Improvements in Locking Apparatus for Railway Points and Signals.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1890-Accepted, 9th Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Locking Apparatus for Railway Points and Signals.
We, JOHN STINSON FARMER and PETER BLACK both of Canterbury Road, Kilburn
in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to apparatus for simultaneously locking or unlocking a set of
points and the corresponding signals, this apparatus being so arranged that in case of
fracture of the parts which lock the signals, the working of the point lock is prevented,
thus giving notice of derangement. We apply this apparatus in cases where one set
of rods and levers are employed to move the points and an independent set are
employed to lock the points, this set being applicable to move the safety bar which
is connected to the point lock. For this purpose, we connect the rod which works
the point lock, which we may term the locking rod, to the centre of a four armed
lever which centre is pivotted on a longitudinal slide. Each of the two arms which
project at right angles to this slide is connected to a plunger which can enter a hole
in a transverse bar or bars connecting the two point rails. A third arm in the lever
is guided in either of two cam paths and the fourth arm of the lever is connected
by a transverse rod which crosses the slides that are connected by wires or rods to the
signals, and which is jointed to one arm of a sway beam. From the other arm of the
sway beam a rod returns parallel to the former rod, again crossing the signal slides
and terminates in a slide at right angles to the slide which carries the four armed
lever. Where the return rod crosses the signal slides it is suitably notched, these
slides being so notched that the signal rods or wires cannot be moved unless the
return rods presents notches for their slides to pass through. The slide connected to
the return rod and also the slide on which the four armed lever is pivotted, move at
right angles to each other, and have suitable interlocking notches. The apparatus
operates in the following manner. The first part of the motion of the locking rod
moves the longitudinal slide along with the four armed lever, without causing the lever
to turn on its pivot. The farther motion of the locking rod causes the four armed
lever to turn upon its pivot, inserting one of its plungers in the hole of the cross
point bar.
At the same time the fourth arm of the four armed lever moves the rod that crosses
the signal slides, also moving the sway beam and causing the return rod also to move
across the signal slides, its notches acting to unlock some of the signals. At the
same time the slide of the return rod crossing the path of the longitudinal slide effects
its locking if that slide is in its proper position bolting the points. Should the rod from
the four armed lever or the parts to which it is connected become accidentally broken,
then the return rod fails to receive its proper movement and the movement of the
longitudinal slide is arrested, apprising the operator who is working the locking rod
that the apparatus is deranged.
Such is the operation when the locking rod is moved in the one direction, when it
is moved in the other direction, the movements recur in reversed order. By suitably
shaping the crossing parts of the two slides, the motions, instead of being divided
into two stages can go on continuously throughout the stroke, and in this case the
cam guided arm of the lever is dispensed with.
Instead of emplying a four armed or a three armed lever as above described the

page_text: locking rod may have a pin travelling in the slot of an arm one end of which is con-
nected by a pivot to the cross point bar. According to the position of the points,
the slot of this arm is inclined in the one direction or the other causing the end of
the locking rod to travel towards the one side or the other and so to move the two
rods which cross the signal slides.
Or, otherwise, the locking rod may be connected to the cross point bar so as to be
moved with the points to the one side or the other and so to have a stud or tooth
on it withdrawn from the one of two locking plungers and engaged with the other,
each of these plungers being connected to one arm of a bell crank lever, the other
arm of which is jointed to the rod that crosses the signal slides. Thus the
position of the points determines which of the two plungers is moved by the
locking rod, and the motion of this plunger is communicated through its bell
crank to the rods which cross the signal slides. We apply similar apparatus
in cases where one set of levers and rods are used both for moving and also for
locking the points, the return rod which crosses the signal slides being arranged
to cross the rod which locks the points and to present suitable notches for the
.movement of that rod. In cases where the plunger of the point lock enters either
of two holes in two cross bars which are placed side by side, the one attached to
the one point rail, the other to the other point rail, we provide a stop which in
case of fracture of the point stretcher bar prevents the one cross bar from sliding
along the other so far as to bring the right hole of the one into coincidence with
the left hole of the other, and thus prevents the locking plunger from making its
stroke through both holes, thus apprising the operator that one of the point rails has
failed to be shifted along with the other.
Dated this 16th day of October 1980
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Locking Apparatus for Railway Points and Signals.
We, JOHN STINSON FARMER and PETER BLACK both of Canterbury Road, Kilburn
in the County of Middlesex, Engineers, 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:-
-
Our Invention relates to apparatus for simultaneously locking or unlocking a set of
points and the corresponding signals, this apparatus being so arranged that in case of
fracture of the parts which lock the signals, the working of the point lock is
prevented, thus giving notice of derangement. We apply this apparatus in cases
where one set of rods and levers are employed to move the points and an independent
set are employed to lock the points, this set being applicable to move the safety bar
which is connected to the point lock. Apparatus for carrying out our Invention may
be variously modified as we shall describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
Figure is a plan of part of a railway line adjoining a pair of points, shewing
safety detecting apparatus according to our Invention applied in combination with the
rods, levers and connections ordinarily employed for moving and locking the points
and working the signals.
RR are the rails P¹ P² the point rails moved by rod p from the signal cabin. S is
the safety bar and L the rod which works the point bolt, both moved by the rod / from
the signal cabin. The signals connected with the points are worked by rods s¹ 82
which are crossed by a rod A. connected through a sway beam 6 and a rod B. with
the point bolt. The rod A has certain notches and the two rods 81 82 have also notches,
so arranged relatively to one another that when the rod A is moved fully in the
one direction it presents a notch for the passage of one of the rods 8¹ 82, and when it
is moved fully in the other direction, it presents a notch for the passage of the
other rod. Thus the one or the other of the signals to which 81 82 are connected can
be moved to "safety" according to the position of the rod A, but when either of the

