US1573355A - Railway-switch mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 16 1925.

Y J. J. OROURKE RAILWAY SWITCH MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 5 1925 'Feb. 16 .1926.

J. J. O'ROURKE mum: svmca uzcmmrsn Filed 001;. 5,1925

Patented Feb. 16, 1926-.-

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RAILW'ALY-SWITCHFMKECHANISM.'

Application filed october 5; -12 2 5. -,Seria1-No. 60,563.

1 all 10 720771 it may concern it knownthat 1, JOHN J. ORoUn-KE, a

citizen of; the United States. residing at Harrisburg, iIl lZ'hGCOUDt-y of Dauphin and Y State of Pennsylvania, have im'ented' new and; useful. Improvements in. Railway- Swit-ch Mechanisms, otwhich the following is a'specification. p

Thisinvention relates to railway switch mechanisms for railavavsystems 0t all kinds,

and has particular reference to switch mechanisms of that typeadapted to betoperated by means under the control of the'niotor- 1nan,;engineer or driver of avehicle forv controlling, travel between intersecting tracks or lines: I

One object of the intention, is to' provide a mechanically-actuated switch; mechanism of simple, construction which maytbe easily andwconveni'ently operated from a vehicle without the; necessity of the; motor-man, engineer or clri-ver leaving; his position on the vehicle,-and w iereby also the use oiswitchmen; at the switch points a may be obviated.

ianether ,object of the invention isto provide, a switch: mechanism which dispenses witilittheiuse of springs-or other parts liable to get out of order and the throw otwhich lllibOtll directions may be effected iromthe travelingvehicles; a t l Still {another object; of the invention is to provide a switch imechanisin which comprises a comparatively small number of parts of durablev character and so constructed and arranged as not toiintertere with ordinary street or road trafiic on to be daroaged thereby or rendered inoperative by climatic conditions. 7

The invention consists oi the ieaturesot construction, combination and.- arrangement of, parts, l1.reii1atter fully; descrihed alld claimed-,5 referencebeing, had-t0 the accompa:n ying; tlrawing s, in1which:-

Fgure l is atop plan View of the switch tracks and: adi'nsted for directing travel along one ofthe tracks. i

Figure Qis :a vertical longitudinal section on line 22 oi- Figure 1, also. showing in section a portion of avehicleand'theswitch throwing devices atone si'de of the vehicle,

saiddevices-being-arranged in normal position; 7 V Figure 8: is: a View similar to, Figurel showing the switch mechanism adjusted; for

directing travel along the other track.

of a street railway oruother system.

mechanism arranged at two intersecting" Figure i is a fragmentary view on alien-- larged scale snn larto Figure 2, showing the switch throwing device in operation,

Figure is a vertical transverse section taken substantially on the plane indicated by line 5 5 01 ,lfiigure 2-.

Figure 6 is van enlarged detailsection taken online 6-'6 o'tl igure 1.

Figure 7 ,isa detailview showings. modititration,

Referring. now more particularly to the drawings l, 2 and 2, and 3, 3 and at respectively, designate the rails of two intersectingtracks, whiclrmay be the tracks of a trunk line, a, street railway line, ,an inter urban line, the niainrailway or other similar railwa gon which travel vehicles driven by any suitahle power, such as steam, compressed air, electricity, etc. In practice the trachsinay be twoniain divisions, or amain track and, abranchtrack, turnout or siding, F or convenience ofdescription, the track formed by the rails- 1,@2 and2fmay bete -riled a main line track, and the trackfornicd by the rails V 3,; 3*: andv st abranch line track 'l heicontinuity of the rail 2'is broken at the-pointot intersection, of the rails 3 and at therewith, the short track, section 2 being placed between the endsof the rail, members 2 joined to the rail members 3 and i, one end i 7 ot' the rail 2% and the juxtaposed, end of the rail 3* being; se aerated. from the rails 2 and at their point 0t unction for tree passage oi the flanges of the car wheels thereover, as

will be. readily understood. The end of the rail 3 whichis adjacent to the rail 1 is spaced: therefrom and provided with a bevel'ed portion; e, parallel therewith, Between thegother end, of the raih 2 and the end of the rail member 2 connected with the ail member et'isarranged a laterally movable switch tongue 5, said tongue being pivoted atone end to'the rail 2, as indicated at 6, and having its free end provided with a beveled surface 7, adapted in one position of the switch; tongueo to engage the adjacent sides of therails Qand 4: attheir point of intersection. The bevel :of' the surface 7, however, is such that the tip of this beveled end 013 the tongue 5 when in such position, as shownin Figure 3; is spaced slightly out of contact with; the joined portions oi the rails 2 and 4. A guidetube orsleeve 8 is arranged transversely; ofthe-rails 1 and 2 at the switch point and: suitably fixed in the llt road bed, and s'lidably mounted in this guide 8 is a rod 9, pivoted at one end to the beveled end of the rail 5, as indicated at 10, and having at its opposite end, lying adjacent to the rail 1, an obliquely disposed or beveled contact head 11, for a purpose hereinafter described.

