US1550159A - Actuating device for railway-crossing signals - Google Patents

Description

Ang. 18, 1925.

C. R. GRAVES AGTUATINGDEVICE FOR RAILWAY CROSSING SIGNALS C. R. GRAVES ACTUATING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY 4CROSSING SIGNALS Aug.1s, 1925.

Filed Feb. 5, 1925 2 Sheets-#Sheet 2 (5H. graves Patented Aug. 1 8, 1925.

UNlT

caen a. enavns, or CLARION, iowA.

ACTUATING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY-CROSSING SIG-NALS.

Application filed February 5, 1925. Serial No. 7,072.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I CARL R. GRAVES a citizen vof the United States, residing atI following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Thisinvention relates to crossing signals on railroads as, for instance, the crossing signal shown, described and claimed in my Patent #1,506,630, granted on the 26th day of August, 1924, and particularly to the means for actuating the signal mechanism, that is the train operated means whereby the approach of a trsain toward the crossing sets a signal to adanger or stop position and the passage of the trainA past the crossing re-v stores the signal to its normal or go position. In the signal mechanism which forms the subject-matter of my prior patent above referred to, there is illustrated a railroad crossingsignal in .the forni of a semaphore mounted upon a mast, which semaphore in its safety. position is dropped or extended downward and in itsA danger position isv raised. This semaphore is held in its raised position by means of a'latch and when a train approaches the crossing it operates an actuating or setting device and this, 'through a series of pull and push rods, causes the semaphore arm to be raised and when raised it is latclied.V A `second actuating device is disposed beyond the crossing` so that when the last end of the train has passed beyond the crossing, this second actuating` device will be operated and this in turn, through a series of push and pull rods, as fully eX- plained in` my prior patent, will release the latch and permit the signa-l to drop.

The present invention, as before sta-ted, has to do particularly with the means whereby the signal is set and with the means whereby the signal` is released, but it is to be understood that these actuating devices whereby the signal is actuated from its danger `position to its go position andvice versa might be applied to other signalling apparatus. single track road where tr ins are passing in both directions, a setting device will be disposed up the taclrand down the traclr at such a distance from the crossing that an oncoming train will actuate a signalling device a suliicient time ahead of the arrival of It is to be understood that on aV the train at the crossing yas to prevent anyone` from `getting caught at the crossing itself, and that the actuating device for restoring the semaphore or signal Vto its normal position will be disposedon each side of the crossing. Under these circumstances, it is obvious that this device being mounted upon a single track road trains may move along the track in oppositedirections, and as a consequence a train leaving the crossing must not operate the setting device designed to warn of the approach of a train, while an oncoming train niust not operate the iestorl ingV device which is disposed on the side of the crossing towardA which the train is moving.

One of the objects of my invention, there fore, is to provide an actuating device which is simple and effective. Y

A further object is to providean actuating device of this character which is so constructed that once it is depressed by the wheels of the forward truck ofan advancing train it will remain depressed untilthe last truck of the train has moved off of it.

A still further object is toprovide a device of this character which will be depressed by the passage of la train with relatively great ease and without any oscillation.

Another object is to provide an actuating device which is so constructed as to restore the signal to its normal position, which includes a vdepressible member mounted beside the rails and which acts to initially depress the main actuating device so that this willV not oscillate,'the actuating device being so constructed that the last truck of the train passing over it will restore it to a position where it will become active upon the passage of a. train in the opposite direction.

tntill another object istofprovide means whereby when arshort train has moved into a position over a crossing and past the restoring device and into a position between the restoring device and the actuating devicethat thus if this train does not continue its onward movenient'but backs across the crossing in reverse direction to that `which it originally took that the signal shall be set to danger position.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure l is a `diagrainmatic top plan View of a railroad track and siding having my invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of an actuating means for setting a signal disposed in its normal position;

Figure 8 is an enlarged section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a like view to Figure 3 on an enlarged scale, showing the action upon the setting device of cars moving in the direction of the arrow;

Figure 5 is a like view to Figure 4, but showing the action of the cars on the setting device moving in an opposite direction to that in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a side elevation of a portion of a railway track showing the restoring lever and allied parts in their normal position;

Figure 7 is a like view to Figure 6 but showing the action on the restoring lever by car wheels moving in the direction of the arrow;

Figure 8 is a like vie-w to Figure 7 but showing the action of the last truck of a train on the restoring device moving in the direction of the arrow;

Figure 9 is a like view to Figure 8 but showing the manner in which the restoring device springs upward into its operative position just in front of the last wheel of the last truck of the car;

Figure 10 is a. section on the line 10-1O of Figure 6.

