US787393A - Signal system and apparatus therefor. - Google Patents

Description

No. 787,393. PATENTED APR. 18, 1905. E. P. J. PATENALL & G. H. DRYDBN. SIGNAL SYSTEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 787,393. PATENTED APR.18, 1905.

.P. P. J. PATENALL & G. H. DBYDEN. SIGNAL SYSTEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W01! muse:

. electric current.

ployed. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing certrol'relays. -Figs. 4 and 5 are a top plan and ATENT Patented April 18,' 1905.

FFICEJ- FRANK P. J. PATENALL AND GEORGE H. DRYDEN, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

SIGNAL SYS TEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,393, dated April 18, 1905.

Application filed January 23,

To all whom it nanny concern.-

Be'it known that we. FRANK P. J. PATE- NALL and GEORGE H. DRYDEN, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Balti more, State of Maryland,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signal Systems and Apparatus Therefor; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accom panying drawings,forming a part of this specification, and to theletters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates, primarily, to an improved apparatus and system of signaling for railwa service, although features of the invent ioi i may be used in connection with any signaling system such as are ordiiiarily employed fortransmission of intelligence from. one point to another through the agency of an The invention consists in certain novel appliances and arrangements of the circuits in connection therewith whereby the signals are rendered more pronounced and certain, even with the employment of relatively light battery-power, a further object of the invention being to provide an apparatus capableof use in connection with long track-sections wherein the rails are employed as conductorsin the signal system.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic view of a signaL system wherein the present invention is emtain features of the-invention in a signal system'such as has heretofore been suggested. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of 'one of the conend elevation, respectively, of said controlrelay.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, the invention is supposed to be applied in connection with a railway-track whereon trains are to be run in one directiona, from, left to rightand consequently it is desirable to provide signals for indicating to the engineer of each succeeding train the position of a precedingtrain, at least I 1905. Serial 110.242.5599.

to the extent of indicating whether a precedof each section there are semaphore-signals,

(indicated at S, S and S these signals being usually, as shown at S and S composed of two semaphore-arms. one, a block signal, toindicate danger or the presence of a train in the section ahead, and the other, a distant signal, to indicate caution to the engineer or that a train occupies a distant sections ay the second block or section ahead. This arrangementis acommon one, and it will be understood that in so far as the invention is concerned the signals themselves may be of the semaphore-arm variety, with two arms or a single arm adapted to be moved into three positions or a disk signal, all of which are well known and in themselves form no part of the present invention.

In convenient relation to the signals there are track-relays A A A, adapted to be operated through circuits part of which are, formed by the track-rails of the sections 0 (J (J from track-batteries B, B and B", re-

spectively-that is to say, said batteries are normally connected with the track-railsand through said rails the circuit is completed to the relays to energize the relay-magnets, so as to attract'their armatures at all times save when the track-sections are occupied by a train or from some other cause the batteries are short-circuited or the battery-power destroyed, at which times the armatures of .the relays are released.

D and D are relays for the control of the distant or caution signals and are operated by batteries E and E through the circuitcontrollers F and F, operated by the block semaphore-arm of signals S and S the circuit connections from the circuit-controllers cordance with the well-known practice con- {trollers and F are open only when the semaphore arms are in danger position, as shown, for instance, at F? in connection with the semaphore S The circuit-controller F however, is shown without any circuit connections, inasmuch as it is to be located in a circuit forming part of the devices at the preceding block station. (Not shown in the drawings.)

From the foregoing it will be seen that at each block-station there are provided two relays, one of which is controlled directly by the presence of a train in the block-section the track-rails of which form a part ofthe relay-circuit and the other of which relays is controlled by the position of the dangersemaphore-signal at the next succeedingblockstation. Both relays control the semaphoresignal armsthat is to say, they control the circuits which directly operate,-or which .in accordance with the well-known practice set an operating mechanism in motion, and the system shown in Fig. l is-so arranged that whenever the circuit controlled by the relays is broken said semaphoresignals will move to the danger position. This arrangement is known as the -normal safety system-that is to say, the normal position of the semaphore arms or signals is at safety,

' which position, however, is maintained only l in, the semaphores moving to the danger posii men, -The batteries for operating the sema-v is cleared or at safety.

