US829606A - Railway-signal. - Google Patents

Description

N0. 829,606. PATENTBD AUG. 28, 1906.

B. J. SHEEHY. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAYfi. 1903. RENEWED JAIL-22, 1906.

UNITED-STATES! PATENT onnion,

ROBERT' SHEEHY,OF NEW YORK; N. Y.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

Specification or Letters Patent.

' Patented Aug. as, 1906.

Application filed Kay 5, 1903. Renewed Iannary 22, 1906. Serial No- 297.222.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ROBERT J. SHEEHY, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of New York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Signals, of which the following is a 'full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to automatic elec tric-railway-si nals-adaptedeither for single -or double trac roads and designed to afford 7 the greatest degree of safety and sureness of operation with a minimum amountofwiring and apparatus.

In accordance wlth my lnventlon'the signals are laced upon the trains, usually in thecab of t e locomotive or the compartment occu ied by the motorman. The track is divid is so arranged that the roximity of trains either ap roaching or fol owing each other is indicate for either direction of travel without the use of any electrical conductors becircuits carried by'the locomotive.

I I will first describe the apparatus carried by the locomotives. There is a battery A, an electromagnet B, having an oscillating armature-lever b, a normally-lighted pilot-lamp a, visual and audible signals 0 and d, respectively, toast as danger-signals, and an indicator 0, whose electroinagnet e is normally in series with magnet B and whose armature carries an index e, the-coils of magnet 6 also serving as a balancing resistance, as will be hereinafter explained. On the truck of the car or train I is mounted a contact-lever f, pivoted at f and carrying at one end a contact-rollerf and at theopposite end adapted to engage a terminal against which the lever is ordinarily held by a s ring, as shown.

From the battery one side 0 the circuit leads by wire 1 to the truck-frame and car' wheels; From the other side the circuit leads by wire 2 through magnet B, wire 3, to lever f, terminalf wire 4, indicator-magnet e, wire .5, and

ed into blocks, as usual, and my system wire to battery. Thus both magnets are normally energized and while'in thisoondition-the pilot-lamp a is supplied with current over a branch-circuit leading from wire 2 to the armature-lever I), contact 7, wire 8, lamp,

- a, and wire 6 to the opposite terminal of the battery.

- The two rails of a single-track road are indicated by g and g. They aredivided into blocks or sections by insulation 9 If trains run in both directions over this track, auxiliary contact-rails h are arranged adjacent to 1 each of the main rails, those on one s1de being for trains going in one direction, while:those on the other s1de are for trains going in the opposite direction. These contact rails begin at oints adjacent to the insulation g and With-it and before it passes it. The lever f, carried by the locomotive, maybe assumed to be located on the right-hand side of the train in such a position that the roller f 2 will ride' upon the rails it upon the same side of the "exten backward a sufficient distance to en-' able the train to stop after it makes contact track, said lever f being tilted thereby and.

withdrawn from the terminalf. At the ad jacent ends of the blocks are'located two sets of apparatus, one cooperating with the trains going in one directionand the other with the trains going in,the o posite direction; but the apparatus for one irection coo crates in a measurewith the apparatus for t e other di- I reetion at a distant end of the block.

The apparatus for trains moving in one di' rect1onsay from west to e'ast-.cons1sts of a,

battery I- and two electromagnet 'J and K, respectively. Magnet J has two windings, the second one being indicated by 7' and consisting of a few turns onlyl ates two armature-levers and 9', both having front and back stops and theformer hav-' ing a lighter spring than the latter, so that themagnet must be stronger to pull up lever 7' than to pull up the lever j. Magnet K has a single armature-lever k with front and back stops.

The apparatus for trains traveling from east to west consists of a battery 0 and two electroniagnets L and M, each having a single .armature-leverl and m with their front and which now-follows. The condition in which Magnet J actu- I through lever 7',

. j and. its backstop,

' against its backstop,

a from the west and to have a clear track the apparatus is shown is that when no trainsare on the blocks. Magnet J at one end of block X and magnet L at the other end of the same block are energized by battery I, over the following circuits: first, from battery by wires 9 and 10, magnet J, wire 11, main rail g, wire 12, lever 7c, wire 13, and battery; second, from battery by wires 9 and 10, main rail g, wire 14, magnet L, wire 15, main rail 9, Wire 12, lever k, wire 13 to battery. The current flowing through J is sufficient to hold up lever j, but not lever j,'and the current in magnet L holds up lever Z. All other levers are on their back stops as the magnets are denergized.

