US992236A - Railway signaling apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

W. P. NEUBERT W. H. MOLELLAND. 3R.

RAILWAY SIGNALNG APPARATUS'.

APPLIGATOH FILED DE@4 30, 1909.

MEN

W. P. NEUBET & W. H. MGGLELLAND, JR.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLIATIN FILED DEO. 30, 1909-.

Paiente May 16, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M EL S S LL MN Tl.. W..

3. NEUBERT @L W. H. MGCLELLAND, JR.

RAILWAY SIGNALNG APPARATUS.

APPLGATION FILED 1330.30, 1909.

Patented May 16, 1911 Y 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEY .non 15 1 a time' eleiisejj'niecliani j `entirely automata `fi A -lfYe'j'willfdes-i'ilie f 'f jbodying "-oi'ir' inreiition'gff andi thenJ point out the nvelfeaturs'fin-'claiins" 351' Referringtol the facciiipanying dra` ings. Figureflisn aside'eleiitiom'pai-tly,in set-tion,

secti 50 Jshown in Figs. l and 2. J.-

- fl-iiimmnncr NEUBERT,- o sWssvALE. -AND WILLIAM H. MOGLI-mmm), an., or WIL-fw- KINs'n GQIfENNsiLvANIA, AssIGNoRsTofTHE UNION SWITCH AND SIGNAL CoM-,fl

' Be it known'thatwef- VALTER P. ^Nnt' iiar and WILILIHI-fH. .l\IoCi:r:LLAND,` Jr., citizens of the; United States,A residing, i respectively,

,5' in the' boroughs' otwiss'valeand Wilkinsburg, county'of Allegheny, State of Pennsyl- Vania, vlia'vevinveiited certain new and useful Improvements`in-s=RaiIway Signaling Ap'- paratus of which 1the'. following is a speciti- 10- cation Our invention A'I'felates to 4iii-)p'aratus for the y f control of railway-signaljsfand more particularly'A- to time? release I mechanisms: egobject of v`our invention `1s i to provide' view of a portionfftliefniechaiiisui, on the" and" front 'elevations` respectirely,V partly oned, o f n modification' o f the.ap'i'iaiatusy t specmcaiinpfLettersPatent. j itel'ltcd ,Application aied'necemberso,f1so9. serial No. $35,613.`r

which; shall be supported in 'the plate 8, A plan riew of: l 'Athis bracket. is shown in Fig.. l.' -This shaft; 11 is rigidly secured to the'spring,r easel-1.15

.the other end of this shaftbeing;.supported-";I l"in (he base'plate. T;

orni'of aiiiniratusrniftime the device is used.

14; Another contact. a'rni iaiiisniv on the' .l tarmA 21 matching with la.'correspondin'gly y i Aconical recess in arm 22 facilitates.. this-105 va lu" .witli shoulder 31 projectin'gfroin thefsliaft p ANyoF sWIssVALI: v IinNNsYLVarna, oRPoRATIoN or PENNSYLVANIA-3= l lupon'whicli the various parts are mounted. 55 A' clockwork mechanism 23 is mounted be# tween the hase-plate T and arplate S, th latter being: mounted on spacing studsl, in

.a manner similar to tlieordinary clock movenieiit. A niaiii-sprin .qr 50. for actuating the 60 'clock-Work mechanism is inclosed'in a spring cage 14, the inner end of the spring being secured to a shat't 12, and tli'e outer end to the inside surface ofthe cage 14.'. This clock-4 work comprises a train ot' gears'drivingf an 65 escapeinent pawl l5 tohwliicli -is'securcd a.. damper or fan 16 for the purpose of increasing'and regulating the time element of 11e-1VV lease.

- Avbracket 10.? secured to t-lielhase iilatef'i'v5 -by bolts 25, acts as a'beaiiiig for one end-of a shaft11, the other end of the shaft. being The inner end of the .shaft 11 also'acts as ai 'I bearing for one end .of the spring shaft 12,

A crank 2o. securei'l to* the shaft, 12,'serves to wind up the Aiiiain- 80 spriiig'whcn the apparatus is 'originally Setil up, after which tlns crank is heldgfrom i'otat,`

ing by being secured to the hase? plate T bymeans ot'ascrew 2T. Nmtiirther Winding. of the. fi'iiaiii-spriiigr is necessary. other thanv 85 that which a'iitoniaticifillyY takes place each. The sliaft11 is not? joiii'nziled directly in the `bracket 10.. but tiirii's freely vithin a sleeve or auxiliary shaft 20. which itself turns freely iii t lic '"90 bracket 10. Secured to thi` outer end of this sleeve 20 is a Vkiioh 1? b v means of which thoj. sleeve may he rotated. vAA contact arni 'zllris secured' to the shaft 1'1, and. is the onlyiiart 4 1..., rec-ily with the. exception ot the spijiirLr-cage. l

l tits loosely o verr: the ai'ni 21, and can he secured thereto h arms-.21 and 22'nia)7 he adjusted to any de y 100i.A

sircd angle relatively to cach other, and the. two may then be rigidly clanipedto'gfcthei b vineans of the nut 32.. A conical surface on clamping Projecting from tlievslee'iel20. is

