USRE14446E - Frank l - Google Patents

Description

F. L. DODGSON.

SELECTIVE RELAY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1917.

Reissued Mar. 26, 1918.

M Q H we fi 31 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. DODGSON, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY, OF GATES, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SELECTIVE RELAY.

Specification of keissued Letters Patent. Reissued Mar, 26 1918. Original I0. 1,179,893, dated April 11, 1916, Serial No. 873,198, filed November 20, 1914. Application for reissue fled February 2, 1917. Serial No. 146,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. DODGSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Selective Relay, of which the following is a specificatlon.

such as a bell, a lamp, or a semaphore lo' cated on a highwa which crosses a railroad track at grade. uch crossing signals are usually controlled by relays controlled by the passage of trains. When such signals are controlled from a track on which the trafiic moves in both directions, it is necessary that they be operated by trains approaching from either direction when the trains are a certain distance from the highway, and it is advisable that they be discontinued as the train which causes them to operate passesthe highway. It is the usual practice on single track railroads to operate such signals by means of two adjoining insulated sections ,of track, each extending about two thousand feet, one on either side of the highway. An interlocking relay controlled by these sections is generally used to directly control the operat on of the signal. This device consists of two separate relays'arranged so ,the operation of one relay mechanically or electrically governs the operation of the other. The operating coils of each relay are each connected in bridge across the rails of one of the insulated sections at the highway end 'of the sections. At the other end of each of the sections a battery is connected across the rails, so that the relays are normally energized. As a traina proaches the highway it moves on to the battery end of a section, thus causing the relay connected to that section to be.

shunted by the circuit of low resistance established through the wheels and axles of the train. The relay is thus deenergized and operates by a dropping of its armature to close a circuit and thus cause the operation of the highway crossing signal. The signal continues just so long as any part of the train is on the section. When the head .is such that they cannot be used end of the train moves onto the section on the other side of the highway the relay connected to that section also becomes dener- 'gized. When the rear end of the train clears the first section entered the relay that operated first becomes energized and the other relay remains denergized, and the signal is discontinued notwithstanding the fact that the second relay to become deenergized remains deenergized, and also notwithstanding the fact that if the train had approached the highway from the opposite direction the second relay above mentioned would have been the first to become denergized, and would in such case have operated the signal. This same mode of operation results if a train approaches the crossing from either direction. The desired result is, therefore, eflt'ected when trains pass in either direction, and isaccomplished as a result of the interlocking of the two relays. Various schemes have been proposed to accomplish this result, and most of them consist of a complicated arrangement of pawls or similar devices which prevent the relay which is the last to become denergized from completing the circuit through the crossing signal. These relays, due to their mechanical features, are subject to certain failures which are undesirable. sections which are used to control the crossing signals are often used to control block signals or approach indicators, and it is furthermore, for the sake of economy, desirable to accomplish such'control through the contacts of the interlocking relay, but the construction of these interlocking relays or this purpose, because the armature of the second relay to become denergized is prevented from falling throu h the same distance it would have fallen i it had been the first to become deenergized, consequently it does not touch the so-called back contact, and so complete a circuit for overning the block signalsior approach in icators, and even if it did touch the back contact it would not Furthermore, the track I bear forcibly enough thereon to form a claims.

Y the ordinaryinterlockiugrelayi isconiiected for control ng ahighway crossing signal,

will perform not on the functions which are now performed by the ordinary interlocking relay, but} others which the interlocking relay does not now perform.

Other objects. and advantages will appear as the description of the invention progresses and thenovel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out inthe appended In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, on which like characters of referencerefer to like parts, and in which applicant has shown a referred form .of mech- :anism embodying. t e p 'vention,and in which: v I p l Figure 1' shows diagrammatically, a perinciple', of his inspective view of a selective relay, electrical circuits through the railsof a trackway and {the circuit controlling a. highway crossing signal. Fig; 2, shows in;the1r normalpos1-.

tion'sth'e parts of Fig.1 whichfare required to control the circuitthrough the crossing; signal. Fig; 3, shows thesame parts when a one relay coil is energized and the other de- 1 energized;- Fig. 4, shows the sameparts when the first relay coil to become dener- 'coil remains 'deenergized. H

Applicant has embodied the principle of his. invention a relay controlling the I at" ration of a highway crossing signal as o s own in Fig.1 inwhich'l and'2 indicate iron coreson which'coils of wire 3 and 4 respectivel are wound." An armature 5 is attracted, y the core 1 when an electric current flows through the coil- 3 and an armature G'isattracted byicore 2 when anelectric current flows. through coil 4. Arms 7 and Bare rigidly but insulatingly attached 1 to the armatures 5 and 6 respectively.

