US594999A - Railroad signal-lamp and blade-signal - Google Patents

Description

' (No Model.)

T. MoNALLY RAILROAD SIGNAL LAMP AND BLADE SIGNAL. No. 594.999. Patented De0.7, 1897.

WIT- ESSES INVENTOR $25M Ji 49 ii his attorney UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. MCNALLY, OF BRISTOL, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- SIXTH TO JOHN \VOODHOUSE, OF RAHWVAY, NEW JERSEY.

RAILROAD SIGNAL- LAMP AND BLADE-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,999, dated December '7, 1897. Application filed April 20, 1897. Serial No. 633,074. (No model.)

, sylvania, have invented an Improvement in Railroad Signal-Lamps and Blade-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in signal-lamps and signals which are designed especially for use in railway service, the signal-lantern and signal being adapted to be carried by a suitablyconstructed base which is attached to the car and operated by the brakeman, so that the signal can be seen from the rear as well as by the locomotive-engineer. In carrying out my invention I employ a signal-lantern holder of a type like that shown in my patent dated April 23, 1895, which is numbered 537,991.

The invention consists in the special con struction and combination of the parts, as will be hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

111 the accompanyingdrawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the lantern-holder, signal-blade, and lantern constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view. Fig. 4 is a detail view. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing one end of the signalblade, and Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

A designates a support which is adapted to engage a bracket secured to the car, and the support carries a shield and a casing upon which is mounted a rotatable casting having an outwardly-projecting lever for turning the same when desireduand to the rotatable casting is secured a signal-lamp which is constructed in accordance with my invention.

The signal-lamp O is of the box type and is provided with lenses or glasses which are suitably colored, one of said glasses being preferably white, while one of the other glasses is red and the other two green. In practice such difficulties have been met with in the use of lanterns as ordinarily constructed, arising from high winds, snow, and sleet, that such lanterns have almost been abandoned and a box or housing is used with glass sides, in which the lantern is placed. The objectionable features of housing in a lantern are that the lantern is not readily accessible and the housing is liable to become incased with snow and sleet.

In carrying out my invention the housing is entirely dispensed with. The heat of the lantern-lamp will keep the lenses free from snow or ice and the improved air-supply will insure a brilliant flame.

The bottom or base piece of the lantern O is made up of a plate, which plate has on one side a series of apertures a, and on the other side of the base is positioned a box or casing B, which is provided with perforated ends, as shown at Z), and the upper portion of this box or chest has attached thereto upwardlyprojecting tubes B, the upper ends of which are bent so as to project at right angles, and they extend through the side Walls of the lan-. tern and are provided with funnels, one of the funnels being on one side of the lanterncasing and the other on an adjacent side, so that they will project at right angles with each other. The funnels or conical portions are referred to by the reference-letter b.

D refers to tubes having conical portions or funnels at their lower ends, and these tubes extend upward, so that the upper ends are disposed centrally within the upper portion of the lantern, and their ends are disposed at right angles with each other and have funnels or conical sections, as shown.

G refers to a conical section which is secured to the upper portion of the lantern in any suitable manner, the upper portion being slightly above the upper ends of the tubes D and about opposite the band F, which forms a part of the upper section of the lantern, and this band or collar F has a series of perforations in that portion which will form the sides and rear of the lantern when in use, and to this band or collar F is .secured the top section E of the lantern, which has a central aperture which may carry a tube E over which is placed a covering or cap E E refers to a band having a series of apertures which are so disposed that they may register with the apertures in the collar F when the band is shifted so that the apertures will be open at that part of the lantern which is at the rear, while the other apertures will be closed. The band is retained in place when jecting lug for engagement with either one of the perforations e in the band, according to which position it may be adjusted. The band is preferably an integral portion of the revoluble cap E.

H refers to a signal-blade which carries at one end a disk h, having perforations which h, carried by the rotatable section of the lantern-support, and the blade may be used without the lantern as a day-signal and can be permitted to remain in place when desired when the lantern is used, as it will not in any way interfere with its operation.

Inoperation the-lamp when-lighted and ad'- justedwill have the outer ends of one of the tubes 13 D toward the locomotive, the outer ends of the other tubes being disposed to one side of the lantern-body, and when the train is in motion the air will be gathered by the funnels and enter the upper tube-D and cause an updraft, while the air which is supplied through the tube B is discharged through the box B and enters the lantern-casing through the-open-endsof said box. This gives a constant supply of air to the lamp, and theheatedair,.'with the prod-uctsof combustion, passes out through the perforations in the upper portionof the lantern and the tube carried by the oap-piece,.the band E having been previously set sothat the openings will be at the rear.

When the position of the lamp is shifted,v which is done by giving it a quarter-turn, it isonly necessary to change the cap-piece, and said change can be made manually.

With my improvements there is no'l-iability of downdrafts in the lantern, asboth tubes act to produce an updraft therein. With a lantern so constructed it is not necessary to use a housing or box, as the lantern iskept heated, so that when snow strikes the same it will be rapidly melted.

IVhat I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a signal-lantern for railroad use the combination of a pair of air-supply tubes, the ends thereof projecting through difierent sides of the lantern-casing and communicating with an open-ended box, of tubes D, having their outer ends similarly disposed, their upper ends being positioned adjacent to the central portion of the lantern, substantially as shown.

are adapted to register with and engage-studs in each of its sides lenses, of air-induction pipes, the ends of which project beyond the f sides of the lantern-body so as to be disposed at right an-glesto each other, a pair of the pipes extending near the base of the lantern, a pair of pipes, the upper ends of which are positioned centrally within the lantern, a conical 2. A signal-lantern for railway use having section positioned: within the top of the lantern, a band having a series of perforations and a revoluble' cap-piece with perforations for the-purpose set forth.

3. In a signal-lantern for railroad use having a rectangular body portion, the lower portion of said lantern having abox or chest with open ends, of induetion-tubesextending therefrom upwardly, the upper ends being bent so as to pass-through thelantern-casing andproject at right angles to each other, of tubes having theirouter ends similarly disposed the inner ends extending upward toa point near thecenter of the lantern, substantially as set forth.

4. In a signal-lamp the combination of a casing, of a box supported by the base of the casing and provided with perforated ends I), tubesB", extending upward therefrom and in a direction at right angles with each other through the sides of the casing substantially as shown.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS W. MGNALLY.

Witnesses:

ALFRED L. SELLERS, R. DALE SPARHAWK.

It is hereby certified that Letters Patent No. 594,999, granted December 7, 1897, upon the application of Thomas W. McNally, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, for an improve ment in Railroad Signal Lamps and Blade Signals, were erroneously issued to said McNally, and John Woodhouse as assignee of one-sixth of the said invention; whereas said Letters Patent should have been issued to said MeNally and John Woodhouse and Harry Wilcox, said Woodhouse and Wilcox being owners of one-third interest, as shown by the record of assignments in this ofiice; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 21st day of December, A. D. 1897.

' WEBSTER DAVIS, Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[SEAL] Conntersigned A. P. GREELEY,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Images