US914386A - Block-signaling system. - Google Patents

Description

H. M. COULTER.

BLocK SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2, 1907.

JM( ff .1%9 y 47 @ZW HQM. COULTER.

BLOCK SIGNALING SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 2, 1907.

Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UnrTED STATES PATENT onnron.

HARRY M. COULTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ALFRED STROMBERG, .OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BLOCK-SIGNALING SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March e, 1909.

To cZZw/wm it may concern: f

Be it known that I, HARRY M. COULTER, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Block Signaling Systems, of which the following is afull, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to. railway block signaling systems and is more particularly in,- tended for adaptation to cab signaling systems of the general type disclosed in Letters Patent No. 794,784, granted to me on July is, 1905.

lMy present invention constitutes certain improvements upon the system thereinv shown and claimed, and upon the system described and elaimedin my co-pending application, Serial N'o.` 366,924, filed April 8,

In general the improvements which constitute my. present invention are directed towardv the increased efficiency and simplicity of the systems above mentioned. In

oth of these older systems theactuation of the caution and stop signals was made dependent upon the proper operation of electrical apparatus and circuits. If, therefore, the electrical apparatus failed to operate, the

.engineer might in some instances fail to receive the caution or stop signalv when such signal should be given. These former systems provided a test circuit and signal for the urpose of warning the engineer of any acci ent to the electrical lsignaling apparatus.

My present invention is intended to overcome any accidents or mistakes which might arise if the testing circuit and apparatus of i the former systems should indicate that the chanical actuating devices.

caution and stop signal circuits were in proper condition, when, as a matter of fact,

they were liable to give false signals.

In accordance with my present invention I rovide for the actuation of the cab signals y means of purely mechanical contrivances.

Thus, for example, I provide at proper intervals along a railway track a series of me- These dev1ces i Jae 'arranged to cooperate with mechanism carried upon a locomotive, and the actuation of whistles or other signals is .effected whenthe track'is clear electromagnetic apparatus,

preferably located in the locomotive cab, will be actuated to prevent the actuation of the signals when mechanical contact is made as above described. IVh'en the blocks in advance of a moving train are not clear the electrical apparatus is correspondingly operated, -thus permitting the mechanical appliances to actuate the caution o1' stop signals, as maybe required. If, therefore, the electrical apparatus or circuits become deranged in any part and therefore fail properly to operate, the signals will be actuated, thus notifying .the engineer to bring his train under control or to a full stop. The comparative certainty with which the mechanical appliances can be operated serves to )revent accidents due to any failure of the e ectrical equipment.

The advantages of the combinations herein described and claimed will be more apparent to those skilled in the art after following the more detailed description.

In reading this detailed description reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in all of which the same characters of reference apply vto corresponding parts, and in which- Figure l illustrates a railroad track divided into suitable blocks and provided with sigmaling circuits of my invention; Fig. 2 illus'- trates a locomotive equipped with the signaling appliances g Fig. 3 is a diagrammatIc view of the mechanical. and electrical equipment of the locomotive, and Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in whchthe contacts are mounted at the track side.

Preliminary to describing the preferred embodiment of the locomotive equipment, it should be understood that the railroad track is divided into a series of blocks and that each block is rovided with one or more sets of contacts a apted to make electricalconnection with the contact rails 10 and 1l 'which are-carried at the side of the w ine tender 1.2. Under normal conditions w en the. track; s'clear in advance of a moving train, these ,contacts are connected through a circuit of low resistance with a battery.

The track equipmentis such. that when there is a trainl in the second-block in advance of' a moving train, a resistance will be introduced into the circuit leading to the contacts at the track side. When a moving' traln moves into a block adjacent. to that ill-Which thereis standing or moving another train, the circuit leading to the track contacts in question tery by way'of a path containing some considerable resistance, the second-block in advance is in some manner obstructed. Whenv the contactsbecome disconnected from the battery, so that no difference of potential exists between them, there is some obstruction in the neXt succeeding block. The engine equipment is ada ted to take advantage of these iiferin con itions in providing the p roper signals or gineer.

