US550566A - Track-instrument for electrically-controlled railroad-signals - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

O. H. SHERWOOD. TRACK INSTRUMENT FOR E'LEOTRIGALLY CONTROLLED RAILROAD SIGNALS.

No. 550,555. 1355511555 NQV. 25, 1895.

1 M l N) INVENTOR WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY pNg Model.) 2 She etsSheet 2.

l G. H. SHERWOOD.

TRACK INSTRUMENT FOR ELEOTRIGALLY CONTROLLED RAILROAD SIGNALS.

No. 550,566. Patented Nov. 26, 1895.

11 JZ'n WITNESSES: INVENTOR c. fa/ M w/f/d m S ATTORNEY ANDREW BYGRAHAM. FNOTO-LITHO WASHINGTON. D1:

NITED STATES ATENT QFFICE.

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HENRY BURNE, NENV YORK.

TRACK-INSTRUMENT FOR ELECTRICALLY-CONTROLLED RAILROAD-SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,566, dated November 26, 1895.

Application filed December 10, 1894:. Serial No. 531,866. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. SHERWOOD, of Utica, in the county of Oneida, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Track-Instruments for Electrically-Controlled Railroad-Signals, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to alarm-bells or audible signals employed on railroads for signaling the position or approach of trains and operated automatically by the trains in motion; and the invention has special reference to the species of signals which are controlled by electromagnets in a circuit which has circuit-controllers or circuit makers and breakers operated by track-instruments which are actuated by the passing trains; and the in vention consists in an improved construction of the track-instrument and means for transmitting motion therefrom to the circuit-controller or circuit maker and breaker, as here inafter fully described, and set forth in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrainmatic plan view of a section of railway equipped with a train-signal embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is partly a side view and partly a sectional view of my improved trackinstrument in connection with a circuit maker and breaker which controls the signal to ring the alarm-bell. Fig. 3 is a transverse section 011 line X X in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detached view of that end of the track-instrument which is adjacent to the track-rail. Fig. 5 is a detail view of said portion of the track-instrument. Fig. 6 is a further enlarged sectional view of the-aforesaid instrument in its operative position, and Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the instrument employed for arresting the alarm.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

R represents one of the rails of a railroadtrack.

A denotes one of the electric circuit-controllers or circuit making and breaking instruments designed to be operated automatically by the passing trains and to sound the alarm-bell during the approach of the trains toward road-crossin gs, switches,drawbridges, signal-towers, &c. Said instrument consists of standards a a, mounted on a frame l) and having fastened to their upper ends the metallic springs c c, which constitute two terminals of the electric circuit employed for ringing the alarm-bell B, an exemplification of which latter is shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, which bell is located at the road-crossings or other places requiring the signaling of approaching trains. Said terminals are suitably insulated from the standards a a, as indicated at c, and connected by insulated wire 25 with the magnets O of the bell and by wire t with the generator or battery U.

Between the standards is a vertical movable stem d, passing through guides d d, attached to the standards. The upper end of said stem is provided With a metallic or electric conducting-head a, insulated from the stem, as shown at a. To the lower end of the stemis connected a horizontal plate or piston 6, preferably annular-shaped and pivoted to the stem, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, to allow the plate to revolve in a horizontal plane for the purpose hereinafter explained. This plate rides on an arm f, fastened to the end of a rock-shaft g, which extends at right angles from the side of the track-rail R and is part of the track-instrument employed for actuating the aforesaid electric circuit maker and breaker.

Adjacent to the side of the rail R is an arm h, fixed at right angles to the end of the rockshaft, which latter is sustained axially in such a position as to cause the free end of the arm h to normally project above the rail R suffisition of the plate 6 holds the head a of the stem cl out of contact with the terminals 0 o,

ciently to be tilted by the car-wheels coming and thus breaks the electric circuit. Aspiral spring l, surrounding the lower portion of the stem 61 and pressing with opposite ends upon the plate 6 and against the under side of the frame 1), serves to depress the plate with the stem.

The passage of a car-wheel over the arm h causes the latter to be tilted, and thereby rocks the shaft g. The arm f on the opposite end of the said shaft receiving a corresponding motion causes said arm to lift the plate 6, the stem d of which is thereby forced up sufficiently to enter the head a between the terminals 0 c, and thus come into intimate contact therewith, and thereby close the electric circuit.

