Improvements in Means or Apparatus Adapted to be Operated by Railway Passengers for Stopping a Train and Attracting Attention of Driver and Guards.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd July, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 1st Apr., 1897-Accepted, 15th May 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus Adapted to be Operated
by Railway Passengers for Stopping a Train and Attracting
Attention of Driver and Guards.
I, ALEXANDER SPENCER of 77 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inveution to be as follows:-
According to this invention in order that a railway train fitted with the
automatic vacuum brake, or the Westinghouse brake, or with any brake that can
be applied by opening a train pipe to the external atmosphere may be stopped and
the attention of the driver and guards of the train be attracted by a passenger
within any one of the compartments of the train, there is provided in connection
with the length of train pipe on each carriage, a branch pipe fitted with a cock and
with a whistle, horn or other audible signalling device adapted to be operated by a
current of air the cock being connected to a lever or wheel that is adapted to be
moved by pulling a chain, cord or other flexible connector running along the
carriage (either inside or outside) and accessible by a person in any compartment
thereof, the arrangement being such that by pulling the flexible connector, the
lever or wheel will be operated so as to open and hold open the corresponding cock
and place the train pipe in connection with the external atmosphere through a
comparatively small opening so that the brakes will be applied slowly and the
outrushing or inrushing air, as the case may be, will pass through the whistle or
horn or equivalent device and produce an audible signal. The lever or wheel may
be held in the position into which it is pulled, by any suitable means such as by
providing it with a detent or pawl arranged to move over a fixed ratchet wheel, or
ratchet segment or the like. For indicating the carriage from which the apparatus
was operated and an alarm sounded, any suitable means may be provided, such for
example as a disc fixed on the spindle on which the lever or wheel is also fixed and
arranged in such a manner that normally it occupies a horizontal position and is
therefore nearly invisible to a person looking along the train, but will assume a
vertical and transverse position when the lever or wheel is operated so as to be
then readily visible.
In one arrangement of my apparatus each branch pipe is arranged vertically at
one end of a carriage and fitted at the top with the whistle, horn or equivalent
sounding device and lower down with the cock, the sounding device or the cock, or
both, having a comparatively small opening therethrough so that air can only
escape from or enter the branch pipe slowly and allow the brakes to be applied
gradually. The cock is operated by a rod or link from a lever hinged or pivoted
on the corresponding end of the carriage and provided at its free end with a roller
around which passes one end of the flexible connector which is or may be made
fast to the end of the vehicle near to the hinged or pivoted end of the lever. The
flexible connector may be arranged to extend inside and along the carriage near
the roof thereof.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Means or Apparatus Adapted to be Operated
by Railway Passengers for Stopping a Train and Attracting
Attention of Driver and Guards.
I, ALEXANDER SPENCER, of 77 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, 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 :-
According to this invention in order that a railway train fitted with the
automatic vacuum brake, or the Westinghouse brake, or with any brake that can be
applied by opening a train pipe to the external atmosphere may be stopped and the
attention of the driver and guards of the train be attracted by a passenger within
any one of the compartments of the train, there is provided in connection with the
length of train pipe on each carriage, a branch pipe fitted with a cock and with a
whistle, horn or other audible signalling device adapted to be operated by a
current of air the cock being connected to a lever or wheel that is adapted to be
moved by pulling a chain, cord or other flexible connector running along the
carriage (either inside or outside) and accessible by a person in any comparment
thereof, the arrangement being such that by pulling the flexible connector, the
lever or wheel will be operated so as to open and hold open the corresponding cock
and place the train pipe in connection with the external atmosphere through a
comparatively small opening so that the brakes will be applied slowly and the
outrushing or inrushing air, as the case may be, will pass through the whistle or
horn or equivalent device and produce an audible signal. The lever or wheel may
be held in the position into which it is pulled, by any suitable means such as by
providing it with a detent or pawl arranged to move over a fixed ratchet wheel, or
ratchet segment or the like. For indicating the carriage from which the apparatus
was operated and an alarm sounded, any suitable means may be provided, such for
example as a disc fixed on the spindle on which the lever or wheel is also fixed and
arranged in such a manner that normally it occupies a horizontal position and is
therefore nearly invisible to a person looking along the train, but will assume a
vertical and transverse position when the lever or wheel is operated so as to be
then readily visible.
