Unlocking Railway Carriage Doors.
Year: 1889

page_text: Unlocking Railway Carriage Doors.
1, RODERICK NICHOLSON MONTGOMERY, of 1 Salisbury Buildings, Bourke Street
West, Melbourne, in the Colony of Victoria, Produce Merchant, 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 :-
This invention of improvements in, and relating to, means for closing and locking
or unlocking railway carriage doors, has been devised for the purpose of placing all
the doors of a train under the control of a duly authorized official such as the guard
who can, by operating a suitable hand-wheel or lever in his van or compartment,
either close and lock or else unlock all the doors of the train so that it is impossible
for the passengers to reopen them without the consent and cooperation of the
guard.
The essential feature of this invention is the employment of a main cord, rod or
chain, or a combination of cords, rods and chains running lengthwise from end to
end of the train, and having other shorter branch cords or chains connecting it to
each door, whilst at either or both ends is provided, say for instance in the guard's
van, a hand-wheel or lever whereby said cords or chains may be operated so as to
either close and lock or else unlock all the doors of the train, as already stated.
If required, I sometimes provide a series of electric bells one in each compartment.
These bells I arrange to be rung either automatically or otherwise whenever the
doors are about to be closed, thus giving the passengers timely warning of the
guard's intention.
Referring to the accompanying drawing,-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway train fitted with my invention.

page_text: Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section on liner, Figure 1, illustrating the
mechanism in the guard's van for operating the cords for closing the doors.
Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section through the upper portion of one of the
doors, illustrating the connection between said doors and the cord whereby they are
closed.
Figure 4 is a section on line y y. Figure 1, illustrating the construction of what I
term a governor, that is, a device employed between the carriages to take up the
slack that would otherwise be formed in the operating cord when the carriages come
close together.
Figure is a diagrammatical view illustrating the application of electric bells to
the carriages.
It will be seen on reference to Figure 1, that the end of the cord A or its
equivalent is wound around the drun B in the guard's van or other convenient
position, whence it passes over pulleys CC along the roof of the first carriage, thence
down under a pulley D at the junction of the two pair of links EE which constitute
the governor herein before referred to. This governor connects the carriages one to
the other and serves to take up the slack cord which would otherwise be formed
between the said carriages whenever their huffers were compressed, that is, whenever
the carriages draw nearer to each other, as for instance, when the brakes are applied.
A pair of nuts FF on the ends of the bolt which connects the lower extremities of
the links of the governor and which also serves as the spindle of the pulley D, may
be removed whenever it is necessary to uncouple said governor, as for instance when
adding more carriages to the train. The cord A may readily be disconnected at G G
when desired, it being simply coupled together at these points by a hook and eye.
At the other end of the train the operating cord A is secured to either a counter-
balance weight or to a spring whose tendency is to always draw the said cord into
such a position that the connecting cords a a will allow the doors to be opened.
These connecting cords pass into recesses in the upper portion of the doors and they
have weights upon their ends fitted to slide up and down within said recesses, as
clearly illustrated in Figure 3. It is obvious that I may, if preferrel, run the
operating cord A underneath the carriages instead of along the roof, and 1 may
connect it to the lower instead of to the upper portions of the doors in any convenient
manner.
The drum B around which the end of the operating cord A is wound is as illustrated
in Figures 1 and 2, arranged to be rotated by gearing I from a hand-wheel J. The
electric bells in the different compartments of the train may be operated by causing
a pin K projecting from the drum B to contact with a spring contact-piece L when-
ever the said drum is moved to operate the cord A, or, if preferred the said bells
night he connected with an ordinary push-piece or contact-maker whereby the guard
could operate them whenever he wished to do so.
The cords or rods A are preferably protected from the action of the weather by
.passing them along tubes M M, and they may, if desired, be provided with a counter-
balance weight and a hand-wheel or lever at both ends in order that either or both
guards may be able to control the doors at will.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is:-
First. In improvements in and relating to means for closing and locking, or
unlocking railway carriage doors, the combination with a main cord such as A or its
equivalent, running longitudinally from end to end of the train, of a number of
branch connecting cords such as a a, substantially as and for the purpose specified
and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
Second. The combination with a cord such as A or its equivalent running
longitudinally from end to end of the train, of a pair of connecting links or governor
such as E, substantially as and for the purpose specified, and as illustrated in the
accompanying drawing.

page_text: Third. The combination with a cord, such as A, or its equivalent running from
end to end of a railway train and connected by branch cords to the doors of said
train, of a number of electric bells, arranged either to be worked automatically or
otherwise substantially as and for the purpose described with reference to the
accompanying drawing.
Dated this Twenty-second day of Junnary One thousand eight hundred and