IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR OPERATING OR ADJUSTING RAILWAY SWITCHES OR CROSSINGS AND SIGNALS
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Stokes Williams at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th December 1877.
JOSEPH STOKES WILLIAMS, of Riverton, New Jersey, United States of America,
now of 8, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
OPERATING OR ADJUSTING RAILWAY SWITCHES OR CROSSINGS AND SIGNALS."
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction and arrangement of
apparatus for ensuring the proper working of railway switches, crossings, and
signals, and is designed to provide apparatus with which it will be impossible to
give conflicting signals, or to set the signals contrary to the actual position of the
switches or crossings with which the said signals are connected.
The said Invention consists chiefly in the combination with the levers or other
moving or adjusting parts, of bolts, bars, rods, plates, cams, or similar devices,
arranged and operating in such a manner as to prevent any improper or incorrect
movement or adjustment of the said levers or other moving parts of the signal or
switch apparatus. That is to say, for instance, in a set or row of levers for operating
a series of signals connected with a series of switches or crossings, each of which
governs or is governed by the position of the others of the series; the said bolts or
other locking devices are arranged to operate in such a manner that any desired
number of levers will be so interlocked as to prevent the movement necessary to
give conflicting signals, or signals to indicate falsely or incorrectly the position of
any of the said switches or crossings.
In practising this Invention I employ bolts or engaging faces whose movements
in opposite directions are varied or limited by suitably engaging surfaces or walls,
according to the position of the lever or actuating device, that is to say, the locking
walls or surfaces engage more deeply in one of the positions than in the other
position of the said lever or actuating device and the bolt in being withdrawn
from the engaging faces to release the actuating device causes faces to engage with
and retain other faces on or in connection with another actuating device, which last
named faces also vary dependent upon the position of such lever or actuating device
so that if a suitable face is not offered or movement allowed, the bolt cannot be
withdrawn to release the other lever or actuating part; but if the actuating devices
ID 437

page_text: are in their proper relative positions the bolt can be withdrawn, releasing the part
which it has bolted, and at the same time engages with and retains another lever
or part until the movement or adjustment thereof is complete, and the said part
is again bolted. After the bolting or engaging of the locking faces, the lever or
devices thereby retained previously, and upon the withdrawal of the bolt, and
during the movement and rebolting of the part which it bolts or adjusts in both
of its extreme positions, can be moved, and during such movement and until
adjusted to the first extreme position or limit of adjustment, will prevent the
withdrawal of the bolt from the face engaging with it, and therefore the movement
of the first lever or actuating device is rendered impossible. By thus preventing
the movement of a lever, until some other lever or part shall have changed position
and completed its necessary movement, the proper relative working of the actuating
devices or movable parts in connection with the permanent way is ensured, and the
same results are similarly attainable through an entire system or series of levers or
adjusting parts or any desired number of the same.
•
According to one method of carrying my said Invention into practice I connect
with each lever of a row or set of levers a bolt or engaging face. Each bolt is
provided with two recesses engaging faces or walls for receiving the same, and for
locking the lever, also two similar engaging faces in connection with the lever to
be interlocked, corresponding with the two positions of the said lever One of these
faces to receive the bolt to lock the lever admits of a deeper engagement or move-
ment of the bolt than the other. The greater recess or engaging face in connection
with one lever is opposite the lesser one in connection with the other, and the said
shifting bolts or faces are connected with treadles or other apparatus for operating
or adjusting them to lock or unlock the said lovers as desired, and may operate
automatically to lock the levers, or I may use in connection with each lever or
actuating device of a system which it is desirable to interlock a bolt, catch, or
locking face, connected to or receiving movement from a hand lever or spring
catch rod connected to the lever or actuating device, which in the positions com-
pleting the required movement of the lever vary in the limit of adjustment, or in
engaging with the faces provided to lock the lever; and the securing of such
variation of movement necessarily involves the movement of such parts as may be
connected thereto or in contact therewith, consistent with the space and movement
necessary to release the engaging faces, and complete the required movement of a
lever or actuating device. Another part or end of such belt or face connected
thereto or in contact therewith, is caused to engage with another lever or actuating
device or connection therewith, to allow the necessary movement to release or
withdraw the bolt or face, which actuating device or part connected therewith also
varies the limit of such adjustment reversely to the limit of the adjustment for the
bolting or locking of the first lever of which the bolt or engaging face is the
associate, and if the position of such lever or its connection is such as to allow
of the most extended limit of adjustment towards the last lever, then the bolt can
be withdrawn to release the first lever and not otherwise, and during the movement
of the lever thereby released, the bolt or face last adjusted to release the lever are
retained in their relative positions to which they were adjusted to each lever, and
present obstructing faces to the other lever or parts in connection therewith, thereby
preventing its movement; but when the first lever shall have completed its movement
and is again rebolted, then the second lever may be moved, and in such movement
and until replaced in first completed position will prevent the movement of the
first lever for the reason that when moved from the first position it no longer will
allow of the full limit of adjustment of the bolt or parts moved by or connected
with the first lever.
By a repetition of this system of bolting and interlocking, any desired number
of levers or parts of a system may be controlled, and this method of bolting and
interlocking is applicable to the ordinary spring catch in common use.
The aforesaid bolts may be so arranged as to engage with suitable stationary
faces or directly with the lovers, arms, or actuating devices, or with other suitable

page_text: engaging faces connected with the same, or parts which must be adjusted to allow
the movement thereof. They may be of various forms as the position of the walls
or surfaces with which they engage may demand to ensure their proper working
in relation to each other to effect the necessary locking, interlocking, and releasing
of the parts. The said engaging faces for thus controlling or governing the action
of the levers or actuating devices, as above described, may be stationary and
movable, and the movable parts operative in various manners and may have a
rocking, revolving, lateral, longitudinal, or vertical motion, or a combination of such
motions as may be deemed desirable, and may be dependent for movement entirely
upon the actuating of the bolt alone, or with the same in combination with the
movement of the device which actuates the switches or signals with which the said
bolt is connected.
The actuating power for the adjustment of the bolts or locking parts may be
mechanical, derived from compressed or rarefied air, liquid pressure, or a combination
of any of them, and may be controlled or adjusted by hand or by treadle or other-
wise; and means for transmitting movement to the locking or bolting faces may be
attached to the lever, valve, stop-cock, or other agent with which they are associated
for locking and interlocking, or may be in any other convenient position. These
bolting movable faces may be automatically operated through the agency of springs,
weights, or other devices, to effect the locking of any part of the said apparatus
desirable to prevent from being moved during any subsequent movement of other
levers or appliances for transinitting movement to other parts of the said apparatus
This method of locking is applicable to any location, whether in the sigual house or
at any other part of the line.
I also provide means for protecting these bolts so that their levers cannot be used
except by the proper persons For this purpose I arrange the levers or other parts
in such a manner that the adjustment of the bolts will require the use of an
adjustable detachable lever or wedge to be used with one or more levers, or a whole
series of levers may be operated similarly; and the position of the actuating device
to withdraw or move the bolt so as to release a lever will be dependent upon the
position into which the said lever may be moved, and thereby the proper desired
relative working of the levers or actuating devices secured.