US911961A

US911961A - Automatic safety appliance for railways.

Info

Publication number: US911961A
Application number: US43671508A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard D Farrell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1908-06-04
Filing date: 1908-06-04
Publication date: 1909-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1926-02-09

Description

R. D. FARRELL. AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYSp APPLICATION FILED JUNE 4, 190B.

91 1,961. Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETSv-SHEET 1.

W tt messes Q t attozum R. D. FARRELL.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANGE FOR RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATIONQILED JUNE 4, 1908.

' 91 1,961 Patented Feb. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v m l humus RICHARD 1). FARRELL, OI" TYRONE, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAYS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. o, 1909.

Application filed. June 41, 1998. Serial No. 436,715.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, RICHARD D. FARRELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'lyrone, in-the county of Blair and State of 5 .Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Automatic Safety Appliance for Railways, of which thefollowing is a specification.

i i i I i' responding The invention relates to improvements in f automatic safety appliances for'railways.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of safety appliances for railways, and to provide a simple and comparatively inexpensive safety appliance, adapted to be easily installed on railroads, and capable, should an engineer attempt to pass under a danger signal without stopping, of automaticallyventing or bleeding the train pipe of the air brake system 1 and of sounding the whistle signal within the cab of the locomotive, and of displaying or lighting an electric light in front of the engineci', so that the engineer if alive will have his attention called to the danger signal, and

if dead, will have. his engine stopped by a complete application of the brakes.

A further object of the invent-ion is to provide a safety appliance of this character adapted to maintain the air brake bleeding valve in an open position until the train is brought to a standstill, and capable of then automatically re-settrng itself and of permitting the brake valveto close.

With these and other objects in view, the

'flfginvention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended; it being. understood that 40 variouschanges in the form, proportion,

size and minor details of construction, within the scope 'of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spiritor sacriiicing any of the advantages of the invention.

in the drawings:l*igure 1 is an elevation,

partly in section, of a safety appliance consti-ucted in accordance with this invention, he tripping device being arranged in the path of the oscillatoryvalve opening lever.

Fig. 2 is a similar view,illustrating the manner of operating the valve openinglever. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view. Fig. 4 1s an'enlarged detail sectional view of the is an en- Like numerals of reference designate cor-- parts in. all the figures of the drawings. i

1 designates an air brake bleeding valve,

movable vertically within a valve casing,-

whlch is connected to a pipe 2 in communication with the train pipe, whereby when the valve is opened, as hereinafter explained, pressure in the train pipe will be reduced for applying the air brakes. The pipe 2, which is arranged vertically, has its upper end 3 threaded for the reception of a nipple 4, which is interiorly and exteriorly threaded, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The nipple connects the valve casing with the pipe 2 and the said valve casing is composed of upper and lower sections 5 and 6. The lower section 6, which'is in the form of a cap, is interiorly threaded and engages exterior screwthreads 7 of the lower end of the upper section of the casing. The said lower section 6 is also provided with a reduced depending interiorly threadcdportion 8, which screws on tqthe nipplel. The upper section is provided with a vertical bore or opening 9, having its lower portion enlarged andtapered to form a seat for the valve 10, which is tapered as shown. The upper portion of the valve is also provided with transverse discharge passages 11, through which the air escapes when the valve is open. The valve, which is movable vertically, is provided with an upwardly extending valve stem 13, and it has a recess 14 in its lower face for the reception of the up per end of a vertically disposed spiral spring 15, seated on the lower section of the casing and adapted to hold the valve 1 normally in its closed position. The spring alsoopen. ates to automatically close the valve after the latter has been operated and released by Fig. 3 of drawings.

The top 18 of the cab 19 provided'with an opening, and the valve casing'is equipped with a pair of upwardly extending arms 20, extending through the opening and forming a support for a double acting oscillatory lever 21.

