US1253208A - Railway signaling system. - Google Patents

Description

C. H. BUHL.

RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION man IULY22,1912.

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RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM.

'APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1912.

1253,280 Patented Ja11.15,1918.

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ATTYS C. H. BUHL.

RAILWAY SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22. 1912.

1,253,208. Patented Jan. 15,1918.

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ad oining blocks and another train farther f -trical circuit for the green light, and a our. a. em, or cmvnmiimpmo.

PATENT. orF'IcE.

BAH-weir SIGNALING srsrnm.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1912. Serial No. 710,768.

. To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL H. BUHL, a citiland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a railway signaling system, and the invention consistsin the improved electrical signaling means substantially as hereinafter, shown and described and more particularly pointed out in the claim.

The object of the invention is to provide electrical means to automatically illuminate a green light in the cab of an engine when another train occupies the same track within two given blocks in advance thereof, thereby giving a cautionary signal of danger the same means cause a red light to be illuminated in the cab when the track is occupied in the block directly ahead, thereby giving a danger signal. These same results are also produced by my invention when a break occurs in the rails, when a switch is left open, when another train crosses the track. and when the electric current weakens or fails at its source or by disconnection or break in the connecting wires. When the track is clear, the object also is to provide means for the constant illumination of a white light in the cab of the engine, and the inventive concept also includes the placing of similar signaling devices at fixed staions along the line, as at switching and crossing points, to give warning of the ap.- proach of trains when one and two blocks away from the station. The invent on also embodies a sounding device to give an audible signal in the event of injury to the signal lamps, particularlyrthe red or danger light.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a, diagrammatic view of a single track railway divided into blocks and provided with my invention, this view showing a clear track for a train represented by a set of wheels in the firstblock at the right.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view correspondin to Fig. 1, but showing two trains in two removed, and illustrating the operation 0 the devices in giving both cautionary and danger signals to the oncoming train.

Fig.

3 is a diagrammatic view of the invention with switch and station signal de vices in cooperating relations with an approachmg train-in the second block from the, switch, both thegreen caution lights in the cab and at the station being illuminated.

The invention contemplates the use of a signaling device A in the engine cab, and also a similar device A at stations along the railway, as at a switch S, see Fig. 3. These devices each .consist of an electro-magnet having a soft iron core 2 of the usual horseshoe fcrm, each core having a double winding. one of which is of finer wire and more turns than the other. A tilting armature 3 having its pivot or fulcrum between its ends is mounted opposite the core extremities on a vertical bar 4 secured to the cross-piece 5. Bar 4 is apermanent magnet to give the armature the same polarity as one of the cores, and as poles of like polarity repel each other, the armature will be constantly repelled at one or the other of the poles of the electro-magnet when the current is flowing, dependent upon the direction of the electric current through the coils.'and it also follows that the unlike poles will be attracted accordingly. Briefly, the object is to make armature 3 a permanent south-pole and by reversing the flow of the electric current, change the. poles of the magnet as occasion requires so that the resultant north pole will tilt the armature on its pivots either to one side or the other and thereby cause a flow of the electric current through either one-or the other of two signal lamps W or G, the

vfirst being a white light and the second a green. A third lamp R giving a red light 1s also placed in the electrical circuit by device A, but only when the other two lights are cut off. For this purpose, a spring strip 6 mounted on the armature at one side thereof and insulated therefrom extends beyond both armature ends to engage two fixed contacts 7 and 8 in the red lamp circuit; but this contact only occurs when the armature is bal- Patented Jan. 15,1918.

anced and not under the influence of either one of the poles of the electromagnet. The spring ends of the strip 6 maintain the armature in the balanced position until the electro-magnet is energized. A third contact 9 on one side of the pivot of thearmature is engaged by the armature to close the elecfourth contact 10 on the left side closes the white light circuit when the armature is tilted up on that side. Tlltmg of armature 3 occurs when electric current is caused to, flow in either one directlonor the other the engine, an by aqwire 20 leading to I brush 16.

All three lights'havea wire connection eadin to'armature 34 of the second block -relay ill, and the armature 35 at the right of this same relay M is connected by wire 11 with one terminal'of a local battery 12 carried by the engine, the other battery'terminal being connected by wire 14 with the bar 4 of device A. Contact 7 is connected by wire 15 with wire.14,'"and contact 10 is connected b a wire 18 with the fine winding.

