IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, POINT APPARATUS, AND LAMPS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to. Joseph Grindley. Rowe, of 5, Queen Square, West-
minster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, POINT
APPARATUS, AND LAMPS."
Sealed the 20th December 1867, and dated the 27th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the Joseph Grindley Rowe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th June 1867.
I, JOSEPH GRINDLEY ROWE, of 5, Queen Square, Westminster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAILWAY
SIGNALS, POINT APPARATUS, AND LAMPS," to be as follows:-
The present Invention relates chiefly to railways, but the second part
thereof may be applied to other signals, and also to other illuminating
purposes. It consists, firstly, of improved apparatus for depositing fog signals
on the metals of a railway, and removing the same therefrom by means of
the ordinary signal wires, part of which apparatus may be applied to open and
shut points or switches.
Secondly, of an improved lamp so contrived as to regulate the flow of
oil, and also to relight itself if accidentally or otherwise extinguished, and
having lenses capable of holding glycerine or other incorrosive transparent
liquid not liable to readily freeze, evaporate, ignite, or explode.
To deposit fog signals on the metals a series of levers (charged with
detonators) are arranged and work laterally and transversely upon an iron

page_text: bar or tube; this bar or tube has a linch pin driven through it, or stops placed
at the side of it, and the levers have keyways or slots in the boss. When
set for action the levers rest on a stop bar, and when not in a position to act
they fall to a vertical position, the keyways or slots being then in a straight
line with and clear of the linch pin or stops.
The fog signals are placed on and off the metals by means of a screw and
weighted lever, or a winged pulley and spring, and the levers to which they
are secured receive lateral pressure by means of a weight or spring; the iron
bar may however slide laterally, by means of its own weight or otherwise upon
two wheels and an inclined plane; the screw and lever may also be combined
with a chain or wire rope to open and shut railway switches. To wind up
the superfluous slack wire two pulleys are placed midway between the band
lever and the signal post to revolve in opposite directions, and connected by
means of a ratchet and click.
The second part of this 'Invention consists of an improved lamp, the
reservoir of which turns upon a pivot, and is provided with a spring and two
wicks. Extended over one wick is an ordinary compound metál bar and
locking stud, and over the other some material combustible by friction or per-
cussion. By means of this metal bar the flow of oil may be regulated in
carriage-roof lamps; at the side in a suitable position is fixed a strip of glass,
paper, or other abrasive substance. The lenses being ordinary hollow ones,
are filled with glycerine or other incorrosive transparent liquid not liable to
readily freeze, evaporate, ignite, or explode. This latter part of the Invention
may be applied to other illuminative purposes than signals, such as to roof
lamps for railway carriages, lamps for stations, houses, or public roads, in the
form of a reflector or otherwise; the lamps may be relighted by means of
electricity. I may remark, that in making use of the word "incorrosive" I
mean such liquids as will not excite strong galvanic action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Grindley Rowe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3
27th December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
GRINDLEY ROWE, of 5, Queen Square, Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June; in the year of our Lord 3
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Grindley Rowe, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Grindley
Rowe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joseph Grindley Rowe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAILWAY SIGNALS, POINT APPARATUS, AND LAMPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Grindley Rowe, 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 mouths next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent:
'
I.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Grindley Rowe, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say:
This Invention relates chiefly to railways, but the second part thereof is
equally applicable to other similar signals and to other analogous illuminating
purposes wherever it is desirable that a lamp having gone out or been
extinguished either accidentally or otherwise should automatically relight
itself.
The Invention consists, firstly, of improved apparatus for depositing fog
signals upon the metals of a railway and removing the same therefrom by
means of the ordinary signal wires, (part of which apparatus as hereafter
described may also be applied to open and shut points or switches,) and the
peculiar novel feature of this part of the Invention is that the apparatus
continues to place and remove the same fog signal time after time until it has
been exploded, and then immediately substitutes another, whereas with such
apparatus as has hitherto been employed each time the fog signal was withdrawn
from the rail (whether it had exploded or not) it fell or was removed from the
apparatus, and hence the fog signals required to be frequently replaced, or
the apparatus has contained only one fog signal, and when that has been
exploded the apparatus is rendered useless till, recharged..
The Invention consists, secondly, of an improved lamp so contrived as to

