US1363840A - A cobpo - Google Patents

Description

J. P. COLEMAN.

A RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED saw/19.1916.

1,363,840- Patentd Dec.. 28, 192( I I 4 SHEETS-SHEET I- Q? I Q;

FIG.1

WITNESSES INVENTOR J. P. COLEMAN.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION men SEPT. 19, 1916.

1 3 3 40 Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES FINVENTOR J. P. COLEMAN.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-19, I9I6.

- Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- J. P. COLEMAN.

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

APPLlCATION FILED SEPT-19, I916.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

4. SHEETS-SHEET 4.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT orgies.

JOHN P. COLEMAN, OF EDGEWOOD BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION'S'W'ITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SVVISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPO- RATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILVJAY-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

Original application filed May 18, 1915, Serial No. 28,840, new Patent No. 1,238,889, dated September 4, 1917. Divided and this application filed September 19, 1916. Serial No. 120,959.

To all w 7mm it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN P. COLEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Edg'ewood Borough, in the county of Allegheir and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Trailic-Controlling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to railway traflic controlling apparatus and is a divisional application of my copending application filed May 18, 1915, Serial No. 28,8d0 which has matured into Patent No. 1,238,889, Sept. 4, 1917.

The invention has particular application to the means for moving and looking a railway switch, as disclosed in the above-mentioned application, the chief characteristic of this invention being to provide means controllable by the abovementioned means for controlling a system of indication circuits to indicate the position of the railway switch. The invention has for a further characteristic the cooperation between the locking means for the railway switch and the indicating means, the means for controlling the indicating circuits being controlled by the locking mechanism for the switch. v

Another characteristic of the invention resides in the employment of two. circuit controllers which are adapted to be used in conjunction with a pair of railway st tches. the switches controlling the traffic at e opposite ends of a cross-over between two parallel railway tracks, and the circuit controlling means of each railway switch being so connected electrically as to simultaneously indicate the position of both of the switches.

(lther novel features of this invention will appear as the specification is taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and in which' V V Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a railway switch actuating mechanism and the means for locking the switch in either normal or reversed positions.

ig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the dimotion of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on the line 33 ofFig. 1. I v v Fig. 4 is a plan view of the circuit controller. V

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line V V of Fig. 4 and showing the connection between the railway switch actuating mechanism and the circuit controller.

- Fig. 6 is a diagrammatical view showing the arrangement of circuits adaptedto be used in connection with the apparatus shown in the preceding views.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, I have shown. a mecha nism for actuating a railway switch which is-suitably arranged adjacent the track, and which essentially consists of a vertically arranged shaft 10 to which is keyeda gear 11, the shaft being journaled within a cas ing 12, and having its lower end provided with an eccentrically positioned pin 13 which engages and actuates ahorizoritally disposed switch rod 14. The rod 1 1 is adapted to be connected to either of the-rail: way switches M or L. shown in Fig. 6 for actuating the same to normal or reversed positions. Arranged atone side of the easing 12 and communicating therewith are a pair of spaced cylinders 15 in which are slidably mounted the pistons 16. The pis tons 16 are each provider witha rack bar 17 the toothed surfaces of which are arranged in confronting relation to each other and are adapted to mesh withthe teeth of the gear 11. .The outer ends of each of the cylinders 15. are provided with inlet pipes 18 for admitting fluid into the cylinders to actuate the pistons. It willbe evidentin thisconstructionthat if the pistonsare actuated alternately by means of the fluid they will cause oscillatory move: ments of the shaft lOthrough the medium of the rack bars 17andth'egear 11. Upon oscillation of the shaft 10 theeccentrically mounted pin 13 will be moved to reciprocate the switch rod 14 to move the railway switch into normal or reverse position.

