US1090358A - System for controlling the operation or railroad-trains. - Google Patents

Description

H. J. WARTHEN.

SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING THE OPBRATiON OE RAILROAD TRAINS. APPLICATION FILED 0OT.24,1911.

1,090,358. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

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SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF RAILROAD TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED 00124, 1911.

Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

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HARRY J. WAR'IHEN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF RAILROAD-TRAINS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

Application filedOctober 24, 1911. Serial No. 656,4,43

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY J. WARTEEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vashington, in the District of Columbia,

have invented a System for Controlling the Operation of Railroad-Trains, of which the following is a full and complete specification.

Myfinvention is an improvement in systems for controlling the operation of railroad trains, and relates more especially to that 'class in which electrical and mechanical devices are employed in connection with proceed under reduced speed only as long as such danger condition exists; whereby the engineer is notifiedof the danger by the automatic application of the air-brakes, and if he elects to proceed with the train can do so only at a reduced or cautious speed.

With this primary object in view my invention consists in the employment of a system of electrical and mechanical de-' vices; all as hereinafter fully described and specifically set forth in the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification: Figure 1 is a general view, showing the construction and arrangement of the electricrl and mechanical devioesfor carrying out my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail sectional View of the valve for controlling the speed of the train, showing the parts in an opposite position from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig, 3 is an enlarged detail view of the clutch mechanism employed. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the device employed for regu lating the operation of the speed-valve. Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

In carrying out my improved system the same'is applied in conjunction with a con ventional type of automatic semaphore 5 operating a switch, as 5, said switch being included in a partial track circuit comprising a battery 6, a conductor or wire 7 extending from one of the poles of the battery to a continuous (or electrically connected) track-rail 8, a conductor or wire 9 extending from the other pole of the battery to the switch, and a conductor or wire 9 extending from the switch to a ramp-rail 10, as shown in Fig, 1, this circuit being completed, when the switch 5 is closed, through the intervention of certain electric devices and connections carried by the train or 10- comotive and hereinafter fully described. It will be understood that the switch 5 is closed when the semaphore is in normal position, indicating a clear track, and is open when the sen'iap ore is in danger position.

Mounted at a convenient point on the 10- comotive, and suitably insulated, is aftrolley 11, normally in contact with a. plate 12, thetrolley-arm having a shoe '11 at its outer end adapted to engage the ramp-rail 10 and move the trolley-arm to break"elec tric connection with the plate. The trolley arm is connected by a conductor or wire 13 to one side of an electro-magnet 14, from the other side of which latter a conductor or wire 15 extends to one pole of a battery 16 on the cab of the locomotive, and the plate 12 is connected by a conductor or wire 17 to a contact-point 18 cooperating with an arma-v ture 19 connected by a conductor or wire 20 to the other pole of the cab-battery 16,

said armature being moved away from the contact-point by gravity and brought into contact therewith when the electro-magnet 14: is energized-.-- Connected to the wire 20 leading from one pole of battery 16 is a contact-point 21; cooperating with a second armature, 22, also attracted by the magnet 14, said armature being connected by a conductor or wire 23 to one side of a solenoid 24., and from the other side of the latter extends a conductor or wire 25 connected to the wire 15 which leads to the other pole of the cab-battery; whereby when the armature 22 is raised by the electro-magnet the solenoid will be in circuit with the cabbattery. The solenoid is employed to operate certain, mechanical devices for ex haustingthe train-pipe of, the air-brake mechanism to appl after described, an as this operation is efthe brakes, as herein-' fectd in the present instance when the solewith a. plate 26,. which is adapted to rest upon and electrically connect spaced-apart? contact points 27 and 28'when the solenoid is deenergized, said contact points being connected by conductors or wires 29 and 30, re-

' after explained, and for this circuit the wire 23 extending from one side of the solenoid is tapped by a conductor or Wire 32 leading to a switch comprising the lever 33 and switch-point 34, and from the switch to the wire 20 by Wire 35. Therefore, when the switch 33-34 is closed-the solenoid is ener gized by a circuit whichpasses from one pole of the cab-battery 16 by wires 15 and 25 to one side of said solenoid,v and from the other side o'f the solenoid by wire 32, switch '33-34, w1re'35, and wire 20 to the other pole of said cab-battery. It will be noted also that the electro-magnet isenergized by either one of two circuits; viz: the cab-circuit, or by'connecting up with the partial track-circuit when switch 5 is closed,- the circuit from the cab-battery being dependent upon the closed position of arma-,