page_text: relight itself if accidentally or otherwise extinguished, part of which contrivance
(as herein-after explained) may be employed to regulate or control, the flow
of oil to a lamp.
In one arrangement of apparatus for carrying out the first part of my
Invention, a series of levers (charged with detonators or fog signals) is arranged
so as to be capable of moving both longitudinally and transversely upon- an
iron bar or tube. This bar or tube has a linch pin driven through it, or stops
placed at the side of it to keep the levers in place, and the levers have key-
ways or slots in the boss. When set for action the outer ends of the levers
rest on a stop bar, but when one of the signals has been exploded and its
lever is consequently not in a position to act, the latter falls into a vertical
position the keyway or slot being then in a straight line with and clear of the
linch pin or stops, the whole of the levers slide laterally a distance equal to
the thickness of one lever, and hence the second lever takes the place of the
first. The fog signals are placed on and taken off the metals (by the action
of the ordinary signal wire) by means of a quick threaded screw and weighted
lever or by a winged, pulley and spring which impart a longitudinal to-and-fro
motion to the first lever only of the series, and the whole of the levers receive
lateral or transverse pressure by means of a weight or spring. If preferred,
instead of the levers having a lateral sliding motion on the bar or tube, the
latter may itself have a sliding motion and carry the levers with it. In a
modification of the above a slide provided with several detonators or fog
signals is substituted for the levers, the longitudinal to-and-fro motion being
still communicated by the quick threaded screw and weighted lever or the
winged pulley and spring in connection with the ordinary signal wire. The
quick threaded screw and weighted lever may also be combined with a chain
or wire rope, or a rod to open and shut railway points or switches. The signal
wire may be kept tight by means of the apparatus described in the Specifi-
cation of former Letters Patent granted to me, bearing date July Nineteenth,
in the year of our Lord 1865, No. 1880, or by any other analogous contrivance,
In carrying out the second part of my Invention I employ an improved
lamp, the reservoir of which turns upon a pivot and is provided with a spring
and two wicks, extending over one wick is a compound metal bar or "pyrometer"
in connection with a locking stud (described also in the Specification above
mentioned) and above the other some material combustible either by friction or
percussion, and at the side of the lamp in a suitable position is fixed a strip
of glass paper or other abrasive substance. When the wick beneath the
pyrometer" is lighted the heat expands the latter, and by means of the
locking stud prevents the reservoir from turning, but on the lamp going out or
"
"

page_text: being otherwise extinguished the pyrometer contracts releasing the locking
stud and allowing the spring to give half a turn to the reservoir so as to bring
the other wick beneath the pyrometer. The combustible substance at the
same time in passing over the sand paper or other abrasive material becomes
ignited and lights the fresh wick. It will be evident that the movement of
the compound metal bar or "pyrometer" may be caused (by numerous well
known simple contrivances) to regulate the flow of oil in carriage roof or
other lamps, and that this same movement may also be employed to make and
break contact so as to relight lamps by means of electricity instead of by the
means above described.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improvements in
Railway Signals, Point Apparatus, and Lamps," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly
understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof,
and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding
with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:-
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 is a side elevation, and Figure 2 a plan
view of the lever arrangement for placing the fog signals on the metals.
a¹, a³, &c., are a series of levers charged with detonators b, b. These levers
are provided with slots c, c, so that they can move longitudinally or in the
direction of their own length on the bar d, d, and are mounted on a tube e, e,
capable of moving them transversely or along the bar. The detonators b, b,
are attached to the outer end of each lever by two strips f, f, of wood, which
rest upon the stop bar g, g, and thus support the levers in the horizontal
position. To one end of the tube e, e, is attached a chain h, h, passing over a
pulley and carrying a weight i, i, which has a constant tendency to pull the
tube (and with it the levers) in the direction of the arrow. This tendency is
counteracted (except at certain times as hereafter explained) by a linch pink, k,
driven tight into the bar d, d, and passing through long slots in the tube e, e,
extending from one of its collars *, *, to the other. It will be seen that the
first lever a¹ the boss of which presses against the linch pin k, k, is in a position
to be acted upon by the winged pulley 1, 1, so as to be thrust forward and place
its detonator on to the rail (as seen in Figure 2) whenever the signal stands at
danger, and to be withdrawn back into its original position by the spring m, m,
as soon as the signal is drawn over to "line clear," the weighted chain n, n,
which passes over the said pulley being connected to the ordinary signal wire
for that purpose. This action of the lever a¹ takes place every time that the
signal is moved until its detonator has been exploded, when the following change

