US1006901A - Railway-signal. - Google Patents

Description

A. H. BERNADOU.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 190B.

' Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

IN V E NTOR filmireunii 56km WITNESSES ANDREW H. BERNADOU, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

FETCH.

ASSIGNOB 0F ONE-HALF TEN TO HARRY GRASS, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

I '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREW H. BERNA- DOU, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Railway-Signals,'of which the following is a specification. I

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in railway signals, and has for its object to provide an exceedingly simple and effective device of this character by means of which not only the en ineer, but

the entire train crew will be noti ed when a ;tram is two blocks or in the next block ahead of the train in which the signal is to distinguish whether the signal is indicating danger or that the track is clear ahead ;and by using my improvement it does away with having to depend upon the sight of the engineer.

Another case of when my improvement would be of great advantage is when an enagineer dies or is killed, as is sometimes the case, and the train is proceeding without a guiding hand the rest of the crew will be notified when their train is approaching another one, and when they have noticed that] the train doe not slack in speed they may stop it themselves thus preventing a wrecktor other serious accidents.

lViih these ends in view this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this'invention appertains mayunderstand how to make and use the same I will describe its construction in detail referring RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed May 26, 19Q. Serial No. 435,087.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

drawing forming a part of this .speoi which Figure 1 is a diagrammatical view of a section of a track showing my improved signal attached thereto, Fig. 2 a view showing the relation of the brushes to the Wheel of the train and connections leading from said brushes to two bells of different tone.

In carrying out my invention as here embodied, A and B represent'the two rails of the track which is divided up into the different blocks C, D and E, each block being insulated from the others.

F indicates a battery which supplies the rails with electrici-t through the medium of the wires G and I indicates short sections of rail or other suitable conductors one of which is placed upon either side of the rail B, one set in each block, and J indicates a similar set of shortv rails or conductors placed upon either side of the rail A, one set of these also being placed in each block.

The electromagnets K are set in series, sup lied with electricity from the battery F 't rough the medium of the wire G, the rail B, the wires L, M and N, the rail A and the wire H. The armatures O are drawn away from the electromagnets K by means of the springs P. These armatures are connected by the wires Q and Q, to the batteries R and Sand the batter R is connected with one of these short rails I by wire T, and the other short rail which goes to make up that rail is connected with the contact point U by the Wire V. The battery S is connected by a wire W with one of the short rails J, the opposite one of said short rails beingconnected with the contact point X by the wire YQ.

a and I) represent two wheels of the train connected by the axle c, and at both sides of the wheels are contact brushes or wheels ol 6, f and g secured to the train and in such a manner that they will come in contact with the short rails 2' and j.

it represents a bell, the posts of which are connected with the contact brushes d and e by the wires '2' and j. is represents a second bell of ditferent'tone than the one indicated by b so that :he train crew can readily distinguish the sound of one from the other.

The posts ofthis bell are connected with the contact brushes f and g by the wires Z and m.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that should a train enter the block of track indicated by E the current of electricity will be short circuited by the wheels at and b, the axle 0 thus taking current from the electromagnet K when the springs P will pull the armatures O away from the electromagnets K and draw them in contact with the contact points U and X thus partially closing the circuit so that when the brushes D, E, F, and G are in contact with the short rail sections a current will pass from the batteries R and S to the bells From this it will be seen that when a train passes into the block C, the contact brushes f and 9 will come in contact with the short rails I thus sending a current through, and ringing the bell is, of which there may be one in the engineers cab, and one in each car, thus notifying the entire train crew that the train is in the next block but one ahead. And, when this signal is given it would be advisable for the train to slow down. Should the train which is in the block indicated by A still be in the block when the following train enters the block indicated by D, the contact brushes (Z and 6 coming in contact with the short rails U will send a current through the bell it thus ringing the same and it being different tone, notifies the entire crew that the train ahead is still in block E and that the train in which they have come must be stopped and should the engineer not do so they can open the air valve on any one of the cars, bringing their train to a standstill. the bell is again ring when they enter the block indicated by I), they would know that the train ahead had passed out of the next block. The next succeeding series of circuits would then be closed and the ones just passed would be open, so that a repetition of the above description would occur.

Should the signals which are used to-day beside the track such as semaphores be used in conjunction with my improved signal and should these semaphore signals beside the track indicate a clear track ahead after the herein described signal has indicated since the herein described signal has indicated that the track was not clear, and in this way prevent any unnecessary delay because the conductor or other members of the crew would not undertake to apply the safety brakes after the engineer had given his signal.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to But should the exact details here shown, as in place of one of the bells a buzzer might be used, or in place of the contact brushes some other suitable contact means might be fastened to the train.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and useful is- 1. In combination with a railway so insulated as to form blocks, a battery connected with the rails of each block, two electromagnets connected in series and with the rails of each block, each block thereby comprising a normally closed track circuit, two pairs of contacts for each block, one pair located on the opposite side of the track from the other, each pair of contacts being connected with a source of energy and with an armature controlled by one of said electromagnets, the armature for one pair of contacts in a block being controlled by an electromagnet in the track circuit of the block' next in advance and the armature for the pair of contacts on the opposite side of the track in said block being controlled by an electromagnet in the track circuit of the block two blocks in advance, two pairs of contacts carried by a train for cooperation with said track contacts, two bells of different tone, one pair of said train carried contacts being connected with one hell and the other pair of train carried contacts being connected with the other bell.

2. In combination with a railwa so insulated as to form blocks, means or sup plying the rails of each block with an electric current, two electromagnets connected in series and with the rails of each block, each block thereby comprising a normally closed track circuit, two pairs of contacts for each block, one pair located on the opposite side of the track from the other, each pair of contacts being connected with a of said train carried contacts being connected with one bell and the other-pair of train carried contacts being connected with the other bell.

3. In combination with a railway so insulated as to form bloc'ks, means for supplying the rails of each block with an electric current, two electromagnets connected in series and with the rails of each block, each block thereby comprising a normally closed track circuit, two pairs of contacts for each block, one pair located on the opposite side of the track from the other, each pair of contacts being connected with a source of energy and with an armature cont-rolled by one of said electromagnets, the armature for one pair of contacts in a block being controlled by an electromagnet in the track circuit of the block next in advance and the armature for the pair of contacts on the opposite side of the track in said block being controlled by an electromagnet in the track circuit of the block two blocks in ad- Vance, tWo bells of different tone carried by the train, and means cooperating With the track contacts for putting a predetermined 15 bell in circuit.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto aifixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ANDREW H BERNADOU.

Witnesses CHARLEs W. BUSH, CHARLES F. EASTMAN.

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