US1603285A - Highway signal for railroads - Google Patents

Description

D. M. KENNEDY HIGHWAY SIGNAL FOR RAILROADS Filed Nov. 28, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 19 1926.

' D. M. KENNEDY HIGHWAY SIGNAL Fori RAILROADS Fi led Nov. 28. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllillllilw'-,

INVENTOR. M72126 Oct. 19

D. M. KENNEDY HIGHWAY SIGNAL FOR RAILROADS Filed Nov. 28. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. fiearqylffim Patented Oct. 19, 1926.

UiT-En fsr DEWEY M. KENNEDY, F R0(lHliiSTl'zllt, NEW YORK.

HIGHWAY SIGNAL r03 QRAILROADS.

Application filed November 28, 1922. serial No. 603,841.

My present invention relates to railway largedfiof the interior mechanism of the signals and more particularly. to signal systerns for the particular protection of public highways which cross railroad tracks at grade and it has for its object to provide an improved highway signaling mechanism so arranged and adapted 'on the highway and so connected up with the railroad semaphores or other track or train signals as to I effectively ard the crossing when a train is approaching and at other and all times to inevitably. apprise those using the highway that a railroad crossing is present. ther object of the'invention is to provide means for warning the driver of a-vehicle on the highway that crossing barriers are about to be actuated into his path so that he may not be trapped within the barriers and to make further arrangements for his safety in case he is so trapped. A still further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the train actuated highway signal once actuated will continue to protect the crossing even though'the source of operating power or controlling power shall fail in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as willhe hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed V out 1n the claims at the end of the'specifica tion. I Inthe drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a double track railroad and highway, crossing with thetracks partly broken away to brlng the track or train signals'into the same view and with circuit connections and attendant mechanism shown diagrammatically, all constructed and arranged in accordance with and illustrating oneembodiment of my in vention. j I

Figure 2 is a front elevation, enlarged, of one of the highway signals in its normal or clear position. a

Figure 3 is a similar view of the same si al in danger position, the barrier arms being partly broken away.

, Figure 3 is a side view "of the highway signal as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view-of the;highway at'the crossing and ofthe highway signals. Figure 5 is a sectional. view, much en- A furhighwa'y signal base and easing. 3

Figure 6 is a further enlarged horizontal section throughthe highway signal on the line 66 of Figures 2 and V Figure 7 is" a dbtail enlarged sectional view of one of the rotary switches in the highway signal and showin the switch in another position.

Simi ar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

The entire railway and highway signaling system contemplated in the present disclosure or with which the improvements herein claimed are adapted tobe and pref- I erably should be used may be understood when used in connection with the completesystem of railway and highway control referred to. I

Because of the greatly increased traffic upon the highways of the country and the prevalence of grade crossing accidents it is not at all unreasonable, even'from the viewpoint of the railroads themselves to make railroad trains subservient to highway vehicles at grade crossings 1n the effort to prevent loss of life. With this in view my system of control provides that a highway crossing signal, normally at clear, shall be directly actuated to danger by an approaching train that has not yet reached and itself 'has thus properly and completely responded to the train actuation and is giving its proper warning, then, and only then, does it permit the train or track signal to 'opcrate to clearand clear the train. The resuit is that if the highway signal is out of Figure 8 is a view similar'to Figure 7 but the hi hway signal.

the engineer of an approaching train must 'run past his own danger signal to reach the crossing. He knows that there is something In t e practice of the present invention I place the highway signalin the center of the road or highway but at a distance from the tracks that will permit a vehicle a safe stopping space between them and it. ll widen the roadway ,at both sides of the signal base and provide two barrier arms that are normally raised vertically together inparallelism but are lowered to bar both widened portions of the road upon the ap proach of a train. The signal, supported 1 upon a prominent heavy base, normally shows a white light when the way is clear and is preferably striped black and white.

The driver of a vehicle coming along the highway can therefore not fail to see the signal structure straight ahead of him in the center of the roadwhether during the day or at night and he must make a turn out and around the signalbefore crossing the tracks. The driver therefore cannot fail to realize that he is approaching a railroad crossing and that he must reduce his speed under any circumstance at least sufficiently to permit him to make the turn at the signal. Though normally showing a white light, the lowering of the arms or barriers turns these out and flashes on a red light exhibiting the word Stop also in the center of the road and at a level at which a driver watching the road would naturally keep his eyes focused to pickup the lights of vehicles ahead, etc. 'With an electrically operated system, it is this red light which controls the subsequent actuation of the track signal to clear.