To obviate undue friction between the free end of the arm f and under side of the plate e, I pivot to said arm an antifriction-roller r, and in order to equalize the wear on the under side of the plate I pivot the same to the stem d, as hereinbefore described. Said plate is thus allowed to turn, so as to bring different parts thereof successively in contact with the arm f. i denotes a rubber cushion attached to the top of said arm to obviate concussion in the descent of the plate. Inasmuch as the other arm h is subjected to consider able wear from its contact with the wheels passing over it I provide said arm with a protecting shield or shoe h of case-hardened steel. Said shoe is formed with a recess or socket h", in which the free end portion of the arm h is detachably secured by rivets or bolts 01 n, passing transversely through said parts, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4: of the drawlngs.

To guard against the breaking of the arm h in case it should accidentally stand with its free end inclined toward the approaching train, so as to cause the wheels to strike said arm at such an angle as to prevent its being turned, I bevel the outer face of the arm to the top thereof, as shown at 0, and bevel the face of the socket or recess h of the shoe h from the bottom of the shoe to the face thereof, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. In case the arm his subjected to the concussion incident to the aforesaid accidental contact of the wheels with the shoe h the beveled socket h allows the shoe to yield endwise and break the rivets or bolts 01 and slip laterally from the arm h.

To cause the bell B to ring until the train has arrived at the crossing S or other place to be guarded, I employ a suitable detent It to engage a catch r on the stem (2, and thereby retain said stem in its elevated position, in which it closes the electric circuit, as illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

I preferably form the detent of a bar pivoted intermediate of its length to one of the standards a and formed at one end with a hook, which is caused to engage the under side of the lug r by the magnet j attracting the armature attached to the opposite end of said lever, said magnet being in the same circuit with the terminals 0 c, and thus energized simultaneously with the raising of the stem cl. A spring S draws the described detent out of engagement.

To stop the ringing of the bell B when the engine or train arrives at the crossing S, I employ thereat or near the same another circuit-controlling instrument A, which is normally in a circuit-closing condition and preferably similar to the instrument A in its general construction-2'. 6., a vertically-movable stem m, guided between postsp 19, has affixed to its upper end a metallic head m, by which it normally rests upon electric terminals pp, secured to the tops of the posts. To the lower end of the stem is connected the plate e. A spiral spring Z, surrounding the lower end of the stem and pressing with opposite ends on the under side of the case Z7 and top of the plate 6', insures the downward movement of the stem to seat the head m upon the terminals p p, as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings. One of said terminals is connected by wire t to the magnet O of the bell B, and the other terminal is connected by wire 6 to the battery U.

In connection with the described instrument I use a track-instrument similar to that used in connection with the circuit-controlling instrument A; but when the signal is employed on a single track road I provide the rock-shaft g with two arms f f, extending in opposite directions from the shaft, so that the rocking of the shaft in either direction will cause one of said arms to liftthe plate 6, with the stem m attached thereto.

The operation of the described automatic signal is as follows: In the approach of the train toward the road-crossing S or other place to be guarded the wheels passing over the arm h of the rock-shaft g of the track-instrument atA causes the stem d to be lifted and thereby close the circuit, as represented in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The magnet O of the bell B being thus energized causes said bell to ring. The detent 7c, engaging the lug or catch 1" on ICC IIO

the stem d, retains the same in its elevated position, and thus the bell continues to ring until the wheels of the train tilt the rockshaft g at A in a similar manner. This causes the stem m to be lifted, so as to carry the head he out of contact with the terminals 19 p, and consequently the circuit is broken and the ringing of the bell arrested. Simultaneously with this breaking of the circuit the magnet j at the instrumentAis deprived of electric energy and caused to release the detent k, which is then drawn out of engagement with the stem cl by the spring 8, said stem then being forced down to its normal position by the spring Z, as represented in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A track instrument consisting of the rock-shaft -gprovided with the permanently affixed arm h beveled on its outer face to the top thereof, and the shoe hhaving the socket -h beveled from the bottom to the face of the shoe and detachably secured to the arm as set forth.

2. In combination with a track-instrument remote from the road-crossing and actuated by the passing train, a piston actuated in one direction by said instrument, a spring restoring the piston to its normal position, an electric circuit maker and breaker normally breaking the circuit and actuated by said piston to close the circuit, a detent movable to engage and release the piston, electro magnets actuating the detent to retain the piston in In testimony whereof I have hereuntosigned my name this 30th day of November,

. CHARLES H. SHERWOOD. [L- 8.]

Witnesses:

G. Li BENDIXON, J. J. LAASS.

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