IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE GUARD AND DRIVER AND PASSENGERS AND GUARD OF A RAILWAY TRAIN
Year: 1867

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William King at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th June
1867.
I, WILLIAM KING, of Woodside, Finchley, in the County of Middlesex,
Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN THE GUARD AND DRIVER AND
PASSENGERS AND GUARD OF A RAILWAY TRAIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improved apparatus for communicating between
the several parts of a railway train. For this purpose I carry a cord or chain
through tubes or eyes along the tops of the carriages on one or both sides (so
as to work in either direction without turning the carriages), or it may be in'
the centre of the roof, said cords being connected by links between each car-
riage. In order to communicate between the guard and driver I carry the
cord down over a turning pulley into the guard's van, where it is attached to
a counterbalance weight sliding up and down in guides at the end or side of
the vau, said weight serving to keep the cord always in tension; this counter-
balance is provided with jointed tappets projecting therefrom and acting on a
lever carrying a hammer for striking a signal bell on the weight being raised
by pulling the cord. The tappets are mounted so as to pass the bell lever
without acting on it during the return of the counterbalance to position. The
cord
passes from the guard's van along the roof of the several carriages to
the tender, where it passes round a turning pulley in a downward direction to

page_text: a bell lever mounted on one or both sides of the tender in position to act on a
bell for warning the driver from the guard's van, which is effected by simply
pulling the cord to which the balance weight is attached. The driver's signal
to the guard is also given by pulling the cord at the tender end; this is a
double signal to distinguish it from the passenger signal to be presently
described, and is produced by the action of the double tappets of the balance
weight on the bell in the guard's van, as before mentioned. In order to com-
municate between the passengers and guard I place a slide rod transversely
on the roof of each compartment working in guides suitably enclosed and
provided with a lever handle at one end projecting down through the roof
within reach of the passengers; the cord before-mentioned passes through an
eye in the end of each of these slide rods, and passes round turning pullies on
the slide rod being drawn backwards by pulling down the handle in the car-
riage; the motion of said handle being limited by a stop to prevent the lower
tappet from acting on the bell in the guard's van he will at once know that
the signal emanates from a passenger and not from the driver, as in the case
of the double beat before described. The position of the bell lever on the
tender is also such that the hammer will fail to strike the bell on the cord
being pulled by the passenger by means of the lever handle by reason of the
limited motion of the latter; in this manner communication is confined either
to passengers and guard or guard and driver. The slide rod above mentioned
is returned to position by a suitable spring enclosing said rod; a guide piece
is also provided at its front end acted on by the spring and serving to prevent
the possibility of the cord slipping where the train is of exceptional length, and
increased force is required for acting on the cord.
In order to indicate to the guard the precise carriage or compartment from
which the signal has been given I further provide a revolving fan which is
driven by the current of air produced by the motion of the train, on the axis
of which fan is a cam surface for operating a lever striking a bell which con-
tinues to act so long as the fan rotates; the fan and bell are protected by
a cover from the action of the weather, and air is admitted to the casing by
drawing back a plate simultaneously with the action of the slide rod before
described to give access to the air for driving the fan, said plate when pro-
jecting also serves to indicate, the position of the carriage to the guard after
the signal has been given by the passenger, and can only be returned to position
by the guard himself. The indicator plate is provided with a stem which is
held when drawn back by a spring catch, and is released when the plate is
returned to position by hand as above mentioned, or any other similar mode
of fixing may be adopted.

page_text: Where there are two guard's vans, one in the centre and the other in
the rear of the train, I provide each with a similar counterbalance weight
and signal apparatus, and connect the cord thereto so that the first guard and
the engine driver will receive the signal simultaneously from the rear brake
van; in a similar manner the guard in the centre van also signals the one in
the rear at same time as the driver.