In Figures 2 to 5, I have illustrate-d the form of actuating device which is used for setting the signal through the instrumentality of the mechanism illustrated in my prior patent above referred to. In these drawings, A designates a rail of the track, and pivotally mounted upon this rail are the two levers 10. These levers are pivoted at theirmiddles to the rail, there being a filler block 11 mounted up-on the rail, each of the levers having a hub or boss 12 through which a bolt 13 passes, this bolt holding each lever to the filler block and to the rail. Each lever 10 at its upper end is pivotally connected to a longitudinally extending, depressible bar or rail 14 which is beveled at its extremities, this bevel extending down to or slightly below the surface of the rail, Each lever 10 at its lower end is pivot-ally connected to a longitudinally extending link 15 having depending lugs 16 which are pivoted to the lower ends of the levers. rIhe link 15 at the end nearest the signal or crossing is pivoted to a link 17 which extends parallel to the rail, and pivotally connected to this link is a yoke 93 having two longitudinally extending rods or bolts 94 which are engaged at their ends with a plate 95. Connected to a rod 87 is a short rod 89 which has sliding engagement through the plate 95 and carries a shoulder 92 and a collar 92a slidingly engaging the rods 94. Surrounding the rod 89 is a comp-ression spring 96 which bears against collar 91 fixed on rod 89 and against collar 95.

It will be obvious now that when the yoke 93 is forced to the right, is in Figure 5, that the spring 96 will be compressed and that no action will be had on the rods 87 and 89 to actuate a signal. If, however, on the contrary, the links 15 and 17 are pulled toward the left, as in Figure 4, the plate 95 will strike against the shoulder 92a and the rods 89 and 87 will be pulled, thus setting the signal at the crossing to danger position. lVith this device, when a train moves toward the right, as` in Figure 4, that is toward the crossing, the first wheel of the train will strike the rail or bar 14 and depress it. rilhis will swing the lower ends of the levers 10 toward the left, as in Figure 4, thus exerting a pulling effect upon the links 15 and 17 and rods S7 and 89 to set the signal to danger. If a train moves toward the left, as in Figure 5, the wheels of the train will shift the bar or rod 14 initially toward the left instead of toward the right and the bar or rod 14 will be depressed and the lower ends of the levers 10 will be shifted to the right, thus forcing the links 15 and 17 and the yoke 98 to the right, which will simply cause a compression of the spring 96 without affecting in any way the rods 87 and 89.

The important feature of my invention resides in the fact that the depressible rail or bar 14 has a length equal to the distance between the wheels of any of the trucks used on railroad trains and equal to the distance between the adjacent wheels of adjacent trucks of two coupled cars. This bar or rail 14 has a long flat face which is suiiiciently long so that just before the last wheel of the head truck is leaving, thel first wheel of the firsttruck of the next car will come upon it, thus holding it pressed downward, as the wheels a. and Z) are shown as acting in Figure 4. rIhis relatively long face should be long enough to take care of passenger coaches: andby this means strain is retained on the rod S7 for a longer period of time than with the contruction illustrated in my prior patent, thus making the actuation more certain and reducing the oscillation of the rods and levers making up this signalling system.