In one arrangement of my apparatus each branch pipe is arranged vertically at
one end of a carriage and fitted at the top with the whistle, horn or equivalent
sounding device and lower down with the cock, the sounding device or the cock, or
both, having a comparatively small opening therethrough so that air can only
escape from or enter the branch pipe slowly and allow the brakes to be applied
gradually. The cock is operated by a rod or link from a lever hinged or pivoted
on the corresponding end of the carriage and provided at its free end with a roller
around which passes one end of the flexible connector which is or may be made
fast to the end of the vehicle near to the hinged or pivoted end of the lever. The
flexible connector may be arranged to extend inside and along the carriage near
the roof thereof.
The accompanying drawings illustrate such an arrangement of my apparatus,
Fig. 1 being a broken view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal
vertical section and showing so much of a railway carriage as is necessary to
illustrate the application of my invention thereto, the carriage being fitted with
both automatic vacuum and Westinghouse brake gear.
Fig. 2 shows an end elevation of the same carriage. Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive are
detail views of parts of the apparatus and will be hereinafter more particularly
referred to.

page_text: The vacuum brake train pipe 1 is provided at one end of the carriage with a
branch pipe 1 having fitted at the top a horn 1 and lower down a cock 1°., The
Westinghouse train pipe 2 is, at the same end of the carriage, similarly provided
with a branch pipe 2, a whistle 2b and a cock 2°, the latter being arranged, for
convenience, somewhat lower down than the cock 1°. The plugs of the cocks 1°
and 2 have, as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4, short arms 1 and 2ª fixed to them
which are connected together and to a similar arm 3 carried by a spin lle or rock
shaft 4 arranged above by a pair of rods or links 5. The spindle or rock shaft 4
extends from side to side of the carriage; it has fixed at each of its ends a
projecting disc 6 and near one or each end a lever arm 7 (see Figs. 5 and 6)
having at its free end a grooved roller 7* around which passes a chain 8 whose end
is made fast to the end of the carriage as shown. The lever arms 7 are each
enclosed in a case (which may be of tin) attached to the end of the carriage. The
free end of the chain is passed through a guide eye into the carriage thence
through the partitions between the compartments, and is finally made fast to the
opposite end of the carriage. 8" 8" are guide pulleys over which the chain is led.
The chain or chains (if there be one at each side) is or are prevented from being
caught in the doors by being passed through tubes 8° 8° above the doors. It will
be seen from Fig. 1 that the chain is accessible to a person in any compartment
of the carriage, and that, upon the chain being pulled, the spindle or shaft 4 will
be partly rotated and the cocks 1 and 2° opened, thereby placing the horn 1b and
whistle 2 in communication with their respective brake train pipes, the one or the
other being sounded according to whether the vacuum or the Westinghouse brake
is in use for the time being. At the same time, the discs 6, which are normally
horizontal, will be turned up into vertical positions, thus indicating the carriage
from which the signal has been given, and the brakes will be gradually applied.
In order that the parts of the apparatus shall not return automatically to their
normal positions after being operated in the manner described, one, or each, of the
lever arms 7 is fitted with a weighted detent or pawl 9 (Figs. 5 and 6) adapted to
engage with a ratchet 10, and so arranged that the guard can easily move the
detent or pawl out of engagement with its ratchet and so return the apparatus to
its normal position.
If for any reason the engine driver considers it desirable to postpone the stoppage
of the train, he can do this by means of the air exhausting or compressing
apparatus (as the case may require) under his control.
It is to be noted that the arrangement of the parts of the apparatus may be
modified to suit requirements without departure from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Providing a railway vehicle with apparatus comprising train pipes for an
automatic vacuum brake and for a pressure brake, such for example, as a
Westinghouse brake, a cock to each whereby it can be opened to the external
atmosphere, means whereby the said cocks can be operated simultaneously by
pulling a flexible connector accessible to persons within the vehicle and sound
producing devices adapted to be operated respectively by air under pressure
escaping from the one train pipe or by air at atmospheric pressure entering the
other train pipe, the arrangement being such that by pulling the flexible connector
both cocks will be opened and both train pipes be placed in communication with
the external atmosphere through a comparatively small opening so that no matter
which of the two train pipes is in use for the time being the brakes will be applied
slowly and the outrushing or inrushing air as the case may be will pass through the
corresponding sounding device and produce an audible signal.
2. The hereinabove described and illustrated improved means or apparatus
adapted to be operated by railway passengers for stopping a train and attracting
the attention of driver and guards, the construction and arrangement being such

page_text: that whether the vehicle be for the time being coupled up for a vacuum brake or
for working with the Westinghouse or analogous pressure brake a sufficient pull on
a flexible connector will cause the brakes to be slowly applied and audible and
visual indications to be given as set forth.
ced this 1st day of April 1897.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.