US401471A

US401471A - Pneumatic alarm for railways

Info

Publication number: US401471A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 1906-04-16

Description

(No Model.) 4

T. TAYLOR.

PNEUMATIC ALARM FOR RAILWAYS. No. 401,471. Patented Apr. 16, 188-9,

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UNITED STATES FFICEe THEODORE TAYLOR, OF OEDARVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

PNEUMATIC ALARM FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 401,471, dated April 16, 1889.

' Application filed August 2'7, 1888. Serial No. 283,919- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 12mg concern:

Be it known that I, Tnnononn TAYLOR, of Cedarville, in the county of Modoc and State of California, have invented a new and Improved Pneumatic Railway-Track Alarm, of which the following isa specification, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming a part thereof, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a track to which my improvement has been applied. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an air-forcing pump for supplying the pneumatic-alarm system with air under pressure, also showing the alarm mechanism; and Figs. 3 and 4 are side elevations of the eyebolts and hooks employed in supporting the pipes.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and efficient device for givingan alarm when any of the track-rails of a railway are broken or displaced.

My invention consists of pipes extending along the flanges of railroad-rails and connected with an air-pump and a signal for denoting when a rail and pipe break, as will be hereinafter fully described and specifically claimed.

The web of the track-rails Ais bored at suitable intervals to receive the eyebolts B or hooks O, which support pipes D D. At suitable intervals the pipes D D are connected by cross-pipes E. The ends of the pipes D D are stopped by means of caps a, or in any otherconvenient way. At a station of the railway is formedaconnection with the pipe E through the pipe F.

In the station is arranged a table, G, on which is placed an air-compressor, H, of ordinary construction, by which the pipe F and the pipes D D, connected therewith, may be kept filled with air under pressure. At the station, and preferably upon the table G, is arm nged a flexible bulb, I, which is connected with the pipe F, and is maintained in an inflated condition so long as there is any air under pressure in the pipes F, D, D, and E.

In the top of the bulb I is secured a weight, J, as shown in dotted lines, and the weight in the said bulb I is connected by a rod, 6, with an alarm-bell, c, which may be actuated either by a spring or by electricity, the bell being of any ordinary welhknown construction.

So long as the pipes I), D, and E remain intact the bulb I remains inflated; but when one of the pipes of the sections protected by my improved alarm is broken by the breaking or displacement of a rail the pressure in the pipes diminishes, and the bulb I is no longer able to sustainthe weight J. Therefore the said weight drops, disengaging the actuating mechanism of the bell c or making an electrical connection, as the case may be, thereby giving an alarm.

It is obvious that the reverse of my improved system, as above described, may be e1nployed-that is to say, a vacuum may be maintained in the pipes D D and the alarm caused by its destruction; also, a pressuregage maybe substituted for the bulb I. I do not, therefore, limit or confine myself to the exact devices or methods herein described.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with the railroadrails, of pipes secured to the several rails parallel therewith, a pump for filling the pipes with compressed air or for exhausting the air therefrom, as the case may be, and a signal or indicator operated by the breakin of a rail and the pipe connected therewith.

2. The combination, with the railroad-rails, of pipes secured to the rails parallel therewith, an air-pump for charging the pipes with compressed air, a flexible bulb held expanded by the compressed air in the pipe, and a signal actuated by the collapse of the bulb caused by the breaking of a rail and the pipe connected therewith, substantially as set forth.

3'. The combination, with the alarm, of a compressiblebulb, a weightsupported thereby and holding the alarm looked until the air escapes from the bulb, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a pneumatic railway-track alarm, the combination, with the pipes D D, extending along the traclorails A, of the flexible bulb I, the weight J, and the alarm-bell c, substantially as specified.

THEODORE TAYLOR.

IVitnesses:

D. J. BENNER, A. O. KISTLER.