US410200A - Benton c - Google Patents

Description

(NoModeL) B. G. R'OWELL. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

No. 410,200. Patented SeptQB, .1889,

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UNITED STATES PATENT] OFFICE.

BENTON O. ROWVELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROIVELL AMERICAN SIVITOIICOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC RAI LWAY-SW ITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming art of Letters Patent No. 410,200, dated'september 3, 1889. f Application filed August 25, 1888.: Serial No. 288,805. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern: i i i Be it known that I, BENTON GROWELL, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Common wealth of Massachusetts, have invented cer-' tain Improvements in Automatic Switches for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of automatic switches for railways, and it consists in constructing the several operating parts in such manner that they may be contained within a box or case which may be made water-tight, thereby preserving them from the effects of Water or ice; also in the arrangement of the switching-1evers so that the switch-rail invariably will be turnedautomatically in one direction whenever a car passes and at the will of the driver may be turned in the other direction. To accomplish this, I construct the top plate of the boX which is to contain the switch-operating devices with openings just large enough to allow the levenoperating rods or plungers to pass through, and at each of these openings, upon the under side of the plate, I attach packing-boxes, through which the said plun gers also pass. I make the opening for one of these lever-operating plungers through the rail which is upon the side next to the switchbox, for convenience, and so locate it that whenever a car passes the wheels upon that side of the car will bear upon and depress the end of the plunger, which projects through I make the opening for the other lever-plunger in the top plate of the switch-box upon one side or the other of the said rail, as the conveniences of construction in particular locations upon the railroad may require. The leverplunger, which operates through this last-named opening, is depressed by means of a finger or lug, which can be thrown into proper position for that purpose by the driver or other person employed upon the car.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, similar letters in the several figures indicate the same part of the apparatus.

Figure 1 shows a vertical longitudinal sec tion ofthe switclrbox along the left-hand rail when the car is moving in the direction indica-ted by the arrow, and a car after it has passed over the switching-plung'e1',-whicl1 sets the switch to turn thecar to the right; Fig." 2,

, aplan view of the switch-box and itslevers and their connection with the'switchfrail, all occupying the same positionas in Fig. 1, the top plate of the switch-box being broken away to show the rock-shaft and the levers connected therewith Fig. 3, anenlarged transverse section of the switch-box on line m on, Fig. 1, and thelug for operatingupon the plunger outside of the rail, the lug being i attached to the journal-box of one wheel; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail of the construction of the lever-plunger and the elastic cushion for the upper side of the lever, one side of the plunger being broken away; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail of the switch-rail and the crankspindle by which it is operated.

A is the switch-box, which contains the devices for operating the switch-rail B. O is the top plate of said switch-box; cl d, the lever-plungers; e e, the rock-shaft leversoperated thereby; f, the rock-shaft pivoted at 1 2 3. The rod g, pivoted to the arm 72, upon the rock-shaft f, connects it with the switchrail lever i, which, through its connection with the spindle 70, operates the switch-rail B by means of the crank-pin Z, working in the slot m in the said switch-rail.

n n at are stuffing-boxes upon the under side of the plate O, and through these the plungers d d and spindle 7.", respectively, work.

In order to hold the packing in proper position within the boxes 01. n n, I use nuts 0 0 0 in connection with them.

The rock-shaft levers c e engage with slots 13 p in the respective plungers d d, and to prevent the shock which would occur be tween the said plungers and levers intheir operation if a rigid bearing were maintained between them I employ an elastic cushion r,"

Fig. i, and to prevent too rapid wear I interpose a metal bearing 8. The plunger d, and through it the lever e, will be operated by the wheels on the left-hand side of the car whenever one passes over the track, and, as will be readily understood by reference to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, when the end of the lever e is depressed the upper end of the arm IJO h will be thrown back to the position shown in Fig. 1, and at the same time, through the connecting-rod g, the end of the lever t' will be pulled in the same direct-ion, thereby turning the spindle 7c, and thus, by means of the crank-pin Z, working in the slot on in the switch-rail B, it will be thrown into the position shown in Fig. 2, which will turn the car onto the right-hand track. \Vhen it is de- 10 sired to turn the car onto the left-hand track,

or to keep it in a straight course, as represented in the drawings, the lug t is pulled down into a perpendicular or operative position (see Fig. 3) by means of the rod or chain I 5 u and bell-crank lever r, operated by the treadle w, or other convenient device, (illustrated in Fig. 1,) and to decrease friction I hang a small roll at the lower end of the lug t.

