US403515A - Railway-signal - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. A. CASEY.

RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 403,515. Patented May 21, 1889 WITNESSES: INVENTUR ATTORNEYS (No Model.) 3SheetsSheet 2, T. A. CASEY. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 403,515. Patented May 21, 1889.

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RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented May 21, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS A. CASEY, OF NEYV YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO IVILLIAM IVALLAOE AND GEORGE A. PORTER, BOTH OF SYRACUSE, NEW

YORK.

RAILWAY-SIG NAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,515, dated May 21, 1889. Application filed July 18, 1888- Serial No. 280,248. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. CASEY, of New York, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Signals, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of railroad-signals which electrically register the number of cars passing over a certain section or block of the road and simultaneously produce a visual signal indicating the passage of said cars into and out of said block of road, and it has special reference to the railwaysignaling apparatus for which J. Harper Gibson has obtained Letters Patent of the United States No. 375,063, dated December20, 1887. In the apparatus shown in said patent the cir- 2o cuit had to pass through the registering mechanism and its supporting-frame, and the signal was not cut out of the circuit and set to indicate danger until the car-Wheel had passed over the track-instrument and allowed the circuit to reclose. In practice it is found that such arrangements do not actuate the signal as promptly as desired and a very slight variation in the required movements of the registering mechanism or slight displace- 0 ment of the electric contact-points thereof is liable to cause a failure of the operation of the signal.

The object of this invention is to operate the signal independently of the operation of 5 the registering mechanism and by the first break of the circuit by the track-instrument, and thus render the operation of the signal more positive and quicker than by the aforesaid prior devices; and to that end my inven- .,o tion consists, essentially, in the combination,

with the electromagnetic registering and signaling mechanism in the same circuit, of a shunt in said circuit operated by the armature of the magnet of the registering mechanism and independently of said mechanism, and thereby out the signal out of the circuit by the first movement of said armature, as hereinafter more fully described, and specific ally set forth in the claims. I do not limit my invention to its application to any specific form of registering mechanism or signal, although it is in some respects specially adapted for those shown in the patent to J. Harper Gibson hereinbefore mentioned, and which is to some extent illustrated 5 5 in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows, partly in plan views and partly in elevations, the electric connections of the electro-magnetic registering and signaling instruments with the track-instrument. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detached plan view of the registering-instrument and shunt. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of said instrument. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse section on line 00 :0, Fig. 3, showing by full lines the position of the levers for closing the shunt, and by dotted lines the operation of said levers for opening the shunt; and Fig. 6 is avertical transverse section on line 3 y, Fig. 5 showing the effect of the first movement of the armature produced on the primary lever, which closes the shunt.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

A 'A represent two track-instruments located at intervals over the length of the railway and dividing the same into blocks or sections, each of said instrumentsconsisting of a suitable lever, a, which in this instance is represented in the form of a T, pivoted at the junction of its arms and having its vertical arm projecting sufficiently above the rail to be encountered and actuated distinctly by the tread of each wheel of the cars passing over the rail. The other two arms project horizontally from the foot of the vertical arm, and underneath these horizontal arms are located suitable electric circuit-breakers, which may consist of yielding and independentlyoperating metallic bars Z) Z), connected, re- 0 spective1y,with two separate circuits, of which B B denote the batteries. The said bars 17 b are normally in contact with suitable electric contact-points c c, and are in such position in relation to the lever a as to cause one of them at atime to receive the pressure of one of the lateral arms of said. lever when the latter is tilted by the passing cars, said pressure throwing the bar out of contact with the contact-point. 10o

C-C represent two electro-magnetic registering-instruments, each consisting of a suitable insulated plate or platform, P, on which are mounted two sets of electromagnets, M M, the magnets M effecting the counting in of the registering mechanism, and the magnets M the counting out of the same. The armatures of these magnets are pivoted to posts F Fat the farther sides of the magnet, and are formed with extensions or levers E E, which lie with their free ends toward each other.

