Improvements in Staff Apparatus for Controlling the Traffic on Single Line Railways.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Jan., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 25th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 28th May, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Staff Apparatus for Controlling the Traffic on
Single Line Railways.
We FRANCIS WILLIAM WEBB of Crewe in the County of Chester, Mechanical
Engineer, and ARTHUR MOORE THOMPSON of Crewe, in the County of Chester,
Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
When a single line railway is worked on the electric staff system as described in
the Patent granted to Francis William Webb and Arthur Moore Thompson dated
23rd January 1889, and numbered 1263, it is found that certain stations or block
posts, which are required during the day time, may be dispensed with during the
night, or at other times, and a switch is required to enable the signalman at the
intermediate post, say B, to disconnect the line wires from his apparatus, and so
connect them that the stations say A and C on either side of him may be directly
in communication with each other, in other words he performs the well known
operation in railway block working of switching out, but the staff system of working
does not admit of the common form of switch being used, as in ordinary block
working, inasmuch as the intermediate post might be switched out or in when a staff was
in use, and the first part of our invention is a switch to prevent the signalman at the
intermediate post from performing the operation of switching in or switching out
unless all staffs are in the apparatus at stations A B and C. The switch we employ
is provided with an electro magnetic lock which prevents the signalman at the
intermediate block post B froin moving the switch unless an electric current is sent
both from stations A and C and for this electro magnetic lock we employ a magnet
with a closed magnetic circuit as described in the Patent granted to Arthur Moore
Thompson, dated 12th June 1890 and numbered 9084, and to energise this magnet
the currents from A and C must be of the same polarity and by passing these
currents from A and C through suitable commutator switches in the instruments
in the intermediate cabin B which commutator switch determines the direction of
the currents from A and C through the magnet coils of the electro magnetic switch
we are able to ensure that the electro magnetic switch in the intermediate cabin B
shall not be moved without the consent of the stations A and C and unless all staff's
are in their respective instruments at A, B and C.
The second part of our invention consists of a switch to prevent a signalman at
an intermediate block post B where there is no second line of rails provided by
means of which trains may pass each other from accepting a train from A and C at
the same time. This switch we place in the intermediate cabin B and it is so
arranged that a current of sufficient power cannot be sent to release a staff at A
or C unless the switch is turned to the right or left respectively, and when so
turned it becomes mechanically locked and cannot be unlocked again until the staff
released at A or C has reached B, a suitable key being provided on the staff to
unlock the switch and restore it to its normal position. For instance a train is
waiting to leave A, B signals to A on the bell in the usual way but the current
sent to ring the bell at A is not powerful enough to free the staff at A, he con-
sequently after giving the usual bell signals turns the switch say to the left where
it becomes mechanically locked and at the same time it connects a certain number
of additional battery cells sufficient to give him the necessary current to free the
staff at A which he now does and a train leaves A, if B now attempts to free a staff'
at C he finds he cannot do it as he has not sufficient battery power and he cannot
increase the battery power by means of the switch as it is locked over to the left

page_text: whereas he must move it over to the right. So soon as the staff withdrawn from A
has reached B, B before placing it in his staff instrument inserts the key end of the
staff in the switch unlocks it and turns it to its normal position, when it can be again
used to free a staff from A or C.
Dated this 16th day of Tonu 180
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Staff Apparatus for Controlling the Traffic on
Single Line Railways.
.
We FRANCIS WILLIAM WEBB of Crewe in the County of Chester, Mechanical
Engineer, and ARTHUR MOORE THOMPSON of Crewe in the County of Chester,
Mechanical 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 :-
When a single line railway is worked on the electric staff system, as described in
the Patent granted to Francis William Webb and Arthur Moore Thompson, dated
the 23rd January 1889, and numbered 1263, it is found that certain stations or
block posts which are required during certain hours, may be dispensed with at other
times, and the object of our invention is to provide a means of accomplishing
this.