The lever 21, which extends above the top of the cab, is provided at its lower end with a pair of spaced downwardly extending projections 22, normally located at opposite sides of the valve stem 13, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, whereby the valve stem will be depressed and the valve opened, when the lever is moved in either direction in a perpendicular position. Thelower end of the vertical lever is provided between the projections 22 with a comparatively curved edge 23, forming a recess and providing opposite cam portions for actuating the valve stem; per end with a seat or recess 24, and when the lever is oscillated, one of the projections 22 is carried to a point directly beneath the pivot 25 of the lever 21, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In this position such projection or pointed portion 22 engages the seat or recess 24 of the upper end of the valve stem, and the combined pressure of air and the coiled spring 15 is sufficient to maintain the lever in engagement with the upper end of the valve stem, whereby the valve will be held open until the train is stopped. When the air pressure within the train pipe is re duced sufficiently to eiiect a complete application of the brakes and stop the train, the lever 21 is automatically returned to its perpendicular position by means of opposite coiled springs 26, located in advance and in rear of the lever 21 and arranged at an inclination. The springs 26 are secured at their lower ends to the top of the cab, and their upper ends are attached to the lever 21. When the lever is moved either backwardly or forwardly from a perpendicular position, one of the springs will be distended and will operate to return the lever to its vertical position as soon as the lever is free to move.

The lever 21 is equipped at its upper end with a horizontally disposed substantially oblong loop 27, having curved end portions and preferably constructed of asingle piece of metal, the terminals of which are bolted, or otherwise secured to the upper end of the lever 21. The loop, which projects laterally upon the lever in each direction a considerable distance, is provided for enabling tripping devices in diil'erent vertical planes to be employed for operating the safety appliance." v

The safety appliance is operated by a tripping ,device, consisting of a lever 28, fulcrumed at an intermediate point by a bolt 29, or other suitable fastening device to a bracket 30, or other suitable support. The inner arm 31 of the tri )ping device is provided with a slot 32 an is connected by a bolt 83, or other suitable fastening device The valve stem is provided in its up- 1 with a rod or bar 34, which is connected with a pivoted semaphore 35. The semaphore is operated in the usual manner by 0 eratin mechanism including a rod 36 and a bel crank lever 37, fulcrumed at its angle and having one of its arms connected wlth the rod 34 by a slot and pin connection, as shown at 38. The tripping device may be connected with a semaphore, or other signal in any other preferred manner, as will be readily understood. hen the semaphore is raised to display it, the tripping device is swung downward into the path of the valve operating lever, and should a train attempt to run past the signal, the loop of the lever will come in contact with the tripping device arid the valve will be opened and locked in such position, as before explained.

The lever engaged arm 39 of the tripping device is approximately U-shapcd and is provided with a hinged. side 40, pivoted at 41 and depending below the opposite side of the U-shaped arm or portion, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The pivoted member when in operativeposition is arranged at an inclination, and its upper end is reduced to fit in a slot or perforation of the body portion of the lever, suitable shoulders being provided at the joint for limiting the inward movement of the pivoted side or member. The hinged side is yieldably held in operative position with relation to the rest of the tripping lever by means of a coiled spring 42, connected with the )ivoted side 40 and with the opposite side, the sides of the U-shaped arm or portion being equigped with eyes or other suitable means for t 1e attachment of the ends of the spring. The coiled spring 42 is of sulficient strength to secure an operation of the lever 21, and when the lever has reached the limit of its movement, the tripping device permits the said lever to pass beyondit, whereby prevented. The upward movement of the pivoted side 40 of the tripping lever is limited by means of a lug or pro ection 43, extending from the body portion of the lever and located at the outer side and above the pivoted side or member 40, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. When the semaphore is dropped, ,motion is communicated to the tripping device, which is swung u ward out 01" the path of the lever 21. T is movement of the lever 21 from a perpendicular position is limited by means of a pair of downwardly diverging arms 44, located in advance and in rear of the pivot 25 and ex tending downward therefrom and terminating in advance and in rear ofthe projections 22. The valve casing operates as a stop and is engaged by the arms 44 for limiting the movement of the lever 21, and the lower ends of the said arms 44 are provided with heads 45 having rounded edges and adapted to operate push buttons 46 of an electric circuit 47 breakage of the parts is The electric circuit 47 includes a suitablehattery lli-and an electric light 49, mounted in the cab in front of the engineer. The push buttons are mounted in suitable supports 50, which are carried by the bracket lo, and the lever 21 when at'the limit of its mo vementin either direction is adapted to hold one of the push buttons in a depressed position for maintaining a closed circuit. The