Blocks 9 of insulating material secure the arm! to the armature'5 and blocks 10 and 11, of insulating material secure the arm 8'. to the armatune'fi, The armaturesl 5 and 6 v are pivotall :supported' by beinfi'ournaled Y on plus as 1 which ares'upporte brackets as 13." ontact springs Man 1 are attached, to the-arm 7 in any suitable manner asbyriveting-as shown, and on the outerends of the contacts rings 14 and 15, Y

the arm3 and contactors and 21 are rivetedftofithe outer-[ends .of the contact contactors16 and 17ers ikewise attached. Contactsprings 18' and .19 arefiriveted to springs 18 and. 19.

An upper contact post Z is permanently located so 'it' makes} electrical contact with contactor 16-1whenj the contactor is raised by the" movement of'armature5 due to the ener- .gizatio'n (of; coil 3. f An upper contact post p '23 is, similarly 5 locatedwith reference to.

oontactor 20 and makes I contact therewith coil .3 isas vfollows; batte support "w en the @11 4 l is" energize. Lower con v tact post 24 is permanently located and makes contact with contactor17 when the coil 3 becomes deenergized and allows armature 5, arm 7, contact springs 14 and 15 '70 i and contactors 16 and 17 by the action of q I gravity,,to dropuntil arrested and held by lower contactpost 25 is located so itmakes contact with contactor 21' when contactor 2O breaks contact with the upper contact post-23 when coil 4 becomes deenergized,

from two adjoining insulated sections of the rails of the track. 26'and 27 indicate the two rails in one section of track and 28 and 29 indicate the two rails in the ad'oinfrom each-'other'by insulating rail joints 34 and 35, and are insulated from the other adjacent sections by insulating joints 30, 31,

32 and The insulating joints 34 and 35 are located at or 'nearthe. highway. Batte 36 has one pole connected to rail 26 an :gized isagaintene'rgized and the other relay its other. pole to rail27, and battery 37has The mechanisms so 'far 'describedare in substance two separate electrical relays. 5 which may. be controlled independently "ing section. These two sections areins ated one pole connected 'torail 28 and its other pole 'to'rail29. The normally closed circuit of the relay 36, rail 26, wire 41, coil 3', wire 67, and rail 27 back to, battery 36. The circuit for relay coil 4 is as fol o ws: battery 37, rail 28, wire 39, coil 4,

wire 38, and'rail 29 back to thebattery 37 If a. train moves'on'torails 26 and 27 the current flows from battery 36 through rail 26, throughthe wheels'and axles ofthetrain to rail 27 and thence back to thebattery' 36, thus shunting coil 3 and deenergizing it.

In like manner coil 4 is deenergized when a train moves onto the rails28 and 29..

A metalplate 46 is rigidly secured to am 7 by an insulating block -48 and metal plate 47 is rigidly connected to arm, 8 by insulat-.,

ing block 49; Wire 50 is electrically connected to the plate 46 in any appropriate, manner as by a screw 52, and wire 51 is like--' I wise connected to plate 47 by screw 53. "A

metal sector 54 positioned beneath plates 46 ,and 47 and journaled onpin 57, is normally held inthe position shown in Fig.1 and Fig. 2 by the'action-of-a" two arm spring 59, which. is rigidlysecured toan insulating lower projection 58 of sec- .tor 54-is1shaped'so the two upright portions of spring 59 normally come in contact with the sides of the'projection 58. When the sector is caused to'turn in either direction oneof the upright Iportionsof'spring 59 .exertsa pressure out e side of projection 58 as shown Fig. 3 and 4 tending to 0 145KB 7 r cause the sector to return to its normal posi tion. When coil 3 is energized and the coil 4 becomes deenergized, plate 47 is caused by gravity, to move down so as to come n 5 contact with the top edge of sector 54 on one side of a vertical center line throu h pin 57 causing sector 54 to turn in a cloc wise direction on pin 57 until the movement is arrested b contactor 21 coming in contact with ba c contact post 25, at which moment the late 47 and sector 54 are in the v ition slibwn in Fig, 3. When the sector is held in this'position and the coil 3. 12ecomes deenergized, and the relay armature 15 5 operates by avity, plate 46 will move to t e positions. own in dotted lines in Fig.

