IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE BRAKES AND GIVING NOTICE TO THE DRIVERS, FIREMEN, AND GUARDS ON APPROACHING OR PASSING SIGNALS AT DANGER OR CAUTION, AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR AUTOMATICALLY SHOWING BY THE LIGHTS THE DIRECTION IN WHICH AN ENGINE IS TRAVELLING
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis William Webb, of Crewe, in the County of Chester,
Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
APPLYING THE BRAKES AND GIVING NOTICE TO THE DRIVERS, FIREMEN, AND
GUARDS ON APPROACHING OR PASSING SIGNALS AT DANGER OR CAUTION,
AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR AUTOMATICALLY SHOWING BY THE LIGHTS THE
DIRECTION IN WHICH AN ENGINE IS TRAVELLING.”
Sealed the 15th May 1877, and dated the 12th January 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said Francis William Webb at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th January 1877.
FRANCIS WILLIAM WEBB, of Crewe, in the County of Chester, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE BRAKES AND
GIVING NOTICE TO THE DRIVERS, FIREMEN, AND GUARDS ON APPROACHING OR
PASSING SIGNALS AT DANGER OR CAUTION, AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR AUTO-
MATICALLY SHOWING BY THE LIGHTS THE DIRECTION IN WHICH AN ENGINE IS
TRAVELLING."
Firstly. The object of my Invention is to liberate the continuous brakes, or give
notice to drivers, firemen, and guards in charge of a train, or to either of them, by
sounding a whistle or striking a bell or gong, or doing all the above named acts
simultaneously when they are approaching or passing a signal at danger or caution,
and it consists in arranging a rod in connection with the trigger of the continuous
brakes, or the whistle, bell, or gong, or in connection with all the above-named
apparatus and instruments, and sustaining such rod by a prop of india-rubber,
leather, fibrous substance, or other sufficiently elastic material, which will stand the
force of a blow, and afterwards recover its normal position. This prop of india-
rubber or other elastic material is attached at one end to the engine tender, van, or
other vehicle, or to the end of the rod connected with the brakes, whistle, or gong,
and it is deflected, or one end is knocked or forced away, so as to allow the rod to
Urine S31

page_text: drop when the engine or vehicle to which it is applied passes a bolt shot, out to
come in its way, which bolt is actuated by connection with the signal mechanism.
When the rod drops the brakes are applied, or the whistle is opened, or the
mechanism actuating the gong is set in motion, or both brakes are applied, and the
whistle and gong is sounded. After the prop has been thus deflected or forced to
one side the rod can be again raised, and the prop by its elasticity or gravity, or
both, then takes its normal position, and supports the rod ready to act again.
Bolts to come in the way of the props may be placed at any suitable position along
the line to be shot out by hand when necessary, these bolts being independent of
- those connected with and actuated by the signal mechanism, and may be used as a
substitute for fog signals. If desired a rigid prop may be used in place of the elastic
prop, which rigid prop is hinged at one end to the engine or vehicle or to the rod
actuating the brakes, whistle, or gong, this rigid prop having buffers on its sides of
elastic material to receive the blow..
Secondly. My Invention consists in arranging the signal lamp or lamps upon an
engine or tender so that they can be turned on an axis to show the direction by the
color of the light in which the engine is travelling, and in turning this lamp or
lamps to one position when the engine is travelling in one direction, and into
another position when travelling in the contrary direction by mechanism connected
with and actuated by the reversing lever of the engine, the act of reversing the
engine reversing the position of the lamp or lamps to correspond.
In place of moving the lamp or lamps shades for the light to pass through of
different color may be used, actuated by the reversing lever, the lamp or lamps
remaining fixed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Francis William Webb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
July 1877.
FRANCIS WILLIAM WEBB, of Crewe, in the County of Chester, Mechanical
Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING THE BRAKES AND
GIVING NOTICE TO THE DRIVERS, FIREMEN, AND GUARDS ON APPROACHING OR
PASSING SIGNALS AT DANGER OR CAUTION, AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR AUTO-
MATICALLY SHOWING BY THE LIGHTS THE DIRECTION IN WHICH AN ENGINE IS
TRAVELLING."