" of the respective blocks comprise two 19 on the rlght core of the electro-niagnet, andwvhich winding is extended and includes a likewindin on the left core with a wire leading there roin to the green light G, re erence being had to Fig. 2. A wire 21 also leads fromthe' cross connecting wire of the coils 19 to a fixed contact 22 which is norresented by wire 11. The coil or magnet 24' is connected by a wire 25 w-ith' a second brush 27 enga ed with the track T, and also by a wire 26 w1th wire 6 leading to the metal The brushes frame or axle E of the engine. 16 and 27 have sliding engagement with the two track rails which are insulated one from Track T is divided into blocks of another. any given length, say one mile, each block being insulated from theother blocksyand these blocksare each subdivided to provide short pick-up sections 28, 28 oppositelyin' the two rails thereof. These sections are g ing to relay L where it connects with a con 9 tact 51 normally engaged by the right hand armature 52 of said relay. A contact 53 on of about'six feet in length, more or less,a nd insulated from-the remainingrails in the block, of whichthey form a part. The several long blocks are desi ings by a, b, c, and d, a 1 being alike in are rangement and electrical connections.

The track devices and circuits for1 eaclh p are contact relays L and M, and one sing e contact relay N, the first two. being hereinafter referred to as the first block and second block relays, respectively, and the relay N as an emergency relay. These relays are preferably of the mercury kind, and the drawings are merel diagrammatic of any suitable style or kin using single or double armature. The first block relay L serves to place the red light in commission, and

the second block relay M either-the; white or green light. The emergency relay N is used to. open the track circuit when the electric currentbecomes too weak to operate device A, thereby establishing a red signal in the advancing train to indicate a dangerous con-- dition in the block ahead. The three track relays are jointly housed in a suitable receptacle located at the side of the track, and the wires leading thereto are either sup ated in the draw-Z armature 32 of the first block relay L. The

ick-up section 28 has a wlreconnection 33 v 36 with the track rail in block a which is engaged by brush 27 in its traveL'. The oppo- I site track rail of this blockl'has a wire conmotion 37 leading to the armature 38 of emergency relay N, including a battery 39;

and a contact 40 for armature 38 is connected by a wire 41 with the end portion of g track T engaged by brush 2.7 in block a.

1 The electrical connections between the respe'ctive. relays are as follows:

The relays L andi M are diagrammatically represented as 'havmg two armatures and two contacts for each armature, but 111 practies the desired results would be obtained by the use of a single armature. The present showing is for greater clearness as itpermits a separate grouping of the contacts. Thus, the contact 42-opposite contact 31 of relay L has a wire 43 leading to the left contact 44 of armature 34 of relay M.- The right contact 45 opposite armature 34lhas a;wire connection 46 with the right contact .47 of the other armature 35.01? this same relay M, and the opposite contact 48 for armature 35 is connected with contact 44 by a wire 49. Contact 47 also has a wire 50 leadthe opposite side of armature 52 connects by awire 54 with wire 36, and said armature 52 is connected by a wire 55 with the negative side of a battery D. The positive side of the battery has a wire connection 56 leading to'the left armature 32 of relay L, and

"28' happen to be occupied by a standing train. I he emergency relay coil N cross- .connects with wires 55 and 56 by wires 58 and 59 respectively.

' The coil of relay L in block a and the corresponding relay for each successive block, is electrically in circuit with one track-rail of the immediate block ahead, as indicated by wire 60; and the other connection to place this relay L in circuit;- is by wire 61 which extends to the relay M in the preceding block as shown in Fig. 1 between the blocks 6 and a, or b and b. Correspondingly, each relay M has its other wire connection. 62 extended forwardly along the track to the second block in advance of In operation, a clear track is indicated by the white light, W, and the various devices ,and electrical circuits are related as shown in Fig. 1. The train or engine E is herein shown as occupying block a and as estab-.

lishing an electrical circuit between the two tracks in this block, including brush 16, battery D, and the winding 13 of electro-mag net device A. This circuit is the white light circuit and may be traced from track '1 by the wires and parts designated as follows; 36, 35, 48, 49, 44, 43, 42, 32, 56, 57, D, 55, 52, 51, 50, 47, 46, 45, 34, 33, 285', 16, 20, 13, e to E and to the place of beginning at 36. When brush 16 engages pick-up di vision 28 of the track, the result is 'to energize electro-m agnet A through coil 13 and thereby tilt its armature 3 into engaging position with contacts 10 and 7 as shown in Fig. 1. Contact at 7 is however inefiective in view of the retirement of strip 6 from contact 8 at the other end of the armature, and moreover it must be remembered that this strip is insulated from the armature and that it makes no contact with the poles.

Contact relations at10 establishes a local circuit for lamp W over wire 11 to battery 12, bar 4 and the armature 3. A locking circuit is also established to lock armature 3 in tilted position, this result being accomplished by permitting the electric current to flow through the right-hand coil 19 of elec tro-magnet A by reason of the contact made at 10, a separate path for a part of the current being provided by wire 18 to this righthand coil 19 and by wire 21 to contact 22 and armature 23 of release relay 24, to the battery 12 by wire 11, and back to the armatime 3 by w1re 14 and bar 1. Obviously, when release relay 24 is energized this locking circuit for coil 19 is broken, which result follows when either the track relay L or N is deenergized by occupancy of the tracks by another train or by a break in the track one block ahead or by failure of the electric current.