The free ends of each of the rack bars 17 are formed with plungers 19 which are slidably mounted in spaced cylinders 20, the cylinders being arranged upon the opposite side of the casing 12 from that of the cylinders 15 and in longitudinal alinement with the said cylinders. The outer ends of the cylinders 20 are formed with a casting 21 which is preferably detachably secured thereto by means of bolts 22. The casting 21 is formed with the longitudinally extending guides 23 inwhich are slidably mounted the lock rods 24. The lock rods 24 are formed with spaced notches 25 which are of such a size as to receive the plungers 19. The lock rods 24 are adapted to be attached to the railway switch to move therewith when actuated by the switch rod 14. It will be manifest from the foregoing construction that the plungers are designed to lock the lock rods 24 against movement whereby the railway switch will be locked in normal or reverse position. It will be understood that the plun ers 19 being movable with the rack bars 17 will alternately engaqe the notches 25 and thus intersect the path of the locking ba s to lock the same again t movement in either reversed or norm l position of the railway switch.

Arranged on the up er side of the casing- 12 is my im roved form of circuit cont oller. which is adapted to be actuated by the switch actuating mechanism just described. The circuit controller consists of a box 26. which preferably has one end thereof tapered as at 27, the box being provided w th a cover 28, which is hingedly connected to the tapered end of the box as at 29, and which is adapted to be locked in closed position by means of a pin The box 26 is provided upon its underside with an openng 31 in which is mounted the upper end of shaft 10. the shaft having its upper end provi ed w th a threaded extension 32.

The circuit controller is operated by cam 33, which is locked upon the shaft 10 by means of a key 34 and a nut 35. the nut being mounted upon the extension 32 for engagement with the cam. Rollers 86 for engagement with the periphery of the cam, are journaled in operating cranks 37, which cranks are pivotally mounted upon a stud 38 inserted in a lug 89 formed on the bottom of the boX 26. Arranged within the larger end of the box are the terminal boards 40, 41 and 42, the same being secured to the bottom of the box by means of the screws 43. The terminal boards are arranged in spaced relation to each other to provide the longitudinally extending channels 44. V The intermediate terminal board 41 is provided with resilient contacts or the gers 45, which extend alternately in opposite directions to span the channels 44. The terminal boards 40 and 42 are provided with blocks 46, upon which are formed the bind ing posts 47 to which wires are adapted to be secured. The blocks 46 are each provided upon their confronting sides with the tips 48, the meeting ends of the tips being arranged in spaced relation to permit the movement of the contacts 45, as will be hereinai'ter described.

Mounted for sliding movement within each of the channels 44 is a bar 49, the inner ends of which are pivotally connected to the cranks 37, while their outer ends are provided with upturned portions 50. Secured to each of the upturned portions 50 is a sleeve 51, which is slidably mounted within a cylinder 52, the latter being integrally formed with the larger end of the box 26. The outer end of the cylinder 52 is closed by means of a nut 53, which also forms an abutment for a coil r tractile spring 54, the spring being mounted within the sleeve 51, as is clearly shown in the drawings. The spring 54 is adapted to act as a biasing means for each of the bars 49, so as to cause the rollers 36 carried by the cranks 37 to en the periphery of the cam at all times.

Mounted upon each of the bars 49 are the clamps 55, each of which is adapted to receive the intermediate portion of the corresponding contact 45. The contacts 45 are of such a length as to have the free ends thereof interposed between the corresponding pair of tips 48, and it will, therefore, be evident that when the bars 49 are reciprocated within the channels 44, the clamps will engage the contacts 45 as to move the same so as to engage either of the tips 48.

In this instance I have shown the periphery of the cam 33 formed with an indentation 57, the indentation being adapted to alternately receive the rollers 36, when the ca. is rotated or oscillated.

