US1269662A - Train-stop mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

L. R. WALLACE.

TRAIN STOP MECHANISM.

I APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1914.

Patented June I6, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

L. R. WALLACE.

TRAIN STOPMECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAYze, 1914.

Patented J une 18, 1918.

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fsuch a time4 as it shall be necessary for the -tripper tozcome to danger position, for. posiftivvely-A settingl the trip` atdanger, and for. positively resetting the UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEicE.

LEWIS n. WALLACE, or W'AI-ELHAM,` iviAssAcHUsE'r'rs.AssIGrNoEI To'NEvE'INs-'WALLAE TRAIN CONTROL COMPANY, A coEronATIoN` or MAssAcHUsETTs,

yTIaAINTsToP MEGHANI'SM. 'l y To 'all whom t may concern v Be it known that I, LEWIS R. WALLACE, a

citizenv of the United States, residing at Waltham,' county of Middlesex', Commoni vwealth of Massachusetts, haveV invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Train- Stop Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

f A'This inventionrelates'to thepositivelcontrol of railroad trains and the like'forthe purpose ofi preventing the neglect or disobedience ofthe'usual signals employedin suchr systems. The invention is particularly adapted to be used in block systems where trains are' to be kept absolutely withinA cer tain limits although obviouslyfcapable of other use. i Y

` The object of my presentV invention gen- "erallystated is to provide an improved train stop mechanismA which will positivelycontrol the movement of railroad trains withincer- V'tain' block limits.

More specifically this invention has for its object to provide for the'positive locking of the track tripper in safety position until y trip to'safety after it'hasbeen actuated.- -i

- vention `will be morefullyY disclosed in the specification that follows. "Inthe drawings forming a part of that specification I have 'shownas an illustrative "embodiment la construction which not only clearly illustrates theprinciples involved but is in itself a form which has proven satisfactory in actual use.

Throughout specification and ydrawings like -reference numerals are correspondingly apf plied, and in these drawings: 1 l

t Figure 1 is a' plan view ofvaA track bfoxand vassociated parts *in` accordance withy my' in- Fig. 4: is a view-similarr to Fig. 2jshowing the trip jin danger osition.

'y Fig. 5 is a face view of the lockingdevice. 4 Fig. 6 `is a vertical section through the box,

ig. 7 is lation.

" a diagrammatic view ofthe instalf 'I have, indicated track `box located4j i i: Specicaton of Letter-s' Iatent I 1),tijellievlfl J 18,' 1918".

Application filed May 26,1914. Serial'lo.841,054.v y L v i i ator near the entrance of atrack section or -I fblock under automatic signal control.. The

box is supported adj acenta rail Ribetween two, ties Tfbyv the endy flangesv2 ofthe box, which= flanges rest fiat' on thefties and are secured thereto. The box has lateralflanges :j f

3 to which a suitable'coveris secured.

lJournaled kin suitable bearings near one end of the rbox is a transverseurock shaft 4 -to which is' rigidly fastened externally of the -box a trip actuating pawlpositioned to one i cally controlled locking v mechanism. .The -Q V'control circuitfor this locking mechanism. is

included inthe relay circuit for the track and Yautomatic block signals. This llast V,named circuit isdominant andcontrols the pawl' simultaneously with. the sema-phore:`

arms of the block signals.V f

'f' The pawl locking mech'anismand control circuit -therefor Hwill rst i be described.

