US539430A - Railway air-brake signal - Google Patents

Description

(No Model;) 3 Sheets-Sheath E. HUMBBRT, J. HAWTHORNE, P. POX, D. L. SHAEFF & P. A. HENRY.

RAILWAY AIR BRAKE SIGNAL.

"Patented May 21, 1895.

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(No Model.) a Sheets-Sheet 2. E. HUMBERT, J. HAWTHORNE, P. FOX, D. L. SHAEFF Patented May 21., 1895.

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B. H UMBERT, J. HAWTHORNE, P. FOX, D. L. SHAEPP Patented May 21, 1 895.

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NITED STAT ATENT rrro EDWARD HUMBERT, JOHN HAWTHORNE, PATRICK FOX, DANIEL L. SHAEFF,

A D FRANK A. HENRY, OF. HUNTINGTON, INDIANA.

RAILWAY AIR-BRAKE SIGNAL.

sPEcIEIoATIoNrormin part of Letters Patent No. 539,430, dated May21, 1895.

Application filed June 7,1894. Serial No. 513,746. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EDWARD HUMBERT, JOHN HAWTHORNE, PATRICK FOX, DANIEL L. SHAEFF, and FRANK A. HENRY, citizens of ,the Ijnited States, residing at Huntington, in

the county of Huntington and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Air-Brake Signals; and we do declare the following to be a full,

IO clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification;

In using cars equipped with air-brake appliances, it often occurs that one or more of the cocks in the main air pipe become closed,

either because of carelessness upon the part of the trainmen, or the interference of some gnorant or malicious person. In any event, such closing of one or more cocks operates to cut out or prevent all working of the airbrakes back of the point of such closing.

Our invention is designed, primarily, to notify the engineer at once, and by an unmistakable signal, that someair-brake angle-cock has been closed, thus crippling his control of c the train; and incidentally, to warn the trainmen, not only that part of the brake-system is cut out, but at what portion of the train the closed cock may be found.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is 3 5 an elevation of engineers cab, tender, and one car as provided with our pneumatic signal de-' vice. Fig. 2 is a plan of the car and tender of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a full-sized view of our device, partly in elevation and partly in section. Fig. 4 is a section upon the dotted line a b of Fig. 3, as seen from the arrow. Fig. 5

is a sectional view of the intermittent or pop valve, and Fig. 6 is a top view of the same.

.4 isa pipe connecting thetrain-signal pipe 2 with a whistle 5 in the engineers cab.

Connections are made between cars in the usual manner by means of hose 6 with coup- 'li'ngs 7, and dummy coupler 7.

In practice, it is customary to place at each end of the car, an angle-cock 8 in the air-brake pipe 1, and signal-cock 9 in the train signal 10 properly threaded and engaged in the threaded openings 11. By reference to the 6 enlarged view in Fig. 3, it will be readily seen that the angle-cock8 has a plug 12 with singleway 13, and which plug is turned by means of lever 14 which is shown in section The construction however, of the angle-cock 8 is ya too well known to require further description.

At a point of the said angle-cock 8 opposite to the pipe-connection 10, as at 15, there is another threaded Opening 1 6 fitted with threaded pipe 17 which runs to the upper portion of the car and has communication with the intermittent or pop-valve 18 the use of which will later be explained.

The train-signal cock 9 presents some par ticulars of construction. The plug 19 oper- 8o ated by the lever 20 is provided with the usualmain-way 21 and secondary-way or ways 22, which latter may be of such number as practice suggests. Y

The construction of the pop'valve' 18 is shown in Figs. 5 and 6 to be as follows: a is the valve having lower seat I) and upper seat 0. The valve is normally pressed to seat b by the spring d whose tension is regulated by set-screw e. The operation of this valve is go too well known to need description.

Further careful reference to the drawings will reveal that in angle-cock 8, the turning of the plug 12 one quarterof a rotation will close the air-brake pipe 1, and that in this 5 position a communication is opened between pipe 10 and pipe 17 through way 13 in the said plug 12. A similar rotation-in the trainsignal cock 9 from right to left, that is, in direction reversed to the movement of clock hands, Fig. 4, will operate to close the signalpipe 2, maintaining, however, communication IOO of part of signal-pipe 2 not cut out, as 23, through main-way 21, secondary way 22, and pipe connection 10 to angle-cock 8. Thus communication is made between the signalpipe 2 and the intermittent or pop-valve 18 whenever the brake-pipe 1 is closed by turning angle-cock 8.

The operation of the invention is as follows: When the train is made up at the terminal station, preparatory to starting, the coupling of both air-brake pipe and train-signal pipe is perfected; and all the cooks are opened. The pipes are closed at the end of the train by means of the dummy coupler 7 which also guards the cooks S and 9 from dirt and dust. Vithin the train-signal pipe, an air pressure of about twenty-five pounds to the square inch is maintained; that in the air-brake pipe being of no consequence in so far as this invention is concerned. The pop-valve 18 is set to escape at a pressure of twenty-three pounds, or two pounds less than the pressure in the train-signal pipe 2. It now, one of the anglecocks Sin the air-brake pipe 1 should be closed either by accident or design, a communication is at once established between the signal cock 9 and the pop-valve 18 through pipe 10, single-way 13 and pipe 17; and resulting from such communication is an intermittent escape from the popvalve 18. This intermittentescape creates a series of pulsations in the train-signal pipe which operates to blow the engineers whistle 5 with short blasts. Such a signal is of an unmistakable nature and notifies the engineer at once that his control of the air-brakes has been tampered with, nor will the closing of the train signal-pipe atits cock 9 operate to prevent the transmittal of the described signal, as a communication of the said train-signal pipe 2 with the popvalve 18 is maintained at all times through the intervention of thesecondarywvays 22 in the signal-cock plug.

. Having described our invention, what we claim is- 1. With a train service of air-signal pipe and air-brake pipe, an intermittent pop-valve and means of opening communication between said signal-pipe and pop-valve when the air-brake pipe is closed, and an engineers signal governed by the said pop-valve.

2. In train service pipes, a passage between the signal-pipe cock and the air-brake anglecock, such passage being continued to an intermittent or pop-valve, means for opening said passage automatically with the closing of the airbrake angle-cock, and an engineers signal governed by the said pop-valve.

3. An air-brake signal, comprising a connection between train-service signalpipe, airbrake angle-cock and an intermittent or pop- Valve, means for opening such connection when the air-brake pipe is closed at its anglecock, and an engineers signal governed by the said pop'valve.

In testimony whereof we atlix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ED WARD HUM BE R'l. JOHN HA\VTHORN E. PATRICK FOX. DANIEL L. SI'IAE FF. FR AN K A. H EN RY.

lVitncsses:

CHAS. K. LUCAS, WILL J. BLACKBURN.

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