US1750247A - Railway-traffic-controlling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

March 11, 1930. P. P. STOKER RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS Original Filed Dec. 192v INVENTORJ m m m m Ev m N S. x

WWW m Patented Mar. 11', 1930 PATENT OFFICE PAUL P. STOKER, 0F WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNDR TO THE UNION SWITCH 86 SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATIQ SYLVANIA i g D I E, RAILWAY-TRAFFIC-CONTROLLING APPARATUS l Application filed December 8, 1927, Serial No. 233,558. Renewed August 2, 1929.

My invention relates to railway traflic conexilOlliIlg apparatus, and particularly to apparatus of the type intended for safely controlling. railway trafiic governing devices, such as railway signals, from'a' remote point.

I will describe one form of railway traflic controlling apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel; fea tures thereof in claims.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic view showing one form of railway traffic controlling apparatus embodyingmy invention.

Referring'to this drawing, the reference characters 1 and 1 designate the track rails of a stretch of railway track connected with a siding X, by a switch 3 of the usual and well' known form. The switch 3 may be op' erated in any suitable manner. Since the apparatus for controlling the switch forms no part of my present invention, it has been oinited from the drawing for the sake of simplicity. The rails adjacent the switch are divided, by means of insulated joints 2, to form a track section AB and track circuit current issupplied to the rails adjacent point B from a suitable source of energy such as a battery F. A track relay R' is connected across'the rails of the section AB adjacent point'A and the relay R is therefore normally energized but is de-energized when a train occupies any portion of the section ABl The rails of the'siding X are connected with the rails of section A-B in the usual mannerso that a train occupying the siding adjacent the switch'will de-energize the track relay R.

Associated with the switch 3' is acircuit controller W comprising. two contacts 5"5 and 66 which are closed only when the switch occupies the normal position in" which it is illustrated 'inthedrawing. Contacts 5-5" and 6-6 are closed only when the switch occupiesits reverse position.

"Westbound traffic",- that is, traffic moving signals but this particular form is not essential.

The signals are controlled by two relays G and H and by the circuit controller so that if relay G is energized when the switch is normal, current flows from terminal D of a suitable source of energy not shown in the drawing over front contact 8 of relay R, wire 9, front contact 10 of relay G, wire 11, contact 66 of, circuit controller W, wire 12, and operating mechanism of signal S to terminal E of the same source. If the switch 3 is reversed when relay G is energized, current flows over the circuit just traced to wire 11 and thence over contact 66 of circuit controller V, wire 13, and operating mechanism of signal S to terminal E. When relay H is energized, current flows from terminal D, over front contact 8 of relay R, wires 9 and 14, front contact 15 of relay H to wire 16, and thence, if switch 3 occupies its normal position, over contact 55 of circuit controller WV, wire 17 and operating mecha-' nism of signal S to terminal E. If switch 8 is reversed, current flows over the circuit just traced as far as wire 16, and thence over contact 55 of circuit controller W, wire 18, and operating mechanism of signal S to terminal E. It follows, therefore that if relay G is energized, signals S or S is cleared, according as switch 3 occupies its normal or reverse position, but that when relay H is energized, signal S or signal S is cleared according as the switch occupies its normal or reverse position.

Relays G and H are controlled in part by a series of selectors J J J and'J which are connected in parallel across apa of line wires 4 and at. The selectors J are selectively responsive to control codes which may be impressed upon the line wires 4 and 4 by any suitable means. It is frequently desirable to control the selectors J by means of a code transmitter indicated diagrammatically at Y and located at some central control point, such for example, as a train despatchers ofiice. Each of the selectors J J 2 and J comprises a normally open contact 7 which is arranged to be closed for a brief interval of time when the corresponding selector receives its proper control code. The selector J 3 comprises a normally closed contact 7 which is arranged to be opened for a brief interval of time when selector J 3 receives its proper control code.

