US814376A - Railway signaling device. - Google Patents

Description

No. 814,376. PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906. Q

S. G. HARVEY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APB..12, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

'lliz'tzzasses: jnwmmr S. G. HARVEY.

'PATENTED MAR. a, 1906.

RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1905.

witnesses:

4 SHEETS-SHBET 2.

No. 814,376. lATENTED MAR. 6, 1906.

S. G. HARVEY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APZPLIOATION FILED APR.12, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

witnesses;

W6 96. Ww.

PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906.

8. G. HARVEY.

RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 911.12. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

witnesses.-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL GHOATE HARVEY, OF BOWLING GREEN, OHIO. RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 6, 1906.

Application filed April 12, 1905- Serial To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL CHOATE HAR- VEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bowling Green, in the county of Wood and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling Devices; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art 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 the operation of electric railways, more particularly single-track roads, where many cars are passing in opposite directions, it is necessary in the absence of despatchers to have some means of preventing cars from meeting at points between switches or turnouts. The present usual'rnethod of avoiding this difficulty is for the conductor or motorman to electrically signal from each switch or turnout to the next switch or turnout, so that a car moving in the opposite direction maynot leave such switch, and thereby cause a meeting between switches. To effect this signaling, the car is stopped and the conductor or motorman alights from his car and manually operates or throws the electric switch, which operates the electric signal at the neXt switch or turnout. This necessitates a serious loss of time and at night and in stormy weather is laborious and burdensome to the operator.

The object of my invention is to overcome the difliculties here indicated and .to provide means for automatically actuating the electric switch which controls the electric current which governs the signaling devices and to accomplish this without stopping the car.

My invention also relates to certain details of construction hereinafter shown and descibed, and pointed out in the claims.

I attain the objects above referred to by means of the devices and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and shown, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a section of railway-track provided with my signaling devic Fig. 2 is a side elevation on line as as, Fig. 1 Fig. 3, a side elevation on line as m, Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a cross-section of a,track,

showing one of the transverse shafts hereinalike and each being in Fig. 7, tak

after referred to, together with its connec tions and arms for tripping the same; Fig. 5, a side elevation of one of the springs designed to hold the shafts, hereinafter referred to, in normally operative position, together with the sliding support for the spring, by means of which it is prevented from doubling or becoming displaced; Fig. 6, a diagrammatic View of a target-arm with its actuating-lever and a side view of the tiltingfingers hereinafter referred to, showing the target-arms, lever, and tilting-fingers in different positions by solid and dotted lines Fig. 7, a side elevation of the forward platform of a car provided with the mechanism hereinafter descibed for actuating the various targets, hereinafter referred to, and for opening and closing the necessary circuits for operating the distant signals; Fig. 8, a front elevation of the front lower part of the same; Fig. 9, a top plan view of the motormans levers, showing in dotted lines the positions to which the levers may be thrown; Fig. 10, a top plan view of the device shown en in horizontal section beneath the platform; and Fig. 11, a diagrammatic view showing a single-track road with its turnouts and the method of wiring, hereinafter referred to.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, 1 1 are the rails of a railway. Beneath and transversely of these rails are journaled, as at 2, two parallel shafts 3 and 3 one end of these shafts passing a short distance beyond one of the rails and a further distance at the other side of theother rail. At the former end of the shaft 3 is secured an upwardly-projecting trip-arm 4, designed and arranged to impart to the shaft 3 a part of a revolution. On the inner side of the other rail is secured stub-shaft 5, upon which is j ournaled an upwardly-projecting trip-arm 4 the hub of which, 6, is formed as a segmental gear 7, which engages a like gear 8, secured to the shaft 3. By the gear here illustrated it will be seen that upon throwing the arm 4 in either direction the motion of the shaft will be reversed from the motion it would have if the arm 4 were given the same throw. The description here given of shaft 3 and its at tachments applies equally to the shaft 3 both shafts being actuated and controlled provided with the india short caters and signaling connections hereinafter referred to.