"phore-arms areshown at S, and the circuits head from one slde of each of saidbatteries to each of said circuits from its battery S can be-completed only when the armature of the relay at that station is attracted y its magnet, the closing of the circuit at the relay A, A or A as the case may be, serving to establish directly the circuit controlling the block-signal semaphore; but the caution-signal semaphore is controlled'through a branch circuit leading through the armature of relay D or D and also preferably through a circuit-controller F and at each station, which is closed only when the block-signal The result of such an arrangement is'that when thetraclcrelay at the beginning of any sectionis released by short-circuiting its battery through the wheels and axles of a train in the section the battery S, controlling'the semaphore-arm, is thrown out of action by its circuit-being broken at the relay-A, A, or A and both semaphorearms move into danger position. When the track -'relay A for instance, is again en-- ergized by the train moving out. of the section, the danger semaphore-arms will move the armature of its relay A, A or A and D for instance, has been deen'ergi zed through the breaking of its circuit by the controller F of the next succeeding station, andconsequently the caution-signal remains set and 1 the caution-signal can only. move to safety after the'block-signalof said next succeeding station has Inoved to safety and againestablished the circuit through the-relay D and its own block-signal has also moved to safety and closed the contreller. F; r .7

"1 A. train is supposed to occupy the section C of the track, said train being indicated at T, under which conditions, the signals S and S are in clear positions and all relays at these stations are closed. Signal S is shown in its danger position, because the section Q of the track is occupied by a train, which train shortcircuits track-battery B allowing the relayarmature 'A to fall, thereby opening the circuit governing both the block and caution signal mechanisms. It will-be understood that when: the train enters track-section C the armature or relay A will open, and when the rear of the train clears the section 0 the armature of relay A will close.v When the armature of relay A opens, the local battery 8*, governing both the block andcaution signal system S is cut out at relay A thus setting both signals to the danger position, and theupper blade or blocksignal blade opens the circuit-controller'F cuts off the battery E from the relay Diand consequently while the relay A is closed the upper blade only of signal S canbe cleared, the lower blade being left raised to give a caution-indication until the rear of train has passed out of tracksection (Kat which time the upper blade ofsignal S? will assume the clear position, clos ing the circuit at F to the relay D and allowing the lower blade of signal S to assumeits clear position. i in addition to operating'track-signals the system shown in Fig. L is well adapted for 1 wired in series with the track-battery B in practice this special relay being wound with a very. low resistance-one eighth ohm, forinstance,so asto stand normally open or to stand normally open so long as the resistance of the relay A? is in'the circuit; but upon the establishment of a short circuit between the track-rails, as by the entrance of a train into the sectionlC, the entire strength of the battery B will be exerted in the relay and;its armature will be attracted, and thus maybe utilized 'to close a local circuit, includ ing a battery G together with the crossingbell G, before referred to. Obviously with this arrangement thecro'ssiug-bell will begin to ring as soon as the track-section C is occupied and will continue to ring until the short circuit in said section isbroken, i

In Fig. 2 ofthe accompanying drawings a to.safety position; but at such time the relay somewhat diiferent arrangement of the cirstrument and is located at what is commonly known to those skilled in the art as a ,cutsection, and it operates to control the trackbattery 0 as will be presently explained.

The semaphore s is directly controlled or operated by the battery-s, and the circuit from the battery 3* is completed to the semaphore through the armaturesof both the relays (f and a with suitable contacts so arranged. that said circuit is only completed when the relay a is energized and the relay not energized, or, in other words, the re; lay-armatures must be in relatively opposite positions in order to complete the semaphoreoperating circuit, and as this semaphore operates -on the normal danger principle it can only be cleared when the relay (L2 is energized and the relay a not energized. The track-sectir n b is a preliminary or clearing section and is usually of only sufiicient len th to permit an engineer to stop or control nis train while in sight of the semaphore. Thus a train entering the preliminary track-section 25 shortcircuits the battery 0 through its wheels and axles, causing the armature of relay a to open, thereby completing so far as this relay is concerned the circuit to the signal clutches or magnets, andif no train be in the section b the semaphore will be cleared or moved to the safety position. As the train passes to the section .6 the relay a is opened, because of'the short-circuiting of the battery c and the semaphore 8 therefore returns to danger position, because of the breaking of its circuit controlled by the armature of relay a and consequently regardless of the position of the armature of relay a the signal cannot be cleared so long as the tracksection b is occupied. The conditions exist- .ing at this time will also be maintained until the train moves off of the section 7) because of the action of the repeatingwelay a. This repeating-relay a is adapted through its armature and suitable contacts with which it cooperates to establish the circuit from the battery 0 to the track-section 6 whenever deenergized, the result being that whenever a train is on the section b and the magnets of relay 0; are deenergized through the shortcircuiting of the battery 0 no battery can reach the track-section b and in addition the rails of the track-section b are short-circuitoperating a crossing-signal.

ed. Thus the relay 0 is deenergized and the circuit from the battery s" for clearing the semaphore-signal is broken, and said signal cannot be cleared by the entryof a train into the clearing-section 6 until after the preceding train has moi ed out of the section b.