In Fig. tracks T in 2 three trams E are shown on blocks a, c and (Z, respectively to illustrate both caution and danger si aling conditions. Thus, the device A o the train in block a is placed in circuit to illuminate the green light G to show that the block a is occupied, and the device A of the train in block a s ows a red light to indicate the occupancy of block (1 by the car or train E therein. 'The green light circuit is established by a reversal of tilt of the armature 3 of device A from that shown in Fig. 1, a result obtained by releasing the armatures s4 and 35 of relay M in block a to engage contacts 44 and 47, respectively. Release is effected by deenergizing said relay, and the source of electric current for relay M in block a (and also the relay L in series therewith in block b), is at battery 39 of block 0,

and the circuit therefor may be traced by wi're'62 of this relay M, track T, wire 41, contact 40 and armature 38 of emergency relay N of block 0, wire 37 to battery 39 and to the'opposite track rail of block a, and thence to wire 60 leading to relay L in block b and continuing by wire 61 to. the 7 same relay M of beginning. However and inasmuch as the block 0 is occupied (as indicated by the train E), a. short circuit between the double rails is estab-' lished, thus cutting off the electric currentfrom battery 39 for relay L in block b and relay M in block a. The result is as stated, the green light G being placed in the lighting circuit of battery 12 by the armature 3 of dei'ice A engaging contact 9. The path of the illuminating current is traceable from contact 9 over the wire 11 to battery 12 and by wire 14 to bar 4, and the same locking effect on the armature 3 is obtained as before by a division of the electric current over wire 21 to the locking coil 19, but in this instance tothe coil at the left and byv ,wire fwhich leads to contact 9.

The red 1ight circuit and danger signal is shown in operation in block c, Fig. 2, the

armature 3 of deviceAfor the train E in this In establishing the red light circuit, the

release relay 24 of the device A is energized, which opens the locking coil circuits controlledby armature 23 and contact 22, and the electric current for this purpose is ob tained from the battery D in block 0 when brush 27 engages pick-up rail 28. This is illustrated in block 0, Fig. 2, the electrical circuit being traceable from this pick-up point by the following letters and figures of reference in the order named: 30, 31, 32, 56, 57, D, 55, 52, 53, 54, 36, E, 6, 26,24, and 25 to brush 27, the place of beginning.

In Fig. 3 I show an open switch Sin the track two blocks in advance of the train E,

Fig. 3 also illustrates the application of a signaling device A, or a duplicate of device A, to station signaling purposes. This device has a green light G and a-red light R, and may also have a white light, but the while light and the locking coils are omitted for the sake of simplicity. As shown, the station device A is electrically connected to a set of relays I and J along the track, the

first relay --I having'wire connections 65' with the opposite rails in block it of track T, which rails are further connected by wires 37 and 41 to battery 39 as already described, and whereby said relay I- is energized when the track in block it is not occupied. The second relay J is connected by wires 66 and 67 with the rails of the track inblock g and also withv its battery 39 in a similar manner as described, but in view of the fact that block 9 is shown as occupied by train E it'is at once apparent that thefelectric current from battery 39 of this block 9, is short-circuited as to relay J thereby releasing its two armatures 68 and 69 and establishing a local batterycircuit 70 for ener-.

gizing the electro-magnet device A, which by the way, is made like the engine device A in that it tilts it armature one way or the other dependent upon the direction of flow of the current. Reversal of flow of the electric current is obtained by change in position of the armatures in relay J, and when the said armatures are in the dotted positions shown in Fig. 3, the armature 73 containing battery 72. The red light R is placed. in this circuit and the green light cut out when block it is Occupied by the advancing train, as in that event relay I will become deenergized and the circuit 70 broken to place the armature 73 in a balanced condition and with the outer contacts 74 and 75'only in contact with strip. 6. Neither one of the two lamps of device A.

is illuminated when blocks 9 and h are unoccupied, but the "operator at the switch,

crossing, or station will be at once advised when a trainis within one or two blocks by the illumination of a red or green light as the case may require.

What I claim is:

Ina railway signaling system, a set of electrical selective signaling devices, a compound polarized relay for controlling the selective energization of the signaling devices, electrical circuits for said relay, saidvrelay comprising a permanent magnet, cores supported adjacent the permanent magnet,

a cross piece supporting the cores, circuit terminals disposed adjacent the cores, an armature pivotally supported intermediate its length, a spring strip supported by the armature and insulated therefrom, the ends of the spring strip extending beyond the ends of the armature, to balance the armature' prior to the energizing of the electrom'agnet, and means for automatically completing the circuit to operate the relay, and cause a signal. Y v

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

' CARL H. BUHL. Witnesses:

a R. B. Mam, WM. C. GBADER.

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