Arranged for cooperation with the laterally movable switch tongue 5 and coacting parts of the rails and the head 11 are longitudina-lly movable spear-shaped or arrow-' head-shaped switch tongues 12 and 13, each having a straight outer face for sliding contact with the adjacent rail 1 or 2 and each having a beveled or inclined inner face 14-. These tongues 12 and 13 are carried respec tively by rods 15 and 16, on the forward ends of which they are arranged, which rods extend rearwardly on the near side of the switch or junction point for some distance parallel with the rails 1 and 2 and terminate at their rear ends in contact heads 17. Each rod is mounted in a suitable number of supporting guides 18, each guide consisting of a pair of bracket members 19 and 20 bolted or otherwise suitably fastened to the rail, said track members being formed with semicircular half bearings 21 cooperating to form a bearing for the rod. This construction adapts the bearing members when worn to be removed for ready and convenient replacement. Such construction also permits the lower bearing member of any bearing, which sustains the greatest wear, to be removed independently of the upper bearing member when worn, so that a new lower bearing member may be applied without the necessity of removing and discarding an upper bearing member which may still be in good serviceable condition.

The switch rods 15 and 16 are coupled for sliding motion in unison by a transversely disposed link or lever 22. This link or lever is slidably and pivotally connected at its ends to the rods, so that it may swing past center to opposite angular positions, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, from a straight transverse line, through which movements the rods 15 and 16 may be slid or shifted longitudinally alternately in opposite directions or back and forth, so as to respectively project and retract the switch tongues 12 and 13, or vice versa. At its intermediate point the link or lever 22 is fixed to the top plate of a turntable 23, the bottom plate of which is suitably fastened to the road bed, anti-friction bearings 24 of ball or other suitable type being provided between the turntable plates to reduce friction and wear and permit the upper turntable plate to have requisite freedom of turning movement. When the lever 22 is disposed in the position shown in Figure 1, the switch tongue 12 will be retracted and the switch tongue 13 projected. By this means the tongue 12 is withdrawn from engagement with the head 11 to allow the tongue 5 to have inward movement and from engagement with the end 1 of the rail 3, while the tongue 13 is moved forward between the adjacent rails and the beveled surface 7 of the tongue 5 so that it acts as a spreader wedge to force the tongue 5 inwardly, thus shifting the free end of said 7 tongue 5 away from the joined ends of the rails 2 and 41:. The switch mechanism will thereby be arranged to connect the rails 1, 2 and 2 for straight line'travel along the main track, as will be readily understood.

lVhen the link or lever 22 is adjusted to the position shown in Figure 3, the switch tongue 12 is projected and the switch tongue 13 retracted. When so projected the switch tongue 12 will be moved so that its tip lies between the beveled end 1 of rail 3 and the rail 1 and so that its inclined side 1-1 engages the head 11., whereby in its forward movement the tongue 13 acting as a spreader wedge will shift the switch tongue 5-outwardly so that its beveled end 7 is moved into contact with the rail members 2 and l at their point of junction. The recession or retraction of the switch tongue 13 permits this to be done, although the rearward movement of the tongue 13 is such that whenit is retracted its tip lies in the space between the tip of the surface 7 and the junction point of the rails 2 and 4, so that saidtongue 13 will be in position for a wedging action on the surface 7 to swing the tongue 5 inward on an ensuing forward movement of rod 16. The movement of the parts to the position shown in Figure 3 breaks the connection between the main line rails 1, 2 and 2 and makes the connection between the branch line rails 3, 3 and at and the main line rails for travel of the vehicles in one direction. from the main line onto the branch line. It will thus be seen that reverse movements of the switch members, including the lever 22 and rails 15 and 16 causes the switch mechanism to be positively thrown for directing the cars or other vehicles for straight line travel on the main tracker for directing such cars or vehicles for travel from the main track onto the branch track. A easing 25 is set in the road bed on the inner side of each rail 1 and 2 beneath the rear ends of the-rods 15 and 16, each casing being closed by a top plate or cover 26 provided with a longitudinal slot 27 of restricted width. Arranged in each casing 25 is a counterweighted eccentrically pivoted lever 28 having a throw arm 29 provided witha cam surface 29, said arm projecting outwardly through the slot 27 and upwardly on the inner side of the rail 1 or 2. Through its counterweighted action each throw lever normally maintains its arm 29 in an upright position so that its cam face engages with the contact head 17 of the coacting rod 15 ,or 16, when said rod is in its rearward or retracted position. The levers 28 are adapted to be independently operated as the case may require to shifit the rod or the rod'lti forward, in which; forward motionof either rod end the actioir'of its thrust lever the other rod is n'ioved rearwardly or retracted through the lover or link connection 22.