There are of. course highway signals. at each side of the tracks to take care of vehicles moving in both directions and I make arrangements whereby the left hand barrier arm is moved down slowly in advance of the right hand one which actually blocks an oncoming vehicle in order that the driver may be warned that the signal is about to operate to completely stop him in order that he may I not be struck by the descending arm.

"With these features in mind and referring more particularly to the drawings and to Figures 1 and Athereof, 1 indicates the highway and 2 and 3 the tracks of a double track railroad crossing the same at a suitable distance from the track and on each side of the railroad is located in the center of the aeoaeea road upon a strong cement base 4, a heavy cast iron signal casing 5. At least, the general structure should be strong and heavy enough to cause it to be respected by drivers of Vehicles as an obstruction. capable of maintaining itself in a collision and there; fore to be avoided. The highway is widened as shown at 6 at this point to permit a ve-- hicle to turn out and go around the signal and the pivoted barrier arms 7 and 8, shown in their normal clear positions in all but Figures 3 and 4, are suficiently long to block the widened highway against the passage of vehicles when inthe lowered positions of Figures 3 and 4 as shown in the latter figure.-

The casing 5 preferably embodies an enlarged lower portion 9 accessible through a. front door 10 and a narrower upper portion 11 accessible through opposite side doors 12. As before mentioned, the entire casing as well as the barrier arms 7 and 8 are preferably striped as shown in Figures 2 and 3 to increase their visibility. The 'casing. houses the operating mechanism as hereinafter described. At the front of the base or casing at a suitable height, in the resent instance between the portions 9 an 11 is a circular dished reflector 13 that may bear the customary railroad notice sign as shown. This reflector is illuminated constantly by the white lights of the signal system as herea is a cylindrical collar or hood 17 forming a lamp chamber that is thus sealed from the reflector and is covered at the front by a glass 18 bearing the word Stop prominently thereon as shown in Figure 3. In the chamber 17 are one or more red lamps 19 or preferably the glass 18 is red or both, the idea being that this is an illuminated danger signal. Such signal is normally covered and entirely sealed when the barrier .arms are raised as in Figure 2 by a shutter disk 20 fixed to a forwardly pro ecting end of the shaft 14, said shutter also serving as an added counter weight for one of the arms. As the latter lowers, the shutter is raised and the red or danger lights 19 are made to show as will be explained. At the same time the by reflection from the head lig ts of an. ap-

fan

proaching automobile. The indirect lighting from the white lights 21 also prevents them from doing the same thing. Nothing must be permitted which will lead motorists into contempt for the signalas a result of having, at some time, received a false indication from one of them.

The lighting circuits of the lamps 19 and 21 are controlled by rotary switches on the shaft 14. A permanent outgoing contact is made on a contact roller 22 on said shaft while, as shown in Figures 7 and 8 an insulated contact 23 thereon is rotated with the shaft and barrier arm from contact with a brush 24 in the normal positions of the arms as at Figure 7 to contact with a brush 25 when the arms are lowered to danger position as shown in Figure 8. Referring to Figure 1 where the circuit is shown diagrammatically and a source of current is shown at C (all parts being in normal or clear position) the current flows as follows to maintain the white lights burningz wire 26, 26 lamps21, Wire 27, brush 24, contact 23 to contact 22, brush 28, wire 29 and back to battery through wire 30. \Vhen the barrier arm 7 is lowered through the rotation of shaft 14, contact 23 is carried from brush 24 to brush 25 as in Figure 8. The circuit of the white lights 21 is thereby broken and i thecurrent diverted through the red lights instead as follows: wire 26 from battery, wire 26, wire 31, red lights 19. wire 32, solenoid33, brush 25, contact 22, brush 28 and wires 29 and 30 back to battery. It is important to note in this connection that the solenoid 33, the function of which will be later explained, is in the circuit of the red lights 19 but not that of the white lights 21.

The barrier arms 7 and 8 are rotated and the lights controlled through the mediums of the shafts 14 and 15 in the following manner: On the shaft 14 (Figures 5 and 6) is fixed a gear 34 meshing with an interrupted gear 35 on a stud 36 secured to the case. Similarly, a gear 36 fixed to shaft 15 meshes with a gear 37 on a stud 38. Between the gears 35 and 37 is located a vertical rack bar 39 slidable in a suitable.

is the larger of the set but the teeth of the rack bar that cooperate with the gear 1 35 are interrupted at 41 so that while, the left hand barrier arm 8 responds immediately to the downward movement of the rack bar there is initial lost motion between .the latter and gear 35. In this way the left hand barrier arm 8 is operated in advance of the other as before described. and moves down slowly while the righthand arm 7 has its movement delayed but moves quickly when it does move.