Let us now assume a train to proach ahead. runs'onto rail. h at the end of block Y and disconnects the terminal f. The circuit of indicator 0 being thus opened, the index e moves to the opposite osltion, thus showing tothe engineer when he strikes the auxiliary rail. This indicator may be a bell, ifdesired, but it serves to call the en ineers attention to the signals which are a out to follow and informs him when the roller f is on the auxiliary rail. traced from battery A on the locomotives as follows: by wire 2, magnet B, wire '3, lever f,

Its roller f rail h, wire 16, lever j, wire 17, magnet K,

wire 18, wire-.11, coil 7', front stop of lever 9',

wheels and axles and wire 1 to battery. Hence magnet B on the locomotive is now in circuit With magnet K and coil on the roadway in stead-of withindicator-magnet C. Now the combined resistance of magnet K and coil-j is substantially equahto. that of the indicator 0. Hence the 'conditionof magnet B. remains unchanged and. the pilot-lamp continues toburn,'thus giving a clear signal. The funo-" tion of coilj may best be explained here. It will be seen that the circuit just traced includes the lever 7' and its front stop, This lever is held by magnet J in-circuit' with lever is as before traced. I This circuit is broken by thepnergizing of magnet K. Hence coil 7' which is energized simultaneously with'K, is used-to retainlever 1' against its front stop.

N 'ow suppose atrain had preceded the firstmentioned train and had not yet left the block. X ahead. The wheels and axles of the trainin block X inspanningthe two railsg and g would shortcircuit battery I, and thus deprive magnets J andL of, current, the short circuit being as follows: from .battery I by wires 9 and 10-to rail g, I and axles to railg, wire 12, lever K and wire 13 to battery. Hence lever 7' would besothat: when the train from the west-strikes rail h the-circuit before traced. willbe open at; the front sto of lever, 7'. Hence magnet B in the cab wil be'de'e'nstrikes the rail A circuit can now be the length of the rail wire 19, to mam rail 9, 'cargiven.

the latter train its frontstop through the wheels -b ergized and its armature will move to the position shown in dotted lines, the pilot-lamp will go out, and a circuit will be established thniugh the visual signal 0 and audible signal d,'a

been traveling west, thus making imminent a head-on collision with the train approaching from the west, it will be seen that the trainin X would get a danger-signal the moment it.

struck the rail h at the end of block X for the reason that the train on the block Y short circuits the battery I at the west end of the block Y and deenergizes magnet L at the east end of block Y, so that when the train in X h the circuit of magnet B in the cab is opened, as will now be traced:

giving a danger-' If the train in block X happened to have from rail h by wire 22, lever Z, at which,

point the circuit is open, its back stop. Hence the train on block X will be notified in time to come to a stop before colliding with the train on block Y, since it is sufficient within which to stop the train.

We now suppose a train in block Z to be going west with, a clear track ahead. When it strikes rail h, terminating at the end of since the lever is on.

block, Z, the closed circuit through the cab-.

magnet B is maintained and the clear signal, the circuit being as follows through the track apparatus: from rail h. by wire 22, lever ,1, front stop, M, wire 27, to main rail. f ahead on block X, battery I a train had been the engineer gets wire 26, magnet.v

wouldhave beenshort-circuited, magnet L deenergized, and its. lever Zagainst its back stop. Hence the on.-

cuit before traced for the train on Z would beopen at lever land a dangeresignalwould. be

case thetrainon the block Z going west strikes the contact-rail hv just before another train going east on. block Y is on the milk will be stopped, because the train on Z will close the circuit of magnet M, which will draw its armature-lever m against rails g and g and 24, and this extra battery, actingiin conjunct'ionwith battery I, will cause magnet. J

topull up its second armature-lever 'f, so.

on Ystrikes the .rai ,h its trainzon Z' will proceed and place. battery 0 acrossthe. of block X through the wires 23;

on'open c1'rcuit,' as can.

will stopwhile the, until it strikes the next rail It at the end of block X, when it will be a stopped in. the manner before described,

As soon as thetrainleaving Z enters-.X thev battery I will-be short-circu ited throughzthe,

wheels and axlesand the armature-lever '7' r to danger.