ture 19, and closed position of the trolley. In 'this latter instance the circuit will be from the positive side of battery 16 by wire 20, armature19, contact-point 18, wire 17, plate 12, trolley-arm 11, and wire 13 to one side of the electro-magnet, and from the other side of said magnet by wire 15 to the negative pole of the battery. On the other hand the circuit from the track-battery will be from the positive side of battery 6 by wire 7, track-rail 8, locomotive frame a, conductor 15, and wire' 15 to one side of the magnet, and from the other side of the magnet by wire' .13, trolley-arm 11, ramp-rad 10, wire 9, switch 5, and wire, 9 to the negative pole of the battery 6. When the electro-magnet is deenergized, and consequently v the armature 19 dropped, said electro-magnet can be restored only by means of the. track-battery, requiring the engagement of the trolley with the ramp-rail and the switch -5 closed, and if the switch is still closed when the trolley leaves the ramp-rail the electro-magnet will pick up the circuit from the cab-battery 16, as heretofore explained. Now if the switch 5 connected to the next succeeding ramp-rail should be open when the train arrives. at this' point the electromagnet would be definer'glzed "as soon as the air-pressure supply-pipe 40 to a trolley was depressed breaking electric connection with plate 12, inasmuch as the ener gization of said magnet would depend entirely upon the" circuit from the track-battery 6; and if the locomotive had momentum "to carry itpast the ramp-rail the electromagnet would remain denergized, on account of thedropping of armature 19, and could not be restored until the locomotive returned to the ramp-rail or proceeded to another, and in either instance, of course,

switch 5 controlled by its semaphore, would have to be closed.

In connection with the electrical devices and circuits hereinbefore described I provide'mechanical -means for ap lying the airbrakes when the solenoid is de'nergized by I the deenergization of the electro-magnet, together with mechanical devices for permitting the train to proceed under reduced speed during the period of denergization of said electromagnet, and these mechanical devices I shall now proceed to describe.

36. designates a piston-valve mounted in a casing 37' and having an air-passage 38, V

which when the piston-valve is raised connects an inlet-pipe 39 extending from the E ipe 41 connecting with the train pipe. hen the piston-valve is lowered-a cavity 42 at one side of the same connectspipe 41 to an exj 'haust. port 43 in the casing so as to exhaust the train-line through this port and thereby apply the brakes. This piston-valve is raised by "air-pressure from the supply pipe 40 passing through a'rotatable valve 44 into the bottomof the casing The rota-tablevalve is mounted in a casin 45 and has a? passage 46 connecting the pipe 47 from the j air pressure supply pipe to the pipe 48 leading to the casing or cylinder of the piston-valve, and is provided also with a cavity 49 which connects the pipe 48 to an exhaust-port 50 to exhaust the pressure below the piston-valve when the rotatable-valve is "turned to cut oif the supply of air-pressure to pipe 48. When thisair-pressure in the lower partof the valve-casing or cylinder 9 37 is exhausted the piston-valve may fall by gravity, but in order to provide for a pos1-' tive action of this .valvethe rotatable-valve is provided witha branch passage 51 which? is adapted to connect the feed-pipe 47 to a pipe 52 which enters the upper end of the; cylinder 37, the branch passage being-so dis-3 posed as to make thisconnection when the? valve is turned to cut off the air-pressure supply to pipe 48, and in order to exhausti the upper end ofthe cylinder when. air-pressure is being admitted to the lower end off said cylinder throu hthe rotatable-valve the :latter is provi ed with a cavity 53,1; adapted to connect thepipe 52 to an exhaustport 54, as shown in Fig. 1. The rotatablei, 'valiieis operated by a piston 55 connected;

to a weighted-arm 44 projecting from the valve, said piston being raised to open the valve by means of air-pressure from the supply-pipe which passes through a controlvalve 56. from the air-pressure supply-pipe 4.0, being taken from said supply-pipe by a pipe 57 leading to the control-valve and passmg from the control-valve into the cylinder 55 by pipe 58.