' Arranged at each side oi the tront plattorirof the car or vehicle-'30,- or at other suitable points thereon, are dugiicate'sets of switch throwing devices for actuating the respective rods 15 and 16. is shown, each setot switchthrowing devices comprises a hel i-cra'nlt lever 31 pivoted intermediately on a bracketSZ and having a' downturned end 33 and an upturned end 3%; The end of the lever 3 is adapted,when-= depressed, to arm 29 ot the associated=throw lever ficl and shift the-same'on a rod-actuating motion. The upturned end 34 of lever 31 is slidably and pivot-ally coupled to one end of a motion transmitting lever 35 intern'iediately pivoted on a bracket 36 and the opposite end of which is slidably and pivotally connected with the stem of a springretracted operating member 37, which may hea depressible pedal or foot piece. The normal position of the foregoing parts is shown in Figure 2, and the thrown position or" such parts is illustrated in Figure 4-. itssuming that the motorman of a car, for example, which is approaching the junction point, desires to route his car from main line travel for which the switch mechanism is set, as shown in Figure 1, for travel there from onto the branch line, it will be understood that the motorma-n depresses the foot piece 37 to project end 33 of lever 31 downward to cause it to strike arm 29 of lever 28, which action will cause rod 15 to be forced forward and rod 16 retracted, with the result of shifting the switch mechanism from the position shown in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 3. On the other hand, it the motorman, on his car approaching the junction,'finds the switch mechanism in the position shown in Figure 3 and his car is routed to travel straight along the main line, he (the motorman) by operating the other set of switch throwing devices may operate lever 28 associated with rod 16 to cause the switch mechanism to be shifted to the position shown in Figure 1. The object of employing the cam surface 29' is to secure an easy and progressivemovement to rod 15 without jolts or jars or any tendency to down thrust.

In Figure 7 I have shown a modified form of eccentrically pivoted cam throw lever 28', said lever having a throw arm 29 and a cam surface 29". In this construction the cam surface is formed upon the body of the lever, which 1; ay be eccentrically mounted, if desired, upon the side of the rail. This conbe seen that the invention provides aswitch mechanism which. when installed, will not interfere with ordinary vehicular trailic at a junctionpoint, which isot a durable and easily operated type and not liable to be dcleteriously altectci by climatic changes. and which is equal ly well adapted for all kinds of railways and to be controlled by the motormen, engineers or drivers of cars or locomotives to control the routing of a car'or train.

While the construction disclosed is preferred, it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the scope of the appended claims without dcparting from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, 1 claim 1. In a railway switch, the combination with main and branch line rails including a laterally movable switch tongue, oi a shift ing member connected with said laterally movable tongue, longitudinally movable switch tongues engageablc respectively with the laterally movable tongue and shifting member for shifting the said laterally niovable tongue in opposite directions, a pair of sliding rods connected with said longitudinally movable switch tongues, a connection between the rods for retracting either rod when the other rod is projected and means for positively projecting either rod.

52. In a railway switch, the combination with main and branch line rails inchiding a pivotet switch tongue, of a shitting member connected with said tongue, spear-shaped sliding switch tongues having beveled surfaces engageable with the pivoted tongue and shifting member for wedging action for shifting the pivoted tongue in opposite directions, a pair of sliding rods connected with said sliding switch tongues, a connection between the rods for retracting either rod when the other rod is projected, and means for positively projecting either rod.

3. In a railway switch, the combination with main and branch line rails including a pivoted switch tongue, of a shifting member connected with said pivoted tongue, sliding switch tongues engageablc respectively with the pivoted tongue and shrftmg member for shlt'tmg the pivoted tongue in opposite directions, a pair of sliding rods connected with said sliding switch tongues, a lever coupling said rods for reverse movements in unison, and means for positively projecting either rod. 7 r

at. In a railway switch, the combination with main and branch line rails including a pivoted switch tongue, of a shifting member connected with said pivoted tongue, spearshaped sliding switch tongues having beveled surfaces engageable respectively with the pivoted tongue and shifting member for shifting the pivoted tongue in opposite directions, a pair of sliding rods connected with said sliding switch tongues, a lever connecting said rods for movement in reverse directions in unison, and means for positively projecting either rod.

In a railway switch, the combination with main and branch linev rails including a pivoted switch tongue, of a shifting member connected with said pivoted tongue, sliding switch tongues engageable respectively with the pivoted tongue and shifting member for shifting'the pivoted tongue in opposite directions, a pair of sliding rods connected with said sliding switch tongues, connecting means between the rods for shifting one rod rearwardly when the other is positively shifted forwardly and vice versa, throw members engageable with the rods, and

means for operating either throw membelw 6. In a railway switch, switch mechanism including a horizontal reciprocatory switch actuating rod, a counterweighted eccentrically pivoted lever having a convex cam surface for actuating said rod, and atraveling member having meansto engage and actuate said lever against its counterweight resistance. 1

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

JOHN J. OROURKE.

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