US223548A - Signal-lantern - Google Patents

Description

A u I A 1 1 4 1 A u G. SKINNER. Signal-Lantern.

Patented Jan.13, 1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE SKINNER, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO. J

SIGNAL-LANTERN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,548, dated January 13, 1880.

, Application filed November 20, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE SKINNER, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Railway-Signal Lanterns, which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of a lantern with a portion of case broken out to show interior construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical section. Fig. 3 is a detached view of one of the flags.

The object of this invention is to enable the operator to see that the flag is down without the necessity of going out and looking at the broad side of the lantern containing the windows.

The invention consists in providing the narrow side of the lantern, facingtoward the building inwhich the operator is located, with win (lows, and also providing the flags with side wings, which, when the flags are down, bring said wings opposite'to said windows, whereby the operator is enabled to see whether the flags are lowered or raised by looking through the narrow side windows of the lantern.

In the drawings, A represents the case of the lantern, containing the lamp and the working parts. The case is provided with two doors, 8 B, on each of its broad sides, the lower doors, B, having transparent-glass panels, and in one narrow side of. the case two narrow glass windows, 0 G, are provided be low.

On the inside surface of the narrow sides of the case are made grooves or waysd d, near to the doors B B, in which the frames of flags D D slide, being operated by cords E E, attached to their upper edge and passing over pulleys F and G in the top part of the frame, and extending to and into a building or office, where the operator can operate and control them. Said flags consist of light frames covered with a red-colored pa-rtially-transparent material, which, when brought down before the lamp, causes a colored light to appear through the aforesaid glass door-panels. To one side of said flag-frames are attached by suitable means narrow wings H H, of similar material as the flags, which are carried up and down with the flags whenever they are moved, and, when down, cover the inside of the narrow windows 0 0.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the flags are lowered the wings on their sides display their surfaces through the narrow side windows, 0 G, which are facing to ward the building or office of the operator, and thus indicate that they (the flags) are down, as desired. Thebroad sides of thelantern,facing up and down the railroad-track, are out of view to the operator, who would be obliged, without the use of the said side windows, O (J, and the side wings, H H, to go outside to assure himself that the flags had moved as he desired, which, in some instances, would be very inconvenient, as the oflice might be located some distance from the lantern.

This device is not confined to night-service alone, but is equally adapted to day-service, as the partitionwvhich divides the lantern centrally shows a white surface by either lamplight or daylight.

Having described my invention, I claim- In railway-signal lanterns having the flags D D arranged to be operated by means of the cords E E, passing over the pulleys F G, the combination, with said flags, of the wings H through the narrow side windows, O O, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEO. SKINNER.

Witnesses:

E. M. WHITLOCK, J. B. MGKIM.

H, for indicating the position of the flags.

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