Mounted on the vrock shaft 4: betweenj 'its endsand wholly inclosedwithin the itrackg;v

box is a -weight -6y effective: when .properly supported at itsfree end to 'maintain thek :pawlin safetyposition.' Theffree end. of lthe weight `'has an extension 7`norinally The constructionfand operation lof my insupported'on thev springglatchlend-S lof any` arm `9; Thera-rmi 9'is 'pivoted between. lits endsfon a transverse pivot pin 91 'mounted i in a bearing plate 11 rising from the floor of thetrack box. The 'opposite end ofthe arm 9 is pinned to the bifurcated Vend of a lever-10. The other end of the lever'10 `is connected by 'a link 111 toa second lever 12 pivotedatjitslower endin brackets 13 rising from the floor of the track box. `r To the arin '14 is guided in the bearing plate 11' and v has aglocking notch 15 adapted tocoperate Fig. 2 and Fig. Bare longitudinal sections i Ywith a llocking dog- 16 carried by an yarmaand 3-#3 respectively of *upper end of fthe lever 12. a longitudinally; 5j vmovable locking' arm 14 f is pinned. v`The ture -17 fThe armature 17 ispivoted on the.;

closed.I When `the ymagnets areenergized" the tendency of the? armature isy to hold .the

dog in rigid erect lockingrelation with'the 'Yinet-c11154v When so held the dog is virtually 'supporting the weight 6. When the magnets are denergized by a break in the circuit the armature is released. The dog is then no longer forced into locking engage- Inent with the notch 15 but is free to tilt downwardly and disengage from the notch.

The support for the weight 6 being thus re-v moved, the weight is lnow free to descend by gravity until it stops against the abutment 61 rising from the floor of the box. In its descent the weight swings the latch end 8 of the arm 9 down, tilting up the opposite end of said arm. This raises the lever 10 which through the link 111 and the lever 12 draws the arm 14: back until the notch 15 thereof is withdrawn from its klocking engagement with the dog. The descent of the weight rocks the pawl 5 up into danger position. As soon as the weight drops past the latch end 8, the dog 16 tilts back to 'erect position so as to be ready to engage the notch 15 when the arm 14 is brought back to locking position.

The control circuit for the locking mechanism is normally closed and the electromagnets energized. A simple form of circuit is illustrated in Fig. 7 in which a lead wire 19 connects a binding post 191 on one of the electro-magnets with one pole of the track battery B. The other leg of the cir cuit is completed from the binding post 192 of the other electro-magnet by al lead wire 20 into which the automatic block signal circuit may be cut in at any point and a relay 21 connecting with the other pole of the battery. The locking circuit just described is subject to the dominating circuit for the block signals.

The resetting mechanism for the pawl and associated parts is controlled from the locking circuit by a shunt circuit from the electro-magnets. This circuit in its simplest form may consist of a wire 22 from the binding post 192 Vtoa short contact 23 and a wire 24 from a longer contact l25 to the binding post 26 of a resetting motor 27 disposed within the track boX. The circuit is completed from the other binding post 28 of the motor tothe other binding post 191 of the electro-magnets by a wire 29. The purpose of this circuit is to control the resetting mechanism for the pawl. This circuit is normally open and is only put in condition `to be closed when the weight 6 descends. As before seenthis weight descends only when the magnets are denergized. The circuit for the resetting mechanism-is therefore not closed until the magnets are again energized.

The resetting circuit is maintained normally open by the contacts -23'and 25 and the weight 6. The free end of the longer contact 25 normally contacts with the top face of the weight when said weight is in the supported position of Fig. 3. When,

so disposed the contact 25 is spaced from the contact 23 by the weight. When the weight descends by reason of the denergization of the electro-magnets and the consequent withdrawal of the support for the weight, the vcontact 25 springs down against the contact 23. This places the shunt circuit in condition to become effective when the current comes on again and the magnets are again energized. As soon as the break in the dominant block signal circuit is closed and the magnets energized again, the shunt circuit will be closed causing thewmotor .27 to revolve to reset the weight to its original position. 30 lon the motor shaft meshing with a gear 31 on a counter-shaft. 32. the shaft 32 is transmitted to theweightto raise the same by a` gear 33 meshing with a large gear 3i on a second shaft 35. The gear 34 has near its periphery a laterally projecting cam surface 36 adapted to engage a cam roll 37 on the Iweight during a part of the rotation of said gear. The lcam' 36 and roll 37 are so positioned relatively as to cause the weight to b e lifted only far enough to pass the latch end 8 of the locking arm 9, which end-yields inwardly topermit-the weight to pass, butautomatically assumes supportive position as soon as the weight has passed. The action is so timed that'as soon as the weight passes the ,latch end the cam has moved past the roll and the weight is no longer being positively raised. The weight continues upwardly however by its own momentum until it contacts with the Vlong contact pen 25, lifting said pen away from the .pen 23, thereby breaking the circuit and stopping the motor.y During this action the electro-magnets which` wereV energized as soon as the current came on ,and the motor started to revolve, have drawn up the armature and wit-h it the dog 16, thereby engaging the dog with the locking notch 15l and locking the weight in raised position. The movement of the weight upwardly rocks the pawl 5 downwardly and out of the influence of the trip arm carried by the engine. Y

