IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alex Bernstein, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHES."
Sealed the 22nd July 1873, and dated the 28th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alex Bernstein at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th January 1873.
I, ALEX BERNSTEIN, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING SWITCHES," to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is to obtain at the station master's or
other room electrical control over the positions of the various switches
leading to the station, and an indication of their relative positions. The
O switches are capable of being actuated by rods and lover arms by the
person in charge, and they have rods with enlargements or conuses

page_text: thereon for effecting variable clectrical communication at the station.
Electrical contact for the circuits is formed by plugs in recesses for them
in plates, so as to connect the respective currents to the respective
switches, or shut them off, as may be desired, by which divers circuits
are capable of being placed in communication, and opened or closed by
approaching trains by the self-acting electro-pneumatic contact, which
also operates electric alarm apparatus.
The station master or other person having received intimation by the
electrical contact acting on the alarm of the approach of a train places
the stopper above referred to into the hole corresponding with the switch
into which the train is to run. If he receives the alarm the switch is
not set properly, but he has time before the arrival of the train to control
tho switches, and have them duly set, or if the switches are already duly
set he receives no alarm.
рисним
filed by the said Alex Bernstein in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 26th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEX
BERNSTEIN, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer, scud
greeting.
2
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alex Bernstein, Her special license that a
I, the said Alex Bernstein, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alex Bernstein, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the 8
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APParatus for Con-

page_text: TROLLING SWITCHES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alex Bernstein, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alex Bernstein, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
For the purpose of obtaining in the station master's room or other
suitable position by means of electricity a control over the different
positions of the switches on the line leading into the railway station
it is necessary that the electric current indicate these positions of said
switches, or in other words that the electric current being led to appa-
ratus situated in the station master's room open or close, as may be, the
position of the switches, and thus indicate them through the electric
current.
Figures I. and II. of annexed Drawing show the frame of a
common switch, of which the vertical axle a, with the lantern attached
to it, describes a quadrant by every displacement of the switch. By
means of this turning, and with the help of a spit b, a bar d is put into
motion through another bar c. The bar & moves diagonally through a
four-cornered box placed beside the rails, and close to the pointsman's
house, and in stuffing boxes fitted in the front and back sides of this
box, and bearing at a certain distance isolated a metal double conus f,
which being in the position represented by the drawing places the two
springs and in conducting communication. Opposite these two
springs two similar ones g¹ and are placed, of which the one g'is
brought into conducting communication with the spring opposite, viz., g,
by a conducting wire, whereas the threo springs g, h, and h', are connected
with isolated wires leading out of the box. These three conductors are
denoted by 2, 4, and 5. It is to be seen from the Drawing that in the two
positions of the switch the conducting wire 2 is in the one case put into
conducting communication with wire 4, and in the other with wire 5.

page_text: Figures 3, 4, and 5, show the construction of a relay connected with
these wires for the purpose of effecting a constant circuit by a single
electric action. mare the coils, and the horse shoes. As soon as the
current passes through the coils the horse shoc contained therein
becomes magnetic, and the horizontal onc-armed lever o is attracted.
When the action of the current has ceased the lever o is brought back
into the position shown by the Drawing by means of arm i, and by an
adjustable spring operating on it, the stroke of the lever being restricted
by the two screws and l. p is an easily moveable lever, equal armed,
its turning point being r, and having on the one side the ivory knob q,
and on the other the platinum apex & underneath. On the current
passing through the relay the lever o sinks, and presses the apex 8
between the two metal strips a and c, which by their clasticity clinch
the apex 8. The turning point of the lever p, which bears the apex, is
fastened, isolated to the standard of the relay, and the lever itself is in
communication with the conducting wire 3, whereas the two springs &
and e, being likewise isolated, are in communication with the conducting
wire 2. It is now plain that the conducting wires 2 and 3 are brought
into lasting communication, and a circuit would be formed in this
manner till a pressure on the knob q raised the communication. The
lever would remain in this position in consequence of its overweight on
the side where the knob is, till another current passed through the
rollers m, and re-established the communication lastingly.
The real control apparatus, situated in the station master's room, is
the so-called current turner, to be seen in Figure VI., and forming part
of Figure V1., which shows the table situated in the station master's
room, with the systematic arrangement of the above described auxiliary
apparatuses and the several conducting wires. This current turner or
commutator, which is a very essential part of this Invention, has tho
end in view of placing, as wished, diverse circuits in communication,
which are opened or closed by the approaching train by means of self-
acting electro-pneumatic contact, schematically represcuted on the right
hand of Figure VI., and also by the various positions of the switches by
means of the apparatus represented in Figures I. and II.

page_text: Opposite this long-shaped piece of brass W are fixed the other smaller
pieces, and these are formed, as the Drawing shows, in such a manner
that the space between them and the brass plate W is exactly filled up
by the stopper represented in Figure VII., so that one can thereby, as
wished.