A stop or some fixed rest should be provided,

against which the lug t may bearwhen in operative position, and a spring y will pull up the said lug t into the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, as soon as pressure is withdrawn from the said treadle. lVhen the lug t is in the position shown at Fig. 3, it will strike the top of the plunger d and depress it as the car passes, thereby depressing the end of the lever c, which will cause the rockshaft f to turn and throw the upper end of the arm 72, forward, and with it the connecting-rod g and end of the lever 1 thereby turn-.

ing the spindle 7a a short distance to the right, and with it the crank-pin Z. This will throw the end of the switch-rail B to the right, or

3 5 into a position opposite to that which it occupies in Fig. 2, thereby directing the carwheels to the left hand or straight track shown therein.

For convenience of construction and ma-- 4o nipulation I make the switch-box in two parts,

dividing it at the line 4 5, and upon that portion of the top plate 0 from the end to the line 4 5, and through which the opening for the plunger d is made, I cast or otherwise se- 5 cure a raised portion to serve as the rail for that distance. The portion of the switch-box through which the rod 9 passes may be made narrow and then enlarged at the other end to accommodate the lever 17 and spindle 7. as in- 5c dicated by dotted line 6 7, Fig. 2. The length of the rod g may be adjusted by a right and left hand nut 2.

For the lower bearings of. the plungers d d and spindle 70, I drill holes in the bottom of 5 5 the switchbox, and these holes will also serve to drain off any small amount of water that may leak through the joints of the box. The length of the switch-boxbetween the opening for the plunger (1' and the point of the switchrail B must be a little greater than the distance between the centers of the two axles of the trucks, when the lug t is attached to the axle-box of one of them, in order that, when required, the lug twill depress the plunger cl, and thereby turn the switch-rail before the the forward wheel reaches the point of. that rail.

My improved construction of automatic switches, when used upon horse-railroads, obviates the annoyance and disadvantage of turning the horses to one side or the other, incident to the tilting-platform switch, and it may also be used with equal advantage and success where any other motive power is employed to propel the cars.

I'Ieretofore the operating mechanism of automatic switches has been arranged in a casing through which the openings for the externally-proj ecting parts have been large and unprotected against the ingress of water, and for this reason it has been necessary to provide an outlet from such chambers to drain the water therefrom, and in the winter-time great annoyance and trouble have been caused by reason of the Water freezing therein. By my improved construction I make such cas ings or chambers water-tight and avoid all such difficulties.

I claim-- 1. In an automatically-movable railwayswitch, a water-tight casing enveloping and containing the switch-operating devices, and provided with packing-boxes through which the externally projecting or actuating parts of the mechanism operate, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. In an automatically-movable railwayswitch, one or more upwardly-projecting actuating-plungers connected with switch-operating levers e by elastic bearings, substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

In a railway-switch, a rotating spindle having a disk upon its upper end provided with a crank-pin thereon, combined with a slotted switch-rail to be operated thereby, substantially as described.

l. In an automatically-movable railwayswitch, the combination of one or more upwardly-proj ecting actuating-plungers having elastic bearings upon the intermediate switchoperating mechanism, and a rotary spindle provided with a crank-pin at its upper end engaging with a switch-rail, substantially as described.

BENTON O. ROXVELL.

lVitnesses:

ODIN B. ROBERTS, CHARLES P. WINGERTER.

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