The', engine, as best indicated in Fig; 2,'yis equipped with a' tripping device in the form of-a small roller 13 carried'at the lower end of a plunger v14. This plunger is pivote'd to a rocking lever 15, the lever having at its o posite end a cross-piece 16. 'The caution wlhistle 17 andthe stop whistle 18 are controlled by means of this plunger and lever mechanism. The whistles are connected with a suitable source of'pressure supply, as, for exam le, the compressed air tank or the steam bo1 er, by means ofthe pipes 19 and 20. The valves 21 and 22 are controlled by the levers 23 and 24. To these levers are re-` spectively connected the actuating rods 25 and 26. These rods `are provided, respectively, with the catches 27 and 28, so that the guidance of the enunder normal vconditions the upward movement of the plunger 414, causin in turn the depression ofthe crossbar 16, w1 l engage the catches 27 and 28, thereby opening the whistle valves and causing each whistle to produce a blast. This actuation of the plunger and lever mechanism isperiodically eHected by means of properly' placed mechanical track contacts 30. lWhen the roller at the lower end of the plunger 14 strikes one of the mechanical contacts, the plunger is raised and the crossbar'l is de ressed, as previously described, and thus t e whistles are periodically actuated one o-r more times in each block, as may be desired. When 4one of the valve levers is depressed to actuate the whistle, a mechanical detent 31 or- .32, as the case may be, is drawn into a position such that the whistle valve 'willbe-maintained in an open condition until the en -neer positively recognizes the signal y operation of the signal whistles.

contact 'is broken. vtender contacts makefelectrlcal connect1on vwithdrawing the detent and 'thus permitting l tacts if it were not for the operation'of the electrical part ofthe equipment. -lt will be noted that' the contact rails 10 and 11 are connected by a suitable' electrical circuit with the relay magnets 40 and 41, the magnet 40 being of comparatively low resistance, while the magnet 41 is preferably of higher.-

resistance. The relay 40 controls the local circuit of an electromagnet 42, while the relay 41 controls the localv circuit of the ma netA 43, vall of these relays and magnets an also the local battery 44 being carried upon the engine cab.

vWhen the relay 40 is actuated the circuit -of the electromagnet 42 is closed, thus causing the attraction of the armature 45. This armature is' connected by a link 46 with the actuating rod 25, so that the energization of the magnet 42 causes the catch 27 to be withdrawn from underneath the crossbar 16.

When, therefore, the relay 42A is ener "Zed, the .depression of the crossbar 16 wi y not.

cause the actuation of the caution whistle 17. 'In like manner the actuation of the relay 41 closes )the circuit of the lelect'ro-y magnet 43, whereupon its armature 47 is attracted. This movement of the armature 47, acting through the link 48, withdraws the catch 28 from beneath the crossbar 16,

thus preventing the actuation of the v'Whistle bly oneof hus, it

18 W en the plunger 14 is tripped the mechanical track contacts.

will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the adjustment of the relays 40 and41 'may ,be madeosuch that -whenthe tender contacts 10 and 11 'make connectionv with the electrical track contacts'the .condition of these electrical track contacts4 will control the The relat1ve disposition of the electrical track conlw l' tacts and the mechanical track ,contact is* such that the electrical connections with the tender contacts will be established slightly. before the mechanical contacts .are made. The electrical connections should preferably be continued until after the mechanical When, therefore, the

actuated, thus causing in turn both of the catches 27 and 28 to be,withdrawn from beneath the crossbar16 before the roller 13v strikes the mechanical contact 30, andthe actuation of the lunger and levermec'hanism by means `of t e track contact 30 will not 'cause kthe actuation of either .of the signal whistles. When, however, ythe lelectrical track contacts are connected With. the main battery only through a high resistance in the circuit, there will not be sufficient current to actuate, both of the cab relays and 41. The adjustments are so made that 4the high resistance relay 41 will alone be actuated when the connections'are established through the high resistance track circuit. The actuation of this relay will, as before, prevent the mechanical a paratus from actuating the stop Whistle 18, ut the failure of the relay 40 to be actuated over this circuit will permit the plunger and lever mechanism to pull down the actuating rod 25, thereby causing a blast of the caution signal. The operation ofthe caution signal Whistle will continue,

as previously described, until the. engineer positively takes account of this signal and removes the detent 31 to permit the whistle valve to return to its normal closed condition. When the tender contacts make connection with a pair of track contacts Whose connection with the main battery has been entirely o ened, neither of the cab relays40 nor 41 will) be energized. The catches of the actuating rods 25 and 26 Will therefore be left in their normal osition .beneath the crossbar 16, so that W en the plunger roller strikes vthe mechanical trip the lever 15 will be operated to open both of the Whistle valves, thus causin a blast from the full stop Whistle, as Wel as from the caution Whistle, both of these blasts continuing as before until they are stopped lby a positive act on the part of the engineer. The Whis- `tles are, of course, differently tuned, or otherwise made distinguishable tothe engineer. It is, of course, possible to depend upon the differentiation of the means for restoring the Whistles to their normal condi# tion in order that the engineer shall distinguish the caution from the stop signal. I prefer, however, to use Whistles of dierent tones so` that thestop signal Will be appreciated immediately. upon the initiation of its operation. v