The selector J controls a relay K in such manner that the relay becomes energized when selector J is operated. The pick-up circuit for relay K may be traced from terininal D over contact 7 of selector J wires 19 and 20, and winding of relay K to terminal E. After relay K has once been energized, the relay is held closed as long as reiay R remains energized, by virtue of a stick circuit which passes from terminal D, over front contact 21 of relay R, wires 22, 23 and 24, front contact 25 of relay K, wires 26 and 20, and winding of relay K to terminal E. It follows therefore, that relay K is normally deenergized but that this relay may be closed by operating selector J whereupon the relay K remains closed until a train enters section A-B to de-energize relay R.

Relay G is provided with a pick-up circuit controlled by selector J and passes from terminal D, over front contact 21 of relay R, wires 22 and 27, contact 7 of selector J wires 28 and 29 and winding of relay G to terminal E. The relay G is also provided with a stick circuit which may be traced from terminal D over back contact 30 of relay K, wire 31, contact 7 of selector J wire 32, back contact 33 of relay H, wire 34, front contact 40 of relay G, wires 35 and 29, and winding of relay G to terminal E. It will be seen, therefore, that relay G can be closed only if selector J is operated when relay R is energized. After relay G has once been closed, however, it is subsequently maintained in its energized condition as long as relay H remains open and contact 7 of selector J 3 remains closed, provided relay K is deenergized. If relay K is energized, however, the stick circuit for relay G passes from terminal D, over front contact 21 of relay R, wires 22, 23 and 36, front contact 30 of relay K, wire 31, contact 7 of selector J wire 32, back contact 33 of relay H, wire 34, front contact of relay G, wires 35 and 29, and winding of relay G to terminal E. WVhen relay K is energized, therefore, the stick circuit for relay G includes afront contact of relay R and its stick circuit will be broken if a train enters section AB. The control of relay H by selector J 2 is similar to the control of relay G by selector J and will be understood from the drawing without tracing the stick circuits in detail. It should be pointed out, however, that relay H is provided with a. stick circuit which goes direct to terminal D over back contact 30 of relay K when this relay is de-energized but that the stick circuit for relay H passes over front contact 21 of relay R when relay K is energized.

In explaining the operation of the appa ratus as a whole, I will first assume that relay K is de-energized and that the section A-B is unoccupied so that relay R is energized. I will also assume that the switch 3 occupies its normal position. If, under these conditions selector J is operated, relay G picks up, and is subsequently held closed by its stick circuit over back contact 33 of relay H, contact 7 of selector J and back contact 30 of relay K. The energization of relay G closes the circuit for signal S and this signal thereupon indicates proceed. If a train enters section A-B under these conditions, relay R becomes de-energized thereby opening the circuit for signal S at front contact 8 of relay R. Relay G remains energized, however, so that when the train moves out of section AB, the subsequent energization of relay R will restore the signal to its proceed position. Under these conditions, therefore, the operation of the signals is in accordance with what is usually known as semiautomatic control.

In similar manner, if relay K is de-energized and selector J is operated, relay H picks up and is subsequently stuck up over back contact 30 of relay K. Vhen relay H closes, the circuit is completed for signal S and this signal indicates proceed. A train entering the section AB will de-energize relay R and put signal S at stop, but the signal will return to its proceed position when the train leaves the section. It should also be pointed out that if the switch 3 occupies its reverse position, the energization of relay G completes the operating circuit for signal S and the energization of relay H completes the operating circuit for signal S, the signals operating in either case in accordance with semi-automatic control.

If either of relays G or H has been picked up to clear one of the signals S, the signal can be restored to its stop position by operating selector J The operation of this selector opens contact 7, thereby opening the stick circuit for whichever one of relays G or H happens to be energized, thereby restoring the signals to stop.

