US310519A - Railway signal - Google Patents

Description

2 N O s N H 0 Tu R C.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

N. PULns Plmswunmgmpner. wnslmwn (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

o. R. JOHNSON.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

110.310,519. A Y Patented Jan. 6, 18851.

N 'l [M j d i Q Q W@ s@ uw mmm/- UMZBSR'MWW CHARLES R. JOHNSON, OF NEI/V YORK, N. Y.,

Farrar @rares ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SVITOII AND SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAlLwAYnlGNAt..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,519, dated January 6, 1885,

Application iilcd June 25, 1884.

To all whom t may con/cern:

Be it known that I, GnAnLns R. J oi-rNsoN, a subject of ,the Queen of Great Britain, residing in New York, in the county and State of New "York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Attachments for Railway Fly-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a particular method of operating railway-switches for the purpose of sending an engine or a portion of a moving train upon a side track, while the remaining portion of the train, having iirst been detached therefrom, continues upon the main track, or vice versa.

The object of the invention is to provide, in connection with the means employed for controlling1 a iiyswitch from an interlocking switch tower or cabin, and for insuring that the switch shall be set at the proper times for the siding and for the main track, an organization of apparatus for giving appropriate signals to the operators at the switch-tower,

so that they may know whether or not a ve-.

hiele is crossing the switch.

The invention consists in organizing a signaling apparatus especially adapted to be employed in connection with aswitch-eontrolling organization Vin substantially the following manner: A suitable lever and connectingrods, bell-cranks, and usual appliances are employed for moving the switch from the switch tower or cabin in any well-known manner. In addition to this, a facing-point lock and a detector-bar are employed for the purpose of locking the switch in one position or ,the other when it has been set, and for pre` danger77 so long as the switch is not securely locked in connection with either the main track or the siding; but when it is so locked been locked in one position or the other.

(No model for either track the corresponding signal-blade will assume a position indicating safety The two signal-blades are preferably held in the danger7 position by means of a horizontal movable plate passing beneath the lower ends of two controlling-rods attached to the signals. This plate is provided with two holes, into which thc ends of the respective rods are permitted to descend, though not both at the same time, thereby throwing the one blade or the other into position to indicate safety, accordingly as the switch has The hereinbefore-mentioned plate is coupled to the system of levers employed for operating the switch from the signal-tower. The rods are normally held up by a special supporting-lever, so that although the plate may be moved into position to allow one or the other of the signal-rods to fall, nevertheless it will stand in its raised position until the lockinglevers have been actuated and the special lever moved, thereby allowing the rod to drop through the corresponding hole in the plate. It will be understood, therefore, that a signal cannot be moved into position to indicate y safety 7 except when the switch is set for either the main track or the siding, by reason of the controlling-plate, and also that by reason of the supporting-lever they are not in practice so moved except when the switch is also locked in the position which it has assumed.

In connection with apparatus ot' this character, I employ a suitable electric bell or other au dible signal for indicating at the si guai-tower when a locomotive, car, or train approaches within a given distancesay five 'feet-of the detector-bar, and this bell continues to ring until the moving vehicle has passed the switch. By means of this audible signal the operator in the tower is informed when he may turn the switch from the main track to the siding, or vice versa.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure l is a diagram showing the general plan of the main and side tracks and the levers and attachments employed in connection therewith for operating the switch, the switch-lock, the detector-bar, and the signals. Figs. 2 and 3 are respect- IOO ively a front and a side elevation of the signals, showing the organization of the apparatus connected therewith.

Referring to the figures, A represents the incoming railway-track, and A' the main track, continuing, for instance, int-o the depot. A

cross-over is represented at A, and AAL reprefrom which the several switches employed in,

the Vicinity of a given locality are operated. By moving the lever C in one direction or the other, the switch-rails a will be moved laterally, so as to connect the rails of the incoming track A either with the main track or with the siding, in a manner well understood.

A safety or detector bar, E, and facing-point lock F, both of which are of well-known construction and need not here be particularly described, are connected, through a system of cranks, D2, and connecting-rod clwith a locking-lever, C2, located near the switch-lever C in the switch-tower. The method of operating these two levers is substantially that usually employed in operating switches and their locks from a distant point.

