US1440416A - Car safety device - Google Patents

Description

Jam 2 319923. 1A4A11 P. J, SIMMEN. CAR SAFETY DEVICE, FILEDIMAR-JIO. 3919.1,

F/a/f 22-. f: Z8 2 "37333952 7 5 T *4 W i. y ATTO 15 ill) Patented Jan. 2, 1%23.

UNETED STATES PAUL J. SIMIVIEN, OF BUFFALO. NEXV YORK.

CAR SAFETY DEVICE.

Application filed March 10, 1919.

To r/l/ u-lmm 1'? may concern:

lie it known that 1. Pan. J. Sunnis, a citizen of the I nited States. and a resident of the city of Butl'alo. in the county of Erie and State of New York. have invented a new and useful (ar Safety Device. of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to derails. and particularly to derails which are automatically operated by an approaching car.

The primary object oi my invention is to prevent a car from exceeding a safe speed.

Another object of my invention is to prevent one car from colliding with another car.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of the device will he particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the invention in detail. reterence is had to the accompanying drawin wherein l luive schematically illustrated a preferred physical embodiment of my invention. and wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. and in which Figure l is a schematic illustration of my device designed to prevent excessive speed: Fig. 2. is a schematic illustration of my device designed not only to prevent excessive speed but also prevent one car tron] colliding with another car.

On many of the railways of this and other countries cars are used which are not equipped with air brakes consequently the well known track trip cannot be employed to stop the car by opening the train pipe. nevertheless these cars are operated on tracks of very short curvature and steep downgrade and are operated by men who may through inexperience or inattention cause or allow the car to attain a dangerous speed. .\ly device as shown schematically by Fig. I will prevent such excessive speed.

'l have shown all parts both in Fig. l and in l ig. 2 schennlticall because I desire to have it well understood that no particular design of derail. signal. switch operating machine. delayed action device. relay or source of current is essential to my invention. .\ny ol' the well known forms ot these devices now commonly used suitable for my purposes may he and are intended to be used. Furthermore no particular track con struction is necessary for my invention he- Serial No. 281,810.

cause the principle may be applied by those skilled in the art to any suitable torin.

In Fig. 1. 1 and 2 designate the two rails of a trackway. which is divided into electrically insulated sections by the insulating Joints -t. 5 and. (3 in the well known manner using any ot.the well known and approved t'ornis of such insulating joints.

To the. track rail 2 I apply aderail. shown as a point derail. but any suitable form may be used which when in one position will derail a passing car and in another position will allow the car to pass sately. lhe'derail which I have selected. and which is shown merely schematically. consists of a stock rail 7 and a movable point 8. In the figure it is shown in the open position. which is well umlerstood and which as is well understood is the normal position of a derail as connnonlv used and as the open point t'aces the direction ot tratlieit is known as a 't'acing" derail. It is normally maintained in open position by any suitable or commonly used means such as a spring 9. one end of which is suitably attached to the inovahle point and the other end of which is suitably t-astened to a suitable support as pin 10. In the torm shown I have. put the spring under tension by bending it over fixed pin 11.

To show whether the derail is open or closed I have for the purposes of illustration shown a signal 12. schematically. positioned just to the right of the derail as seen by an approcahing train it being understood. that in Fig. l. the direction of traflic is in the di rection of arrow X. For purposes of illustration l have connected a rod 13 to the derail to the other end of which is connected a pivoted right angle crank having its other arm connected by a rod H to the pivoted signal blade 12. This construction is intended to be such that when the derail is open the signal indication is danger but when the derail is closed the signal indication is clear.

I do not intend to limit myself toa signal connected directly to the derail but. leave the selection of the signal and its mode of connection to the skill of those versed in this art. as it is well understood by those skilled in this art. that for thev purposes of this invention the signal need not be connected to the derail or instact be dependent on it in any way, except to correspond with it in position.

In orderto close the derail I preferably employ. and have schematically shown for the purposes of illustration; a mot('n'-15, indirating the armature by 16 and one of the brushes by 17 and the other by 18 although of course by showing brushesl do not mean any, suitable o shown it directly connected, to linkv 20. "The link :20 is connected to the derail. Illhecon-Y struction ;1s,such that when current/ is api pliedtootheg motor the derail is closed.

Although. hate shown the link 2Q acted uponwby a ('OInpreSSlQn fOI'CG 130 close to exclude a brushless motor. The armature ot' the motor is connected by crank arm 19 in appropriate, n1anner;-I ha ve= the derail desire it: understood that, my; 1nventum.,1s not confined thereto. because,

I; do not intend to exclude a pulling force.

'lheici'rcuit ofthe motoriis normally open consequently the normal positionof the g lerail normally open in the form shown, but as Is ell known to thosesk lled in this artthe dera l might .well be normally closethuinler such conditionjif ,th e means; used .to open and close tht QHCIIIt Of the,

motor were suitably arranged although it is considered preferably, i ractice to use a= derail with such; associated apparatus that I it will be normall-yopen.