Between the free ends of the leversE E, and at right angles thereto, is a shaft, cZ, pivoted on a metallic frame H, secured to the aforesaid platform.

n the shaft d, at a point between the free ends of the levers E E, is fastenedaratchetwheel, I, and on the said ends of the levers are pivoted pawls e e, engaging the ratchetwheel I at opposite sides of a vertical line drawn through the center thereof. By means of pins 19, projecting from the pawls and colliding with cams s, secured to the frame H, the pawls are thrown out of engagement with a ratchet-wheel when at their extreme down ward movement.

To the top of the free end of each lever E E is secured a dog, 72, which serves to hold the ratchet-wheel during the intervals between the engagements of the pawl of the other lever.

- Said levers are forced automatically upward by means of any suitable and well-known power, which in this instance is represented in the form of spring K, and their upward thrustis limited by a cap secured to the frame H and projecting over the free ends of the levers, and set-screwst' t', passing through said cap, arrest by their lower ends the upward movement of the aforesaid levers.

On the shaft d, back of the ratchet-wheel I, is'fasten'ed a circular collar or disk, Z, which cam,,m, projecting from its under side and adapted to enter the notch Z.

Back of the collar Z the shaft (Z is provided with a worm or spiral flange, d, which engages a gear-wheel, 01., secured to a shaft, 02, journaled in suitable bearings at right angles to the shaft d, and on the shaft n is also fast ened an annular disk or wheel, J, which is provided with a notch, j, in its periphery. From the 'lever on projects a lug, m, which is adapted to enter the notch j. The collar Z is of such a diameter and the cam m of such a depth as to cause said cam when out of the notch Z and riding on the periphery of said collar to lift the lever m sufficiently to withdraw the lug m from the notch of the wheel J.

S S represent electro magnetic signals, which are to be located in suitable positions to be easily seen by the engineer or person in charge of the train. Said signals may be of any suitable and well-known construction. The style here selected for an illustration of my invention consists of a plate having an orifice and two pivoted arms, N N, carrying on their free ends disks N N, respectively at opposite sides of the center of the orifice, whichdisks are adapted to fall by gravity into position to close the orifice, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The opposite ends of the arms N N constitute armatures of magnets 0 O, and by the attraction of said magnets the arms N N are swung so as to expose the orifice of the plate, as represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and when released from the magnets the aforesaid arms drop by gravity and carry the disks N N toward the orifice, so as to close the same, as

shown by full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Thus far the apparatus herein illustrated resembles the apparatus shown in the patent to J. Harper Gibsomhe'reinbefore referred to.

The electric circuits for operating the described registering-instrument and signal are normally closed, and are formed as follows: From the bars 5 b of the track-instru ments A A run wires to a battery, B, and from the other bars, 1) b, of said instruments run wires to a battery, B. The circuit making and breaking devices I? c of each track-instrument are electrically connected with the magnets M M for registering the wheels of the train entering the block or section of road and with the signals S S. The circuit making and breaking devices b c of the track-instruments are connected only with magnets M M and battery B, which electrical connections are made in the following manner: From the contactpoint 0 runs a wire, 1, to a binding-post, 50, on the platform P of the instrument O, and from thence is. extended awire, 2, to the binding-post on said platform. A wire, 3, is extended from the latter binding-post to one of the magnets O of the signal S. A wire, 4;,

runs from the other magnet, of the signal to the bindingpost 10, from thence a wire, 5, runs to themagnets M, and from thence a wire, 6, runs to binding-post 20 and then to ground. Theforegoing being the normal condition of circuit of battery B, and by the circuit through the magnets O O of the signals S S, the latter are held inposition to expose the opening in the signahplate, and thereby indicate safety. WVhen the circuit is broken by first wheel of train depressing the lever a, the sign'alS falls by gravity into position to indicate danger. From the contact-point c of eachtrack-instrument is extended a wire, 1, to the binding-post 40 on the platform P, and from said binding-post runs a wire, 2, to the magnet M, and from thence the wire 3 runs to the binding-post 20, from which a wire runs relation to the electric connections of the signal S as to form a shorter circuit with less resistance direct to the magnets h and thereby cut the signal out of the circuit, which shunt is operated to a certain degree independently of the registering mechanism and by the first break movement of the armature of the magnets M. The form of said shunt admits of many modifications, and I therefore do not limit myself in this respect. The preferred form here shown consists of two flexible metallic arms, '0 t, which are insulated and normally out of contact with each other. A wire, 7, runs from the arm -v to the binding-post 10, and a wire, 8, runs from the arm rto the binding-post 50.