As before remarked, the actuating device comprising the members 10, 14, 15 and 17 is used for the purpose of setting the signal and is an improvement over the parts numbered 972L and 971J in my prior patent. In Figures 6 to 9, I illustrate the actuating device which is used for restoring or causing the return of the signal to its safety or original position. In my prior pat-ent I showed a-restoring lever or member which was pivoted to the rail and projected upward above" the rail and which was struck by the wheels of the train as the train reached the restoring lever and was oscillated by engagement with each wheel. rllhis construction caused a great deal of vibration to be imparted to the parts and, therefore, was objectionable. In the construction illustrated in Figure 6, I have provided a restoring lever 18 which is pivotally mounted upon a bolt 19 attached to the rail and bearing against a filler bloclr 20, as shown in Figure 7. The lever 18 is relatively wide at its upper end and is provided with two angular faces 21 and 22 which normally have an angular relation to the face of the rail such that when the lever 18 is Vturned over into the position sho-wn in Figure 7 the fiat face 22 will be level with the face of the rail A and when ythe, leve-r is turned in the opposite direction the flat face 21 will be level with the face of the rail. The lower end of this lever 18 is `pivotally connected by a linlr 23 ftoa longitudinally extending rod 24. fthis rod 24 extends along the track a certain distance, as will be hereinafter stated, and at its end portion remote from the crossing is provided with downwardly extending lugs 25.

Fivoted to a filler blocl; 26 (see Figure 10) are the angular levers 27, the depending arms of which are pivoted to the lugs 25, as at 28. The shorter arms of the lever extend laterally and slightly upwardly under normal circumstances and are pivotally connected to a longitudinally extending actuating rail or har 29 having depending lugs which are pivoied to the short arms ofthe levers 27. One end of this actuating bar or rail 29 is upwardly beveled, as at 80, and the other end is rounded olf, as at 81. rlhis actuating rail normally extends up suiiiciently above the rail [i that the beginning of Ithe inclined `portion 30 will be just level with or slightly below the rail A so that the wheels of a. train coming from 'the lett in Figure 6 will strike this incline 80 and depress the rail or bar 29 to the position shown in Figure 7. This will cause the bell crank levers 27 to turn upon their pivots and shift the rod 211 longitudinally toward the right in Figure 7, thus turning the actuating or restoring lever over to the position shown in Figure 7 where the face 22 is level with the rail or slightly below the same so that the wheels of the train will not affect this lever. The movement of this rod 24 toward the rightshifts the yoke 65 toward the right to which the rod 24: is pivot-ed. This yoke 65 is provided with @two longitudinally extending rods 6l and a plate 61.

Mounted in lugs 58 on a supporting frame 59 is the rod 57 which extends to the signal mechanism, as is shown in my prior patent, and this rod 57 has upon it two collars 60 and 62. VFhe bolts or rods 64 which are attached to the yoke 65 pass through guide openings in one lug 58 and through guide openings in the collar 62 and are connected to the plate 61 which slides upon the rod 57. Between the plate 61 and the collar 60 there is disposed the coiled compression spring 63.

It will be seen that this construction is precisely the same as that previously described in connection with the actuating device 1da-nd operates in the same manner. In other words, when the lever 18 is shifted to the left, as in Figure 7, it will force the rod 28 toward the riglrtl, forcing the yoke 65 toward the right and compressing the spring 68, as in Figure 7, witlioutafiecting in any way the rod 57. 1f, however, the lever 18 is shifted in the reverse direction it will pull upon the yolie 65 and the plate 61 and this, bearing against the colla-r 62, will cause this power to be transmitted to the rod 57 and this will, through the mechanism described in my prior patent, restore the signal from danger to safety position.

It will be noted from Figure 7 that the actuating rail 29 has a length equal to the distance between the adjacent wheels of any two trucks on a car and, of course, has a length greater than the distance between adjacent wheels of adjacent trucks of adjacent cars. The distance between the rounded extremity 31 of the depressible rail 29 and the lever 18 is equal to the distance between the wheels of a trucl; so that thus it will be seen that before one wheel leaves the depressible rail 29 the next adjacent wheel of the same truck must be over the restoring lever (see Figure 8). 1f a train moves from the left toward the right in Figure 7, the .first wheel of the tain will depress the rail 29 and thus will shitt the rod 24 to the left and shift the lever 18 into the position shown in Figure 7 with its face 22 level with the rail. There will always be at least one wheel of a train bearing upon the member 29 and as a consequence this restoring lever 18 will be held in its lowered position, that is the position shown in Figure 8, during the passage of the entire tra-in over the rail 29. lfVhe-n the last truck is about to pass ofi' the rail 29, the first wheel of this last truck will strike the restoring lever as the last wheel is about to leave the rail 29. llhen fthe last wheel of the last truck has left the rail 29, the restoring lever will swing up to the position shown in Figure 9, but this last wheel will then shift the restoring lever over toward the right, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 9, thus exert-ing a pull upon the rod 28, which will in turn exert a pull upon the rod 57 and thus will restore the signal to its normal or safety position for the l reason that the train has passed the crossing.

