Improvements in Ticket Issuing Apparatus for the Electrical Staff Instruments on Single Lines of Railways.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Sept., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Oct.. 1896-Accepted, 23rd Jan.. 1897
PROVISIONAL DI BUIFICATION
Improvements in Ticket Issuing Apparatus for the Electrical Staff
Instruments on Single Lines of Railways.
A communication from abroad by JOHN WELLS WAINWRIGHT HOPKINS, Civil
Engineer, of the Firm of Hopkins, Gardham and Tetley, Railway Engineers
and Contractors, Buenos Aires, in the Argentine Republic.
1, JOHN PATRICK O'DONNELL, of Fingal, Bromley, Kent, Civil Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has reference to improvements whereby, with an addition to any
of the known forms of electric train staff instruments, the act of withdrawing a
staff from the instrument will also issue a ticket.
It is not always possible to obtain the correct interlocking between the staff
instruments and the outside signals for in some instances there are no starting
signals to interlock the staff instruments with. There must therefore be some
equivalent or some means by which the staff, say from A arriving at B, shall not
be given to the driver again, without being inserted in the staff instrument for
him to return from B to A without A's sanction.
With the permissive train staff systems A cau withdraw any number of staffs,
giving each to a driver, to send any number of trains to B, and if the first train
arrives at B and uses the same staff to return to A with, without any further check,
collisions might occur.
With my invention, when the signalman or individual in authority at A with-
draws a staff a ticket is also issued to him by the same operation and these tickets
will be printed "direction A to B" (or whatever the stations may be that the
trains are working between), and endorsed by the station master or individual in
charge; the ticket is then inserted in a spring in the staff and handed to the
driver. The driver on arriving at B hands over the staff to the station master
and retains the ticket, but is not allowed to start back from B to A until he gets
another ticket from the station master, as well as the staff, the ticket being for the
B to A direction.
On the
My invention is operated directly through the withdrawal of the staff.
insertion of a staff into the instrument the end pin of a crank works in a slot in a
cranked arm so that in the action of inserting the staff the said first crank is
moved to the top of the slot and no operation takes place with regard to the
issuing of a ticket. When however the staff is withdrawn the said first crank is
moved in the opposite direction and pressed down at the bottom of the slot the
long cranked lever or arm depressing in its turn an Llever the other end of
which latter is connected by a link to the bottom of the ticket box so that the
slide at the bottom of the ticket box is thrust forward, a ticket being in a groove
in the said bottom slide. The individual issuing the staff now takes the ticket out
and puts it in the staff itself.
It is obvious that various modifications may be made to effect this result, but
the main invention consists that when a staff is inserted in the instrument no
ticket is issued, or the ticket mechanism is not operated, but when the staff is

page_text: withdrawn a ticket is also issued so that the driver bas both a staff and a ticket
to proceed with to the station in advance.
Although the above description has reference to the act of withdrawing the
staff operating directly the ticket issuing mechanism, yet it is obvious that the
same result may be obtained that is, that the driver shall not proceed with
the staff only, but shall take a ticket in addition, by making the staff itself
unlock a box, a ticket being withdrawn from said box, the box having to be
locked for the staff to be taken out. The staff and ticket can then be handed to
the driver.
Dated this 23rd day of September 1896.
JOHN P. O'DONNELL, Fel. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
Applicant.
Improvements in Ticket Issuing Apparatus for the Electrical Staff
Instruments on Single Lines of Railways.
A communication from abroad by JOHN WELLS WAINWRIGHT HOPKINS, Civil
Engineer, of the Firm of Hopkins, Gardham and Tetley, Railway Engineers
and Contractors, Buenos Aires, in the Argentine Republic.
I, JOHN PATRICK O'DONNELL, of Fingal, Bromley Kent, Civil 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:-
My invention has reference to improvements whereby, with an addition to any
of the known forms of electric train staff instruments, the act of withdrawing a
staff from the instrument will also issue a ticket.
It is not always possible to obtain the correct. interlocking between the staff
instruments and the outside signals for in some instances there are no starting
signals to interlock the staff instruments with. There must therefore be some
equivalent or some means by which the staff, say from A arriving at B, shall not
be given to the driver again, without being inserted in the staff instrument, for
him to return from B to A without A's sanction.
With the permissive train staff systems A can withdraw any number of staffs,
giving each to a driver, to send any number of trains to B, and if the first train
arrives at B and uses the same staff to return to A with, without any further
check, collisions might occur.