The lower end of the bar '39, bearing against the guide roll 42 at one side has rack teeth 43 on its other side meshing with a pinion 44 fixed to a shaft 45 to which is also fixed a gear plate 46. The gear plate in turn meshes with a pinion 47 on the shaft of a motor 48. It will be seen therefore that when the motor 48 is energized, rotating to the left, the rack bar 39 will be drawn downwardly.

Suitably fixed within the casing are three brushes or switch arms 53, 54, and 55. Pivoted freely on the shaft 45 is asegment 56 normally held as shown in Figure 5 by a. spring 57 against the stop pin 58 that positions the out-side brushes 53 and upon a contact 59 thereon while the center brush 54 is normally dead on one of two insulated Figure 1. It is sufficiently far enough away so that 'a train, reaching it and finding it set against it, can stop or get under control before reaching the crossing. At a further distanc down the track from this signal 49 suflicient for the highway signal to complete its operation while the train is travelling from such point to signal 49 is a suitable train actuated track switch 51. It should be remembered that this track switch is nor- .mally open and is closed by'the train wheels.

On the far side of the highway crossing is another similar train actuated track switch 52. It should be remembered that this switch is normally closed and is momentarily opened by the wheels of the train.

This being understood, the motor 48 is energized and the highway signal operated to. danger in the following manner: I

An approaching train reaches track switch 51 and closes it. Current then flows from wire 26 through wire 62, a solenoid 63, wire 62, motor 48, wire 62", brush 55, contact plate 59, brush 53. wire 62, track switch 52, wire 62, wire 62, track switch 51, wire 62. a solenoid 64, wire 62 and wire 30 back to battery. Although energizing the motor' and starting the highway signal mechanism to some extent, this circuit is not relied uponfor this purpose but is merely a temporary circuit' that sets up a more lasting circuit; through energizing solenoid 64 which, it will be'noted, has been.

accomplished. I Such lasting circuit is the same as the one just described except that from wire 62?, the current instead of passing to wire 62 and track switch 51 which is left open with thepassing of the train, fiows and out keeping. its own circuit closed at 66 as long as the flow is constant.

The motor 48 is now operating. Necessarily it must be stopped when the barrier arms 7 and 8 of the highway signal have completed their movement to the position of Figure 8 and the'red danger-lights have been turned on. The arrangements are such that the motor, automatically cuts its own current when this point is reached. As the gear plate 46 in its rotation completes the downward draw on the rack 89, a pin 67 on the gear plate strikes the segment 56 and raises it against the tension of spring 57 sufficiently to carry switcharm 55 off of conmet 59 and on to insulation 61 while carrying switch arm 54 off of insulation 60 and on to contact 59. Switch arm 53 is always on contact. This breaks both motor circuits through switch and sets up a new circuit that locks the highway signal in its danger position with the barrier arms down as otherwise the latter would be returned by their counter weights. The locking mechanism consists of a latch 68 pivoted at 69 upon a bracket 7 0 and normally held raised in inoperative position by a spring 71. When lowered by a solenoid 72 attracting its opposite end it drops into a notch 73 in the gear plate 46. At the same time it is adapted to engage an incline or c-am portion 74 on the segment 56 and kick the latter upwardly so that the switch, arms 54 and 55 will be completely shifted and will not are as the other segment operating mechanism goes dead at the motor.

'Thisnew locking circuit for ,the highway signal mechanism in ener ,izing they-actuating solenoid 72 flowsas ollows: -Wires 26 and 62, solenoid 63, wire 75, solenoid 72, wire 75*, switch arm 54, contact 59,;switch arm 53, wire 62, track switch 52, wire 62 wire 65, switch 66, wire solenoid 64 and wires 62 and 30 back to'battery. -However,rwhen the train reaches the far track switch 52 and once opens it, the other track switch 51 being normally open, the circuit last named and all posslble circuits are broken at 66 where the switch is opened loya spring 76 through the deenergizing of solenoid 64 through which current cannot be restored even with the subsequent closing of switch 52 until trackswitch 51 is again ener ized and the cycle is repeated. Solenoid 72 being also '63 previously described as the barrier The anchor 81 is of course normally low- 'deenergized the lock 68 is retracted and the highway signal returns to normal by gravity.

lvleanwhile, if ,the highway signal has functioned properly in every respect and the red danger lights 19 have become illuminated the track or train signal 49 has been operated from its'normal danger position to clear which occurs when the highway signal becomes locked. This train signal 49' is operated by mechanism substantially the therefore the train signal can operate to clear only when'the red lights are on and in order and the red lights can be switched on only when the barrier arms 7 and 8 "have completed their operation. Hence, the train signal is under the absolute control of the highway signal. When the latter returns to normal and the redlights 19 are switched off, the solenoid 33'is deenergized, the switch 78 opens and the train signal 49 returns to normal or danger position along with other parts.0