n train moving in the opposite direction, however, that in from the right toward the left in Figure 6, will simply depress the restoring lever and shift the rod 23 and theA yoke. G5 toward the right and compress the spring 63 without in any way aliiecting the signal. rl`hus this actuating or restoring device is operated by the passage ot av train in one direction but is not operated on the passage ot the train in the opposite direction. lt will be seen turther that the lirst wheel ot a` train ot cars passing trom the right to the lett will depress the restoring lever to the position 'shown in Figure T, the restoring lever will then spring up and will again be depressed by the second wheel el 'the truck but at this time the first wheel ot the truck has passe" onto the depressible rail 29 and therca'lter this restoring lever will be held down, as shown in Figures i and 8, and prevented troni any oscillation until the entire train has passed, thus doing away with the more or less constant oscillations which were necessitated by my old construction.

lt will be understood that the length ot the rail or bar Q9 must be equal to the distance` ot the inside wheels et the longest car used on railroafV s, 'such as enger coaches, and the distance from the end 31 ol the rail or bar 29 to the restoring lever 1S must be equal to the distance o the inside wheels ot the shortest coupled freight car. Thus this will tak-e care of either long or short cars because by the time the last wheel of a passenger train is leaving the bar 29, the head truck of the last car is completely over the restoring lever 18, thus giving plenty ot' time for the restoring lever 18 to shi'ift to service position to be acted upon by the last truck of the train which shifts the signal to clear position. rthis will act the same with a treight train, as when the last wheel o the train is leaving the rail bar QS), the head truck or" the last has passed over the restoring lever and allows the restoring lever to shilt to service position, vthat is to its upstanding position, so that the last truck et the train will act upon the restoring lever and shift the signal to a clear position.

The reason that the rail bar 29 must be a length equal to the distance between the inside wheels of the longest coupled car such as a` passenger coach, as shown in igure 6 between the lines z3-.9; is because this bar 2S) must be always occupied by one or more wheels. ln this way it will be seen that just beforethe last wheel ot the head truck is leaving the rail bar 29, the first wheel of the next truck is coming upon the rail bar 29 and thus the restoring lever 18 is retained out ot lservice position. yl`he moment vthe last wheel of the train leave the rail bar 29, the. spring G23 shi 1u restoring lever 18 to its service position, allowing the last truck to act upon the restoring lever and shift the signa-l to a clear position.

lt will be necessary to provide means whereby in czse a short train, such as an engine and a tew cars, should pull over the crossing and restore the signal to clear position and then should stop with the engine and cars between the setting member 111 and the restoring lever 18, that when it backs up toward the crossing again the signal shall be again set to its danger position. To this end, as shown in Figure 6, the rod 2l carries upon it an angular lug 3a through which the rod S7 passes, this rod being connected, as shown in Figure 1 and as shown in my prior patent, to the 'setting lever. Mounted upon this rod is a collar 85, and it will be seen that when the engine backs up after the train has passed over the restoring lever the rear wheel will strike the restoring lever 18, shitting it to the lett in Figure (5, which in turn shitts the connecting rods 23 and 2li to the right, shitting with it the yoke to which the connecting rod 24 is connected. rl`his movement shifts the bracket against the shoulder or collar 35, which shitts the shoulder 35, taking with it the rod Si', and this again shifts the signal to danger-showing position just as it the train had passed beyond the 'setting device and then had backed back toward the crossing, again running ov-er the setting device.