Theclearing-section relay a in addition to partially closing the semaphore-operating circuit may be utilized to close a local circuit for Thus the crossing-signal bellf'includes in its'circuit a battery f" and contacts f, one of which is on the armature or the relay a and theother is in position to cooperate therewith when the relay -magnets are deenergized, whereby the crossing-bell will be rung and will continue to ring so long as a'train remains in the clearing-section b and the magnets of relay a are deenergized.

The relays referred to in the foregoing description are of a uniform type, and in order to make the system effective it is of prime llllportance not only that they should be certain in action, butthat their action should be easily controlled by shunting or short circuiting thei r operating-batteries. This in connection with the fact that it is desirable to have them op crate through relatively long and poorly-insulated circuits from a very weak battery makes it necessary that,said relays should be extremely sensitive. The conditions under which the relays must operate makes it diiiicult to provide efiicient instruments;-but in the present invention the difliculties heretofore found to exist have been overcome, and in Figs. '3, 4, and 5arelay is illustrated, which in practice and in systems such as heretofore described has answered all the demands. By referring to the last-mentioned figures of the drawings it will be seen that each relay embodies two sets of magnets H H, located on opposite sides of the plane of the armaturelever as well as on oppositesides of the pivot or axis H of said lever, whereby said magnets will both operate on their armature- The pivot or axis about which the'- armature-lever swings is located at one side of its center of gravity in order that it will normally tend to turn by gravity away from the magnets and will only be held against such tendency when the magnets are energized. In the preferred construction the magnets H are mounted .upon and have their pole-pieces projecting through carrying-plates it, while the rear ends of the magnets are supported by posts A: Said posts and plates are both mounted upon a base if, on which the bind ing-posts h maybe located for the several circuit connections to which the instrument is adapted.

The armature-lever H supports any desired number of spring or elastic contact-carrie'rsI, adapted to cooperate with contacts K K, preferably mounted upon and extending through the upper portions of theplates h, but insulated therefrom. The contact-carriers I are also preferably insulated from the armature, for which purpose screw-threadedbone insulators O are employed, and each support I is adapted to have a circuit-wire connected therewith through any suitable or usual means, so that the circuit may be made or broken by the movement of the armature and contacts before referred to.

To make the pressure on the back contact more secure, a retractile Spring P may be employed in addition to the force of gravity, such spring being preferably located between the lower portion of the armature and one of the plates/L, the arrangement of the parts, however, being such that the armature, contacts,'and adjustable portions of the device may all be illstops for arresting-the movement of the armature in each direction. ,Thus the spring-' support I will be held under slight tension when the-armature is in either position, and its resiliency will aid very materially in inaugurating the movement of the armature in either direction.

The pivots on which the armature turns may be of the usual type illustrated in Figs. 4and 5, and the posts R, on which the trunnion-screws are mounted, extend up from the base 71 within the area inclosed by the casing, as will be readily understood.

In operation the cooperating pairs of magnets H and H are preferably connected in the circuit in multiple with each other, as is shown uniformly in-Figs. 1 and 2, inasmuch as with this arrangement it is found that each pair of magnets of the relay may be wound.

to a relatively high resistance twice that which would be practicable with an ordinary relay and that they will release upon the establishment of afshoit circuit with much greaterfacility and certainty than would otherwise be possible. I

Obviously the relay is susceptible of use in any of the situations illustrated in Figs, 1 and 2, and, in fact,.its use is not limited to thesystems illustrated inasmuch as it may bein- 'corp orated in other systems for signal-work or for otherpurposes.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 4 i 1. In a signal system, the combination with a signal mechanism, anda relay embodying two magnets, and an armaturelever pivoted therefrom and incl u'ding said magnets in multiple with each other said circuit being adapted to be short-circuited intermediate the battery and relay; substantially as described.