Take three stations A, B and C, and it is desired to close at night say, or in
other words switch out, station B. At station B we provide a special form of
switch so constructed that the signalman at B cannot operate it unless he has
permission to do so from stations A. and C. This is accomplished by providing an
electric lock in connection with the switch, and the magnet of this lock is only
energised when an electric current is sent from stations A and C respectively, and
unless all staffs are in the apparatus at A and C this current of electricity sent, say,
from A would be of a different polarity to that sent from C. If, however, all staff's
are in the instruments at A and C, then the current sent from A. and from C is
of the same polarity and the electro magnet of the switch is energised. By this
means we ensure that an intermediate cabin shall not be switched out when a train
is in the section. When the intermediate cabin B is switched out the section of
line to be worked is from A. to C, and as the staffs at station A are only constructed
for the section between A and B, and similarly the staffs at C only constructed for
the section between C and B, we bring into use another set of staffs at stations A
and C, which we term night staffs, so constructed that they are suitable for the
section from A to C, but not from A to B or C to B. These night staffs are
preferably contained in the same machine, or a separate machine may be provided
for the night staffs.
Our invention also relates to a switch for intermediate cabins where there are no
means of passing trains, to prevent the signalman from accepting a train, say, from
station A and at the same time accepting a train from station C.
In order that our said invention may be well understood we shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same, reference being had to the accompanying
drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1, Sheet 1, shows a front view of the switching out switch at station B.
Figure 2, Sheet 1, shows a sectional elevation of the same.
Figure 3, Sheet 1, shows a plan, and
Figure 4 Sheet 2 is a diagram showing the line wires from A and C and the
connections of our switch at B.
a and a Figures 2 and 3 Sheet 1, show the electro magnetic lock.
This lock is similar in construction to that described in the Patent granted to
Arthur Moore Thompson 12th June 1890, numbered 9084, and the magnet is only

page_text: energised when say a negative current is sent from station A through the coils a at
the same moment that a current of the same polarity is sent from station C through
the coils a
Figures 2 and 3 is an armature which is attached to a lever c having a hooked
end d which hooks over a quadrant piece e attached to the shaft, which is actuated
by the knob g of the indicator. It will thus be seen that the indicator cannot be
turned from switch in to switch out until the lever c has been raised, the indicator
can then be turned and again becomes locked in its turned position by the hook d
of the lever e falling in front of the edge e' of the quadrant e. h, i, j, k, l, m, Sheet 1
Figure 3, and Sheet 2 Figure 4 are switches.
C
We will now explain the operation of switching out.
Signalman B signals by means of the ordinary tapper switch on his instrument,
and by means of a special code to the signalmen at stations A and C, that he wishes
to switch out, and having given this signal he then depresses the tapper key n,
Sheet 1, Figures 1 and 3, and keeps it depressed, and if no train is travelling
between A and B or B and C, and if all staffs are in the instruments at A and C,.
the signalmen at A and C are able, by depressing the tapper keys of their instru-
ments, to send a current of the same polarity to station B. When B presses down
the tapper key n he reverses switches h, i, and I, and the current sent from A,
instead of going through B's instrument, follows the course from the line wire o,
Sheet 2, Figure 4, to p, to h, the switch being reversed, to g, through the magnet
coils a to earth.
The current sent from C similarly passes from the line 7, to s, to i,.
switch i being reversed, to, through the coils of the electro magnet a and to
earth. The magnet is thus energised by the two independent currents of a
similar polarity, the lock lever c, Sheet 1, Figures 2 and 3, is lifted, and this.
lifting is shewn to the signalman at B by the indicator u, Sheet 1, Figure 1,
changing from the word "locked to "unlocked," this indicator being attached
and working with the lever c.
"
The signalman at B now turns his indicator from switch in to switch out, and in
doing so he turns the knob g hard down, which by means of a cam r, Sheet 1,
Figure 2, breaks contact between the spring w, Sheet 1, Figure 2, and Sheet 2,
Figure 4, and cuts off the earth connection to A and C, the current being cut off
at A and C indicates to the signalmen at A and C by means of a galvanometer that
the switching out has been performed. When B turns his indicator from switch in
to switch out he reverses switches 7 and m, and a current now sent from station A
passes from o to p, to h, to m, to i, to s, to r, and to the instrument at station C,
similarly a current from C passes through r to s, to i, to m, to h, to i̟, to o, and to
the instrument at station A. Station B is now switched out, and as his instruments
are entirely cut out, including the bell circuit, it is necessary, to enable him to.
switch in again, to have an independent communication, which may be in the form
of a telephone, single needle, or independent bell circuit.
Sheet 3, Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, show a set of instruments for working stations A, B,.
and C. At station A is fixed an apparatus with two receptacles for staffs,-, b.