3, but without coming in contact with sector 54. In like manner plate 46 may be brou ht in contact with sector 54, when coil 3 e-' :0 comes deenergized, and coil 4 is energized,

causing sector 54 tobe so positioned that the relay armature 6 may fa 1 without com- .i in contactiwith sector 54. 4.

if after the relay coil controlled by our rent from battery 37, becomes deenergized,

caus shown in Fig. 3, the relay coil controlled by current from battery 36 becomes deenered so that the plate 46 and the insulated lock 48 take the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, then if the relay coil controlled by current from the battery 37 becomes energized, sector 54' is released by plate 47 and spring 59 causes sector 54 to turn toward its-normal position. The sector cannot, however, reach its normal position because its motion is arrested by the corner of the sector coming in contact with the insulated block 48, as shown in Fig. 4. When the relay controlled by current from battery 36 is then energized, insulated block 48 and plate 46 are raised, allowing sector 54 to return to itsnormal position, the beveled undercut edges of the corner 55 allowing the sector to be pushed aside without restricting the free upward movementof the arm 7.

When a train approaches the highwa located say at the insulating joints 34 an 35, and runs on to rails 28 and 29 the relay coil under the control of this section of track is deenergized, and a circuit through the crossing signal is'established as followsi battery 61, wire 62, signal' 63, wire 64, wire 55 51, plate 47 sector 54, s ring 59 and wire back to the battery. urrent flowing in this circuit causes the operation of the" When the head end of the same signal. v trainruns onto the rails 26-and 27 the relay coil connected. to these rails becomes deenergized, and plate'46 fallsbut does not come in contact-with the sector 54 because it is not in proper position. The si 'al however, continues to o crate until a 0t 65 the wheels of the train ave moved oil of positions.

sector 54 to move into the position rails 28 and 29, thereby allowing the relay coil connected to these rails to become energized, so that plate 47 breaks contact-with the sector 54, interrupting the si al circuit, and stopping the signal. en the train has pased off of the rails 26 and 27 both relay armatures assume their normal If an approaching train first runs onto rails. 26 and 27, the relay coil connected to these rails becomes deenergized and a circuit is established through the crossing signal by plate '46 coming 1n contact with sector 5 It is evident with'trains' moving in either direction the signal will operate as long as the relay coil which was first to become'deener 'zed, remains deenergized, regardless of w ether the other relay coil is d'energized or not, and as soon as the relay first to become deenergized again becomes energized the operation of the signal will be discontinued, whether the other relay coil is deenergized or energized; When the train has entirely cleared the insulated sections the relay coils both become ener 'zed.

The energization and deenerglzation of coils 3 and 4 not onl governs the signal 63 in-the manner described, but also governs the contactors 16, 17, 20 and 21 in the ordinary and well known manner, so that any desired circuits may be eontro ed through their instrumentality. It eing merely necessary to connect one terminal of the circuit to be controlled to the contactor and the other to either one or the other of the fixed contact osts, according to whether or not it is deslred to have the controlled circuit opened or closed when the relay is energized. It is well known to those skilled in the railway signalin art howthe oontactors 16, 17, 20 and 21 an' the posts 22, 23, 24a'nd'25, may be used to control the apparatuses used in railway si aling and therefore no explanation is nee ed.

Although I have particularly described the construction of one physical embodi ment of my invention, and ex lained the operation and principle thereo nevertheless, I desire to have 1t understood that the form selected is merely illustrative, but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A selective relay comprisin two electromagnets having mde endentFy movable. armatures; an arm attac ed to each armature, said arms being arranged side by side and moving insubstantially vertical parallel planes; a movable contact member of electrical conducting material pivotally supported on a fixed horizontal pivot between said arms and capable of movement in either direction from a middle position; a member of insulating material secured to each arm and extending laterally therefrom toward the other arm, a metallic conducting. piece attached to theunder'face of each member, each contact piecebeingarranged totouch the contact member when the corresponding arm drops from its uppermost position 2 while said contact member is in its middle position, whereby the dro pingof either arm establishes an electrica connection between the corresponding contact pieceand said contact member and also moves said contact member out of the path of movement of the contact piece associated with the other arm; and means tendin to return said contact member to its mid e position after displacement thereof.

