US405815A

US405815A - Electrical railway-signal

Info

Publication number: US405815A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-06-25
Anticipated expiration: 1906-06-25

Description

(No Model.) 2 She ets-Sheet 1. J O. WHITE. ELECTRICAL RAILWAY SIGNAL.

Patented June 25, 18.89

M w M@ WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS, Pnom-umu n her Wash! On D C (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.4 J. 0. WHITE.

ELECTRICAL RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 405,815. Patented June 25, 1889..

WITNESSES:

a k fi UNITED STATES JAMES COLLORD YI'IITE, OF

PATENT OFFICE SE\VICKLEY, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 405,815, dated June 25, 1889.

Application filed January 10, 1889. Serial No. 295,914. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, JAMES COLLORDWVHITE, of Sewickley, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new section of one of the track-rails fastened with bolts. Fig. d is a transverse section of one of the track-rails fastened with clamps. Fig. 5 is adiagrammatic representation of a locomotive, showing the application of my improved signaling apparatus. Fi 6 is a transverse section of the same, and Fig. 7 is a transverse section of one of the contact-wheels.

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

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and eflicient system of block-signaling for railroads, by means of which the engineer of a locomotive may always be informed as to whether the track is clear.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

The track-rails A A are of the usual description and are supported by ties a. The ends of the rails A A are connected by fishplates b and bolts 0; but the said fish-plates and bolts are separated from the rails by insulating material to prevent the electric current from running from one rail to another. I do not confine myself to this construction, as the rails may be secured to separate supports and insulation maybe'effected by an air-space between the ends of the rails orsecured to the same support with no metallic communication between the rails.

I11 the present case I have combined with the railway-track two sets of contact-rails and electrical connections to adapt the road to trains running in the same or opposite directions. For trains going in the direction indicated by the arrow I have provided the contactrails d d e e, and for trains going in the opposite direction. I have provided the contact-rails (Z d 6 (a In the present case each the block is represented by anumber of rails, and may be from one to two or more miles in length. The contact-rails d d d d are arranged opposite the joints of the rails, and the contact-rails e c of the adjoining sections are arranged near the rails d d. The contactrails e e of the adjoining sections are arranged near the rails (Z d To facilitate the understanding of my improved system, I have numbered the sections 1 2 3 4. In describing the electrical connections of the rails 1 Will begin with section 3, in which the contact-rail d is connected electrically with the contact-rail e by the Wire f, and in like manner the contact-rail d is connected by the wire f with the contact-rail e. The contact-rail e is connected with the trackrail A of section 4, and the contact-rail e is connected with the track-rail A of section 4. The connections thus far described represent all the connections required for one section fortrains running in one direction. The Wires f f will preferably be arranged on telegraphpoles.

For trains running in the opposite direction the contact-rails e e of section 3 are connected with the track-rails A A of section 2. They are also connected electrically with the rails d (1 which are located at the junction of

sections

3 and 4. The construction of the 0011- tact-rails is clearly shown in Fig. 2. These rails are adapted to bemounted upon the ties at in the usual way, and may consist of two or more rails.

From the main frame 13 of the locomotive O are suspended four hangers D, in which are journaled the contact-wheels g g g 9 the wheels g g being arranged to roll upon the main track-rails A A, and the wheels g g be when the train is running in the direct-ion of the arrow, and upon the rails (l d e e when the train is going in the opposite direct-ion. The hangers D of the wheels 9 g g are pivotally connected with the locomotive-frame, and the said hangers are electrically insulated from each other. An electrical connection with each wheel is effected by awire attached to the hangers and running to the cab of the locomotive, the wheels 9 being connected by mg arranged to roll upon the rails e e d d rail represents a block; but in actual practice wires *6 2" with the poles of the battery F, and

the wheels g g being connected by wires j j with the electric bell G in the cab of the locomotive. e

When the locomotive moves forward in the direction indicated by the arrow, if there is no locomotive on the next section provided with a battery no signal is given in the cab when the wheels pass over the contact-rails,

10 and the locomotive may proceed; but if there is upon the section occupied by the locomotive another locomotive provided with a battery, when the wheels g g of the locomotive C touch the contact-rails d d the circuit will be closed upon the bell and the bell will ring,

indicating that there is an engine in the adjoining section. Should that engine be approaching, it will also be signaled when it passes its contact-rails. After passing the rails d d the locomotive may proceed slowly to the rails e e, when, if the next section in advance is occupied by a locomotive, (either running or still,) the alarm will again be sounded, when the engineer will stop his loco- 5 motive and investigate the cause of the trouble or proceed with caution. This operation will be repeated for every section, and where the track is provided with adouble set of contact of the next section, one pair of the contactrails being opposite the joints of the sections, hangers suspended from the locomotive, contact-wheels journaled in the hangers, a bell and battery on the locomotive, and wires extending from the said hangers to the bell and battery, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. In an electric railway-signal, the combination of the track-rails A A, contact-rails d I d e e, the hangers D, contact-wheels g g g g battery F, electric bell G, and the electric connections, substantially as specified.

7 JAMES OOLLORD WHITE. Witnesses:

J. W. S. WHITE, JOHN N. WHITE.