In the receptacle a are placed the day staffs c, in the receptacle are placed the
night staffs d. At owe place a small cover-piece revolving on a centre p, and in its
one position it closes the magazine for the night staffs, and when turned over closes
the magazine for the day staffs. We provide this to prevent a signalman accidentally
withdrawing a day staff during the night-time, or a night staff during the day-time.
At station B two instruments are fixed, Sheet 3, Figures 6 and 7, with receptacles e
and for day staffs only, and at station C an instrument is fixed with two receptacles,
the same as at A, the one for day staffs, the other for night staffs. g, h, i'and are
partial sections through the head of the instruments, showing how grooves k³, k²,
,, are formed to accommodate the ring or projection on the day staff c, and
these grooves and projections are altered in position so that the day staff for the.
section A B cannot be used for the section B C, and it will be readily understood
that a similar arrangement could be adopted for the night staff, the grooves.being.
l

page_text: so arranged that the night staff would fit the instruments at A and C, but not at B.
We, however, prefer to provide on the night staffs two projections m and n, placed
at such a distance apart as to be a little greater than the width of the head of the
instruments at stations A and C, but less than the width of the instruments at the
intermediate station B, the width of the head of the instrument at B being made a
little wider for this purpose.
Sheet 4 shows the arrangement of our switch for intermediate cabins, where
there is no provision made for passing trains, to prevent the signalman from giving
permission for a staff to be taken from the instrument at, say, station A and at the
same time giving station C permission to take a staff.
Figure 1 shows a front sectional elevation of the switch, Figure 2 a side sectional
elevation, Figure 3 a plan section, Figure 4 a front elevation, Figure 5 is a
diagram of the electrical connections.
a, Figure 1, is a disc of wood, or other non-conducting material, and b, c, d,
and e, are strips of brass fixed to the face of the disc. f, g, h, i, j, k, l, and m, are
switches, some of which in one position lie on the face of the wood and in another
position on the brass strips. We will now explain the working of this switch by
assuming that the signalman at the intermediate cabin B wishes to give, say,
station A permission to send a train. He gives the usual bell signals, and the
electric current for this is taken from, say, three cells of the battery, which is
sufficiently powerful to ring the bell, but not nearly sufficiently powerful to energise
the electric lock of the instrument. The current for actuating the bell signal at A.
starts from the battery at n, to m, through the brass stripe on the face of the disc a,
to the switch I, to o, and through his own instrument to the line wire p, returning
via earth. B now wishes to send a current of full power to A. so that a staff may
be obtained, and he turns the indicating dial r, Figure 4, to "up staff," and when
this indicator is turned it becomes locked in the turned position by means of the
tumbler locks, Figure 1, which engages. with the slot t cut on the periphery of
the disc a. When the disc is turned contact is broken between switches I and m
and contact made between c and ƒ and g; the current now leaves the battery at .
passes g, through the strip c, which is now lying under and y, through his
instrument to the line wire p, and back to earth. B has now released a staff at A.
and he is prevented from releasing a staff at B because his dial is turned over to
up staff and is locked in that position, consequently he can only send to station C
the ordinary bell signal. As soon as the train has arrived from A, and the stafi
has been handed to the signalman at B, he inserts a key constructed on the staff in
the lock, Figures 1 and 4, and turns the staff, a projection on the staff when
turned raising the tumbler locks and releasing the disc a, and enabling the signalman
to turn his dial back to its normal position.
::
to
Although for the sake of clearness we have described how a single intermediate
station may be switched out, any number of intermediate stations may be switched
out. Take for instance eight stations, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and it is desired
to switch out the six intermediate stations B, C, D, E, F, G, and work the section
between A and H at night by night staff. Switches would be provided at B, C, D,
E, F, G, and the operation of switching out would be as follows:-B would ask
permission of A and C to switch out, and having switched out C would ask
permission of A and D, then D of A and E, E of A and F, F of A and G, and
finally G of A. and H.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1st. Apparatus for switching out intermediate stations on single line railways
worked on the electric staff system, substantially as described and illustrated by
the drawings.
2nd. A switch controlled by an electro magnetic lock for switching out or in
intermediate stations, substantially as described and illustrated by the drawings.

page_text: 3rd. A switch for preventing a signalman at an intermediate station, which is not
a passing place, giving permission for a staff to be withdrawn for an up and a down
train at the same time, substantially as described and illustrated by the drawings.
Dated this 24th day of March 1892.
F. W. WEBB.
A. MOORE THOMPSON.