page_text: rods &¹ 8² is moved through the notch of A, the rod A is thus locked and cannot be
moved until the signal is again put to indicate "danger." The rod from the signal
cabin does not directly move the rod L which works the point bolt, but is connected
by the lever, and rod 12 to the safety bar S, and this bar is connected by the lever !³
to the bolting rod 1. By this arrangement it is rendered impossible to unbolt
the points except by moving at the same time the safety har S, and this cannot
be done while a train is over this bar.
The locking and detecting apparatus D is shewn to an enlarged scale by Figure 2.
The stretcher bar which connects the two point rails P1 P2 is inade in two
parts p p side by side these two parts having through them coincident holes for the
passage of the point bolt C and of either of two rods c¹ c²; unless the two parts pl p²
are in their proper position relatively to one another, neither the bolt C nor either of
the rods c¹ c² can be pushed through them. If therefore the rod p³ which connects
the two point rails P₁ P2 should break, the one point rail P¹ might be moved by the
rod p from the signal cabin, without moving the other rail P². The two parts p¹ p²
of the stretcher bar would then be no longer coincident, and consequently the bolting
apparatus D could not be worked.
On the bolt C is pivotted a three armed lever E having its two side arms jointed to the
rods.c¹ c² and its third arm jointed to the rod B which is connected through the sway
beam b to the rod A which has notches as above described where it crosses the signal
pulls ss2 and has also notches at a where it crosses the point bolt C, this bolt having
notched rib crossing a.
When by moving from the signal cabin the rod and thereby moving the rod L in
the direction of the arrow so as to push the bolt C into the holes of p¹ p² the move-
ment of is found to be resisted, the signal man is thus informed that the hole in p¹ p²
is not properly presented to the bolt C, and consequently that the point rails P¹ P² are
not in proper position to be bolted. If however the bolt Centers the hole in p¹ p²,
the one of the two rods c¹ c² will also find a hole through p¹ p² but the other will not
find a hole. Consequently when the bolt C is pushed in, the three armed lever E must
take such a position as is indicated by the dotted lines E¹, moving the rod B to the
position B thereby moving the sway beam b and the rod A which by its one set of
notches will unlock one of the signal pulls ss2 and by its notches at a will lock the
point bar C. The points P1 P2 being thus bolted, one of the signal pulls s¹ 82 can be
moved to give a signal permitting a train to pass the points, but this movement locks
the rod A, and the rod A locks at a the point bolt C, which then cannot be withdrawn
to unlock the points until the signal pulls or s² that had been moved to shew a
"safety" signal is moved back again to shew "danger." When this is done, and
when the safety bar S is free, then by means of the rod the point bolt C can be with-
drawn leaving the points free to be moved by the rod p, but the withdrawal of the
point bolt C having moved B and A has locked the signals 81 52 which cannot be
moved until the points are again locked to the one side or the other.
According to the modified arrangement of detecting mechanism shewn in Fig. 3
the point bolt C has a pin f which as the bolt is pushed forward into the hole in the
stretchers pl p² moves along a slotted hole in a bar F which at its one end is pivotted
to the stretcher p¹ and has its other end engaged in a recess of a slide bar attached to
the rod B. As the bolt C is pushed into the hole of the stretcher, the bar F is moved
over to the position F' moving the rod B in the one direction. If the points had already
been moved so that the pivot of F is at F3, then the insertion of the bolt C would
move F to the position F2 thus moving B in the opposite direction.
In the modified arrangement shewn by Fig. 4 to which we make no claim the
central point bolt C has on each side of it a tooth which can engage with a gab on the
one or the other of the two side bolts c¹ c² according as the stretcher bars p¹ p² are
moved to the one side or the other of the middle position. In the condition shown in
Fig. 4 when C is pushed in, c¹ is also pushed in to a hole in the stretchers pl p² and c²
s withdrawn, the rod B being moved in the one direction. If the points were moved
over so as to bring the middle bolt C to the other side of the centre, then c² would be
pushed in and the movement of B would be reversed. In this arrangement the middle

page_text: bolt C remains always engaged in the stretching bars p¹ p² and is moved with them
from side to side when the points are moved.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we are
aware of Hill Smith and O'Donnell's Specification No. 2176 of 1888 and claim nothing
described therein. What we claim is :-
1. In combination with a pair of railway points, their safety bar and bolt and the
motors of the corresponding signals the locking and detecting apparatus herein
described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
2. The modified locking and detecting apparatus described with reference to
Fig. 3.
Dated this 5th day of July 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.