest upon the slide
and be pushed up by an incline b thereon. When this slide is unlocked the lever
at A can be pulled over and in doing so acts through the crank S upon the cross
bar T on the post and raises it so that the pin thereon pushes up the rod V con-
nected with the semaphore arm which therefore is caused to fall. When the lever
at A is returned it becomes locked as in the arrangement shown in Figures 1
and 2, the cross bar T is lowered and the semaphore arm is raised by its counter-
weight. It cannot be lowered again until the lever at B has been returned and
again pulled over because the movement transmitted from the lever at A will not
act on the semaphore arm until the pin on the cross bar T has been lifted by the
action of the lever at B as already described to the top of the slot in the rod V.
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, in respect of apparatus for working railway signals, is
1. Connecting with the signal levers mechanical means so arranged that when a
lever is pulled over and again returned to its normal position it becomes locked and
cannot be released until another signal lever under the control of one or more
separate signalmen has been pulled over whereby the levers cannot operate the
signals to allow a train to enter a block section while another train is in that
section, as hereinbefore set forth.
2. Constructing apparatus for working railway signals substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3.
3. Constructing apparatus for working railway signals substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 4 and 5.
4. Constructing apparatus for working railway signals substantially as herein.
before described with reference to Figures 6, 7 and 8.

page_text: 5. Specially, the catch pieces R, S, Figures 6, 7 and 8 in combination with the
arms T, V and X, Z and with the projections E, F, G and locking parts K on the
lever slides substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
6. Constructing apparatus for working railway signals substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 9 and 10.
7. In "co-acting" signals, arranging mechanism so that the signal lever at one
station (A) cannot be pulled over to lower a semaphore arm until the lever at the
other station (B) has been pulled over, and so that when the lever at A has raised
the arm it cannot be used to lower it again until the lever at B has been returned
and again pulled over as hereinbefore set forth.
8. Constructing apparatus for working railway signals substantially as herein.
before described with reference to Figure 11.
J. C. MEWBURN,
169, Fleet Street, London,
Agent.