With my invention when the signalman or individual in authority at A with-
draws a staff a ticket is also issued to him by the same operation and these tickets
will be printed "direction A to B" (or the names of the stations the trains are
working between), and endorsed by the station master or individual in charge:
the ticket is then inserted in a spring in the staff and handed to the driver. The
driver on arriving at B hands over the staff to the station master and retains the
ticket, but is not allowed to start back from B to A until he gets another ticket
from the station master, as well as the staff, the ticket being for the B to A
direction, (or opposite direction).
In order that my invention may be better understood and more readily carried
into effect I will describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in
which :-
Figure 1 shows a front view of a permissive staff instrument, showing my
invention at the right hand side.

page_text: Figure 2 is a side elevation of the permissive staff instrument, partly in section,
showing the working parts of my invention.
Figure 3 is a plan showing the bottom grooved slide containing the ticket,
moved out ready for a ticket to be withdrawn. The apparatus is worked and
a staff withdrawn when the botton slide of the ticket box is forward as in
Figure 3.
The same letters refer to the same parts in the several figures of the
drawings:-
a is a front view partly in section of a permissive staff instrument: this, which
is the main portion of the instrument, may be any of the known forms of per-
missive staff instruments, the particular form of instrument not being material to
my invention. b is the fulcrum or spindle running across the permissive staff
instrument having a downward projection or arm c as shown in the drawing,
operated by the staff both on insertion and withdrawal. In some forms of
permissive staff instruments this projection would be upward and the staff would
be at a higher level with the engaging part on it than the lower part of the staff.
For the purposes of illustration I have shown the staff with the projection down-
wards from the spindle b. d is another arm or crank also rigidly fixed or keyed
to the spindle b: a pin e at the end of the said arm d works in the slotted end of
a cranked lever, said lever f at its lower end is connected to one end of an
Llever g fulcrumed to the bottom of the instrument, the other end of the said
lever g being connected by a link to the bottom slide; of the ticket box k. I are
the tickets shown in position in the box and pressed downward by a weight m.
n is the staff. n¹ n² are respectively the end of the staff and the edge of the
notch in the staff n which come in contact with the lever c. o is a spring
connected at one end to the L lever g and at the other to the side of the staff
instrument case to return the slide to the normal position after a staff has been
withdrawn.
The operation of my invention is as follows:-
If the staff is already out and it has to be inserted in the instrument, it is
obvious that the ticket issuing mechanism should not be operated by this action.
On inserting the staff in the instrument the end n' of the staff n moves forward
the downward lever or projection c, operates the cranked arm d and the pin c to
the top of the slot in the cranked arm, but does not move the latter to operate the
ticket mechanism.
On withdrawing the staff the side n2 of the notch in the staff n moves the
downward projection or lever c in the opposite direction, towards the front of the
instrument, and the pin e on arriving at the bottom of the slot thrusts the lever f
downwards operating the crank g which in its turn moves the bottom slide of the
ticket box forward to the position shown in plan Figure 3. The signalman or other
operator of the instrument now withdraws the ticket and places it in the staff by
means of a suitable spring or clip as shown in Figure 2.
On the withdrawal of the staff as herein before described the spring o returns
the bottom slide of the ticket box to its normal position, therefore returning the
crank g to its normal position, thrusting upward the lever f.
It is obvious that various modifications may be made to effect this result and
although the above description has reference to the act of withdrawing the staff
directly operating the ticket issuing mechanism yet it is obvious that the same
final result may be obtained, that is, that a driver shall not proceed with a staff
only but shall take a ticket in additiou, by making the staff itself, unlock a box, a
ticket being withdrawn from the said box and the box having to be locked for
the staff to be taken out.
In order that the word "ticket" may not be misconstrued with other symbols
used in train staff instruments called tickets which tickets directly take the place
of the staffs, I wish it to be understood that I intend my invention to be an auxiliary
to and form part of the authority intended by the staff.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be distinctly
-understood that I lay no claim to the permissive staff instruments generally, but
what I claim is :-
1. In a train staff instrument mechanism such as herein described for issuing a
ticket by the withdrawal of the staff from the instrument said ticket being carried
with the staff to the section to which the staff is proceeding.
Dated thin 92nd der of Oatcher 1906
JOHN P. O'DONNELL, Fel. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
70 & 71 Palace Chambers, Westminster, S.W.,
Agent for the said Applicant.