In order to exhaust the lower end of the cylinder 55 when the control-valve is closed said valve is provided with a cavity 59 connecting pipe 58 with an exhaust port 60 in the casing of the control-valve. As will be noted, therefore, valve 56 controls the operation of the piston-valve 36 which supplies air pressure to the train pipe, for when said control-valve is open air-pressure is admitted to cylinder 55* raising piston 55 which turns the rotatable piston at to admit airpressure into the cylinder 36 below pistonvalve 34:, and as long as the control-valve is open the piston-valve will be maintained in raised position. The control-valve is held open by' the solenoid 24 when the latter is energized, and is closed automatically when said solenoid becomes deenergized by means of a weighted lever 56 extending from the control-valve and connected to the core of the solenoid. It will be seen, therefore, that when the solenoid is deenergized the airbrakes are applied through the instrumentality of the devices just described, and with the switch 3 t35 open (its normal position) the air-brakes will be appliedwhen the trolley 11 engages a ramp-rail connected to a switch 5 which is open on account of the semaphore being at danger position, and of course the air-brakes cannot be released until the solenoid is restored, and this may be accomplished, as hereinbefore described, either by the automatic closing of switch 5, or by manually closing switch In order to regulate the speed of the train when the solenoid is energized by closing switch 33-34 I provide a valve through which air-pressure is supplied to the ordinary engineers control-valve of the airbrake system, and this valve is operated by a governor thrown into gear with a drivenshaft of the locomotive when the switchlever 33 is moved to close the switch. This valve,.which I shall term the speed-control valve, comprises a large piston-valve 61, located in the lower part of a casing 62 and having a passage 63 which connects the air-pressure supply to a pipe 64 leading to the engineers control-valve, and a second valve. or small slide-valve, 65, which is operated by the governor to admit air-pressure either above or'below the piston-valve 61, according to the speed of the engine. For

- this purpose the slide-valve 65 has a transverse passage 66 which communicates at one end wit-h an air-passage 67 leading'froni the air-pressure supply, and at the other end registers with a passage 68, when the slide valve is raised, and with the assa 'e 69 when said slide-valve is lowered, passa e, 68 extending to the lower end of the cylinder, below piston valve 61, while passage 69 extends to-the upper end of said cylinder, above the piston-valve. In order to exhaust the upper end of the .piston'cylinder when the lower end is being supplied with air-pressure, and vice versa, 7

the slide-valve is provided with a cavity 72 connecting passage 69 with an exhaust-port 73, and with a cavity 70, connecting air--v passage 68 with an exhaust port 71, accord ing to the position of said slide-valve, and for the purpose of exhausting the air-pressure supply 64 leading to the engineers control-valve when the piston-valve 61 is lowered to cut off admission of air-pressure to passage 63, there is a cavity 74 in the piston-valve adapted to connect pipe (at to an exhaust 7,5

The slide-valve is operated by an ordinary form of governor, the stem 7 6 of which is connected to the slide-valve and is moved down by action of centrifugal force exerted on the weighted arms 77 rotated by a bevel-gearwheel 78 in mesh witha companion bevel-gearwheel 79 on the inner end of a shaft 80 having a pulley over which passes a belt 81 from a pulley 82 formed on a clutch member 83 which engages a companion clutch-member 84L fixed on a driven shaft 85 of the locomotive, for instance one of the axles of the driving-wheels. The movable clutchmember 83, carrying the pulley 82 is moved out of engagement with the fixed clutch-member 84 by means of a spring, as 86, interposed between the clutch-members, and the clutch is engaged by the operation of the lever 33, hereinbefore referred to, said lever being manually operated by the engineer under certain conditions hereinafter mentioned. This lever has a ,yoke 33*" at its upper end which engages a collar 87 on the shaft, said collar being in engagement with the movable part of the amount of pressure required to depress theslide-valve. This device comprises alever 88,'centrally fulcrumed on a sup-port 89, and at one end bifurcated for engagement between collars 90, 90, on the stem 76, and at the other end engaged by a rod 91 extending through a tubular support 92 and engaged by aLtension-spring 93. The tension of the spring is regulated by an adjusting-nut 94, threaded on the rod 91 and engaging the spring.

In Fig. 1 of'the drawings the system is shown in that condition in which the switch 5, controlled by the automatic electric semaphore, is open, on account of said semaphore being in danger position, and with the solenoid energized bythe auxiliary cab-circuit which passes through the closed switch 335345, andv as this switch is closed the clutch is engaged and the governor is in gear with a driven-shaft or axle of the locomotive The train may now proceed at a rate of speed less than the predetermined speed at which the governor is set for operation, say ten miles an hour, but as soon as this rate of speed is exceeded the governor will move the slide-valve 65 to its lowermost position (see Fig. 2), so that air-pressure from passage 67 will pass into passage (39 and into the upper end of the cylinder containing piston 61, moving the latter down-- ward, whereby pipe 64 leading to the-engi-i neers control valve is connected to the exhaust-port 75 exhausting pressure from the control-valve and automatically applying the brakes. It will be noted therefore that the train may proceed at a reduced or cautious rate of speed to the next ramp-rail, and if the semaphore controlling switch 5' of this ramp-rail is in normal position, thereby holding said switch closed, the electro-magnet 14 in the cab of the locomotive will be energized and the solenoid energized by the cab-circuit through armature 22, thus permitting the engineer to open switch 33-34,

which will also disengage the clutch, so that the train may proceed under normal condi tions and at full speed; but if the switch 5 connected to this ramp-rail is open the engineer must keep the switch 33-34 closed and his train may then proceed only under reduced speed until he arrives at a ramp-rail in which its switch 5 is closed to restore the electro-magnet in the cab.