Inorder to control thecircuit ot' the IIl O-Ji tor I preferablyemploy a, means operated.

upon by the car.) The preferred torm of this 1- means inoludes the rell known track ircult section wlhchl have illustrated in the normally closed form, .as that I" l' elie\'e is the preferable-form.

21 is a source of current shown as a battery, connectedacross the rails atfone, endot the section landIQQ designates a re lay, shownas a direct, current relay connected across the railsat the other end of 'the section fllizitis. have illustrated the end ted type ottraok circuit rather than] the center fed, I because somewhat, simpler to show. As is well understood acar pass-,

ing insulating jointi ikand 4 moving in' the direction of the arrow,i\ vould shunt relay 22 and cause its armature I to, fall. Armature 23 e( n trols a solenoid 2 1. eircui't is positive terminal otbat-te'ry 25,

Wire26, solenoid 21, wi rel27. armature 23;

and \Yllt 28 fto the negative tiern'iinal ot' the battery. \Vhile this circuit is formed solenoid 24 is energized and .iron core 29 is held to the upper limit ot its intvnient'. The entrance of a car onto the track rails 1 and 2. howerer. deen ergi /Jes solenoid 21 and the coreit) is tree todropl, 'lhe dropping ot' plunger 2%) is not prevented I but it isimpeded, by adorn-e tohe hereii'iatter time elapses betweeni the ileei'ieigizat-ion of solenoid 24 and'the reaching of its loiverf position by core '29. When core 29 reaches its lower posit-ion its end 30 contacts with ,rlesoi'ilie l. in such wise tha'tfapredeterniined' coreftip 30;wire 34, to motor 15, through grent flowing ;in the I aboy l pauses the motorto operateiand close the its downward moi ement," veffect in any suitablao threeballs 43;;

of such eigh I r H I t turns gear Ewheeflll in the direction 0t and it ivillbe arranged so'that anyiprede- .41 rotates" freely about spider 43 because" 'p lun'ger 29" I naypi'ise almostinstantly to its extreme upper position," and the parts free from excessive frictionfthat"this is s n'inpjs -31. so that a circuit'is conipl'eted through the motor 15. This circuit is from the positive terminal of'a source of current, shown as a battery 32, wire 33, springs 31,

motor lf shmyn as entering by brush 17 and leavin'gby brush18 and Wire 35 to the negative terminal ot'bat-tery 32. The out traced circuit on gear heel 39fmesh with the teeth on annular gem-Wheel 41' Ans lmear Wheel 41 is -mounted on hat be called a frlc tion clutch con'si stingjot a spider 42 p and .W'hen' plunger 29' 'isre leased by. solenoid 24 vand drops being made. '95" tandi reason vof its Weight the row n tlie'i' fa'c gthereot'. "This direc tion of movement causes'tlie'balls 43'toroll' upon ,thearms of the spider 42 and cln'tc'hfioo 4:1 and, 42- together and so drive yane' 44,

which is attached, to spiderf4c3. This vane offers, such resistance'thatfthe plunger '29 l,

and the trainof gears must "nitw'e' slowly""* termined time must velapse between "the starting o f thejdownwa'rd motion of plunger 29 and itscontact iyitlnspring 31,- If the solenoid is again energized the gea1's" are"' rotated in thefopposfite direction andfgear 11o ivhen rotated in a direction; opposite to that indicatedby the arrow on the face thereof v The ithe ballsas iseyident and Well understood? do not clutch 4:1 andAQ together and so may be of such ligiht consti' uction and so easily accomplished.-

Vtlith such a construction as has'beien" hereinbeforeldesc'ribed if a' car 'inoving in th'exj direction of arrow passes'insulating joints" 3 and 1; the 'relay ZQ WilI be 'deene'rgizedhfl causin denergization 0t solenoid '24." The plunger 29 \vill begginfto fall butas it takes a predeterminedtime t'or toretip tiO totemh tact irit-h' springs-ll'ifthecar ism-lovin at" too rapid a rate of speed it willieach 'de rail 8.while it is open and the car will be derailed, but if the car runs at the proper rate of speed then by the time it reaches derail 8, the core tip 30 will have contacted with springs 31, the motor circuit will have been closed and the derail closed so that the car may proceed without being derailed.

In order to bring the car when derailed to a stop properly and gently but still quickly I prefer to provide a rail or barrier parallel to rail 2 of the trackway and fill the intervening space with some suitable material such as sand which will greatly impede the onward movement of the carwheels but at the same time will not otter such a great resistance as will bring the car to a too abrupt stop. This barrier may be of any desired length as found proper in practice for specific local conditions to suitably guide the derailed car. I

It will be thus seen that the devices and arrangements of Fig. 1 are such that they may be applied to a trackway in all conceivable situations and that even if a car is not equipped with air brakes it may be successfully stopped it it exceeds a predetermined speed, that is, passes over a fixed distance in too short a time. Not only may this arrangement be used with cars without air brakes but may also be used as an addi-' tional safety means in conjunction with the ordinary trips which apply the air brakes on cars which are equipped with air brakes.

