US718503A - Automatic railway-switch. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED' JAN. 13, 1903.

w. R. & 0. M. MURPHY. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 17, 1902.

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I PATENTED JAN. 13, 1903. W. R. & 0. M. MURPHY.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM MURPHY AND CHARLES M. MURPHY, OF ST., LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part Of Letters Patent No. 718,503, dated. January 13, 1903.

Application filed March 1'7, 1902. Serial No. 98,659. (No modelJ.

TootZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, WILLIAM R. MURPHY and CHARLES M. MURPHY, of the city of St. Louis,State ofMissouri,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway-Switches, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

Our invention relates to automatic railwayswitches; and it consists of the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter shown, described, and claimed.

Our object is to construct an automatic railway-switch, and our invention comprises the combination, with a movable switch-rail, of a connecting-rod mounted to slide transversely under the track and connected to the free end of the movable switch-rail, bell-crank levers mounted .one on each side of the track and connected to the ends of said connecting-rod, straight levers pivotally mounted one on each side of the track somedistance from said bellcrank levers, cords connecting the bell-crank levers to the straight levers, shoes slidingly mounted inside of the rail and connected to said straight levers, a tubular arm extending downwardly from the car-bed, a trip or plunger slidingly mounted in said tube in position to engage and move said shoes, a toggle-joint connecting the trip to the car-bed, and a hand or foot lever connected to said toggle-joint for operating the trip to open or close the switch..

Figure 1 is a plan of a piece of railway-track, showing our improved automatic switch in position for use with the switch open to send the cars on the main line. Fig. 2 is a view analogous to Fig. 1 with the switch closed to send the cars on the side track. Fig. 3 is athe line 6 of Fig. 5. I

Referring'to the drawings in detail, the rail 6 forms part of the mainline, the rail 7 forms a part of the side track, and the removable switch-rail 8 throws the cars on the side track when desired. The connecting-rod 9 is mounted underthe track, transversely of the track, and a pin extends upwardly through the slot 10 and connects to the free end of the removable switch-rail 8. The bell-crank levers 11 and 12 are mounted one upon each side of the rail 6,with their forward ends connected to the ends of the connecting-rod 9. Plates 13 and 14 are embedded into the railway-bed, and pivots 15 extend upwardly from said plates through the elbows of the bell-crank levers. The straightlevers l6 and 17 are pivotally mounted one upon each side of the rail 6 and some distance from the bell-crank levers. The plates 18 and 19 are embedded into the track-bed, and the pivots 20 and 21 extend upwardly from said plates through the centers of the levers 16 and 17. The cords 22 and 23 connect the outer ends of the levers 16 and 17 with the transverse arms of the bell-crank levers 11 and 12. The shoes 24 and 25 are mounted upon the inner flange of the rail 6, and arms 26 extend downwardly through slots 27 in said flange, the lower endof said arms being connected to the inner ends of the levers 16 and 17, respectively.

Referring to Fig. 4, the tubular arm 28 extends downwardly and forwardly from the car-bed 29, and a brace 30 connects the center of the arm 28 with the car-bed. A trip 31 is slidingly mounted in the arm 28, and a spring 32 is inserted around said trip to hold the trip normally elevated. A toggle-joint 33 connects the upper end of the trip 31 to the car-bed 29. A bell-crank lever 34 is pivotally mounted under the forward end of the car-bed. A connecting-rod 35 connects the lower end of the bell-crank lever to the toggle-joint. A pin 36 is, vertically mounted through the car-bed to operate the bell-crank lever, and a step 37, fixed upon the upper end of the pin, provides means for operating the trip by foot-power.

Referring to Fig. 5, the hand-lever 38 is substituted for the bell-crank lever 34,;th pin 36, and the step 37.

When the car is approaching the switch, the motorman will operate the hand or foot lever to straighten the toggle-joint and throw the trip downwardly to engage the shoe 25. Then the forward motion of the car will move the shoe 25 forwardly, thus pulling the cord 22, operating the bell-crank lever 12, moving the connecting-rod!) to the right, and closing the switch, as shown in Fig.2. If itis desired to open the switch, the trip will be operated to engage the shoe 24, sliding said shoe upon the flange, thereby operating the lever 16 to pull the cording 22 and operate the bell-crank lever 11, move the connecting-rod 9 to the left, and open the switch, as shown in Fig. 1. A shoe 39, having a hemispherical lower surface, is fixed upon the lower end of the trip-rod 31 to engage the rounded ends of the shoes 24 and 25 and to slide along the upper surfaces of the flange of the rail.

WVe claim In a device of the class described, the connecting-rod 9 mounted under the track transversely of the rail, and having a pin extending upwardly through the slot 10 in the flange of the rail, and connecting to the free end of the movable switch rail; the bellorank levers 11 and 12 mounted one on each side of the rail and connected to the ends of the connecting-rod 9; the plates 13 and 14 embedded into the track-bed; pivots connecting the bell-crank lovers to the plates; the plates 18 and 19 embedded into the trackbed; pivots 20 and 21 extending upwardly from the plates; the straightlevers 16 and 17 0 mounted upon said pivots; the cords 22 and 23 connecting the outer ends of the levers 1G and 17 with the transverse arms of the bell crank levers 11 and 12; vthe shoes 24 and 25 mounted upon theinner flange of the rail,

and having arms 26 extending through the slots and connecting with the inner ends of the levers l6 and 17, said shoes being in the same running line, so that the switch is thrown first one way and then the other by

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