IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF WORKING SIGNALS AND POINTS ON RAILWAYS AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Bertie Charles Scott at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th November 1879.
BERTIE CHARLES SCOTT, of 37, Chester Terrace, Regents Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF WORKING SIGNALS
AND POINTS ON RAILWAYS AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
The Invention relates more particularly to that system of working the points or
switches on railways in which the apparatus giving motion to the same is in con-
nection with the signals denoting danger when the points are opened, and is
designed for the purpose of simplifying such mechanism so that a person with the
most ordinary capacity could work them without danger, as the parts giving motion
to the signal and the 'points' are dependant on each other, and can in no wise be
moved for the purposes desired only in the direction of safety.
First. The improvements consist in the peculiar disposition, construction, and
adaptation of a system of levers with governing guide plate in connection with the
'points' and signals of railways which I propose to place in the signal boxes or
other convenient situation or localities along the permanent-way of railways, and
to be used in lieu of the present system of apparatus employed for actuating the
signals and points on the same, the arrangement and purposes of which may be thus
described; but in order that this portion of my Invention may be clearly understood
I will describe as an example the adaptation of the improvements in their simplest
form, that is, for the purpose of working the points at a single crossing and the
signals in connection therewith.
I support upon fulcrà in a segmental or other suitable form of framing two levers,
one of which is in direct connection with the switch rails and the other with the
signal; these two levers are arranged side by side and coupled together by a
sliding plate interposed between two fixed plates; the said fixed plates are each
provided with streight slots and the intermediate sliding plate with slots in the
form of reversed sevens thus r. The levers working the signal and switch pass
through and work in these slots in such a manner that when the levers are in their
normal position, that is, when the signal is at "all right" and the main line open,
they stand back so as to slant from the operator. In this position the switch lever is
locked in the horizontal portion of its seven shaped slot by the signal lever, which
at this time is at the end of the inclined diagonal portion of the other seven shaped

page_text: slot. Now when it is necssary to close the points it would be impossible to move the
switch rail for this purpose until the horizontal portion of the sliding slot retaining
its working lever has been removed, and to do this the signal lever is first pulled
over so as to place the signal at "danger;" the action of pulling this lever over to
the extreme end of the streight slot forces the inclined portion of the slot in the
intermediate plate over a distance which relieves the switch lever; immediately
this is effected (the signal being at danger) the switch lever being free is then pulled
over so as to close the points, the straight traverse of the lever acts in a reverse
direction upon the inclined slot of the sliding plate, and so draws such sliding plate
over, which reverses the normal position of the two levers, that is, the signal lever
is now locked in the horizontal portion of the seven shaped slot of the sliding plate,
in which locked condition it remains until the switch lever is again forced back so
as to open the points, at which time the signal lever is also free to be forced back,
leaving the two levers in their positions first described.
It will now be seen that by the use of this simple arrangement of intermediate
sliding plate provided with slots, as described, or any slight modification thereof
when applied for the purposes herein described, the levers actuating signals and
switches of railways are made dependant one on the other, so that it is absolutely
impossible to move the switch rails for the purpose of diverting the course of a
train without first placing the signal (connected with the line of rail to which such
switch belongs) at danger, and when so placed making it impossible to remove it
"off danger" before the switch has again been opened.