' 9 9 are target arms pivotally supported side by side upon levers 10, as at 10. Each end of the target-arms is turned upwardly and carries a target or indicator 11, num bered or lettered as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings. Upon the shafts 3 3 are secured curved fingers 12, having their ends toward each other and between which fingers the lower ends of the levers 10 project. When a shaft is rocked in one direction, one of its fingers will swing the lever 10, and with it the target-arms 8, so that the letter or figure carried at one end of the target-arm will be low ered and the letter or figure at the opposite end of the target-arm will be raised. When the shaft is swung in the opposite direction, the opposite result takes place. The targetarms being disposed side by side and in parallel relation, it will be seen that either of the' characters on either of the targets may be elevated or depressed, as may be desired.

In order that the trip-arms 4 and 4 may normally stand in vertical operative position, I employ the device now to be described. Secured to each of the shafts 3 3 is an arm 13, (see Figs. 1 and 4,) which at top is connected at opposite sides with adjacent ends of coiled sprlngs 14, the opposite ends of these springs being secured to a threaded bolt 15, passing through cross-heads 16, which is provided with lugs 17, which slide in grooves or ways 18 in housings 19. By means of nuts on the threaded bolt 15 the tensions of the spring 14 may be adjusted as desired. It will be seen that when an arm 13 is swung to the right one of the springs will be stretched, while the other one instead of being compressed moves bodily upon its support, and that when this arm 13 swings in the opposite direction its spring will be moved bodily, while the other spring 14 will be stretched, and that thus the two springs constantly hold the arms 13 and the arms 4 and 4 in normally vertical position.

Each of the levers 10 (see Fig. 6) constitutes aswitch-arm for an electric switch, and the pomts 10 and 10 form contacts, with which the arm may be thrown into electrical connection at will. The contact 10 is connected with the trolley-wire 10 or other feedw re. The point 10 is connected, as at 10, with the ground or other return conductor. The plvot 10 is electrically connected with a l1ne-wire 10 terminating at each end at neighboring turnouts and similarly connected at each end with like switches. In the line 10' at each turnout is a lamp or lamps 10 designed for signaling. It will be understood that at each turnout there are two of the switches above described connected as stated and operated, respectively, by the shafts 3 and 3. The switches and connections here described are diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 11. It should be understood, however, that the system of electric signaling here illustrated is by Way of example merely and that I do not limit my invention to this system, for obviously my automatic switching device may be employed for controlling other signaling devices and systems.

A downwardly-projecting plunger 20 is vertically movable in a guide-box 21, supported upon the truck-frame of a car. The plunger is held normally elevated by means of a spring 22, coiled about the shank of the plunger and interposed between the top of the guide-box 21 and the head of the shank. The top of the plunger 21 is engaged by one arm of a bell-crank lever 23, pivoted, as at 24, upon a bracket 25, secured to the bottom of the body of the car. The other arm of the bell-crank lever 23 is connected, by means of a connecting-rod 26, with a crank-arm 27, se cured to the bottom end of a staff 28,- supported and carrying at top a hand-crank 29 within convenient reach of the operator. The movement of this crank lowers the plunger 20, which is raised by-its spring 22 when the handle is released. While I have described one of the plungers 20 and its actuating mechanism, it should be understood that there are a pair of these plungers side by side which travel in the vertical plane of and are capable of being thrown into engagement with the arms 4 and 4*. Each of these plungers is supported and actuated in the manner above described, the two connecting rods being pivotally secured, respectively, at their forward ends to crank-arms 27 on the bottom of the staff 28. (See Fig. 10.) There is a pair of plungers 20 on each side of the car disposed at opposite sides of each of the rails and in vertical line with thefour upwardly-projecting arms 4 and 4*. (See Fig. 1.) The construction and operation of one pair of plungers has been described. The other pair of plungers is supported in the same manner as the first pair of plungers and are actuated by similar bell-crank levers and connectingrods 26; but the latter pair of connectingrods at their forward end are pivotally connected with a pair of crank-arms 27 secured to the bottom end of a hollow staff 28, having at top a crank 29*. The staff 28 is longer than the hollow staff 28* and passes through the bore of the hollow staff and projects beyond the hollow staff at both ends.