To the frame H is pivoted a two-armed lever, it, one arm of which is by a strap or link, u, connected with an arm, a, projecting rigidly from the lever m. The other arm of the lever is is provided with an insulated head, it, which faces the free end of the spring-arm r. A primarily-acting lever, o, is arranged to operate independently of the registering mechanism, said lever pivoted to the frame H, and is sustained normally in a horizontal position at the side of the spring-arm v by springs 00 at, extending from opposite ends of said lever, and pins g g, projecting from the side of the levers E E across the under side of the aforesaid springs. From one end of the lever 0 projects laterally a cam, 0, which reaches across the top of the springarm 'v and has its under side beveled or inclined so that a downward movement of the lever 0 causes the cam o to crowd the springarm n into contact with the companion arm 1*.

The operation of the described shunt is as follows: When the apparatus is in its normal condition, the lugs m m of the lever m lie, respectively, in the notches Z and j of the collar Z and disk J, and thus the lever m has dropped into a position which causes it to tilt the lever away from the spring-arm c, and the closed circuit holds the armatures with the levers E E down, and thus allows the lever 0 to assume a horizontal position, and the spring-arm 'u to spring away from its companion arm QJ and thereby open the shunt V. Consequently the circuit passes through the magnets O O of the signal and holds the latter in a position to indicate safety. \Vhen a train of cars passes over the track-instrument A toward the instrument A,the lever a of the instrument A becomes tilted distinctly by the passage of each wheel on one side of each car, and by each tilt it depresses the subjacent bar I) and throws the same out of contactwith the con tact-point c, as represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Thus each wheel entering the block or section of road to be protected momentarily breaks the circuit through the magnets M. Each interruption of said circuit causes the magnets M to release the armature, which is immediately raised by force of the spring K, while the circuit through the other magnets is maintained in tact, and thus the armature thereof retained attracted and the registering mechanism maintained dormant. So soon as a car-wheel has passed over the lever 01. the latter resumes its normal position and allows the bar b to spring back into contact with the contactpoint 0, and thereby closes the aforesaid circuit and cause the magnets M to attract the armature, which, by means of the lever E and the pawl connected thereto, imparts apartial rotation to the ratchet-wheel I, and thereby sets the registering mechanism in motion. The successive impulses through this circuit cause the armature D of the magnets M to produce a corresponding oscillation of the lever E, and each downward stroke of the latter imparts a partial rotation to the ratchetwheel I by the medium of the pawl e. The rotation of said ratchet-wheel and its shaft d, with the collar Z attached thereto, causes the cam or lug m of the lever on to be crowded out of the notch Z of said collar, while the worm d of said shaft turns the gear 02, and with it also the disk J. The lever m is thereby lifted and caused to ride with its cam m on the periphery of the disk J. During this operation the first break of the circuit and first release of the armature of the magnets M before the registering mechanism is actuated causes the lever E thereof to tilt the horizontal lever 0, so as to press the springarms 4) into contact with the arm '0. The circuit is then more direct, and has less resistance by passing from the binding-post 30 over wire 8 through shunt and wires 7 and 5 to the magnets M. The magnets O O of the signals, being thus cut out of the circuit, allow the disks N N of the signals to drop into position to indicate danger, as shown by full lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The first reclosing of the circuit by the track-instrument and consequent attracting of the armature of the magnets M turns the ratchet-wheel I with its shaft (1 sufficiently to lift the lever m, and thereby tilt the lever it, so as to hold the spring-arm r in contact with the companion arm *0 during the subsequent impulses of the circuit. As the train passes over the succeeding track-instrument A, the lever a thereof is tilted successively by the car-wheels in the same manner as before described, and the bar 5 is thrown correspondingly out of contact with the contact-point c. This produces successive momentary interruptions of the circuit through the magnets M of the two instruments 0 C, and said interruptions produce a corresponding oscillation of the lever E,which, by its pawl e, imparts aretrograde movement to the ratchet-wheel I, and this movement of the latter causes the worm d of the shaft 61 to turn back the disk J. If the same number of cars pass over the track-instrument A as passed over the instrument A, the disk J will be turned back to its original position to allow the lugs m m of the lever m to drop, respectively, into the notches l and