In use the pawl is normally llocked insafety position. Assoonas a trainfenters the block which the pawl is protecting, the circuit .is broken and the Weight 6 released, thereby rocking the pawl up to danger position. The pawl will remain. in this position so long as the train'is in the block and the circuit broken. Assuming that a train is already in the block and the pawl set in danger position, the pawl will strike the trip armronlthe engine'of a ltrain following, which .is attempting to enter the block and will cause an application of the air brakes. This mechanism for setting theair brakes may be of any desired type. After the pawl has struck the trip on the engine it continues to remain up until the train already in the This is eected through a worm The rotation of block has passed out and the circuit is again closed. As soon as the circuit is closed the magnets are energized again and the resetting apparatus becomes eective to restore the Weight and trip to the original position.

While I have shown and discussed my present invention as applied to the block signaling system of a railroad I Would have it understood that I do not limit myself to this use but reserve the right to apply the principles in any situation Where the same Would be found practicable.

Various modiiications in the form and construction of my device may obviously be resorted to Within the limits of the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In train stop mechanism, an oscillatable track stop, a counter-balance therefor, a pivoted arm having anormal supporting relation to said counter-balance, a locking arm operatively connected With said supporting arm, a pivoted dog adapted for locking engagement With said locking arm to normally maintain said supporting arm in supporting osition relative to the counter-balance, ancpl nism normally maintaining the locking engagement of said dog with said locking arm.

2. In train stop mechanism, a rock shaft, a track obstacle thereon adapted for oscillation in the vertical plane, a counterbalance for said obstacle mounted on said shaft and disposed in the direction opposite to that of the track obstacle, a pivoted arm having a spring latch at its free end normally disposed for supporting engagement With said counterweight, a pair of operatively connected levers associated With said arm, a locking member fastened to one of said levers, a locking dog pivoted on the pivot for an electro-magnetic mechasaid first named arm and adapted for locking engagement with said locking member, an armature carrying said dog and an electro-magnet for said armature.

' 3. In train stop mechanism, a track obstacle having a position ofvinterference and a position of non-interference with relation to a train-carried air-brake relief actuator, a gravity operating member controlling the position of said track obstacle and having a supported and a non-supported position, an electro-magnetic supporting mechanism controlled by the condition of the track aheadl for maintaining said gravity member in supported position, a` resetting circuit subject f to said electro-magnetic mechanism for restoring said gravity member to supported position only When said supporting mechanism is in' condition to support the same, a motor included' in said circuit, and a rotatable member driven by said motor and having an element thereon disposed for resetting engagement with a portion of said gravity member during a part of the revolution of said rotatable member.V

4. In train stop mechanism, a track obstacle having a position of interference and a position of non-interference with relation to a train-carried air-brake relief actuator, a gravity operating member controlling the position of said. track obstacle and having a supported and a non-supported position, a cam roll on said gravity member, a restoring mechanism'for said gravity member in cluding a rotatable resetting member havin l a cam disposed for resetting engagement Wlth said cam roll of the gravity member.

In testimony whereof I aiiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

l LEWIS R. WALLACE. Witnesses:

GEO. B. RAWLINGS, MARION C. I-IoBBs.

Copies nf this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by adressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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