Firstly. The object of my Invention is to liberate the continuous brakes, or give
notice to drivers, firemen, and guards in charge of a train, or to either of them, by
sounding a whistle or striking a bell or gong, or doing all the above named acts
simultaneously when they are approaching or passing a signal at "danger or
caution," and it consists in arranging a rod in connection with the "trigger" of the
continuous brakes or the whistle, bell, or gong, or in connection with all the above-
named apparatus and instruments, and sustaining such rod by a prop. of india-
rubber, leather, fibrous substance, or other sufficiently elastic material which will
stand the force of a blow and afterwards recover its normal position. This prop of
india-rubber or other elastic material is attached at one end to the engine, tender,
van, or other vehicle, or to the end of the rod connected with the brakes, whistle, or
gong, and it is deflected or one end is knocked or forced away so as to allow the
rod to drop when the engine or vehicle to which it is applied passes a bolt shot out
to come in its way, which bolt is actuated by connection with the signal mechanism.
When the rod drops. the brakes are applied, or the whistle is opened, or the
mechanism actuating the gong is set in motion, or both brakes are applied, and the
whistle and gong is sounded. After the prop has been thus deflected or forced to
one side the rod can be again raised, and the prop by its elasticity or gravity, or

page_text: both, then takes its normal position and supports the rod ready to act again. Bolts
to come in the way of the props may be placed at any suitable position along the
line to be shot out by hand when necessary, these bolts being independent of those
connected with and actuated by the signal mechanism, and may be used as a sub-
stitute for fog signals. If desired a rigid prop may be used in place of the elastic
prop, which rigid prop is hinged at one end to the engine or vehicle or to the rod
actuating the brakes, whistle, or gong, this rigid prop having buffers on its sides of
elastic material to receive the blow.
Secondly. My Invention consists in arranging the signal lamp or lamps upon an
engine or tender, so that they can be turned on an axis to show the direction by the
color of the light in which the engine is travelling, and in turning this lamp or
lamps to one position when the engine is travelling in one direction, and into
another position when travelling in the contrary direction by mechanism connected
with and actuated by the reversing lever of the engine, the act of reversing the
engine reversing the position of the lamp or lamps to correspond.
In place of moving the lamp or lamps shades for the light to pass through of
different color may be used, actuated by the reversing lever, the lamp or lamps
remaining fixed.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of part of a carriage or guard's van; Fig. 2, a cross
sectional elevation; and Fig. 3, a plan sectional view illustrating the mode of
carrying out my Invention for putting in action the self-acting brakes when a train
is passing a signal at "caution" or "danger."
a is a chain or rod, which is connected with the mechanism, giving move-
ment to the signals; this chain or rod is attached to lone arm of a bell-crank
lever (b) having its fulcrum attached to a sleeper, the other arm of which lever is
jointed with one end of a rod, the other end of which is jointed to a bolt c, which
can slide to and fro freely in a casting or bracket secured to a sleeper, as shown.
There is also a chain attached to the arm of the bell-crank lever b, which passes
over a pulley, to the end of which chain a weight d is attached; as shown.
When the signal is at "danger" or "caution" the chain between the bell crank (b)
and signal mechanism allows the weight (d) to act to push out the bolt into the
position in which it is shown by Figs. 2 and 3, where it will come when a train or
carriage is passing in the way of a piece of india-rubber e or other suitable material,
which at its upper end is secured in the lower end of a rod e¹, arranged to slide
vertically in guides attached to the framing of the carriage. The lower end of the
elastic prop (e) rests in a channel (as shown) carried by a part ƒ descending from
the frame of the carriage, which may also help to carry the foot board x. When the
bolt c is shot out as above explained, the lower end of the elastic prope will be
knocked or pushed out of its channel to one side when the carriage is passing the
bolt c; and this will cause the rod e¹ to drop, as it will be no longer sustained by
the elastic prop, and this will give movement to the mechanism for bringing the
self-acting brakes or other mechanism into operation. There is a bent lever g
having its fulcrum on the floor of the carriage, the lower arm of which enters a slot
in the drop rod e', so that when the latter falls the "trigger levers" in connection with
the self-acting brakes are liberated; h is a lever having its fulcrum at h¹, and this
lever has a chain connection with a weight lever that actuates the self-acting brakes.