neer of the succeeding train is notified by the automatic semaphore, and'if this system is also used the succeeding train will be automatically stopped as soon as it arrives at the ramp-rail, or, if the engineer sees the signal he may immediately reduce his speed below ten miles an hour and throw in the switch 3334, thereby permitting himto proceed with his train at a cautious speed.

Of course if the engineer of the succeeding train should disregard the signal displayed hy th'e semaphore his train would be stopped automatically as soon as he arrived at the ramp-rail on account'of the denergization of both the electro-magnet and solenoid in his cab which would operate piston-valve 36 to exhaust the train-pipe and apply the airbrakes.

It will be noted that the operation of the semaphore 5", shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, is accomplished through the usual electric connections with the track rails, comprising a track-batter 100 connected to the track-rails of one blocli, in connection with a relay 101 connected to the track-rails of that block to control an armature 102 in the circuit from the battery 103 which controls the operation of the semaphore, the latter, as usual, being located in the adjoining block.

Ha ing thus described my invention what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

'1. In a system for controllin the operation of railroad trains, the combination with the air-brake mechanism and a cab-circuit on the train, of a partial electric track circuit and electric-switch included therein; an electro-magnet and armatures. therefor, the electro-magnet and one armature being included in the cab-circuit, a supplemental cab-circuit passing through another armature of the electro-magn'et when the latter is energized, a solenoid in the last mentioned circuit, means operated by the solenoid when denergized to apply the air-brakes, and means for opening the cab-circuit and switching the electro-magnet into circuit connection with the partial track-circuit; together with an auxiliary cab-circuit for energizing the solenoid independent of the circuit through the armature, an electric-switch included in said auxiliary circuit, a overnor device or controlling the speed of t e train, and means operated by the closing of the said switch to put the governor device in operation.

2. In a system for controlling the opera.- tion of railroad trains, the combination with the air-brake mechanism and a cab-circuit on the train, and a block system including signaling devices, of an electric-switch operated by one of the signal devices, a partial electric track-circuit'including said switch, an electro-magnet and armatures therefor, the electro-ma'gnet and one armature bein included inthe cab-circuit, a supplementa cab-circuit passing through another armature of the electro-magnet when the latter is' energized, a solenoid in the-last mentionedcircuit, means operated by the solenoid when de'e'nergized to apply the air-brakes, and means for opening the cab-circuit and switching the electro-magnet into circuit connect-ion with the partial track-circuit; t0-

gether with an auxillary cab-circuit for en-' ergizing the solenoid independentof the circuit through the armature, an electric-switch Ill Ill

Ill

incl'udedin saida-uxiliary circuit, a vernor device for controlling-the speedof t; strain and means'o rated-by the closing. of fsald elect-ric switc to connect the'govemo with an axle'of the tr'ain substantially as shown and described. i '-Q' '3. In a system forcontrollingtheopera tion of railroad trains the cornbinatio'nrwith the air-brake mechanlsm and a cab-circuit on' thetrain, and a block system including signaling devices of an-electric-switoh operated by one of the signal devices a partial electric track-circuit including said switch; an electro-magnet and 'armatures therefor, theelectro-magnet and one armature beiu t' included in the cab-circuit a su plem nta cub-circuit passing throug ano er a ature' of the electro-ma et when the latter is energized, a solenoid 1n the last'mentioned cirou1t,1 neans operated b the solenoid whendeenerglzed to apply I e; air-brakes,. and

do 0! this [that my be and to: in out:

two subscribing cnit through .the armature," an electric- SWitfih'illOllldGd in'the suxiliery Cab-circuit,

im auxiliary valve for applying the brakesd-governor connected to find operating an valve, and means for-throwing the overnor in eanwith a driven shaft of the ooomotive w ien the switch of the auxiliary cah-cireuit is closed, substantially as shown and for-thepurpose set forth.

In-teetimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of witnesses. HARRY J. WARTHEN. Witnesses:

'HARRY- J. Sums,

C. E. CRUMP.

03611, by dressing the Commissioner of intents

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