is illustrated in Figure 6, each rod S7 is provided in its length with a slip joint. This is inade by forming the rod 87 in two sections and providing one or these 'sections with a yoke 32. The extremity ot the other section ot the` rod 87 is formed with a collar or shoulder 33 on the inside ot' this yoke and normally learing against the end wall thereof. lt will be obvious now that when the rod Si' is moved to the right in Figures 7 and 8 through the action orn the wheels depressing the rail bar 29 or restoring lever 18, angle bracket 341- will shiftshoulder or collar 35 to the right and cause shoulder 825 te move away trom the yoke 32. This section will slide through yoke 32 and not affect the other section, but when thel rod 87 is pulled to the right by the distant releasing member 141, as shown in Figure 1, the yoke will engage with the shoulder l and this will cause both sections ot the S7 to be pulled and set the signal to a d vnger position.

The reason for the provision ot this yoke is that when the rod 87 is shifted to the in Figures 7 and 8 by the lug 3st, as explained, the signal will be set to ea. ger but this will not allect the setting device 14- tor the rod ST, which setting device is illustrated in Figurev la lt it was notl 'for this slip joint formed by the yoke 32 and the shoulder 33, a movement otl the rod 87 to the right under t-he action of the lug 3l would shirt the setting device 14 or actuating member. It will be understood that llO all of these rods 87 which are intended to shift the signalV from a safety to a danger position will be provided with these slip joints 32.

It will be understood, of course, that there will be a set of the restoring levers 18 and their related rail bars 29 on each side of the highway crossing, as shown in Figure l, and that there will be a set on each side of the crossing for each track, that is, to operate the signal, it being further observed that while l have illustrated only one track with a siding, yet some devices might be used to operate on any number of tracks by operating the same signal so that when a train is moving toward the crossing on any one of the tracks it will ope-rate the signal. The restoring levers will be disposed approximately from sixty to a hundred feet on each side of the highway crossing, depending upon the distance which is required in order to install the assembled rail bar 29 and the rods extending to the restoring lever 18. The rail bars 29 (see Figures 6 and 9) should be placed as close to the highway crossing as possible. The setting members lll, as shown in Figure 1 and in detail in Figures 2 to 5, should be disposed one on each side of the highway crossing at a relatively great distance as, for insta-nce, fifteen hundred feet more or less from the crossing so that ample time will be given for the signal to be set to a danger showing position before the arrival of a train at the cross-ing so that after the signal has been actuated sufficient time will be given to stem the approaching trafiic and permit the crossing to become clear to trafiic.

Throughout the specication I have used the same reference numerals for the main connecting rods leading from the actuating devices to the signal S as are used 4in my patent above referred to so that the application of my device to the particular form shown therein maybe readily understood, but while I have particularly designed this actuating mechanism both as regards the setting mechanism and the restoring mechanism for use with the signalling system disclosed in my patent, l do not wish to be limited thereto as the setting mechanism and the restoring mechanism might be used for other forms of signals or for releasing railroad gates or the like.

l claim l. A car wheel actuating device for railroad signals including a longitudinally eX- tending rail bar disposed parallel to and approximately against a railroad rail, levers upon which said bar is pivoted, the levers being pivoted intermediate their ends and swinging in a vert-ical plane to thereby permit the movement of the rail bar longitudinally of the rail in either direction and the depression of the rail bar, and links pivotally connected to the levers whereby the levers may be connected to J@he devices to be actuated.

Q. A signal actua-ting device of the character described comprising a rail bar adapted to be disposed parallel to a railroad rail and be depressed by the wheels thereof, the ends of said bar being downwardly inclined, levers pivotally connected to said rail bar at their upper ends and pivotally mounted intermediate their ends, and links pivotally connected to the lower ends of the levers and extending parallel to the rail whereby the levers may be connected to mechanism to be operated.

3. ln a signal actuating mechanism, a wheel operated actuating device comprising a rail bar extending parallel to a rail and having a length greater than the distance between the adjacent wheels of a truck or the adjacent wheels of two adjacent trucks of two adjacent cars, the actuating device being mounted :for vertical movement whereby it may be depressed below the face of the rail and for simultaneous longitudinal movement in either direction, and operating links operatively engaged with said rail bar and transmitting motion therefrom.