page_text: them,
3. A galvanometer.
In the middle is the so-called current turner or commutator or key
apparatus already described.
The position of the switches, with their contact contrivances, arc indi-
cated by full lines, whereas the conducting wires are indicated by dotted
lines, with the numerals placed in between, noting the conductors. The
different holes are marked 0, I., II., III., and IV., and the arrangement
is such that when the stopper Figure VII. is fitted in the hole No. I.,
the first switch is controlled; in No. II., the second; in No. III., tho
third; in No. IV., the train goes through to the platform; whereas the
stopper being in No. 0, shows repose. The controlling is done as fol.
lows: The stopper is in hole No. 0, indicating repose till the train
passing the sliding rail opens current No. I., setting thereby the alarm
apparatus in motion. The alarm apparatus is however only in activity
while the train is passing the sliding rail; the latter having passed it
would cease. To prevent however the station master's not hearing the
signal, as he might possibly be absent, a second lasting clectric current
is conjointly with the first opened by means of the relay, and sets the
second alarum & so long in activity till the station master comes, and
drawing the stopper out of hole No. 0, and for exercising the control
puts it into the hole corresponding with the switch into which the train
is to run. The first current passes from the ground through the electro-
pneumatic contact through conductor I to the battery, and from there to
the alarum ¹, and on to the relay through the induction coils of the
same to the galvanometer, and then to the ground. The lever 12 of the
relay is immediately attracted, and by means of the lever o, which
presses the platinum apex s of the lever between the two metal strips u
and v, Figures III. and V., a second current is obtained, which goes as
follows: From the positive pole of the battery through conductor 3 to
the equal armed lever p of the relay, and from there through the two
metal strips and v, through conductor 2 to the metal piece W, through
conductor 4, galvanometer, aların apparatus a, back to the negative pole
of the battery, the alarum ¹ being thereby set in motion.
The station master or attendant having received the signal, about
two minutes before arrival of the train, he places the stopper into the

page_text: hole corresponding with the switch into which the train is to run. If.
he receive the alarm signal the switch is not set properly, and he has
time before arrival of the train to control the switches, and to have
them duly set. Should the switches be set properly then he receives no
alarm signal, this being a proof that all is in order. Let me explain how
that is done by a few examples:-As already stated, the position of the
double conus between the two springs in Figure 1, which is represented
below in Figure VI., being to the right shows that the train will proceed
on the same line, whereas the position being to the left indicates that the
train is passing to the switch line. In the lower diagram the matter
will accordingly be as follows:-On the train passing through, the two
upper springs are connected, on its passing into the switch line the two
lower ones are connected. The communication between the springs and
the pieces of brass are shown in the Drawing. Supposing the train is to
pass into the first siding then the position of the other switch is not
important. The station master having placed the stopper in hole No. 1,
and the two springs of the switch No. 1 are placed in communication, if
set properly, then a current coming from the battery through alarum &³,
galvanometer, and conductor 4, entering the brass piece W over the
stopper in No. 1 on the brass y could pass into the conductor, 5 would
then reach the two springs of the switch, would then go into a
lower spring to the right, and could then reach one of the upper springs
of the switch 3. Let the position of the switch be as it may, an eventual
current could yet go farther, either through the second upper spring to
the picce w and conductor 10, from hole No. 3, into or through the
second lower spring, through conductor 9 to the piece X, from the hole
No. 4. Both holes are however interrupted; therefore, no current can
consequently arise.
Second Case. The train is to pass into switch line W³, then switch W¹
must be so set that the two upper springs are connected, whereas in
switch W the two lower springs are connected. The position of switch W³
would again be irrelevant, and the stopper is in hole No. II. In this
case the current entering from the battery through conductor 4 into W,
could go through the stopper in hole 2 and the brass piece S, through
conductor 6 into the two upper springs of switch W³, where the commu-
nication would be interrupted, or it could go through the brass piece E,
through conductor 7 to switch W', and indeed to the lower spring of the

page_text: same, it being open. A signal could not be received in case of this the
proper setting of the switches. Supposing however switch 10 is not
properly set, that is to say, the two lower springs are connected, the
current coming through the piece E and conductor 7 would find com-
munication with the two springs, and would reach through conductor 2
the two springs of the relay through conductor 3 to the other pole of the
battery, and the alarm apparatus ' would be placed in activity, as a
current is closed there. Supposing switch W' is properly set, and switch
W improperly, that is to say, the two upper springs of switch Ws, as also
of switch W¹ were connected, then the current entering from the battery
through alarum and conductor 4 into the piece W would find its way
over the stopper in hole 2, through piece 8 and conductor 6 to the two
upper springs of switch Ws, and from there its way through the other
upper spring to conductor 2, and return through the same over the relay
to the battery. The current would really be closed, and the alarm
apparatus put into motion.
It may be also proved of the third switch that it would give no signal
if set properly, whereas if set improperly this would be the case, and it is
also casy to perceive that this system can also easily be extended to a
greater number than 3 switches. In this manner the alarm is given
when the switch is set improperly as soon as the station master has put
the stopper in the corresponding hole, whereas no signal ensues if all is
in order. The train having run into the station the station master
places the stopper in repose hole, and replaces everything in its former
order by a pressure on the knob of the small lever on the relay.
Should a train drive out of the station on the entrance line an alarm
signal would be given as soon as the train passed the sliding rail apparatus
and clectro-pneumatic contact. The station master knows that this
signal can alone have been caused by the train leaving, and by a pressure
on the knob of the relay he causes the signal to ceasc, and replaces
everything in repose.
It is plain that in the above-described contrivance, as in all electric
contrivances, various modificatious can be made.
The alarm apparatus may be placed in the station master's or other
room on the platform, or at the respective switches.

page_text: Instead of acoustic apparatus optical indications may be substituted to
give the desired signals.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alex Bernstein, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three.