Having, therefore, described the engine equipment and the conditions of the track equipment upon which the operation of the cab signals depends, I shall noW describe the track circuits and equipmentin detail. This is best shown in Fig. 1, `in Which the blocks A, B, C and D are indicated by insulated sections of railroad track, comprising in each instance therails'al, a2, b1, b2, etc. These blocks of track are, of course, continued indefinitely for any re uired distance. The

two rails of each bloc .are connected at or near one end through the electromagnet Winding of a track relay 50. At the other end the rails are connected through a track battery 51. Thus, under normal conditions current flows from the battery, through the electroniagi'iet of the relay 50 toniaintain'its energization. The track shown in this iigure trains running from left to right.

i is equipped With circuits for blocking trains running in both directions. I shall first describethe circuits which serve to block The tra rk contacts52 and 53 are preferably in the forni ofmetal brushes, as indicated in Fig. 4, suit ably mounted upon a supporting post 54 at the side of the track, as indicated in Fig. 2. These metal lbrushes are placed at such a height as to make electrical connection with the 'tender contacts 10 and 11 as the locomotive passes. It Will be seen from Fig. 1 that l preferably place a pair of the track contacts at or near the beginning of each blockand another pair ofA contacts at or near the middle of each block. The duplication of these track contacts in each block is simply to cause the repetition of the signals as each set of contacts is passed by a moving locomotive. One of each pair of track contacts is connected With a common return Wire 55. The common return Wirc is connected as shown with the armature 56 of each of the track relays 50. The other track contacts of the pair, namely, thecontacts 52 located in block A, are connected as shown with the armature 57 of the track relay 50located in the next block to the. right, namely, block B. On account of the normal energization of this relay the armature 57 makes electrical connection with the front contact 58, Aand this contact is connected in turn, as shown, With the negative pole of the main battery 59 located in block C. When, therefore, the armature 56 of the track relay in block C is in its normal attracted position in connection with the front contact 60, the positive pole of the main battery 59 is con-f nected directly and without the intervention. of special resistance in a circuit leadingl to the contacts 5.3 located in block A. This normal, full voltage circuit may be traced from the contacts 52 of block A, through the armature 57 and the front contact 58 of the track relay of block B, and thence to the negative ole of the main battery 59 of i Ablock C; te connection ofthe track contacts 53 may be traced through the common wire 55 to the tie wire which leads to the arma turc 56 of the track relay of block (l, and thence through the front contact 60 to the positive pole of the same main battery 59. Vihen, therefore, the tender contacts. 10 and 11 establish connections with these track contacts in block A the cab relays 40 and al will be subjected to the full voltage of the main battery 59, which is located in the second block in advance ot' the moving train. namely, themain battery in block C. As

previously described, vthis voltage WithoutA the intervention of special rcsistaiufo, is

similar circuit may be traced from the electrical track contacts of block B, through the armature 57 and the contact 58 of the track relay of block C, thence through the main battery located in block D and the frontcontact 60and armature 56 by way of the common return wire 55 to the supplementar track contacts 53 ywhich are located in bloc B. Similar circuits may be traced from the o l which requires that he bring his train `fully contacts of any of the b cks.

If, now, for example, there be a train or other obstruction upon the` track which continues and that the en 'neer of the" constitutes block B, the associated track relay 50 will 'become denergized. This denergization will occur if the tracks or rails are broken by opening the circuit of the relay 501l The denergization of thisrelay will be caused also by the presence of a car truck connecting together the rails d1 and d2 of the block D, because such a truck would short-'circuit the winding of the relay 50. The denergization vof this rela will permit all of the armatures to fall bac into their unattracted position. This revehanicaltrip. -The ca traction of the armatures of the track relay in block D will cause the introduction of a resistance into the circuit of the track contacts of block B. This circuit may be traced from the contacts 52 ofblock B, through the armature 57 and the front contact 58 of the track relay of block C, thence to the negative )oie of the main battery 59 Which'is located 1n block D; from the positive pole of this batter the circuit continues by way'of the vspecia resistance 61, the back contact 62,