28, the" face A ofwhich may engage 2Q are rotated .iii a clockj wise direction tlieycarry with 'them vthe arms E o1 contact springs yon each side, although limited byalug on ltli e .fslce ve ing a stop on 45stop 40. ASprings 37 and 38 will tlieiibe by means-of thejknob', the'clockwork mechaf nism beyond the shaft A19iis detached from the spring cage vby a 'tated counter-clockwise. so the gagement.. When,vhowever, the main spring 21 ,and--22,"and, the shaft'llA to which. thee' arms are secured..- 7 y I Secured near the outer end of contact arm 22 is a pointer 3 3 which moves over a l graduated dial34s-W.4 i

Mounted 'upon the bracket 10, 4'and suit# ably insulated therefrom are contact springs 35, 313. 3T and 3S". tofwhicli electrical circuits may be vconnected 'by'.iiicaiis ot' .terminal posts 3 9'. These contact springs are ai'- ranged in' pairs, the pair and 3G heilig closed-when pressed together by contact arm 2l, and the .pair 37 and 38 being similarly closed when pressed together by contact' arm 22. ln the drawings we have shown two sets the apparatusniay be designed to acconiino date any desired numberot springs, depending upon thenumher of circuits to be conti'oll'ed.v 'v'llie :pressure of the contact arms upon these .springs'isliiiiited :by stops, the movement of'tlie arms in oii'edirectioii being 2t) 'engagaiidiii the 22;engaging aA the bracket 10,` other. direction byv the arm lug 40 on the-braeketfl l The eiitir'iiiecliani fn. is protec.te`d froni improperjoperati'oi -aiitlljfroin' dirt \byv a glass cover' JjY which may..v be locked 'iii place by means offii pad-lockthrough a staple'hl The operation,of capp'aratus is as .t'olows:-Assuiniiigthe. mechanism to liefasv seinbledandthe"maiirspring to have been originally wound byliiieaiis ofthe crank 2li, thenormal" vv'sitioiifwotf the parts will be asr shown in "Fig,-"2, 'springs 3 5 and 36 being closed and springsBT and`38o ien. When cloekwise direction .by A'the 4operator until eontactfarin 22 engaging the closed."A 'Upon releasing Vthe knob,l the clock- )vork mechanism' will' operate to return the contact arms yto their normal position shown in Fig; 2, the"1ength of rtime required frthe return de ending upon' the a-ngl of adjustment getween contact arms" 21' and 22. As shownl inthe acom` nying'figures, thistime 'is 2 minutes. he time which has elapsed since the{arnisfleft their wound-up position may :be r'ea any instant during,r the Arelease; bythe .p n of the pointer on the dial. Duringlt e 'process of winding wlfl? 'and\ ratchetV wheel 18. That is, whi e the spring cage 14 is being rotated -by hand in a clockwise direction, the shaft 19 and ratchet 18 are roawl slips over the teeth ofthe ratchet without en- `lield in thcwouiid-up posi -'jiist described may be termed a normally uiiwouiid i type; that is, when not in actual usetlie iiiaiiispring is noi-mall)y unwouiid as -far as an)- winding on the part ol the operator is concerned, andv llie contactl arms rest normally iii contact willi the stop 30, springs 35 and Bti being closed. hint-lier type of the release apparatus is sometimes desirable, in which the maiiispring is nor.` mally wound up to its fullest extent., springs iii-*and 3S being closed by the contact arms resting noriiially'against the stop lt) until released by a slight movement oii the part'. of the operator. ',l`o accomplish this purpose we use a naalilication ot' our invention, shown iii Figs. T and S. The parts'of the apparatus are precisely the same as ih the type liereinbefore described. with the addition of a lock shaft 1l and' a spring 16. This shaft carries t'onr lugs 'l). 43, 4t and which engage with other parts of the inechanisni as follows: When the knob is turned in a clock-wise direction by the op` crater to wind the spring, .as liereinhefore described, a shoulder -t on contact aiiii 22,

Yis engaged by the lug lt carried on parts are thereby.

shaft. 4l, and the rotatingy tion as shown in Fig. S. The contact ai'iiis'iiiay be released, however, wheiila reverse rotation is4 desired, by turning the knob ll backward, wlieref upon the l'acc l ol the lug 28 carried by" the sleeve :20 presses downward on thc lock shaft lug if), rotating the lock shalt 41 through a small are, thus permitting theslioiilder l? to pass' by the lug 44, and the lcontact a'ims to begin their backward movenient under the action ot.' the main spring.' 'lhe lock shaft is held by a spring 46 in sucli a position as to be ready to engage the contact arms when they are again rotated by means of the knob 13, and it is prevented from being rotated too far under the. action of the spring t6 by a shoulder 52 on the bracket l0 which engages with liig 43 on the lock shaft. This normally wound type-of our time release apparatus may be .used at any time, as a .iioriiially unwoiiiid g type, the only difference in operationbeiiig that immediately after winding the spring by'av clock-wise rotation of the knob, the operator must give the knob a slight backward rotation, whereupon the -contact arms will be at once released and driven backward by the niain-spring iiiy the usual inanner.- Furthermore the apparatiis `may be lreadily changed from the normally wound type to the normally unwound, or rice versa, by thcsiniple insertion or removal of the lock shaft 41 and its spring' it The time-release apparatus embodying ananas our invention may be operated in two ways: (a.) by hand, as hereinhefore described; and (7;) by mechanical attachment to a lever of a hand operated or power operated interlocking i'i'iachine. ll'hen hand operatml. the.