preferably formed by a spring 56, secured at an intermediate point to a stem 57. The stem 57, which is arranged at an angle to the lever, has an enlarged outer end or head 58, having a recess or seat to receive the intermediate attached portion of the spring 56': The recess or seat is concavely curved and the stem and the arms form a substantially Y-shaped whistle operating device. One or the other of the arms of the whistle operating device will engage the whistle valve when the lever 21 is moved in either direction and when the lever is operated the brake will not only be applied, but the signal whistle will be blown and the electric light displayed. The

light, which may be either white or colored,

is preferably of the latter type to distinguish it from an ordinary electric light.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. An automatic safety appliance for railways including a brake valve, a pivoted lever movable in either direction to open the valve and arranged to be retained in engagement with the valve by the air pressure to hold the valve open, and a tripping device adapted to be moved into the path of the lo ver.

2. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve, a pivoted lever movable in either direction to engage and open the valve and arranged to he maintained in engagement with the. valve by the pressure of air, and means for automatically disengaging the lever from the valve to return the former to its initial position after there has been a considerable reduction in the pressure of air.

3. An automatic safety'appliance for railways including a brake valve, a spring for automatically closing the same, a pivoted lever movable in opposite directions to engage and open the valve and arranged to be nmmt-ained in engagement with the said' valve by the air pressure when the same is relatively high, and springs connected withthe lever for disengaging the lever from the valve to return the lever to its normal position and to permit the valve to close when the air pressure is relatively low. 4. An automatic safety appliance for railw ys including an air brake valve, a spring for automatically closing the same, a lever movable in either direction to engage and open the valve andarranged tobe maintained in such engagei'nent when air pressure is relativel hi h and inclined s )rin s arran ed in advance and in rear ol'the lever for disengaging the lever from the valve when the air pressure is relatively low. I

5. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve, and a pivoted lever having spaced portions arranged to engage and open the valve when the lever is moved in either direction, said valvebeing also, provided with means col'iperating with the engaged portions to maintain the lever in its engaged position.

6-. An automatic safety appliance l'or railways including an air brakefvalvo provided with a recess or seat, and an oscillz'itory lever having spaced projecting portions arranged to actuate and open the valve when the lever is moved in either direction, said projections being adapted to be carried into engagement with 'the seat to maintain the valve in its open position.

7. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve having a seat, and an oscillatory lever provided with spaced engaging portions arranged to be carried into engagement with the seat to limit theswing ol' the lever when the latter is moved in. either'd-irection, said" lever being provided between'thc projecting portions with curved cam edges for opening the valve.

8. An automatic sal'cty appliance for rail ways including an air brake valve, and an oscillatory lever havingspaced projecting portions arranged to engage and open the valve and maintain the same in its open position, said lever being also provided with spaced projecting arms arranged to limit the movement of the lever. 1

9. An automatic sal'cty appliance for railways including an air brake valve, and an oscillatory lever having spaced projecting portions arranged to engage and open the valve and maintain the same in its open position,

said lever being also provided with spaced projecting arms arranged to limit the move' ment of the lever, and opposite springs connected. with the lever for automatically returning the lever to its initial position.

10. An automatic sal'ety app iancc for railways including an air brake valve having arecess, a spring for automatically closing the valve, an oscillatory lever provided with spaced projecting portions arranged to open t e valve and engage the recess thereof andadapted to be maintained in such engagement by relatively high air pressure, said lever being also provided with arms arranged to limit its movement, and opposite springs connected with the lever for disengaging the same from the valve to return the lever to its normal position and to permit the valve to close when the air pressure is relatively low.

11. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve provided with a casing having upwardly projecting supports, a lever pivoted between the up w wardly projecting supports and provided and move when the .4

with depending diverging arms arranged to engage the casing to limit the movement of. the lever, said lever being also provided with spaced projecting portions for engaging and opening the valve, and opposite springs connected with the lever for returning the same to its normal position.

12. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve, a lever for opening the same, a signal whistle, a valve connected with the carried by the lever and arranged to engage and operate-the signal whistle valve when the said lever is moved in either direction.

13. An automatic safety appliance for railways including a signal whistle, a valve connected with the whistle, an oscillatory lever, and spaced engaging portions carried by the lever and arranged to operate the valve when the lever is moved in either direction. a

14. An automatic safety appliance for railways includirw a signal whistle, a valve connected with the whistle, an oscillatory lever, and resilient diverging arms carried by the lever and arranged to engage the valve lever is moved in either direction.

15. An automatic safety appliance for railways includinga signal whistle, a valve connected with t e whistle, an oscillatory lever, a stem extending from the lever and rovided with an enlargement or head hava seat, and a spring secured at an intermediate point in the seat and having divergin arms arranged to engage and operate the va ve when the lever is moved in either direction.

16. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve, a lever arranged to engage and open the valve, and an electric circu1t having an electric light and provided with circuit closing means arranged to be engaged and operated by the said lever.

17. An automatic safety appliance for railways comprising anautomatic air brake valve, a. pivoted lever movable in opposite same, and means directions to open the valve, and a circuit including an electric light, and circuit closing means located at opposite sides of the i valve and located in the path of and adapted to be operated by the lever. 18;' An automatic safety appliance for lrailways comprising an air brake valve, a l casing for the valve, a pivoted lever movable in opposite directions to open the valve and provided with arms arranged to engage the casing for limiting the movement of the lever, and a -circuit including an electric light, and opposite circuit closing devices arranged to be operated by the arms of the lever. I

19. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an air brake valve, a lever movable in opposite directions to enga e and open the valve, a circuit having an electric light and providedwith circuit closing means arranged in the path of'and adapted to be operated by the lever, a whistle signal valve, and means carried by the lever for enga ing and operating the said whistle signal va ve.

20. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatory lever, and a tripping device movable into and out of the path of the lever and having a yieldable portion for actuating the lever provided with means for automatically returning it to its normal position.

21. Anautomatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatory lever, and a tripping device movable into and out of the path of the lever and having a pivoted member, and a spring connected with the pivoted in operative positlon and for automatically returning the pivoted member to its normal position.

22. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatory lever, and an approximately U-shaped pivoted tripping device havinga pivoted side arranged to swing outward, and a spring connecting the pivoted side with the opposite side of the tripping device.

23. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an oscillatory lever, and a substantially U-shaped pivoted tripping device composed of a body portion, and a pivoted member arranged to swing outward, a lug extending from the body portion for limiting the outward movement of the pivoted member, and a spring connected with the pivoted member for holding the same normally at the limit of its inward movement.

24. An automatic safety appliance for signal, a pivoted tripping device having a yieldable member provided with means for automatically returning it to its normal position, and means for communicating inoticn lfrom the signal to the tripping device fer member for yieldably maintaining the same I railways including an oscillatory lever, a

into and out of the path of the operating lever.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto atfixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD D. FARRELL.

movin the same into and out of the path of the lever.

25. An automatic safety appliance for railways including an operating lever de- 5 signed to be carried by a train at the top thereof and provided With a loop extending from opposite sides of he lever, a semaphore, and a tripping device consisting of a lever Witnesses: i pivotally mounted between its ends and JNo. K. MILLER, 10 connected with the semaphore and movable H. W. BROWNELL.