On the supposition that, between the time the train passes its own signal and it reaches the highway crossing,

the current might fail in the highway signal causing it to return by gravity to the normal clear position and leave the highway "unguarded, I provide means, operative through the failure of such current, for slowing the return of the barrier arms 7 and 8 sufficiently to prevent them from opening the highway while the train 1s travelling this distance. It consists 1n the present instance of an escapement mechanism embodying a star wheel 80 on one of the barrier shafts 15 and an anchor 81 adapted to cooperate therewith and pivoted on a Vertical draw bar 82 guided at 83. One end 84 of a lever pivoted at 85 has a pivotal connection 86 with the draw bar to holdiit and the anchor raised as long as the opposite end of the lever is attracted by solenoid being in both the motor circuit and thelocking.circuit'of the highway signal. Should these circuits be broken and whenever they are broken the escapement becomes operative and prevents arms from returning quickly.

ered when in operative position but it is immediately raised when thesignal operatmg currents are set up. r

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a railroad track and a highway crossing the same at grade and constructedof doublewidth at the intersection with the track and for an appropriate distance/beyond the same, of a highway signal arranged in the center of the double width portion of the highway between the track and the single width portion so as to be directly in line with the latter, and movable barriers on the signal at opposite sides adapted to respectively close the double width portion of the highway as divided by the signal.

2. The-combination with a railroad track and a highway crossing the same at grade, of a highway signal embodying a base located in the center of the highway at a dis tance from the track, a vehicle barrier movably mounted on the base to control traffic on the highway, means normally illuminating the signal, and means actuated jointly with the barrier by an approaching train for showing a'danger light of a contrasting color.

3. The combination and a highway crossing the same at grade and constructed of double width at the intersection with the track and for an appro priate distance beyond the'same, of a highway signal embodying a base located in the center of the double width portion of the highway and two ve hicle barriers mounted on the base to respectively control the double width portions of the highway at the two sides of the signal, said barriers consisting of vertically swinging arms normally hav ing an upright position in which they extend abovethe signal.

4. The combination with a railroad track and a highway crossing the same at grade, of a highway signal embodying a base located in the center of the highway at a distance from the track, two vehicle barriers mounted on the base to respectively control the highway at the two sides of the signal, said barriers consisting of vertically swinging arms normally having a raised position in which they extend above the signal, and means for lowering one arm in advance of the other upon the approach of a train on the track.

5. The combination witha railroad track and a highway crossing the same at grade, of a hghway'sign'al embodying a base located in the center of the highway at a distance from the track, two vehicle barriers mounted on the base to respectively control trafiic on the highway at the two sides of the signal, said barriers consisting of verticall swingin arms normally having a raise position in which they extend above with a railroad track the signal and means actuated by the ap-' proach of a train on the track for slowly lowering the left hand arm with reference to an approaching vehicle in advance of the other.

6. The combination with a railroad track and a highway crossing the same at grade, of a highway'signal embodying a base located in the center of the highway at a distance from the track, two vehicle barriers mounted on the base to respectively control traflic on the highway at-the two sides of the signal, said barriers consisting of vertically swinging arms normally having a raised positionin which they extend above the signal, and means actuated by the approach of a train on the track for slowly lowering the left hand arm and then quickly lowering the other arm.

7 The combination with a railroad track I and a highway crossing the same at grade, of a highway. signal embodying a base located in thecenter of the highway at a distance from the track, two vehicle barriers mounted on the base to respectively control traffic on the highway atthe two sides of the signal, said barriers consisting of vertically swinging arms normally having a raised position in which they extend above the signal, a motor within the base controlled by an approaching train on the track, a rack bar operated by the motor and gearing between the rack bar and the barrier arms.

8. The combination with a railroad track and a highway, crossing the same at grade, of a hlghway signal embodying a base located in the center of the highway at a distance from the track, two vehicle barriers 'thesignal, a motor within the base controlled by an approaching train on the track,- a rack bar operated by the motor and gearing between the rack bar and the barrier arms adapted to actuate one of said arms in advance of the other.

9. The combination with a highway signal for railroad crossings embodying a movable barrier normally held at clear but adapted to control traffic on' the highway and train actuated electrical means for moving the barrier to operative position, of an escapement device for slowing the return movement of the barrier and electrical means in series with'the barrier operating means for normally maintaining the escapement device inoperative.

DEWEY M. KENNEDY.

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