e armature, 56, and.thence through the vcommon wire55. to the track contacts 53 located in block B. The eXtra resistance 61 is o f such magnitude that when it is thus included in they circuit leading from the track contacts of block B, the cab relay 40 will not be sufficiently energized to cause the attraction ofl its armature when the tender contacts 10 and/11 mak-e connection with ythe track contacts 52and 53. In this e'vent a` locomotive moving from left to right and reaching the block B will have its signaling mechanism actuated to give the cautionsignal'but not the full stop signal; This will be readily a parent when it is considered 'that the rol er 13 in striking the mechanicaltripBO will cause the actuation offthel lever .mechanism to open the valvesl of both whistles. The caution whistle 17 will be actuated because thecurrent flowing through .the cab relay' circuit is not of sufficient strength to actuate vthe relay 40. As previously stated, the actuation of this relay is re uired in order to' disconnect the 'whistle va ve from the mechanical lever mechanism which v iso rated .by the melb' relayv 41 will be sufficiently energizedeven 'over the high signal.

4.blasts of both'the caution and the ful lscribed for the protection of trains resistance circuit to cause the attraction of its armature, which, as previously described, disconnects the valve of the stop whistle 18 from the plun er and lever mech-V anism. The -full stop whistle will not,'there under control.

Assuming that the obstruction in blockD moving train advances into b ook C, he will receive u on entering his block a full stop he actuation of'the stop signaling mechanism is accomplished by virtue of the fact that the circuit4 leading from' contacts 52 and 53 of block --Cis open between the fore, be actuated under the conditions dearmature 57 and the front contact 58 of the track relay in block D, this relay being dei- -r energized on account of the obstruction in v block D, as previously described. There being no complete circuit between the contacts 52 and 53, there'will'be no current to cause the energization of the cab relays 40 or 41. Neither of these relays ywill be actuated, therefore, tocause the disconnection of the whistle valves from the plunger and lever mechanism. When, therefore, the plunger wheel strikes the mechanical trip 30 of block C, the crossbar 16 of the level; mechanism will be depressed and will carry with it both of the actuating rods 25 and 26.. Both ofthe whistle valves will thus be opened and maintained in their open position by means of the detents 31 and 32. The'engineer will thus be notiied by the sto whistles that there is an obstruction in thi;

next succeeding block, whereupon he will bring his train to a full stop. As previously stated, the whistle valves are returned to their normal condition by the engineer,

whoremovesA the detents 31 and 32 when he has ap reh'ended the signals given.

the circuits for block signaling trains moving from right to left in the drawing of Fig. 1, these circuits being duplicates of those depassmg from left to right. It will be seen t at the circuit of the track contacts 72 and 73 may be traced by way of the contact 78 and the armature 77 of relay 50 in block C to the It w1 1 be unnecessary to describe in detail' negative pole of the vmain battery 59 which is located in 'block B. The circuit continues under normal conditions from the positive pole of the battery 59 through the front contact 60 and the armature 56 of the track relay 5() of block B, and thence by way of the common return wire 75 to the contacts 73 located in block D. When there is an obstruction in block B, the armature 560i the track relay in that block will i'all back, thus com leting the circuit'oil the track contacts of bibck D through the special resistance 61 located in block B. Whenythere is'an obstruction in block C, which is next adjacent to block l), the armatures oi' the track relay in block C will fall back into their abnormal positions, in whichcase the circuit of the track contacts of block D will be opened between the contact 78 and the armature 77. These different conditions of the circuit con nected with track contacts at the farther side of the track will serve to cont ol in the manner already described'the cab signals of locomotives vmoving'from right to left.'

My invention thus provides a simple and eflic'ient means .for controlling the operation of cab signals on moving trains and provides for the complete safe conduct of such trains, rimarily because the full stop signals will) be actuated if any part of the apparatus is out of order or fails in any way to operate as intended.

If assurance is required as to the proper operation of the plunger and lever mechanism, an additional test signal may be permanently connected with the lever so that this signal will be sounded whenever a mechanical trip contact is passed. In this event the r`failure to receive the periodical announcements of the test signal will indicate to the engineer that there is some derangement of the plunger and lever mechanism and he may govern himself accordingly. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications of the a aratus herein described may be made wit out de arting from the spirit of my invention. I o not Wish, therefore, .to be limited to the precise construction and method of operation herein shown, but, on the contrary, I consider my invention to be as broadas the terms of the accompanying claims. I claim as my invention:

1. In a railway block signaling system,

the combination of a track divided into al series of blocks, electrical track contacts located in each block, signaling circuits each extending from the track contacts inA one block to the next succeeding block, means in each block for controlling the signaling circuit terminating in the track contacts inthe next block, a signal carried upon a moving train, a device located in each block for mechanically actuating the signaling apparatus upon the moving train, electrical contacts carried upon the moving train and adapted to make connection with the track contacts, and electrical apparatus on the moving train, said apparatus being connected with the moving contacts of the train' and adapted to be actuated when the connected signaling circuit is in one condition to prevent the operation of the signal and to be controlling device servin actuatedwhen the connected signaling cir# cuit is in another condition to permit the operation of the associated signal.