The other arm of the lever h forms a catch to take hold of the latch or trigger
lever i, which can be acted upon by the cord y passing along the train, or by the
upper end of the bent lever g when the drop rod e¹ falls. When the drop rod e¹
has fallen it may be lifted ready to act again; by pulling to one side the upper end
of the bent lever g, and when the trigger lever i is set it will be ready to act again
upon the brakes.
1
A spring may be made to act either upon the drop rod e¹ or upon the bent lever g,
to cause it to act quickly, and as a substitute for the weight upon the bent lever or
drop rod in the modifications to be herein-after described.
+
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of part of an engine; Fig. 5 is an elevation of the fire-

page_text: .
box end, and Fig. 6 is a plan of part of an engine, these views illustrating the
application of my Invention for giving an alarm by actuating the whistle when
the engine is passing a signal at "caution or danger." The india-rubber or other
elastic prop (e) is arranged at the lower end of a vertical rod, as described in
reference to Figs. 1 and 2. The rod e¹ is arranged to slide in guides attached to the
framing or side of the engine as shown. The upper end of the rod (e¹) is made
flat, so as to be sufficiently elastic to bend to the are of the arm to which it is
jointed, which is secured on one end of a shaft ; passing across the engine in
suitable bearings as shown. This shaft j has a shorter arm j² secured upon it that
is connected with a lever K that actuates the valve of the alarm whistle (W). This
lever K being that for actuating the whistle by the cord passing along the train,
which cord is attached to the end of the said lever K that actuates the valve of
the steam whistle, which valve is opened by the lever and is closed by the pressure
of the steam acting upon the valve when the lever is liberated. The lever K for
actuating the valve has its fulcrum on a suitable bracket, and its long end is elastic
laterally, so as to bear and rest against a bracket K₁ having a latching step upon it,
so that when the lever K is pulled either by the descent of the drop rod e¹ or by the
cord 1, it latches on the step of the bracket K¹ and keeps the valve open, and the
whistle sounding until the lever is released by being slightly pushed to one side.
Two whistles are shown and used by preference, one to be acted upon by the
driver or fireman, and the other for the cord or self-acting mechanism.
Fig. 7 is a partial side sectional elevation, and Fig. 8 is a partial cross sectional
elevation of a modification of the mechanism illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2, in which
latter Figures the elastic prop and mechanism are placed outside the carrying wheels,
but in the modification shown by Figs. 7 and 8, these said parts are applied inside
the carrying wheels. The drop rod e¹ acts directly upon the trigger lever i, which
has a projection that passes through a slot in the drop rod e'. The lower end of
the drop rode is sustained by an iron frame attached to the carriage framing as
shown. The bolt c to actuate or knock or push the elastic prop to one side is
arranged to slide vertically, the sliding up-and-down movements from the signal
mechanism being conveyed by suitable rods and levers as herein-before described.
A weight or a spring may be used to cause the rod e¹ to fall quickly when the
elastic prop is knocked or pushed to one side.
Fig. 8 A is a partial side elevation, and Fig. 9, an end elevation corresponding to Figs.
4 and 5, but illustrating a modification of my Invention as applied to a locomotive
when the droprod e¹ and elastic prope is arranged inside the carrying wheels. The drop
rod e, and elastic prop e, is arranged and attached to the framing, as shewn;
the vertical sliding bolt c is arranged and has motion from the weight d connected
with the signal mechanism by a lever b, as shown. There is a short shaft j having
bearings in a bracket secured to the framing, which shaft has an arm j¹ secured
upon one end of it that enters a slot in the vertical drop rod e¹, and another arm
on the other end of the shaft j is connected with a vertical rod j³ in suitable guides,
to the upper end of which one end of a cord jis attached, which passes over a
pulley, as shown, and the other end of it is secured to the handle of an ordinary
tap or cock connected with the steam whistle W. When the drop rod e¹ falls,
the cock of the whistle is opened. The rod ³ may be dispensed with, and the cord
jmay be connected directly with the arm on the short shaft. Or the short armj
and arns and the rod ³ may be dispensed with, and the cord j' may be connected
directly with the drop rod e¹, first passing under one pulley and over another pulley.