2. A selective relay comprising two electromagnets havingeindependently' movable arms adapted to actuated thereby, said arms being arranged side by side and moving in parallel vertical-planes; a block of insulating material secured to each arm and extending laterally therefrom toward the other arm; a metallic contact iece attached to the under face of eachbloc ;."an oscillatable contact member of electrical conductv ing material pivotally mounted on a fixed horizontal pivot between said arms, said contact member having undercut beveled side edges near its upper end and bei capable of oscillation in either direction om a middle position, the droppin of either 4 arm by the deenergization of eit er'electro-- magnet causing an electrical connection to be established between the corres ondin contact piece and said contact mem er an also moving said contact member out of the path of movement of the contact piece of the other arm; said'blocks of insulating material cooperating with the undercut edges of, the contact member upon return upward movement of the corresponding arm to move the contact member aside to permit full return movement of said arm; and'yieldable means tending to hold said contact member in its middle position.

3. A selective relay comprising two electromagnets; an arm associated with each electromagnetand arranged to be actuated thereby; an oscillatable contact member pivotally mounted on a fixed ivot and capable of movement in either irection, from a middle position; a contact piece secured to each arm and arranged to coact with said contact member, the dropping of either arm causing said contact member to be moved out of the path of movement of the contact piece of the other arm; and means for restoring said contact member to its middle position, said means including parts arranged to press in op osite directions against said contact mem er and adapted u on movement of said contact member in either direction from its middle position to cause the corresponding one of these parts to exert a restoring force inthe opposite directioni I a 4. A selective relay comprising wo electromagnets having independently movable armatures; an arm secured to each armature, said arms being arrangedlside by side and moving in parallel vertical planes; a

block of insulating material secured to each arm and extending laterally therefrom toward the other arm; a metallic contact piece secured to the under face of each lock; an oscillatable contact member of electrical conducting material ivotally mounted in position to be engaged by the contact iece of either arm upon the dropping of t at arm, the dro ping of'either arm moving the contact mem er out of the path of movement of the contact piece of the other arm; means for restoring said contact member to its middle position afterdisto coiiperate with said arms in their di erent positions, thereby controlling circuits independently of the contact pieces and the contact member; and flexible electrical connections leading to said contact pieces and to said contact member.

5. A selective relay comprising two electromagnets; an arm associated with each electromagnet and adapted to be actuated thereby said arms being arranged side by side an being biased by their own weight to move downward in substantially vertical parallel lanes; a contact piece secured to and insu ated from each arm and extend- "ing laterally therefrom toward the other arm; an oscillatable contact member an ported between said arms in position to e engaged by the contact piece ofeither arm upon downward movement of that arm, the downward movement of either arm movin said contact member, out of the path 0 movement of the contact piece-of the other arm; and means for restoring said contact member to its initial osition after oscillation thereof in either irection.

6. A selective relay comprising two electromagnets; inde endently "movable arms associated with said electromagnets and operated thereby; an oscillatable contact mem-. ber of electrical conducting material; means for restoring middle positionafter displacement thereof, said means including parts adapted to be separately rendered efiective to exert a force tending to move'saidcontact member back to its middle position when it is moved from its middle position inthe corresponding direction; and contacting means associated with each arm and adapted to coact with said contact member, said contacting means establishing an electrical connection with said contact member upon engagement therewith upon downward movement of the 'placement thereof; fixed contacts arran ed 1 said contact member to its i member of electrically conducting material pivotally mounted between said arms in position to be engaged by the contact piece of either arm upon downward movement of that arm, the dropping of either arm moving the contact member out of the path of movement of the contact piece of the other arm; means for restoring said contact memher to its initial osition after oscillation thereof in either tacts arranged to cooperate with said arms in their different positions, thereby controlirection; and fixed eonling circuits independently of the contact member and the contact leces of said arms.

FRANI? L. DODGSON.

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