4l. in a vsignal actuating mechanism, a rail bar adapted to be disposed beside a .railroad rail and adapted to be depressed by the wheels of a car, levers pivotally supported at their middles, the levers extending below their point of pivotal support, the levers being pivoted at their upper ends to the rail bar and the extremities of the rail bar being downwardly and outwardly beveled, a link pivotally connected vto the lower ends of the levers, a sectional connecting rod, one of said sections being operatively connected to said link and having sliding engagement with the other section in one direction, and a compression spring against which said first named section bears and which it compresses upon a relative sliding movement of the two sections.

5. An actuating device for signals including a lever pivotally mounted beside a railroad rail and normally projecting upward into position to be struck by the wheel thereof and depressible, a longitudinally shiftable rail bar supported beside the rail in advance of said lever, angular levers pivoted to the rail bar and extending downward therefrom `and `pivotally supported intermediate their ends, a connecting rod pivotally connected to the lower ends of said levers and pivotally connected to the first named lever, the rail bar having a length greater than the distance between adjacent wheels of a railroad car and that end of the rail bar adjacent the first named lever being .spaced therefrom a distance less than the nearest distance between any two wheels of a railroad car.

llO

l 6. ln a railway signalling system, an actuating lever pivoted upon a. railway rail and normally projecting above the same, connecting rods operatively pivoted to the lower end of said lever and shiftable therewith in one or the other direction, the lever being mounted for movement in either direction, and wheel actuated means disposed in advance of said lever adapted to shift the lever to an inoperative position and hold the lever in its inoperative position until the next to the last wheel of the last car of the train has passed the lever and then permitting the lever to spring upward in order to bei actuated by the last wheel of the train.

7. ln a railway signalling system, an actuating lever pivoted upon a railway rail and normally projecting above the same, connecting rods operatively pivoted to the lower end of said lever and shiftable there- `with in one or the other direction, the lever being mounted for movement in either direction, wheel actuated means disposed in advance of said lever adapted to shift the lever to an Ainoperative position and hold the lever in its inoperative position until next to the last wheel of the last car of the train has passed the lever and then permitting the lever to spring upward in order to be actuated by the last wheel of the train, a connecting rod whereby the power of said lever is transmitted to the signal, and means causing the lever to move in one direction without affecting said connecting rod but causing ai movement of the lever in the other direction to affect the connecting rod.

8. A` signal actuating mechanism of the character described comprising a lever pivotally supported at its middle beside a rail- .way nail, a rail bar disposed beside the rail- Way rail forward of the lever and adapted to be engaged by the wheels of a train and depressed thereby, Vangular levers pivotally supportedeach intermediate its ends and each connected at its upper end to said rail bar, a connecting rod pivotally connected to the lower ends of said angular levers and extending to a point beyond the iirst named lever, a link connecting said connecting rod and the iirst named lever and the connecting rod connected to the iirstnamed rod and extending onward therefrom and adapted to be connected to the signal mechanisn'i, the rail bar having a lengt-h greater than the distance between any two adjacent wheels of any standard car and being spaced from the lirst named lever a distance less than the distance between two adjacent wheels of the same truck.

9. In a railway signa-lling system, the combination with a track, of a signal setting device disposed adjacent the track and operated by the wheels of a train passing in one direction, a signal restoring device mounted beside the rails of the track and shiftable by t-he wheels of a train in opposite directions, a rod transmitting the motion of the irst named actuating device to a signa-l, said rod having thereon a shoulder adjacent the restoring device, a connecting rod actuated by the restoring device and extending parallel to the transmitting rod and having thereon a lug engaging against said shoulder on one side thereof whereby when said restoring device is shifted in one direction it will operate said transmitting rod leading from the setting device and when it is operated in the opposite direct-ion will not affect said transmitting rod and whereby said transmitting rod may be shifted in a direction to set the signal without affect-ing the rod connected to the restoring device, said transmitting rod being formed in two sections having a slip joint between them permitting the two sections to be shifted toward each other a limited amount but causing one rod to be pulled when the other is pulled.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aiiix my signature.

CARL R. GRAVES.

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