Fig. 10 is a front; Fig. 11, a side; and Fig. 12 is a plan illustrating the mode of
arranging a drop rod e¹ and a prop (e) formed of buffalo hide, leather rope, or other
sufficiently elastic material which will withstand a blow and recover itself.
Fig. 13 is a front; and Fig. 14, an edge view showing one modification; and Fig.
15 is a front; and Fig. 16, an edge view showing another modification in which
the elastic material is attached to the framing instead of the drop rod. The elastic
prop (e) is secured to the framing so as to stand out perpendicular to the lengthway

page_text: of the framing and come under the centre of the drop rod e¹ and sustained. In
Figs. 13 and 14 the lower end of the rod e' is hollowed to span the elastic prop e, as
shown. In Figs. 15 and 16 the upper corner of the elastic prop e has a metal plate
or cap secured to it rather wider than the elastic prop for the flat end of the drop rod
e to rest upon.
When the bolt (c) is shot, it acts to knock or bend the elastic prop
to one side, and allows the drop rod e¹ to descend down one side of it."
Fig. 17 is a front elevation, and Fig. 18, a side elevation which illustrate a rigid
prop, say of metal with india-rubber e* secured on its sides in the bow form, as
shown, to act as a buffer, which buffer strikes against the end of the bolt;.1
;.the prop
e is jointed to the end of the drop rod e¹, as shown, so that it takes the vertical
position by gravity when lifted after having been struck. Sliding bolts may be
fixed at suitable places on the line of a railway, independent of signal mechanism,
to be pushed out by hand to give notice to the engine driver, fireman, or guard,
such bolts being used as a substitute for fog signals. The sliding bolts may be
fixed permanently ready for use, or they may be made portable so as to be readily
applied and secured to the rails or sleepers. I have only illustrated my Invention
as applied for putting on the self-acting continuous brakes, and for actuating the
whistle, but it will be obvious to any mechanic that connections can be readily
made with self-acting brakes, whistles, and gongs, so that two or more operations
will be simultaneously performed or set in action by the fall of the same drop rod,
if required.
Fig. 19 is a partial side elevation; Fig. 20, a plan of part of a locomotive engine;
and Fig. 21, a detached view illustrating the second part of my Invention. In
Figs. 19 and 20, two lamps a are shown at each end of the engine, supposed to make
half a turn on their vertical axis to change the lamps from one color to the other.
The lamps are supposed to receive the semi-rotation to and fro by a toothed sector,
the two sectors at each end being connected by a cross bar b, while the sectors at
one end of the engine are connected with those at the other end by a rod c jointed
to the arms from the sectors, as shown. This rod c is also jointed to an arm d (see
Fig. 21) on a fulcrum stud in the frame of the engine, and to this arm d a segment d'
is applied with a notch in it, which gears with a corresponding segment e with a
tooth in it, this latter segment being secured upon the reversing shaft f for the link
motions. When the reversing lever g is in mid-position, the tooth and notch in the
segments and e are in gear, and the lamps are half turned, but when the re-
versing lever has passed a short distance past the mid-position either way, the lamps
will be fully turned, and show a light of the color corresponding to that position of
the reversing lever, as arranged. When the lamps have turned, the reversing lever
g may be put in full back or front gear without acting further upon them, as the
convex curve of one segment (e) fits the concave curve in the other segment (d¹),
which will thus be prevented from moving until the reversing is again in or near
its mid-position. A similar arrangement of mechanism may be used for actuating
colored shades placed in front of fixed lamps. A cam or cam slots, or other arrange-
ments of mechanism, may also be used in place of that described, such mechanism
heing arranged to actuate the lamps or shades by the middle portion of the move-
ment of the reversing lever or inechanism in connection with it.
I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the mode of
carrying it into effect, and claim as my Invention,-
Firstly. The system or mode of actuating self-acting continuous brakes when a
train is passing a signal at "danger" or "caution," substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Secondly. The mode of actuating self-acting brakes, whistles, or gongs, singly or
simultaneously, when passing signals at "danger" or "caution" by the use of elastic
props (e), or props, arranged substantially as berein-before described and illustrated
by the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The system or mode of actuating the lamps or shades before lamps on
locomotive engines by connection with the reversing lever or its mechanism to show

page_text: '
a color corresponding to the direction in which the engine is to move, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis William Webb, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven,