US399474A - benjamin - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. F P. BENJAMIN.

RAILROAD SIGNALING DEVIGE.

No. 399,474. Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

F. P. BBNJAMIN.

RAILEOAD SIGNALING DEVIGE.

Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

o a@ V v L E L T k K m N 2 a a a &a w

" (No Model;)

4 Sheets-Shet 3.

P. P. BENJAMIN.

RAILROAD SIGNALING DEVICE.

No. 399.474. Patented Mar. 12,-1889.

,branches (hereinafterdesiguated as the sig- STATES ITE :I

FRANK l BFNJAMIX, (HF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RAILROAD SIGNALiNG DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,4'74, dated March 12, 1889.

Application filed February ll, 1888.

To LLZZ whom it may mace/'n: Be it known that I, FRANK i lENJAMN, a citizen of the l'uited States, residing in the city, County, and State oi? NewYork have invented certain new and. useful Improvenents in Rail'oad Signaling Devices, of which i the following is a s )eeitimiion in such full, i Clear, concse, and exact terns as will enable anyone skilled iu the art to whih \f inveniion relates to make and use the sane, reference being had to the aeconpanving' drawi 'ings, making partof this specifieation, and io the letters and figures oi' reference marked thereon. I My in Vention consists oi' eertai u uoVel pari s g and eonbination of parts constitutiug an inj proved system of railroad signniiug. i

The following is a les' ript ion oi` the :ti-mun panying drawings and of my invention as embraoed and illustrated therein while the points of novelty will be speeificaliy desig-j nated in the coucluding olains. Referring to the accompanyiug d-awings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of a rail 3 road-vehicle, taken on the dotted line l 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 9 is a cross-section of said railroad-vehicle, taken at the dotted line 3 4, Fg. i. Figs. 3, i, 5, (3, and 7 are detail views of app-aratus which may be employed in the practice of my present invention. Fig. S isa top View of a part of a railroad-hed with signaling nechanisn connected iherewith. Figs. 9 and 10 illustrai e, respeetiveiy, top and ele- Vation Views oi' a railroad-bed having ny present inven1ion a iplied thereto in two of its ina-ny possible niodifieations; and Figs. li, 12, 13, and 14, other modifieations thereof.

Referri'ig to Fig. 8, along a railroad-bed runs a conducior, \V, shown by double lines. At certain points along this eonductor \V naling branehes or dor-ai drcuits") are forned by connecting one' end of a conductor, S, (shown by a solid black line,) With at the (-irenit-closing device M, inside or outside of the rail, leading S along preferably outside the rails some distance, 1hen bringing it between the rails, continuing it some distance farti-her in the same direction, and joiniug it to the eonductor again at a point, li'. If this iocai-circuit conductor S is closeddhe Seria] No. 263,'717. (No model.)

current flowirr through supplied from any suitable source ol' elect'ieity, wiih at its I juueton with S diride` pari flowingthroughS and part contiu uing though the condctordY. Un each side of a car or engine (see l `igs. 11

and 2) are coils of insuiated wire eonneeted with an electric alarm, A. These coiis are hun; so that one eoil will pass over ali those paris of the local ireuits S between the rails on one side ot' the track; and the other (eoii will pass over all those paris oi' the local cireuits between the rails on the other side of the track.

lt' a \"bl'fli ing current oi' electrieiiy ol' sul' i will induee a current in the coil and work i the rail, either on the inside or outside thereof, tha-t the wheels of apassin car or engine will run over it and press it down. It rests upon a suitable spring, H', so that it is returned to its original position as soon as the wheeis have passed, and it has a projection, H", on its side placed so that it will engag'e when it is depressed one arin ot alever, L, and raise the other arm of said level', which is forkcd, one part, (the uppen) L', being` a plain strip of conducting and paranagnetic material, and the other part, (the lowcr,) L, containing a resistanco, e, preferabiy g'eater than the total resistanee of the local circuit S' and the nechanism eontained therein. \Vhen the lover L is not acted upon by the projection ll", it hangs by its weight in the position shown in Fig. 5, and both paris are in eiectrieal contact with the metal strip f. The line-wirc \V passes through the box M one end being ,=onnected with the lever I, and the other end with the strip f. \\"hen the lever Ti is in its normal position the eu IOO.

rent passing through W' will flow through L and f, and the' line-circuit Will renain unbroken and undivided. The Wire of the local cireuit S on entering the box M 'is Wound into and forms' the coil of the electro-magnet y, which is connected With a short metal strip, g, which is placed close t-o the path of the lever-arm L', so as to press against the upper fork, L', when and only when L' is raised by the depression of L. Now, when the wheels of a railroad-vehicle pass over the bar I-l, it will, as shown, raise the lever-arm L' and bring it into electric contact with the strip g, so that a part of the current in XV will flow through the coil 1/ into thelocal circuit S and join the main-line conductor XV again at 71:, Fig. S, and, although the continuity of the conductor lV is not broken, the current fiowing th erein will pass through the resistance e, and the greater part thus be diverted in said local circnit. Such resistanoe-piecc may be omitted, if desired; but in this device l' prefer to employ it. As soon as the current begins to flow in S, the magnet g will attract the upper fork, L', which acts as its armature, and so hold the lever L' up and maintain the con nection through the strip g as long as the current continues to flow in local circuit S; but when the current in S is broken the arm L' falls by its own weight, breaks electrical contact with g, and the current in S ceases, and cannot be restored until the electrical contact has been made again between L' and g by the action of a passing wheel, as above described.

The strip f, as will of course be understood,

is long enough to be in constant electrical con-r tact with arm L" when the arm L' is held in contact with the armature of the magnet y. This apparatus will be desi gnated herein after as the circuit-oloser.

,The apparatus, by means of which the current in the local circuit is disrupted may consist of a box, N, (illustrated in detail in Figs. 4 and 6,) in which are two posts, B B', attached to eonductor S. A lever, L', pivoted to post B, rests normally on the post B', formin g electricalconnection between them. The other arm of; this lever extends under a projection on a bar, J, similar in all respects to bar H in Figs. 3 and 5. hen a wheel presses J down, it raises L' off the post B' and interrupts the current in S. As soon as the wheels pass, the bar J rises and the level' L' falls by its weight to itsnornal position and restores the connection betweenthe ends ofsignal-wire S. Fig. 7 shows another form of circuit making and breaking device. which may be employedI cui t, S', is connected with a pivoted armature, U, pressing againstthe end of bindingscrew V, with which the other end ot' b" is connected.

Fig. S shows the mechanism above described connected with the roadway. R R is a rail on which the wheels of the train rest. Outside of the rail in the illustration runs the line-wire \V, through which a suitable current of electricity provided from any suitable source is continually flo'wing. The local-circuits are shown by the solid line S S. S' S' represent a signaling-Wire similar to S S, and shown by the hollowed dotted lines. M M' are circuit-closing devices. N N' are the circuitbreakers on the wire S S and S' S', respectively. .D is a circuit-ln-eakingdevice similar to that shown 'in Fig. 7, its object being to break any current in S' when a current is 'fiowing through S, and thus provided i'or breaking the local circuit behind the train when it is running in the direction ot' M' M. Now, suppose a vehicle to be traveling in the direction of M M'. M'hen it reaches M, it will cause part of the current in lV to flow through S S, and will signal any vehicle provided with coils C and alarm A over that portion of 1he local circuit-wire S which is between the rails. \Vhen it arrives at N, it will break the current in S S and leave it disrupted until another train in its passage again establishes it. During its passage between M and N it will not signal itself, because the signal-wire S between those points is not between the rails, and hence not in inductive proximity to any signaling-eoil which it may carry. lVhen said vehicle arrives at M', it will set a current in S' S' and break current therein when it reaches N'. The circuit-naking device M' in the second branch is placed very close to the circuit-breakin g device N of the first branch, so that a signal is set in the second branch as soon as it is shut off the first branch. If the vehicle move in the direction M' M, it will set the signal behind it in S' at the maker M' and break it by means of D, when it sets the signal in S S at the naker M, as previously described, so carrying a signal, if the branches are continued, always behind it. In Fig. 8 only a fragment of a system is shown, illustrating, as it does, only how a signal may be set always ahead of a train when moving in the direction M M and behind it when moving in the direction M' M. Any extension of the systems shown may be employed to secure the desired result.

Fig. 9 shows an engine, E, on the rails RR, going toward the top of 'the drawings. Systems of local circuits are shown on both sides of the track. On the right side, of the engine E the signals are set ahead of the engine, because the system is arranged on that side, so that the engine will run over the circui-t-.closer Man d circuit-breaker N of thelocal circuit before it arrives at that part of said circuit which is between the rails, and on the left side of the engine the system is arranged in the opposite manner that is, the engine IOO IIO

passes over the part ol? the loca-l circuit between the rails before it sets a current in said local eircuit by passing the circuit closer eonnected therewith; hence in the system described an engine will always have a signal set ahead on the right and behind on the left. side. lt' the engine E or any other engine in the track receive a si gnal from the coil on its left side, it will show that the signaling train is ahead, and if it receives a signal from the coil on the right side, it will show that the signaling train is behind,

Fig. 10 shows how the current maybe taken from a single wire, XV, to supply systems on both sides of the track, a line-wire, \V, on poles being led down to the nakers M on both sides of the track.

Fig. ll. shows another method of arranging the local circuit closing and breaking devices in connection with the local circuitS. The two local circuit-ln'eakers, N N", are placed, one at the opposite ends of that part of the local cir enit S outside the rails R. Between these local circuit-l'reakers N N" the local circuit is divided into two branches,S" S'. On S" close to N is a local eircuit-closing device, M", and on S' close to N" is another local circuit closing device, 31'. These circuit-closing boxes M" and M'" may be ot any suitable Construction to he atuated by the passage ot' the train. The resistance-piece c and the segmental contact-platef, (illustrated in Fig. 5,) should be onitted, as the rcsst-ance l( on the line serves in the system shown to divert the necessary current into the local circuit. A train going in the directitm N" N eloses the eircuit S by (losing the branch 5' at M' and breaks it at A train going in the direction N N" closes S by (losing the hranch S" at M" and l'n eaks it at N". K is a resist'ance to divert into the local cireuit S when open the requisite quautity of current. The object of this arrangement is that a vehicle going in either direction will cause a signal to be set and naintainwl in h' during the time it is moving between M" and M'. Oli' course the two branches S" and S' are normally open. The circuit-ln'eaking devices N N" are on S, outside the branches 5" and S', and hence will break a current in either or both. This serves to illustrate one of numerous methods of arranging the circuit breaking and closing devices in the practice of my invention.

Figs. 19 and lil illustrate how this system ot' local circuits may be employed to signal trains by means ot' statie induction, according to prineiples which are now well understood in the ari, and an extended reference to which is deemed unnecessary here. The naling part oi' the local cireuit ti, Fig. lE, is brought in ind uct ive proximity to an insulatcd plate, carried in this illustraton on the root oi' a car and connected by a conductor, P, to a sigual, A, and thence to the ground by any well-known n'eans. The vibrations of the electrie current in S vary the statie charge they induce in C', and so work the signal A. The signaling part of the local circuit S may be open and bran ch from the part between M and N, and so receive a static cha rge whose variations will cause variations of the static charge in C'. .lu Fig. 13 is shown a section of the ear with two insulated platcs, one on each side ot' the root, connected each with an alarm, A, and each in inductive proxinity to a local-circuit wire, S, on each side of the track. The object of the two plates C' is the same as the two eoils (J C before considered.

Another disposition of the local cireuit is illustrated in Fig. ll of the drawings. In this figure three sets of closed circuits, S, S', and S", are shown, each ci rcuit being laid first along one side of the track, then along the middle ot' the track, and along the other side of the track, returning outside the rails to the point of beginning. Now, suppose that portion ot said circuits in the middle of the track be in iuductive proximity to a device on the train by means of which a vibratiug current; of electricity is introduced into said circuit when the train is over the same. Said current so introduced in said circuits will work the signal on the right-hand or left-hand side ot' an approaching train having coils C C in inductive proxinity to said lines, depending upon whether the position of said ap1;roaching train is behind or ahead oi' the same. In this system the source of electricity flowing through the local circuits is carried on the train and is introduced into the local circuits by induction, and the advantages incident to the same are, among other things, due to the fact that circuit makers and breakers and other maehinery altmg the line are rendered unnccessary. The use ot' these constantly closed circuits are not specitically claimed here, but are in a pending application filed February fl, 185 & hearing Serial No. 299,:3o7.

Instead oi' extending the system of sigualing, as illust rated in the drawings, to constantly transmit a warning sigual both ahead and behind the train, I may contine the use of my in vention to the trausmissiou of a signal in only one direction, and it will oi' course be understood that my invention is notlimited to the precise devices or conhinatious ot devices illustrated and described, as many modications and adaptations may ohviously be employed without depart'ing from either the prineiple or scopc of my inveution.

l am aware that it is not new to have a mainline conduct orarranged alongarailroad-track, including in it a number ot' make and break devices operated by the passage of the train to cause the current in said line to fiow con` stantly through the train, so that said train will be always in communication with an extern al telegraphic station, as shown in Letters Pat-cnt Ne. %093% to Wiliams, Barnum, and Ives. I am also aware that it is not new to have a plurality of circuits arranged along a line directly and indirectly in communication e with each other, said circuits including the IOO make and brake devices last above referrel to and substantially for the same purpose, said circuits each being constantly in electrical conim unication with the main line through repeating devices, as shown in Letters Patent No, %3,095 to lVillians; but the devices described in the above patents will neither of them accomplish the purposes 'for which ny invention is designed, for, among other things, it is obvious that in neither case is an automatic signal transnittcd, and that if it were it would be transmitted to the entire line, and hence its operation would not be confined in either case to any definite area, as mine is to the limits of the local circuit on which the signaling train is located.

It will be ohserved that the several local circuits employed in my signaling system are so arranged that the impulses flowing through one of them are not co'nmunicated to the other circuits, and that the operative electrical impnlses caused by the passage of the ca r are confined within definite limits of operation. This forms one of the cardinal distinctions between a signaling and an ordinary telegraphing device; hence it may properly be said that such circuits are separate and independent.

I claim- 1. In a system of railroad-signals in which communication between vehicles is automatically established by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a plurality of separate and independent local circuits arranged on both sides of the track, a vehicle carrying a plurality of conductors respectively parallel to and in inductive relation to different portions of said local circuits, said local circuits carrying make and break devices in the path of a moving vehicle for the purpose of sign aling both ahead and behind it, and an electrical generator the current from which is automatically cut into and out of said local circuits by said make and break devices, substantially as described.

2. Inasystem of railroad signaling in which communication is automatically established between vehicles by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a vehicle having a plurality of conductors, each including instruments for receiving signals, and a plurality of local circuits arranged on both sides of the track parallel to and ininductive relation to said vehicle-conductors, respectively, substantially as described.

3. In a system of railroad-signals in which communication between trains is automatically established by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a vehicle carrying a conductorwith instruments for receivingsignals, a local circuit arranged along the line, nepart of which is parallel to and in inductive relation to said Vehicle-conductor, and another part of which, carrying make and break devices in the path of a moving vehicle, is out of inductive relation to said vehicle-conductor, and an electrical generator the current from which is cut into and out of said local circuits by said make and break devices, substantially as described.

4. In a system of railroad sign alin g in which communication is established between Vehicles by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a vehicle carrying a conductor with signalinginstruments, and a plurality of separate and independent local circuits arranged along the line in inductive relation'thereto, said local circuits being overlapped, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a system of railroad signaling in which communication between Vehicles is established by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a vehicle carrying a conductor with signalinginstruments, and a plurality of separate and independent local circuits arranged along the line in inductive relation thereto having make and break devices in the path of a inoving vehicle, said local circuits being overlapped, substantially as described.

6. In a system of railroad-signals in which communication between trains is automatically established by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricty, the combination of a vehicle having a conductor with instruments for receiving signals, a plurality of local circuits arranged along the line, parts of which are parallel to and in inductive relation to ,said vehicle-conductor and other parts of which, carrying make and break devices, are out of inductive relation to said vehicle-conductor, said local circuits being overlapped, and an electrcal generator the current from which is cut into and out of said local circuits by said make and break devices, substantially as described.

7. In asystem of railroad signalingin which communication between vehicles is automatically established by means of the inductive effects of a current of electricity, the combination of a vehicle'having a plurality of conductors, each including instruments for recei vin g signals, and a plurality of local circuits overlapped and arranged on both sides of the track in inductive relation to said vehicleconductors, respectively, substantially as described.

In a system of railroadsignaling, the conbination of a plurality of local circuits, each circuit including make and break de' Vices, and a make-and-break device common to a plurality of said circuits, whereby when the circuit is completed in onc ot said local circuits it is automatically broken in. 'thc other, substantially as described.

FRANK P. BENJAMIN.

lVitnesses:

J. EDGAR BULL, R. A. CORINALDI.

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