will go to its back stop, still-leaving the circuit of train on block Y open;(at' j) and its signal It'wi'll thus be seen that when the train on Y got the danger-signalfrom the train on Z the trains were more apart.

than a whole block This fact become'sladvantage'ous in equipping portions of theroad where grades occur. If, for instance, the train onY was a heavy one and running downgrade on-slippery tracks, the length of block X would give the train time to stop, notwithstanding the difiicult of stopping under such conditions, and back up before collision with the train approaching from Z. The same operation "would take place with respect to the train on Z if that on Y wasfirst to strike its rail h, for it .willbe seen that the train on Y would energize magnet K and open the circuit of bat tery I, thus causing magnet L to release its armature and presenting to the train on Z an Train on Z open circuit and danger signal. stops until train on Y reaches the rail h on X, whenit too is stopped but train on Z meanwhile had nearly the whole lengthof X to stop in and back up.

The contacts 0 and 0 on the M magnets may be used as the terminals of an independ ent circuit, extending to a signalon a cross ing road to give noticethat train is or is not about to passon the main 1" ad.

It will be seen that whilea train isrunning a block battery I is short-circuited and the magnet L behind, as well asithe magnet J in front, is denergized, thus providing for a danger signal to trains approaching the same block from either direction, and this without the use of wires along the block. If a train ahead is stopped, the train on the block will be held up when it reaches rail h at the end of a block. Having described my invention, I claim 1; In a railway signal system, the combination of a track-block, an electromagnet at each end thereof, a battery with which said magnets are connected in parallel through circuits including the two track-rails of the block, local signal-loops at each endof the block controlled by the respective magnets and means for connecting the terminals of the loops with a signal-circuit on a train.

2. In a railway signal system, the combination of a track-block, an electromagnet at each end thereof, a battery'energizing both magnets through a circuit including the two rails of the block, local signal-loop circuits at each end of the block controlled by the respective magnets, and-traimcircuits includ ing signals and adapted to cooperate with said l'ocal circuits to produce a signal on the train, substantially ,as described.

3. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a single-track road divided into blocks, signal-controlling apparatus at contro cuit including a battery, a signal-magnet and adjacent block limits, the same being elec trically connected together through the intervening rails of the track only, signals on trains and means whereby said signals will be displayed on trains approaching a block from either direction notifying them of the presence of a train in'saidblock regardless of the direction of movement of the latter train.

4. In an automatic signaling system, the combination of a road divided into blocks, a local loop-circuit at the block limit normally terminating at tWo points on the road side, a signal-circuiton a train including a battery and signal magnet and terminating at two points adapted to engage the first-mentioned two points respectively to throw both circuits into one, an electromagnet anda batter adapted to hold the local circuit norma ly closed, and a short-circuit to said batter adapted to be closed by spanning the ra' s. I v

- 5. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a track divided into blocks, a

local partial circuit at each block limit including two electromagnets whose armatures said local partial circuit, a train-cira resistance e ual to that of both electromagnets in thecloser carried by the train and adapted to connect the local and train circuits together andat thesame time out out the resistance,

for the purpose set forth.

' 6. In an automatic signaling system, the

combination of a track divided into blocks, a 'local partial circuit at each block limit including an electroma et, a'local battery at theblock limit, an e ectromagnet at a distant block limit, a circuit including the batteryand distant magnet, a circuit-breaker in said circuit and controlled by said magnet in coal partial circuit, a circuitthe local partial circuit and means whereby a by the second ma net and including the first e e ctromagnet an the second battery, means whereby one train will actuate the second electromagnet and means carried by another train and cooperating with said local circuit to produce a signal for the second train, substantially as described.

8. In a railway signaling system, the combination of a roadside circuit, a road-side battery adapted to be shunted by s anning the rails, an electromagnet normal y main mining said circuit in condition to give a In witness whereof I subscribe my signaclear signal, a. signal train-circuit, a train-batture in presence of two wltnesses.

te and means whereb the train will con-' ne both circuits "in 011 series circuit and ROBERT SHEEHY' 5 actuate the train-signal by means of the Witnesses:

trainbattery in accordance with the condi- WM, A. ROSENBAUM,

tiqn of the road-side circuit. WALDO M. CHAPIN.

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