page_text: is effected; the explosion breaks the detonator off the slips of wood f, f, at
their weakest point x, x, where they are partially cut through, and on the
signal being drawn to "line clear" the chain n, n, being drawn in the direction
of its arrow, will pull round the winged pulley 1, l, into the position shewn in
Figure 1, and allow the spring m, m, to thrust the lever a¹ into its original
position, when as its outer end is no longer supported by the stop rod g, g, it
falls down into a vertical position as shewn in dotted lines in Figure 1. This
brings its keyway o into a line with the linch pin k, k, when the weight i, i,
comes into play and draws the chain h, h, together with the tube e, e, and the
levers a¹, a, &c., in the direction of the arrow until the side of the boss of the
lever a comes against the linch pin k, k, the lever a² is now in a position to be
acted upon by the winged pulley and spring until its detonator has been
exploded when it in turn falls down, and the lever a³ takes its place, and so on
in succession.
A modification of the above is shewn in side elevation at Figure 3, and
plan view at Figure 4. Instead of the levers I employ a slide a, a, to which
the motion for placing the fog signals b, b, on the metals is communicated as
in the preceding instance by the weighted chain n, a, connected to the signal
wire, and passing over the winged pulley 1, 1, but instead of the spring m, m,
a second wing or cam * is added to the pulley for withdrawing the detonators.
In order to supply a fresh detonator when the first has become exploded (and
the strips f,f, broken off at the point x, x, as before explained), the strips f,f,
are furnished with several detonators, and are connected together by a cross
piece at the rear end, to which a cord his attached carrying a weight i, i,
which has a constant tendency to force the strips f, f, with their detonators
forward; this tendency is counteracted (as in the previous case) by a stop k, k,
against which the turned-down rim of the first detonator catches; but when-
ever the first detonator becomes exploded and breaks off, the weight i, i, comes
into action as before, and pulls the strips f,f, forward until the rim of the
second detonator 62 catches against a temporary or movable stop e, e, so that
the second detonator is not thrown on to the rail at once, but as soon as the
signal is drawn to "line clear," and the slide a, a, moves in the direction of
the arrow the stop e, e, is tilted into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3,
and the second detonator advances to the fixed stop k, and takes the place of
the exploded one, and so on for the rest.
Figures 5 and 6, represent side and plan view of a quick threaded screw
and weighted lever, which may be employed for opening and shutting the
railway points. a, a, is a pulley, to which is attached a chain b, b, (in connec-
tion with the ordinary wire rope) and a weighted lever c, c. Through a nut in

page_text: the boss of the pulley passes the quick threaded screw or twisted bar d, d, and
to one end of the latter the rod e, e, connected to the points is attached. It
will be evident that whenever the lever c, c, is raised or let fall the rod e, e,
will be thrust forward or drawn back as shewn by dotted lines, and thus the
opening and closing of the points effected. The ordinary point indicator may
be connected to the lever c, c, in any convenient manner. I would here
observe that this movement may also be used instead of the winged pulley for
working the lever or slide in the previously described fog-signal apparatus.
Figures 7 and 8, represent elevation (with one side removed) and plan
view (with top removed) of my improved self-relighting lamp. a, a, is the
reservoir of the lamp mounted on a pivot, and provided with a flat coiled
spring b, b; c, c, d, d, are two wicks, the latter of which is provided with a
frame f, f, carrying four lucifer matches 9, 9, (or other substance capable of
being ignited by friction or percussion) extended above the wick; h, h, is a
plate or bracket fixed to the side of the lamp in such a position that when the
reservoir a, a, is caused to revolve the matches are drawn over a piece of
glass paper (or other rough surface) i, i, with which it is provided; k, k, is
the compound metal bar. or pyrometer fixed above the flame, and 1, 1, is
the locking stud attached thereto; this stud is provided with a notch m, and
the reservoir a, a, is furnished with two projections n, n*; o, o, is a peg or
stop, the use of which will be explained hereafter.
The action of the lamp is as follows:-The abrading surface or substance i, i,
being first removed, and the peg 0,.0, withdrawn, the matches g, g, are placed
in the frame f, f, the reservoir is then turned round by hand so as to coil the
spring b, b, and bring the wicks into the position shown in Figure 7; the
peg o, o, is then replaced in front of the projection n*, so as to hold the
reservoir in that position, the wick c, c, is now lighted, and as soon as the
heat of the flame has expanded the pyrometer k, k, sufficiently to cause it to
draw up the locking stud 1, l, until its notch m is above the projection n, the
peg o, is withdrawn, and the projection n allowed to come against the side
of the locking stud 1, 1, the peg o being then replaced behind the projection n*,
and the lamp is "set" for action, the abrading surface i, i, is now replaced,
and the lamp is ready for use; so long as the wick c, c, burns properly. the
lamp will remain in a quiescent state as shewn in Figure 7, but should the
flame become extinguished the cooling of the pyrometer will cause it to descend
(as shewn in dotted lines), and bring the notch m of the locking stud 1, 1,
opposite to the projection n, thus releasing the reservoir, and allowing the
spring b, b, to turn it half a revolution till the projection n comes against the
peg o. In performing this semi-revolution the matches 9, 9, pass over the

page_text: abrading substance i, i, as shown by dotted lines in Figure 8, becoming ignited
and lighting the fresh wick d, d.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
Improvements in Railway Signals, Point Apparatus, and Lamps," together
with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my
Invention,―
Firstly, the apparatus shown in the Drawings, and herein-before described
for placing fog-signals or detonators on the metals, or any mere modification
thereof, whereby the same detonator is placed on the rails from time to time
till it has been exploded, and then another is substituted.
Secondly, I claim the apparatus shown and described for opening and
shutting railway points or switches.
And, thirdly, the self-relighting lamp, shewn in the annexed Drawings,
and herein-before described, or any mere imitation or modification thereof,.
constructed and operating in substantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Grindley Rowe, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.