IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SIGNALS OF Railways
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Stinson Farmer, of Canterbury Road,
Kilburn, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
“IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SIGNALS OF Railways.”
Sealed the 5th December 1874, and dated the 12th October 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Stinson Farmer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th October 1874.
I, JOHN STINSON FARMER, of Oanterbury Road, Kilburn, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SIGNALS OF RAIL-
WAYS," to be as follows:-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to John Saxby and the said
John Stinson Farmer, on the 27th February 1867, No. 538, were
described means of working railway signals from several signalling
stations in such a manner that in order to lower the signal to safety all
the signalmen acting upon it had to co-operate for that purpose, any one

page_text: of them having the power at will, and independently of the others to
display and maintain the danger signal.
My present Invention relates to improved apparatus for this purpose,
the chief object of the improvements being to provide against the acci-
dental lowering of the semaphore arm in case of the fracture of the
upright rod or chain on the signal post. For this purpose I attach to
the semaphore arm itself a counterweight sufficient to raise it to the
danger attitude, and I provide on the upright rod or chain on the signal
post a sway beam, each arm of which is acted upon by one of the
counterweighted levers on the post which are worked by the ordinary
pulls. When only one of these levers is moved the sway beam is merely
caused to rock on its fulcrum without moving the signal rod or chain
on which it is mounted, but when both levers are moved, the sway beam
being acted on at both ends in the same direction, its fulcrum is necessarily
moved and the rod or chain connecting it to the semaphore arm is moved
with it. In case of more than two sets of levers and pulls being thus
applied to one signal I employ compound sway beams, the secondary
beams being pivotted on the primary beams.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Stinson Farmer, in the Great Seal Patent 2
Office on the 10th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
STINSON FARMER, of Canterbury Road, Kilburn, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 2
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Stinson Farmer, Her special
license that I, the said John Stinson Farmer, my executors, admini- 8
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Stinson Farmer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SIGNALS ON RAILWAYS,"
upon the condition. (amongst others) that I, the said John Stinson
Farmer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 John Stinson Farmer, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to John Saxby and the said
John Stinson Farmer, on the 27th February 1867, No. 538, were
described means of working railway signals from several signalling
stations in such a manner that in order to lower the signal to safety all
the signalmen acting upon it had to co-operate for that purpose, any one
of them having the power at will and independently of the others to
display and maintain the danger signal.
My present Invention relates to improved apparatus for this purpose,
the chief object of the improvements being to provide against the acci-
dental lowering of the semaphore arm in case of the fracture of the
upright rod or chain on the signal post. For this purpose I attach to
the semaphore arm itself a counterweight sufficient to raise it to the
danger attitude, and I provide on the upright rod on the signal post
a sway beam, each arm of which is acted upon by one of the counter-
weighted levers on the post which are worked by the ordinary pulls.
When only one of these levers is moved the sway beam is merely
caused to rock on its fulcrum without moving the signal rod or chain
on which it is mounted, but when both levers are moved, the sway beam
being acted on at both ends in the same direction, its fulcrum is neces-
sarily moved and the rod or chain connecting it to the semaphore arm is

page_text: moved with it. In case of more than two sets of levers and pulls being
thus applied to one signal I employ compound sway beams, the secondary
beams being pivotted on the primary beams.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a front view of the upper and lower parts of a signal {
post, and Fig. 2 a part of a side view of the lower part thereof with appa-
ratus for working the signal, so arranged according to my Invention that
the smaphore arm cannot be lowered from its "danger" attitude unless
the two persons having control thereof co-operate for that purpose. P
is the signal post on which is mounted the semaphore arm S which
is counterweighted by a weight W, such as shall always cause it to
assume its danger attitude, as shewn in the Figure, unless force is
applied sufficient to overcome the counterweight. The two counter-
weighted signal levers L, L', are mounted on a framing at the lower
part of the post, each being worked by a pull p, p', from distant and
separate places. The signal rod R. has mounted on it an equal armed lever
or sway beam B, which when only one of the two levers L, L', is moved
is simply canted, as shown in Fig. 2, without affecting the signal S. If
however both the levers L, L', are raised together by drawing both the
pulls p, p, then both arms of the sway beam B being raised, the rod R
is also raised and the signal S is caused to drop to its "
attitude.
safety
"
It will be seen that should the rod R or either of the pulls p, p³,
accidentally give way the signal will rise to and remain at the "danger"
attitude. As an additional precaution to prevent the lowering of the
signal unless both levers L, L', are moved for that purpose, the rod R
may be made with a cross head C, as shewn in the Figures, on which
cross head the levers bear when they are down, or either of the levers
bears thereon when the other is raised.
Fig. 3 shews the arrangement I employ when three levers L', I, I♪³, ‹
are used to control the working of the signal. In this case the sway
beam B has at the one end a rod with a stop or stud on which one of
the levers L' acts, and at the other end it has a rod 73 carrying a
subsidiary sway beam & on which the other two levers L', I³, act,
the effect of this arrangement being that unless all three of the levers
are raised the signal rod R remains down, the signal standing at
"danger."

page_text: Fig. 4 shews the arrangement of the apparatus for four levers L, L
L', L', in which case two subsidiary sway beams 6', 6³, are suspended
from the main sway beam B, the effect being that all the four levers
must be raised in order to cause the signal to be lowered.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. The use, for working a railway signal, of sway beams on the
vertical signal rod operated on by two or more levers, in such manner
that unless all these levers are raised together, the signal shall stand at
its "danger" attitude, substantially as herein described.
Second. The combination of the apparatus referred to in the pre-
ceding claim, with a counterweighted semaphore arm, so that in the
event of any of the connections giving way the signal shall rise to and
remain at "danger."
In witness whereof, I, the said John Stinson Farmer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.