It will be seen that by giving the crank 29 a quarter-turn in one direction one of its movable plungers is thrust downwardly, while by giving this crank a quarter-turn in the opposite direction the other of its plungers is thrust downwardly. It will also be seen that spring 22 holds the plunger nor- .mally elevated and the crank normally in position for operation in either direction. It will also be seen that a like movement of the crank-arm 29 will in like manner actuate manually hold the levers 29 29 while the plunger is in operative position, I provide a locking mechanism for holding the plunger which may be in use'in lowered position. In Fig. 7, 30 is a bell-crank lever, fulcrumed,

as at 31, upon a bracket secured to the bot- 5 tom of the front platform of the car. The forward downwardly-projecting portion of the lever 30 consists of two arms 30* and 30 the former being adapted to engage notches 32 (see Fig. 10) in the hub of the crank-arms 27 on staff 28, the latter .being adapted to engage in like manner notches 33 in the hub 28 of the staff 28*. A spring 34 holds the horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever 30 elevated, so that when either of the staffs 28 28" is turned the fingers 30 30 will be automatically brought into engagement with the notches 32 33. The horizontal arm of the lever 30 carries a vertical rod which projects upwardly from the floor of the front platform of the car and has at top a foot-piece 35 within convenient reach of the operator. When either of the staffs 28 28 have been turned and locked by the spring-controlled bell-crank lever 30, the lock may be disengaged by pressing upon the foot-piece.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In a device of the described character, a railway, a shaft j ournaled transversely of the railway, and two members connected with said shaft and adapted for engagement with a vehicle movable upon the railway, the arrangement of said two members being such that their like movements actuate the shaft in opposite directions.

I 2. In a device of the described character, a shaft journaled transversely of a railway, a pair of upwardly-projecting arms whose identical movements actuate the shaft in opposite directions, an indicator controlled by to throw the proper the Shaft and signaling devices controlled by the indicator.

3. In a device of the described character, a railway, a pair of shafts ournaled transversely thereof, a pair of upwardly-projecting arms for each of said shafts, indicatortargets, connections intermediate the shafts and targets for actuating the targets, signals, means governed by the movement of the shafts for controlling the signals, a vehicle upon the railway, and means upon the vehicle for engaging at will either of said upwardly-projecting arms.

4. In a device of the described character, a single-track railway, a series of turnouts for the railway, signaling devices at each turnout, connections between the signaling devices of neighboring turnouts, indicator-tan gets at each turnout, means for actuating the signaling devices in harmony with the position of the indicator-targets, and means for actuating the targets from a vehicle moving upon the railway.

5. In a device of the described character, a railway, a pair of shafts journaled transversely of the railway, a pair of arms for each of said shafts, said pairs being arranged by their like movements to rotate their respective shafts in opposite directions, a pair of rocker-arms connected with said pair of shafts, indicator-targets mounted upon said rocker-arms, signaling devices controlled by said rocker-arms, and means for at will engaging either of said first-mentioned arms with movable members mounted upon a vehicle moving upon said railway.

6. In a device of the described character, a railway, a vehicle thereon, two concentric staffs thereon, a handle for the top of each of the staffs, a crank for the bottom of each of the staffs, a pair of rods connected with each of said cranks, a vertically-movable member connected with each of said rods, a piece disposed in the lower path of and adapted to contact with each of said vertically-movable members, and signaling devices adapted to be controlled by such contact.

In testimony whereof I afliX my'signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAML. CHOATE HARVEY.

Witnesses:

CLEM V. WAGNER. M. L. MARKS.

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