I will next assume that selector J is operated to close the pick-up circuit for relay K. After relay K closes, it is held in its energized position by virtue of its stick circuit including front contact 21 of relay R and front contact 25 of relay K. If selector J is now operated to pick up relay G, this relay will subsequently be held closed over a stick circuit which includes front contact 30 of relay K and front contact 21 of relay R. Assuming that switch 3 occupies its normal position, the closing of relay G completes the operating circuit for signal S and this signal thereupon indicates proceed. The signal may be restored to stop by operating selector J 3 to break the stick circuit for relay G as has already been described. I will assume, however, that a train enters section A-B while relay G is still ener ized. The opening of front contact 8 of relay R deenergizes signal S and this signal therefore indicates stop. The opening of front contact 21 of relay R also breaks the stick circuits for relays K and G, so that both of these relays open. When the train leaves the section AB, therefore, signal S remains at stop, because its circuit is now open at front contact 10 of relay G. It will be manifest, therefore, that if relay K is energized, and if one of the signal control relays G or H is subsequently energized to clear one of the signals S, the signal will be placed at stop by a train entering the section AB and the signal will remain at stop until the corresponding selector J or J 2 is again operated to close the pick-up circuit for the proper relay G or H. It should also be pointed out that the de-energizat-ion of relay R caused by the entrance of a train into section AB (lo-energizes relay K and restores the semiautomatic control of the signals. The operation of the signals when relay K is energized is in accordance with what is usually known as stick control.

It will be plain from the foregoing that one feature of my invention is the provision of circuits for accomplishing semi-automatic control of signals from a remote point and for changing this control to stickcontrol from the remote point by operation of a single selector.

Another feature of my invention is that after the conditions have been established for stick control. of the signals the control is automatically restored to semi-automatic after the passage of a train through the section governed by the signals.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of railway traffic controlling apparatus embodying my invention. it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my in vention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In combination, a section of railway track, a track relay for said section, a signal governing traffic through said section, two

manually controlled selectors, a first relay controlling said signal, a pick-up circuit for said first relay controlled by one selector and by said track relay, a second relay controlled by the other selector, a stick circuit for said first relay including aback contact of said second relay, and a second stick circuit for said first relay including a front contact of said second relay and a front contact of said track relay.

2. In combination, a section of railway track, a track relay for said section, a signal governing trafiic through said section, two manually controlled selectors, a first relay controlling said signal, a second relay controlled by one selector, a pick-up circuit for said first relay controlled by the other selector, means operating when the second relay is de-energized to hold the first relay closed independently of said track relay, and means operating when the second relay is energized to hOlCl the first relay closed only if the track relay is energized.

3. In combination, a section of railway track, a track relay for said section, a first relay, a signal for governing traffic through said section and controlled by said first relay and by said track relay, two selectors, a second relay provided with a pickup circuit controlled by one said selector, a stick circuit for said second relay controlled by said track relay and including a front contact of the second relay, a pick-up circuit for said first relay controlled by the other selector, a stick circuit for said first relayincluding a front contact of the first relay, and means effective when said second relay is energized to include a front contact of the track relay in the stick circuit for said first relay.

4. In combination, a section of railway track, a track relay for said section, a first relay, a signal for governing trafllc through said section and controlled by said first relay and by said track relay, a firstand Second selector each comprising a normally open contact arranged to be closed for a brief interval when the selector is operated, a third selector comprising a normally closed contact arranged to be opened for a brief interval when such third selector is operated, a pickup circuit for said second relay including the contact of said first selector, a stick circuit for said second relay including a front contact of the track relay, a pick-up circuit for said first relay including a contact of said second selector and a front contact of the track relay. a stick circuit for said first relay including the contact of said third selector and a back contact of the second relay, and a branch around said contact of the second relay includinga front contact of the second relay and a front contact of the track relay.

5. In combination, a section of railway track, a signal governing tralfic through said section, a first relay controlling said signal, a

second relay, means forselectively energizing said relays, a manually controlled normally closed contact, means efi'ective after the first relay has been energized and operating if the second relay is open to hold the first relay closed until said contact becomes open. and means effective after the first relay has been energized and operating if the second relay is closed to hold the first relay closed until said contact becomes open or until a train enters said section.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

PAUL P. STOKER.

Images