It will be manifest from the foregoing description that the cam 33 is adapted to be oscillated through the medium of the shaft 10 and the mechanism for oscillating the shaft 10 as has been previously described lvhen the cam is oscillated, the bar 49, which has its respective roller disposed within the indentation is moved to the left in opposition to the respective spring 54 whereby the respective contacts 45 carried thereby, will be moved from the tips 48 upon one side of the contacts to the tips upon the opposite side. it being understood that the contacts are normally in engagement with the tips upon the left side of the contacts. 1 V hen the can? 33 is further rotated, the remaining roller will move into the indentation, the bar upon which the latter roller is mounted then moving to the right in response the action ofthe corresponding spring 54. iVhen the indentation 57 is so positioned as not to receive either of the rollers 36, it will be evident that both of the bars 49 will assume a retracted position so as to cause all oi the contacts to engage the tips upon the left side of the fingers.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 6 of the drawings, two parallel railway tracks T and T are shown, which are connected by a crossover comprising tracks T the opposite ends or" the crossover being provided with the switches M and L respectively. hen these switches are set in the positions shown in the drawings, which I will term the normal position, traflic will not be diverted from track to track, but when the switches are moved to their reverse position, traffic is diverted from T to T, or vice-versa. Each switch is provided with an actuating mechanism as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the construction and operation of which has been previously described. In this drawing I have indicated these mechanisms diagrammatically in dot and dash lines, the circuit controllers of each of the mechanisms being also shown diagrammatically, but for the sake of avoiding complexity of description, I will designate each of the mechanisms by the letter A, one of the circuit controllers B and the remaining controller B As here shown, the mechanisms A are controlled by electromagnets 58, 59, 60 and 61. This control may be effected in any convenient manner as, for example, the electromagnets may be used to control the supply of fluid pressure to the cylinders '16 of mechanisms A by operating valves located in the pipes 18, as will be understood by those versed in the art. I have shown no means for accomplishing this; suffice it to say that when magnets 58 and 60 are energized, mechanisms 1- operate switches M and L to the reverse positions; when magnets 59 and 61 are energized mechanisms A operate switches M and L to the normal positions.

Magnets 58, 59, 60 and 61 are controlled by means of a circuit controlling lever C which is usually one ofa plurality of similar levers comprised in an interlocking machine. This lever C may be of any suitable typ as here shown, it comprises a shaft 62, which is adapted to oscillate and which operates a contact finger 63 forthecontrol of the circ its for the electromagnets. The control circuits for these electromagnets are herein shown'in dash lines for the purpose of distinction, the circuits'for the indication apparatus being shown 'in. solid lines. 64: designates a source of current,which, as here shown, is a battery.

' In the arrangement of the control circuits herein shown, electromagnets 58 and 60 or 59 and 61 of each switch operating mechanism, are connected in series'with the source of current 91, according as contact finger 63 engages with contact 66 or 65. The movements of the shaft 62 are as usual controlled by indication apparatus, which, as here shown, comprises two indication devices K and K one for each direction of movement. Each of these indication devices comprises a segment 67 fixed to the shaft 62 and provided with a dog 68 adapted to engage with a latch 69, which latches are controlled respectively by 'electromagncts N and B. Each of the electromagnets N and R is provided with a circuit which is controlled by relay D, as hereinafter explained. The circuits forthese indication magnets are also controlled by contacts 70 and 71 operated by shaft 62. These contacts are not moved during the first portion of the movement of the shaft 62 up to the point at which it is stopped by the dog 68 of one or the other of the indication devices, but during the remainder of the movement of the shaft, the contacts 70 and 71 are reversed in position. This operation of contacts 70 and 71 is, as here shown, accomplished by mounting the contact fin gers loosely on the shaft 62, and moving them by pins 72 carried by collars 7 3 fixed on the shaft 62.

Relay D comprises two contacts 74: and 75, one of which is the neutral contact, which is responsive to the presence or absence of current in the relay, while the remaining contact is polarized to respond only to reversals oi current in the relay. The relay D is provided with a circuit which is controlled by the two circuit controllers E and B the latter and their connections being so an ranged that when bothswitches are in normal position, relay D is energized from the battery 64 in one direction so that the polarized contact 75 occupies one extreme position, andthat when both switches are in the reverse position, relay D is energized in the opposite direction, so that the polarized contact 75' occupies its other extreme position. Under all other circumstances, that is, when switches are not both in thenormal or both in the reverse position, the relay 1) is disconnected from battery 64 and is placed on short circuit so that the neutral contact 74 of troller B wire 88to battery 64. The relay D isth'en energized in such direction that relay D- will be open, thereby preventing the contact 7 -89 is closed and contact 75-90 is opened, so that normal indication magnet N was energized before its circuit was opened at contact 71.