j, and when this is effected the lever K will be thrown back and the lever 0 will assume a horizontal position to allow the spring-plate 'v to auto- 'matically spring out of contact with the plate 1:, and thus allow the circuit to flow to the magnets of the signal and actuate the same so as to indicate safety. In case one-or more cars become detached from the train while between the two track-instruments the lever a of the second track-instrument will not be actuated a sufficient number of times to restore the disk J to its original position, and consequently the signal will remain in the position in which it was set when the train passed over the first track-instrument, and therefore the detached portion of the train will be protected while remaining in the section or block of road between the two trackinstruments. When the train passes "from the track-instrument toward the instrument A, the same result is produced.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to properly comprehend and appreciate my invention and distinguish the same from the apparatus described and shown in the patent to J. Harper Gibson, No. 375,063, dated December 20, 1887, hereinbefore referred to, I would call attention to the following facts, to wit: In the J. Harper Gibson apparatus the branch of the circuit including the signal is partly formed by the registering mechanism and its metallic supporting-frame, and the circuit through the said branch is opened and closed by a shunt consisting of a metal plate, which is brought into contact with the lever m when raised by the turning of the collar Z, crowding the cam m of said lever out of the notch Z in the collar, and inasmuch as said collar does not turn until the car-wheel has passed over the track-instrument and allowed the latter to reclose the circuit of the main line, and thereby set the registering mechanism in motion, as hereinbefore described, it is obvious that the electric current continues to pass through the magnets of the signal, and therefore said signal remains in its'position to indicate safety until the first car-wheel has passed over the track-instrument. Another serious defect of said apparatus consists in the operation of the signal depending upon the perfect working of the registering mechanism. Inasmuch as the cam m and periphery of the collar L are both subjected to wear and abrasion, said parts are liable to fail to raise the lever m sufficiently to bring the same in contactwith the plate 1;, and thus fail to close the shunt and cut out the signal to indicate danger. All of said defects are obviated by the arrangement of the shunt V, herein described, which is closed by the first break of the circuit caused when the first car-Wheel strikes the track-instrument, and consequently the signal is caused-to move to its position to indicate danger sooner than in the Gibson apparatus, hereinbefore referred to. Furthermore, the operation of the lever 0, which closes the shunt, does not depend on the movement of the registering- Inechanis1n,and consequently the operation of the signal is not affected by any defect in the said registering mechanism.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the normallyclosed circuit, circuit-breaker, electro-magnetic registering instrument and signal in said circuit, and said registering-instrument actuated by electric impulses produced by intermittent closing of the circuit, as described, a shunt normally open and forming then a more direct connection of the signal with the circuit and closed by the first break of the circuit and before the registering mechanism is actuated, as set forth,

2. In combination with the normally-closed circuit, circuit-breaker, electro-magnetic registering instrument and signal in said circuit, a shunt normally open and forming then a more direct connection of the signal with the circuit, a primary shunt-closing lever operating independently of the registering mechanism and actuated directly by the release of the armatures of the registering-instrument, and a secondary shunt-closing lever operated by the mechanism of the registering-instrument, as set forth.

3. In combination with track-instrument, circuit-breakers, magnets M M and signal S in one and the same circuit, armature D, lever E, connected to said armature, pawl e on said lever, worm-shaft d, ratchet-wheel I and notched diskil on said shaft, notched wheel J, and gear-wheel n, operated by said wormshaft, and the lever on, having lugs m an adapted to engage the notched disk and wheel, the metallic spring-arms o and 1;, connected with the circuit and normally apart from each other, the lever'o, havingthe cam 0 across the free end of the arm n, the pins g g, projecting from the levers E E and supporting the lever o, and the two-armed lever k, pivoted to the frame and having one arm connected with the lever m and the other arm facing the free end of the spring-arm 0, substantially as described and shown.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence of two witnesses, at New York, in the county of New York, in the State of New York, this 2d day of July, 1888.

THOMAS A. CASEY.

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