In many situations it is not only desirable to prevent a car from exceeding a predetermined speed but it is also desirable to prevent a car from proceeding when a car is in too close proximity ahead. I accomplish this object by the means illustrated schematically by Fig. 2'. I have illustrated my invention schen'iatically because no particular apparatus is essential to my invention, any of the ordinary and well known apparatuses of suitable construction may be .used.

In Fig. 2 I have shown two-whole blocks or sections and a portion of a third, designated A, B, and C. The apparatuses used in the arrangement of Fig. 2 I have illustrated as identical with those of Fig. 1 so they may be given the same designating numerals, but the circuit arrangement is different for the motor circuit, because instead of having the circuit of motor 15 depend entirely on plunger 2;), I have it also depend upon the armature of the track relay in the section in advance. The circuit of motor 15 in section A will therefore be as follows: positive terminal of battery 32, wire 33, tip 30, wire 34, motor 15, wire 46, armature. ii of relay 22, and wire 48 to the negative terminal of battery 32. The result is that if a car passes the insulating joints and st moving in the direction of arrow X it will deenergize relay 22 and so deenergize solenoid 24 and cause core tip 30 to fall into contact with springs 31 only after a predetermined time. by reason of the device indicated generally by 'l in both tigures. so that if the car is travelling at too great a speed it will be derailed because when it reaches the derail it willfind it open. Even if the car is travelling at the proper speed before and at the time it reaches derail 8 it will still find the derail open if a car is in section B, because with a car in section B the relay 22 of that section is deenergized and its armature I7 in the lower position so that eve-n if 30 makes contact with 31 the circuit of the motor will still be open at arn'iature 47 so that the derail will still be open.

This construction and arrangement as shown schematically by Fig. 2 thus provides not only for e. \'cessive speed but also provides a means for preventing collisions.

Although I have particularly described the construction of one physical embodiment of my invention and explained the operation and principle thereof; nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the form selected is merely illustrative, but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a device for securing safety in car movtunents, in combination: a trackway; a car; a movable derail in the trackway; means for indicating the position of the derail; a time interval device; means operated by the car for starting the time interval device in operation and means controlled by the time interval device at the expiration of its time. interval for moving the derail to allow passage of the car over the derail.

2. In a device for securing safety in car movements, in combination: a trackway; means forming a track circuit section in said traclcway including a source of current and a translating device; a time interval device controlled by the translating device and a derail in the t-rackway controlled by the time interval device.

3. In a device for securing safety in car movements, in combination: a trackway; a car; ,a second car; means for derailing the first said car if it consumes less than a predetermined timeinmoving from a certain point in the trackway to another certain point in the trackway or if the second mentioned car is within a given section of the. trackway.

4t. In a device for securing safety in car movements, in combination: a trackway; a first car: a second car; means controlled by the second car for derailiug the first car if. the first car is operated by a certain point in the traclnvay while the second car is occupying a certain section of the trackway.

In a device for securing safety in car movements, in comliination: a trackway divided into track circuit. sections each inchidin; a tran latin deviee and a Hnlllle ol' enrrent: derail in the traekvva v in eaeh sertion': a time interval deviee ilShUl'illtktt \vith eaeh seeti n each time interval deviee heing' governed h v-the translatin; deviee of the seetion \vith \vhieh it is assoeiated: llltilllh governed h v the time interval deviee of one seetion and the translating deviee of another section for controlling the de'ail oi" the seetion with \vliieh the time interval le viee is assoeiated.

(3. In a deviee for seem-in safety in ear movements, in eomhination: a traeltvvay divided into traek eirenit seetions eaeli ineluding a source of enrrent and a translating deviee: means eontrolled by the translatin; devices to derail a air if it exeeedts a predetermined speed in passing from one eertain point to another in the traelnvav.

7. In a device for seenring: safety in ear movements. in eoinhination: a ,t 'aelnvafv di vided into traek eirenit seetions eaeh inelnding a Hnlree of enrrent and a t -anslating de viee: means eontrolled h the translating deviees to derail a ear it' it exeeeds a predetermined speed in pasin j from one eertain point to another in the traeltwav or it another ear oeenpies a given seetion ot the traekvvay.

H. In a deviee for seellrinp; safety in ear movements. in eomhination: a trm'luvay: a ear: means for deraiiintl' the ear it' it eonsnmes less than a prevIetermined time in moving from a eertain point in the traek- \\'a to another eertain point in the traek- \va and means for l'eeeiving and guiding and inipeding' the further movement of the ear.

PAUL J. SIMMIGN.

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