At a suitable dist-anee-say fifty feet-from the switch in the direction from which the trains approach there are placed two signalbla-des or semaphore-arms, G and G2. The blades are pivoted upon any suitable support, H, and their indicating positions are co-ntrolled by means of suitable rods, g and g2, respectively. rlhe lower ends of the rods g and g terminate just above a horizontal movable slide-plate, K, in which are formed two holes, 'k' and k2, respectively designed to receive the ends of the rods g and g2, accordingly as it is desired to move one or the other of the signalblades into a position indicating lsafety The blades G and G2 are respectively designed to indicate the position ot' the switchrails with reference to the main track A and side track A". Normally both blades eX- tend horizontally from the side of the support H, and the one or the other is designed tobe dropped to indicate safety,7 accordingly as the switch is placed in connection with the main or with the side track and locked. The slide-plate K is connected through a system of rods and cranks, f, with the system of cranks D and rods d', controlled by the switch-lever C', and it is moved so that the hole 7c will be beneath. the rod g when the switch is in connection with the main track A', and likewise so that the hole k2 will be beneath the rod g2 when the switch is in connection with the siding A4. A special balancelever, h', is, however, applied to the signalblades G and G2, and this lever is designed to prevent either rod from falling into the corpurpose the balance-lever is coupled with the system of cranks Dl and rods` d2, which are connected with the locking-lever C2, and when the lever C-y is thrown into position to lock the switch the balance lever is actuated. Vhen the cranks D2 and rods d2 are actuated, the rods g and gt will be relieved of the weight of the lever h, and one or the other rod will fall through the corresponding hole, thus dropping the si glial-blade attached there- Only one of the blades, however, can be dropped in this manner at a time, for the reason that only one of the holes L or 7a2 will be beneath the corresponding rod.

For the purpose of indicating to the operator at the switch-tower when an engine or a train is passing the switch, it is desirable to employ some form of automatic signal device. To illustrate the application of such a device I have shown an electric bell, M, placed in the switch-tower. A battery, 0, is employed for actuating the bell, and the circuit-connections of this battery are designed to be completed by the train or by any moving vehicle during the time which it occupies in passing the switch. For this purpose the circuit may conveniently be arranged in the manner, indieated in Fig. l-that is to say, a conductor, l, may lead from one pole of the battery Vo to one line of rails, a', while the other pole is in like manner connected by means 'of a conductor, 2, through the coils of an electro-magnet, a, which actuates the continuously ringing or vibrating bell M, and from thence, by means of a conductor, 3, with an insulated tracksection, a, of well-known construction. The connections ot' this circuit, it will be evident, will be normally' incomplete; but when a locomotive, car, or train is passing the switch, so long as any portion of it is traversing the insulated rail-section, the circuit is completed through the wheels and axles of the trucks, and the bell will therefore continue to ring until the vehicle has entirely passed the switch.

The method of operation of this organization of switches and signals is as follows: Vhen, for instance, a train is proceeding in the direction pointed out by the arrow, and it is-desired to send the locomotive upon the siding A, and cause the train itselt to continue along the main track A', then the locking-lever C2 is rst thrown over, thereby causing both signal-blades to be thrown into position to indicate danger,7 at the same time unlocking the switch by withdrawing the bolt F from the locking-plate in a manner well understood. The switch-lever C is then thrown over, and the switch-rails thereby place the track in connection with the siding A The same movement of the lever C causes the plate K to be moved in such position that the hole 7a2 is beneath the rod g2. This rod, however, does not fall instantly by reason of the action of the IOO rio

balance-lever It. The loekinglever C2 is then thrown back, thereby cansi n g the detector-bar to be thrown over and the switch to belocked in the usual manner. The saine movement of the locking-lever CL actuates the balancing lever 7L', thereby pern'iitting the rod g2 to fall into the hole k2 and the blade Gt to drop. rIhis indicates to the engineman upon the ap preaching train that the switch is set and locked for the siding. Vhen the engine has approached within a certain distance from the switch ,the bell at M is automatically actuated, and the operator at the tower is thus notiiied that a vehicle is passing the switch. The moment the bell ceases to ring, the operator understands that the passing vehicle is clear of the switch, and he immediately throws over the locking-lever C2, thereby causing the blade G to be again thrown into position to indicate dangen I-Ie then moves the switch-lever C back, so that the switch is set for the main track A, and then by means of a lever, C?, locks the switch in that position. The movement of thelocking-lever C2 relieves the rods g and g2 of their balance-lever It', and permits the rod g to fall into the hole k,wliieh has been brought beneath the same by the movement of the lever C. The blade C is thus brought into position to indicate to the`trainman upon the train which has been detached from the engine that the switch is locked for the main track A. The train, upon approaching the switch, causes the bell M to be again actuated, in the manner described with reference to the engine, until the train itself has passed the switch. By means of this organization ot'apparat-us the necessity of' placing an operator immediately at the switch is avoided, and the entire operation of controlling the switch may be performed with perfect safety f and convenience at the switch-tower, where the several other switclroperating levers are located. Moreoventhe possibility oit any error in operating the switch for controlling the train movements is prevented, and signals are given respeetivel y to the engine-man and brakeman in charge of the detached train.

I claim as my invention- The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a main track and a siding, of movable switch-rails and mechanism for operating the same, a switch-lock and mechanism for operating said lock, signal devices for indicating the two positions of the switcherails, a device for permitting one or the other oi' said signals to be operated,which is controlled by said"switclroperating mechanism, means, substantially such as described, controlled by said locking mechanism, for preventing one or the other of said signal-blades from being operated except when said switches are locked in one position or the other, an electric signal-bell, and means, substantially such as described, for completing an electric circuit through the same while a train or engine is passing along said switch-rails.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 21st day of June, A. D. 188i.

CHARLES JOHNSON.

'Wituessesr CARRIE E. Davrnsoa, @Hannes A. TERRY.

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