; 2. In asignal system, the combination with two oppositely-arranged magnets and ,an armature-lever pivoted at a point intermediate 75 a signal mechanism and a relay embodying its length and between the magnets to be swung in one direction by both magnets, ofa local signal-operating circuit controlled by the relay, a distant battery and a relay-operating circuit including the battery and said magnets, the latter being in multiple.'with-each,

other; substantially as described.

' 3'. In a signal system, the combination with a signal mechanism and a relay embodying two oppositely-arranged magnets located in different planes and an armature-lever pivoted at apoint intermediate its length and between the magnets, of a local circuit controlled by therelay, a distant battery included in a closed circuit with the relaymagnet's .-and means for short-circuiting thehattery; .sub

stantially'as described.-

4. In a relay for signal-work, the combinetion with oppositely-arranged magnets locatedin different planes, of an armaturelever between the magnets carrying armatures for both magnets andpivoted at one side of its center of gravity and at a point intermediate its length and contacts controlled by said lever, whereby the lever will be movedin one direction by gravity and in the opposite direction by the simultaneous action of both magnets.

5. In a relay for signal work, thcoinbiria-II 1 tion with oppositely-arrangedlmagnets located in difierent planes, of an armature-lever between the magnets and carrying armatures for both magnets',"said'leverbeing pivoted'at one side of itscenter of/gravity to normally tend to move away from the magnets under the influence'of gravity and contacts controlled by the lever. I 1

IIO

6. In a relay for signal-work, the cOmbination with oppositely-arranged magnets located in different planes, of. an armature-lever between the magnets and carry ng armatures for both magnets, said lever being pivoted at one side of its center of gravity to normally 2 tend to move away from themagnets under the influenceof' gravity, a spring-contact support mounted onthe lever, a contact carried thereby and a fixed contact with which it engages,'whereby'the resiliency of the support will inauguratethe movementpf the lever away from the magnets.

7 In a relay for signal-work, thecombina- .tion with the oppositely-arranged relay-magnets located in ditferent planes, parallel supporting-plates on which said magnets are mounted and fixed contacts carried by but insulated from said plates, of an armature-lever carryingarmatures for both magnets said armature-lever being pivotally mounted at a point intermediate its length and between the magnets, contacts carried by said armature-lever and cooperating with the'before-mentioned fixed contacts and a casing bridging the space between the supporting-plates and inclosing the armature-lever and contacts; substantially as described.

8. In a relay for signal-work, the combination with the base, the magnets mounted on said base with their poles oppositely arranged and in different planes, of an armature-lever pivotally mounted between the magnets and at one side of its center of gravity whereby it normally tends to move away from the magnets, movable contacts carried by the armature-lever, fixed contacts carried by the base and a removable casing inclosing the lever, contacts and pole-pieces of the magnets; substantially as described.

9. In a signal system for railways, the combination with the track-rails constituting conductors in the signalcircuit and a battery connected with said track-rails, of a relay connected with said contact-rails at a point distant from the battery and embodying oppositelylocated relay-magnets in multiple with each other and an armature pivoted intermediate said magnets in position to be attracted by both of said magnets when they are simultaneously energized, whereby a train occupying the track-rails between the battery and relay connections will short-circuit the battery and deenergize the relay-magnets.

10. In a signal system, the combination with a railway-track divided into blocks, signals located at the meetingpoints of said blocks and embodying block and caution signal indicators and two relays with local circuits controlled one by each relay "for operating the respective signals, of a signal-circuit including the track-rails and one of said re lays, whereby the presence of the train in the block will cause said relay to operate to render the danger-signal efi'ective and a second signal-circuit including the other relay and a controller operated by the danger-signal of a succeeding block-station and controlling the local circuit which renders the caution-signal etl'ective whereby the caution-signal cannot be cleared until the danger-signal at the succeeding block-station is actuated.

11. In a railway-signal system divided into blocks. a block-station equipment comprising danger and caution signals, a local operatingcircuit for said signals and in which the signals are included in separate branches, a relay controlling said local circuit and itself controlled by the presence of a train in the block and'a second relay controlling the cautionsignal branch of the local circuit and itself controlled from a succeeding block-station;

substantially as described.

\Vitnesses;

ALFRED GAGNEUX, T. M. ELrHINs'roNE.

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