WVhen it is desired to move the switches M and L from their normal positions to their reverse positions, the shaft 62 of control lever C is partially rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow until dog 68 of the indication device K engages the latch 69. In this position the contact finger 63 has been disengaged from contact 65 and has engaged contact 66, so that electromagnets 58 and 60 become energized through the following circuit: from battery 91, through wires 109 and 92, contact 6366, wire 93, magnet 58, wire 94:, magnet 60, wire 95, to battery 91. Mechanisms A are caused thereby to operate switches M and L, to r0- tate cam 33 of circuit controllers B and B simultaneously in the direction of the arrows. At the beginning of the movement of the cams, circuit controller B opens contacts 85 and 80 and closes contacts 80 and 85; circuit controller B opens contacts 87 and 78 and closes contacts 87 e and 7 8 Battery 64"is thus disconnected from wires 79 and 86, which are thereupon shirt-circuited at controller B by means of a wire 96. Relay D is disconnected from wires 79 and 86 and is then short-circuited at circuit controller l3 by the connection: from relay D through wires 83, 84, contact 98, wire 99, contact 80 wires 81 and 82 to relay D. The neutral contact 7 4 of relay D is then opened, so that neither indication magnets N or R can be energized. The purpose of placing relay D on short circuit is to prevent false operation of this relay by any current which might leak into the wires 82 and 83. When the movement of the switches has been completed, circuitcontroller B opens contacts 98 and 98 and closes contacts 106 and 107, whereby the short-circuit is removed from relay D and wires 100 and 101 are connected 1 to the relay leads 82 and 83 respectively. At

the same time circuit controller B opens contacts 102 and 103 and closes contacts 10 i and 105, thereby connecting battery 64 to wires 100 and 101. Thus relay D is energized by current flowing in the circuit: from battery 64, through wires 76 and 77, contact 104 of controller B wire 100, contact 106 of controller B wires 84.- and 83, relay D, wires 82 and 81 contact 107 of controller B wire 10 1, contact 105, wire 88 to battery 64. The direction of flow of current through relay winding is now opposite to the direction of flow of current when the switches M and L were in the normal position. Relay D is, therefore, energized so that contact 75 and 108 is closed, and the reverse indication magnet R is energized by the following circuit;- from battery 91,

latch 69 out of the path of dog 68 of indication device K so that the movement of the shaft 62 can be continued to the end of the stroke. During this last portion of the movement contact is opened, thereby opening at this point the circuit for magnet R, and contact 71 is closed, thereby closing at that point the circuit for magnet N.

The operation of the apparatus for the movement of the switches M and L from the reverse to their normal position would be similar to that just explained, hence it need not be described in detail.

It will be manifest from the foregoing description of the operation of the switches and circuit controllers that the movement of the circuit controllers is governed by the mechanisms A, but primarily by the locking mechanism of the switches, the operation of which has been previously described.

In the operation of the locking means for the switches, it will be evident that if one of the plungers 19 does not seat within the corresponding notch 25, the operating mechanism A of that switch cannot complete its movement, and so both plungers 49 of the corresponding circuit controller will be locked in retracted position. Relay D will then continue to be deenergized so that lever C will remain locked in mid-stroke position.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with the accompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and although I have herein shown and described only certain forms of appara tus embodying my invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a railway switch, mechanism for moving and locking said switch and for preventing complete operation of the mechanism unless the switch has made a complete movement and has become locked, two contacts, means operated by said mechanism for reversing one contact during the unlocking of the switch, locking both contacts during the movement of the switch, and reversing the other contact during the subsequent locking of the switch in its opposite position, and indication means controlled by said contacts.

2. In combination, a railway switch, a shaft mounted to oscillate, means operated by said shaft during the intermediate portion of each oscillation thereof for moving the switch from one extreme position to the other, two plungers for oscillating said shaft, means associated with said plungers for locking the switch after the completion of the movement thereof and during the completion of the oscillation of the shaft, two sets of contacts actuated by said shaft one during the completion of the oscillation in one direction and the other during completion of the oscillation in the other direc- 10 tion, and an indication device controlled by said two sets of contacts.

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

J OHN P. COLEMAN. Witnesses:

A. HERMAN WEGNER, P. UTIN.

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