retaining lock shaft is used itl the device is to be normally wound up, and not used iiI normally unwound. The arrangement ot' circuits will determine in each case which form is to be used. lWhen operated by attachment to an interlocking machine, the retaining lock-shaft is, o't course, never used. The apparatusmay be changed on the ground from hand operated to mechanically operated, or vice versa, by intel-changing the knob with a sui-table lever attachment.

It will be noted that the slow-releasing feature of the apparatus of our invention is entirely automatic'in its action, the time required for a complete movement from the wound-up position to the run-down position depending` only upon the angle of adjustment between the contact arms. Under no circumstances is the operator able by turn'- ing the knob backward, to varythe time required to effecta release. y

Having described our invention, whatwe claim is:

l. A circuit controlling device comprisingv two oppositely7 arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively with the two sets of contacts, means for rotating said arms in one direction at a` constant angular velocity from engagement with one set of contacts to engagement with the other set of contacts, and means for varying the angle between the two arms and thereby varying the period of timeconsumed in the said rotation;

2. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively vwith the two sets of contacts, means for rotating the arms in one direction from engagement with oneh setof contacts to engagement with the other -set of contacts, means for vriying the angle between the two arms and for thereby varying the period of time consumed in the said rotation, a speed regulating device for controlling the speedv of said rotation, and means for ren.- dering the speed-regulating device inoperative during a rotation of the arms in the opposite direction.

3. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted for engagement respectively with the two sets of contacts, means for'rotating said arms in one direction from engagement with one set of contacts toengagement with the other set ot' contacts, and a motor device, independent of the said means, for rotating the arms at a constant angular velocity in the other direction.

4. Acircuit controlling device comprising sinned in the said rotation.

two oppositelyV arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted 'tor engagement. respectively with the two sets ot contacts, means for rotating said arms in one direction .trom engagement with one set. ot' contacts to engagen'ient with the other set ot' contacts, a motordevice, independent of the said means,

for rotating the arms in the opposite direction, a slwed-regulating device for controlling the speed of the said motor device, and means Jor rendering the said speed regulating device inoperative during a rotation ot `the arms in the first-mentioned direction.

5. A circuitcontrolling device comprising two oppositely arranged sets of contacts, two armsadapted for engagementv respectively with the two sets ot' contacts, means -for rotating said arms in one direction from engagement with one set of contacts to engagement with the other set ot contacts, a

motor device independent oi' said means, for rotating the arms at a constant angular velocity in theopposite direction, and means for varying the angle between the said arms and thereby varying the period of time consumed in the rotation by the motor device.

6. A circuitcontrolling device comprising two oppositely arranged sets of contacts, two arms adapted Jfor engagement respectively with the two sets of contacts, a motor device i'or rotating the arms at a constant l angular velocity in one direction from engagement with one set ot' contacts to engagement with the other set or contacts, a

pointer rotating with the said arms to indicate the progress of time during the Vsaid rotation, and means for varying the angle thereby rotating the arms from operative engagement with one setot contact tingers to operative engagement with the opposite set of contactfingers and means for varying the angle between the two arms and for thereby varying the period ot time consumed in the said rotation.

8. A circuit controlling device comprising two oppositely arranged sets of contacts, a

shaft carrying two arms adapted for engagement respectively with -the two sets of` contacts, means for rotatihg said shaft in one direction at a constant angular velocity and thereby rotating thearms from engagement with one set otcontacts to enea gement with the opposite set of contacts, and means for varying the anglevbetween the two arms and thereby varying the period ot' time con- D. A, eil-Cuit controlling device comprising two sets of electric contacts, eaoh set Com-- prising: a stationary member and a movable member adapted for engagement therewith,

a shalt cari-ying the movable members, a motor devine 'for rotating said shaft in one (lil-eolien at a constant angular velocity and the1eh \v rotating the movable members from engagement with one stationary member to engagement with the other stationary meinhei'. and means for varying the angle between the two movable members and `thereby ai'ying the period of time consumed in Said rotation.

In testimony whereof7 We have signed our names to this speeieation, in the pzesenee of two subscribed Witnesses Vfl/HITLER l?. i NEUBERT. WILLIAM H. MCCLELLAND, llfitnesses F.. L. VVALTON, T. G-Eo. WILLsoN.

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