US1000680A - Double-derail appliance. - Google Patents

Description

L. J. KIEPFER. DOUBLE DERAIL APPLIANCE. APPLIGATION FILED APE.10, 1911.

1,000,680, Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I Wi nesses dam /1 L. J. KIEFFER. DQUBLE DERAIL APPLIANCE. APPLICATION FILED ATBJO. 1911.

Pafiented Aug. 15, 1911.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

DOU BLE-DERAIL APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

Original application filed ZEebri'iary 8, 1910, Serial No. 542,779. Divided and-this application filed April 19.

I 1911. Serial No. 620,108.

To all whom it may concern? Be it known that I, LoUIs J. KIEFFER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bowling Greemin the county of Warren and State of Kentucky, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Double-Derail Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates'to safety devices for railways at their sidings,.and more specifically to a particular arrangement of cooperating derailers.0ne located in the main track and the other in the siding and to the special construction of these derailers.

This application is practically a division of application Serial Number 542,779,

My object is to provide means for efiectually safeguarding trains against a large class of accidents which are liable to occur in connection with or on account of rail.- wny sidings on main tracks, such, for instance, as hea'dend collisions and rearend collisions in sidings; rolling stock on either the main track or siding running through a closed switch and splitting the same; a train on the main track running intoatrain moving into or out of the siding; and a train on the main track sideswiping rolling stock fully inthe siding but standing too near the end thereof. 1

My invention consists in certain novel parts and combinations hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

An important feature of myinvention is the combination with a main railwaytrack and its cooperating siding, of a derailer for each track, said derailers being connected witlrtlie switch operating mechanism and so .related to the switch points and to each other that when either track is opened and 'the other thereby closed, their respective derailers will'also be opened and closed simultaneously therewith, to permit the unobstructed passage of trains on the open track and to forbid the passage of trains into or too near the end of the closed switch on the other track.

Another object is to provide a deraile'r so constructed that-if the operating mechanism connected therewithshould get broken the derailer will automatically move away from the track and will not shift aroundonto the track where it would be a menace to any rolling stock that might happen to pass. v

- likewise so related to tlie every time the derailers are moved, the o.

that, whenever either one Other objects will appear in the subjoined description.

Special attention iscalled to the fact that my arrangement 'not only provides a derailer for each track,whereas heretofore only sidings have been provided with derailersbut thatjmy derailers are so related to each other that neither on'e of them can be moved without suit-ably moving the other; and not only this, but that they are switch points that switch point-s receive an appropriate movement answerable thereto. That is to say, of the tracks is opened fora train to pass the other is not 7 only closed, but is also guarded by itsderailer to prevent any rolling stock from passing out'of the closed track to be Col": lided with by the coming train, or from moving near enough to the end of the closed portion of track to be sideswiped by said train. For it must be borne in mind that not only is there the possibility, under ordinary circumstances, of an engineer forgetting his orders and running out of a -closed track and splitting the switch points,

or of moving up too closeto the end ofthe switch, but rolling stock. on a-clos'ed track may be blown by a storm, or otherwise moved too near the end of the track' where it will be run into or sideswiped by a train passing on the open track.

In the drawings, I have shown a section of a main line of railway and one end of it cooperating siding provided with my Improvements. It is, of course nderstood that each end of the slding is provided with similar mechanism.

Referring to the drawings :--Figure 1', shows my cooperating .derailer on a railway I track in the position they. occupy when the main track is open, their position when the switch is open being indicated in dot-ted lines. Fig. 2, is a top 'plan' view on an enlarged scale showing one of my derailers 'in operative relation to a rail,'with the pilot wheel of a locomotive about to run upon it. Fig. 3, is a transverse sectional view of one of the derailers, showing it in operative relation to its support and to the railway track, with a car wheel-approaching the derailer to be derailed thereby.

I prefer to make my' derailers rights and lofts. since, as a rule, they. will be more durable, and certain in operation when const ucted in that way; but I do not mean by 'factthat the leadin is the coeperation of the derailers. together;

this statement to divert attention from the idea of my invention so that when theneed of meeting certain situations, as an entirety, is facepl, my derailers are complementary one to -he other; and it must be borne in mind that this is a very different thing, from simply having an independent derailer in each track.

It should also be noted that in operation not only are my derailers complementary to each other, but their united action is also complementary to that of the switch points.

The letter A indicates a main line of railway track, and B its cooperating siding.

The numeral 1 indicates the switch stand from which the switch points are operated, and this stand through. the mediation of the rod 2, the crank 3, the rod 4:, the crank 5, and the rod 6 is operatively connected with the switch derailer 7 which in turn is connected by the rod 8 with the main track derailer 9. The relation of these several parts to each is such that the switch points and derailers" are always operated simultaneously; i. e.,*

no one of these can be operated Without suitably operating the other.

' In Fig. l, I have shown my derailers con- .nected together by a single rod 8 but in.

practice it will often be found advisable to move the main track derailer 9 farther up the main line from the switch points, in which case there will have to be a plurality of rods, cranks, etc., to form the connection between thetwo derailers, and sometimes it may be necessary to change the whole arrangement of rods and cranks, but in every case the arrangement must be such that when either of the'derailers is in operative position the other will be in inoperative position; and the derailers must be so related to the switch points that when either track is opened and the other thereby closed, the derailer in the open track will be opened and the derailer in the closed track closed.