2. In a railway block signaling system, the combination with a series of blocks, of two signal-controlling devices, each in a separate block, two signal-conveying paths, each path being connected with track contacts located ina different block, the actuation of the iirst signal-controlling device serving to establish.

one condition in the first of said paths and another condition in the second of said aths, and the actuation of the second signa -con'- trolling device serving to establish the second condition in the first of said paths, two sigL nals carried on a moving train, a device located in each block and adapted normally to mechanically cause the actuation of both of said signals upon the passage of a moving l train, electromagnetic mechanism carried on said train and includedin a circuit terminating inl contacts adapted to make connection with said track contacts during the passage of said train, said electromagnetic mechanism being adapted for actuation of one character upon vmaking connection with a path in one of said conditions to prevent the operation of one of said signals, and adaptedior actuation of another character upon making connection with a path in another condition to prevent the operation of thel other signal.

3. In a railway block signaling system, the combination with a series of blocks, of a signalcontrolling device in each block, signal-conveying paths each adapted to convey signals from one block to the neXt succeeding block, each of said paths terminating in track contacts, the actuation of each signal-controlling device serving to change the electrical condition of the signal-conveyingpath controlled thereby, a signal carried block, two signal-conveying paths, each path being adapted to convey signals to a diiierent' block, Athe actuation ofl the first signalcontrolling device serving to establish one condition in the first ci' said paths and another condition in the second of said paths, and the actuation of the` second signalto establish the second condition in the rst of said. aths, track contacts located in each block) and vin a circuit adapted l signal, a device adapted normally to mechanically 4cause the loperation of both of y differentially said signals, and means controlled by said adjusted electromagnetic mechanism for releasing the full stop signal from the control vof the mechanical trip when the circuit of the electromagnetic lmechanism is closed through a path .in which the iirst of said conditions has been established and for permitting the control of said signal by said mechanical trip when connection is established with a path in which the second condition has been established. l

5.; In a railway block signaling system, the combination With aseries of blocks each comprising a pair of rails insulated from the rails ofthe next succeeding block','a track circuit including acontrolling relay associated with each block, track contacts located ,in each block, a signaling circuit extending from each controlling relay to the track contaets of the second block in each direction,

j ciated controlling relay during 'increase the resistance of the switching mechanism actuated by the asso- Y the presence ol' an obstruct-ion in the associatedl block to signaling circuitsterminating in the track contacts of .l the second block-in each direction and serving to open the signaling circuits terminating' in the next adjacent block in each direction, and electrically controlled signaling mechanism adapted for connection with the track contacts. A jI 6. AIn a railway block signaling system, the combination with a series of blocks each comprising a pair of Vrails insulated from the rails of the next succeeding block, a track circuit including a controlling relay asso-` ciated with eac block, trackcontacts located in each block, a signaling r circuit extending from each controlling relay to the l l track-contacts of the second'block ineach lock to increase the resistance of the signalingcircuits terminating in the track contacts of the second block in each direction and serving to o en the signaling lcircuits terminating in t e next adjacent block in each e associated direction, a caution signal and a full stop signal carried on a movingtrain, a device located in each block and-adaptednormally toinechanical'ly actuate both of said lsignals upon the passage of a train, tender contacts carried upon the moving train and adapted to make connection with cab circuit terminating in the tender contacts, differentially adjusted cab relays ineluded in said cab` circuit, both of said relays being actuated to prevent the operation of the signals by the device when circuit through said relays is closed through asignaling ycircuit in which the normal condition exists', and oneonly of said' cab relays being actuated to revent theoperation oi' the full stop signal y said device when connection 'is estaiiished with a Circuit in which the resistance has been increased but which is not open circuited, neither of said cab relays being actuated Whenconnection is established. with an open'signaling circuit, wheresaid device. j

7. In a cab signaling system, the combination with differential 'signals located in upon the full stop signal Will be actuated by 'the engine cab, mechanical contrivances serving normally to actuate said signals, and anelectrical track clrcult ,for preventing the `actuation of said signals by said mechanical thetrack contacts, an electric l means when the track is in an unobstructed y condition. v In Witness whereof, IA hereunto subscribe myname this 31st day of July A. D., 1907.

HARRY M.I COULTER.

" Witnesses: Y HARVEY L. HANsoN,

JOHN F. STAHR.

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