IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ALARM SIGNALS IN RAILWAY TRAINS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Comte (Pierre Ambjorn) de Sparre, of Boulevard Saint
Denis, 1, at Paris, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
ALARM SIGNALS IN RAILWAY TRAINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Comte (Pierre Ambjorn)
de Sparre at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th May
1881.
COMTE (PIERRE AMBJORN) DE SPARRE, of Boulevard Saint Denis, 1, at Paris.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ALARM SIGNALS IN RAILWAY TRAINS."
My Invention consists of an independent apparatus placed on the roof of each
carriage and communicating only with the compartiments of the same carriage by
means of a cord or rod. The apparatus is composed of a gong or bell, and of a
windmill or set of vanes or sails placed between two doors or shutters which are
closed by means of spring hooks communicating by a cord or rod with the inside
of the carriage. When a passenger wishes to give an alarm signal he has only to
pull the cord; this action releases the spring hooks and the doors fall open, exposing
the windmill to the action of the current of air due to the motion of the train.
At the end of one or more of the vanes or sails is a knob or projection which either
directly or indirectly through a lever keeps up a series of blows on the gong until
the train has been stopped.
Having stated the nature and object of my Invention I proceed to describe more
fully how it may be carried into effect.
The windmill or set of vanes or sails is carried on a horizontal shaft which is
mounted on pivots. To the top vane is fixed a knob, and to the opposite vane is
attached a counterweight heavier than the knob, so that the knob may always
commence its movement from the top. The doors which shut in the vanes at
front and back are pivoted at their lower part and are provided with hooks which
are caught by other hooks; these latter are acted upon by a pin fixed to a strap
or stirrup, the lower part of which is fitted with a spring and terminates in a ring
to which the pull cord or rod is attached. When this cord is pulled the hooks are

page_text: released, when the doors assisted by the action of springs fall open and expose
the vanes or sails. Toothed sectors on the axes or pintles of the two doors gear
into each other, so that the doors move simultaneously. Another sector connected
with one of the doors has a grooved periphery to receive another cord which is
pulled by the guard or attendant in order to return the doors to their normal
position. When the vanes are rotating, every time that the knob passes over an
incline or boss on a spring lever it forces away the lever and the springing back of
the latter causes a hammer to strike the gong. The last named sector is provided
with a certain number of ratchet teeth which act against a part of the spring lever,
and cause the hammer to strike a corresponding number of blows on the gong
while the doors are falling open before the vanes have received the impulse of the
wind. The object of this arrangement is to prevent a passenger pulling the cord
when the train is at a station and then leaving the train before it starts, thereby
causing a false alarm which would be produced when the train got into motion.
A third or supplementary door may be fitted at the side of the vanes to balance
in one direction or the other the action of the two others. Or the doors may be
dispensed with, suitable stops being fitted to the vanes and released by the pull
cord. Instead of a set of vanes or sails a spring barrel movement may be
employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Comte (Pierre Ambjorn) de Sparre in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1881.
COMTE (PIERRE AMBJORN) DE SPARRE, of Boulevard Saint Denis, 1, at Paris.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ALARM SIGNALS IN RAILWAY TRAINS."
My Invention consists of an independent apparatus placed on the roof of each
carriage and communicating only with the compartments of the same carriage by
means of a cord or rod. The apparatus is composed of a gong or bell, and of a
windmill or a set of vanes or sails placed between two doors or shutters which are
closed by means of spring hooks communicating by a cord or rod with the inside
of the carriage. When a passenger wishes to give an alarm signal he has only to
pull the cord; this.action releases the spring hooks and the doors fall open, exposing
the windmill to the action of the current of air due to the motion of the train.
At the end of one or more of the vanes or sails is a knob or projection which
either directly or indirectly through a lever keeps up a series of blows on the
gong until the train has been stopped.
Having stated the nature and object of my Invention I proceed to describe more
fully, with the aid of the annexed Drawings, how it may be carried into effect.
Figure 1 is a front view of the apparatus partly in section, and Figure, 2 a
transverse section. A, A, is the windmill or set of vanes or sails, which may be made
of sheet iron or other suitable material. It is carried on a horizontal shaft B which
is mounted on pivots C, C. To the top vane is fixed a knob H, and to the opposite
vane is attached a counterweight I heavier than the knob F, so that the knob may
always commence its movement from the top. T, T, are the doors which shut in
the vanes at front and back. They are pivoted at V, V, and are provided with
hooks Z, Z, which are caught by other hooks Q, Q; these latter are acted upon by
a pin fixed to a strap or stirrup W, the lower part of which is fitted with a spring
and terminates in a ring to which the pull cord or rod is attached. When this
cord is pulled the hooks Q, Q, descend and become released from the hooks Z, Z,
so that the doors assisted by the action of a spring X fall open and expose the
vanes or sails. Toothed sectors N, N, on the axes or pintles of the two doors
gear into each other, so that the doors move simultaneously. Another sector O
pivoted on the same axis as the spring X has a grooved periphery to receive
another cord which is pulled by the guard or attendant when he wishes to return
the doors to their normal position. During the rotation of the vanes, every time
that the knob H passes over the incline or boss on a lever F it forces away the lever
and presses back the spring G, and the springing back of the lever produced by the
rebound of the spring causes the hammer K to strike the gong L which is mounted
on the support M at the side of the apparatus. The sector is provided with a
certain number of ratchet teeth which act against a part U of the lever F and
cause the hammer K to strike a corresponding number of blows on the gong L
while the doors are falling open before the vanes have received the impulse of the
wind. The object of this arrangement is to prevent a passenger pulling the cord
when the train is at a station and then leaving the train before it starts, thereby
causing a false alarm which would be produced when the train got into motion.
A third or supplementary door may be fitted at the side of the vanes to balance
in one direction or the other the action of the two others. Or the doors may be
dispensed with, suitable stops being fitted to the vanes and released by the pull
cord. Instead of a set of vanes or sails a spring barrel movement may be
employed.
I may mention as advantages possessed by my Invention, first, that as there is

page_text: no connection between the alarm apparatus in the several carriages of the same
train no coupling or uncoupling of such apparatus is required when carriages are
added to or disconnected from the train; and, secondly, that the alarm is given
instantaneously, not only to the guard and driver but also to all the passengers in
the train.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, -
First. The fitting on the roof of railway carriages of an apparatus composed of a
windmill or set of vanes or sails which is put into operation by the current of air
due to the motion of the train, so as to give an alarm as soon as the said windmill
or vanes or sails are exposed to the action of the said current by mechanism.
actuated by a cord, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Second. The combination with the said windmill or vanes or sails of a knob and
a counterweight, the said knob acting upon a hammer which strikes a gong as
soon as the doors which shut in the vanes or sails are opened, substantially as and
for the purpose hereinbefore described.
Third. The arrangement of the ratchet toothed sector (O) in combination with
the spring (F), so that the alarm is sounded immediately the cord is pulled, even if -
the train is standing, substantially as hereinbefore described.
Fourth, Constructing alarm signal apparatus for railway trains, as hereinbefore
described and shown in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof,, I the said Comte (Pierre Ambjorn) de Sparre have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty fifth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
COMTE PIERRE AMBJORN DE SPARRE. (L.S.)
Witness;
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
Of 1, Boulevard Saint Denis,
At Paris.