It will also sometimes be found advisable to so arrange the line of connection between wardly-and inwardly from theirrespective tracks, so that if the operating mechanism this movement of' the derailers may not be of the derailers gets broken they will have imparted to them a certain tendency to move away from their respective tracks into in-. operative position. In order, however, that so far as to bring their rear ends too near thetracks where they would endanger passing trains, I provide the inclined blocks 7* and 8 with stop pins 10-and 11.

.In order to make more certain and posi-';

tive the movement of the derailers into in-- operative position,z;in case their operatlng .mechanism should' 'get broken, I provide them with the tension springs 12 and 13 suitably attached thereto, and adapted to.

tached will be the ruling derailer in case the operating mechanism between the switch stand and the derailers gets broken; and

since it is usually more important to guard the main track derailer than the 'other, the stronger spring 13 is usually attachedtothe main track dera ler. If then the connection between the switch stand and the derailers other, so that the derailer to which it is at- 4 is broken the fnain track derailer will be I certain to be-moved into inoperative position. If, in addition to this, the connection between the two derailers is broken, then the side track derailer 7 -will also be drawn inwardly by its individual spring. But so.

long as the rod 8 is intact the spring- 12 could be dispensed'with, for through this rod thederailer 7 would be operated'by the spring 13 of the ruling derailer.

One of my derailers'is 'illustrat edlon an I enlarged scale, in plan view, in Fig. 2 of the drawings, and in section in Fig. 3, and

as both derailers-are substantially alike 6X1 cept that they are preferably rights and lefts, it is only necessary to describe one of them. i

From Fig. 2 it will be seen; that the derailer therein illustrated is provided with front and rear ears 14 and 15, which'ad'apt it to be suitably engaged by the operating mechanism that shall be connected therewith from time to time as need may require.

Each of these ears is preferably provided with two openings, though as a rule only one will be neede The projecting portion 16 7 of the derailer is adapted to overlie the top of the rail 17 when in operative position; and.

the rib or shoulder 18 at the front end of'the derailer strengthens it at that end where it first receives the impact of the -wheels and-serves to deflect the wheels from the rail.

The inclined support 9* is clearly shown in section in Fig. 3. This support is pro- Vided with .a bore having a conical bottom 19, with an opening 20 leading down from its apex through the support, for purposes of drainage.

The derailer is provided in its side adjacent the rail with agroove 21 adapted to receive the inner side of the rail. It also has an integral projection 22 on its under side which fits the bore 19 of the support 9 and terminates in a pin 23 carrying a cotter 24. in its lower end to securely hold the 'derailer in the support 9 upon which it rotates.

There is suflicient space between the cotter 24 and the under side of the support 9 to allow the derailer slight upward and downward play on its support to cause it to work perfectly.

As an illustration of the operation of my device let us suppose that a train has entered the siding for a fast train to pass on the main track, let us say, coming from the left, and that the switch points and derailers are in the position shown in Fig. 1. Now, if, as the fast train just described, is

passing (from the left) on the main track,

the engineer in the siding should inadvertently attempt to follow too soon and -be in danger of running into the point of the switch and getting his engine sideswiped by the passing train, his engine would be ditched. by the switch derailer. Again, it the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1 and empty cars are standing in-the siding they cannot be moved by a storm, or other unforseen cause, near enough to the end o'tthe siding to be struck by a train passing on the main track, for the switch. derailer would always be an unerring safeguard against such a contingency.

These derailers also altord a most convenient and ever ready means of ditching runaway trains.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In cooperating derailers, the combination with a main track and a cooperating siding, of a derailer for each track and means for simultaneously operating said derailers. t

2. In cooperating derailers, the combine. tion with a main track and a cooperating siding, oi right and left derailers for the respective tracks, and means to: simultaneously operating said derailers. 3. In coiiperating derailers, the combination with a main track and acooperating siding, of a derailer for each track, said derailers being adapted to move simultane- -:-usly one into operative position and the other into inoperative position and vice versa; and operating mechanism for said pair of cooperating derailers.

4. In cooperating derailers, the combina tion with a main track and a cooperating siding, of a derailer for each track, said dorailers being connected together and arnected to one of said derailers and arranged to move the same into inoperative position.

6. In cooperating derailers, the combination with a main track and a cooperating siding, of a derailerin each track, said derailers being connected together to operate in. conjunction with each other; and a spring attached to each of said derailers to move it into inoperative position, oneof said springs being stronger than the other.. i

7. In cooperating derailers, the combination with a main track and a cooperating siding, of a derailer for each track, said derailers being connected together to operate in conjunction with each other; operating mechanism for the pair of derailers; and means for giving one of said derailers con-' trol of the other in case said operatingmechanism is broken or disconnected.

8. A derailer adapted to cooperate with a railway track, and means designed to automatically move the derailer away from said track into inoperative position, when the operating mechanism of the derailer is roken or disconnected.

9. A derailer adapted to cooperate with a railway track, and provided with an inclined bearing, said derailer being rotatably mounted on said inclined bearing.

10. A derailer adapted to cooperate with a railway track, and provided with a spring adapted to move the derailer automatically away from the 'track into inoperativeposition.

11. A derailer adapted to cooperate with a railway track and mounted on a support, havinga bore with a concave bottom, and an opening leading downwardly from the center of said bore, through said support for drainage purposes; and a projection on the derailer fitting said bearing.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

L. J; KIEFFER.

Witnesses Josue A. GORMAN, ANNA MEHL.

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