US863238A - Indication apparatus for switch and lock movements. - Google Patents

Description

AUG. 13, 1907.

L THLYLLEN.

.INDIGATZON APA BATUSFOR SWITCH AHDLU-TJK EGVEEEENTS,

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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No. 863,238. PATENTED AUG. 13, 1 907. L. H. THULLEN. INDICATION APPARATUS FOR SWITCH AND LOCK MOVEMB NTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 30, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Japan/E07":

A I t I rm L. H. THULLEN. INDIGATION APPARATUS FORSWITGH AND LUCK MOVEMENTS.

PATEN TED AUG. 13, 1907.-

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 30, 1906.

' ASHEETS-BHEET 3.

- Wiinesses:

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(1" in erest Louis 11. THULLEN, or nnonwoon PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, rissrenoa {LOQTHEEUNION swrron AND SIGNAL COMBANY, OF sw ssvALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A GORP ORATION or PENNSYLVANIA.

' m ssages.

1 To all whom it rriay concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS H. THULLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing atl'Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State'of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefuL Improvements in Indication Apparatus for Switch and Lock Movements, of which the following-is a specification.

My invention relates'to indication apparatus for switch ancllock movements; and more especially to that class of indication apparatus used in'electric interlocking railway systennqttnd operated by aiternat. currents, an object being to provide means where by the operation of the indicator is only ehFecte-l by an alternating current of one predetermined frequency, the several parts or appliances comprised in the indication mechanism, and their controlling cirouits; being so arranged as to render them neutral, and-not responsive to alternating" currents of any v other'frequency.

\ rangements it has been found that the indicators are a meteor less degree in'the immediate vicinity of the liable to be' iilfluen'ced by "currents of varying ireqi encies', as"well as hy stray cmi'entswhi'cli nist to mechanisms, thereby renoeringth'e'operation of the indicator uncertain angl frequently effecting false indication asiswen nn lerstood in the art.

My ir'iventiorr is designed .to overcome these and other 'difiiculties,ai1cl I will notdescribe means or' mechanism, and the circuits for operating the same by an alternating current or" one predetermined frequency and embodyingmy invention.

aromatic View or" railwaswitch and 0 eratin p V b mechanism, and illustrating means: embodying my invention for operating and controlling the indicator therefor; In this view the parts are in 'the position they assuine after a preliminary movement has been given tire controlling lever; to he reierrecl'to; and the circuits arranged thereby to supply 'cii'rrent to the switch operating mechanism to move tlieswitch points in one iiirecti'on, an cl also to supplyalternating current to effect a'release oi the controlling lever to permit of its being inoved to another position. Fig; lflis a detail diagrammatic view oi' th'e indication mechanism showing the controlling lever in a position just prior '50 to the preliminary movement thereof. In this view the circuits are ope'nand thesupply of current to both the-switch operating and the indication mechanisms V to Fig l the coni to engage, in order that thelslide may phe locked,

innronrrorrArrnnrfiosfron swrron. AND noon movisiyrnii s Specification of Letters ?Patent. 5 t

' Application filed March-30,1206. Serial No. 30238;;2.

v merits oi to engage contacts f, f f f trolling lever heingvmoveol t'h 'a second pos 'ion' 'and the circuits thereby re-arrang edio siipply ciirrent to the switch operating mechanism toniove theswitch points in an opposite direction; and alsoto supply current to the indication mechanism to release' the controlling lever so as to-permit'it to he moved to ii final position. Fig. 3 is a A A i I. Q

is a detail diagrammatic vie fication.

Similar reference charactersiiemg parts in all the figures of the lira iiigs V i p v Reieiiing to saicl clrawin A (lesignates aportioii of a railway track section conip ed iii an electric iiiterlockingrailway system; B;the switchpointsfand 0. th rod or other connectionleaclihg to the I tchopen ating mechanism and by which the shiiitc 1 points are moveii from one position tothe otherfin the iisiial manner? The switch. operating manners? he any desired anclior purposes 'of "illustration have herein shown it in the form of an: oidinai y solenoidD comprising a core d and two magnets d d g' spac ed siifiiciently apart to p'rovide ii; between them for the free movement of a coniie 4 I tending from the'rod C, to core d of the soflonoidq). Theinagnets v V M f. .4 'f

d (F, are wound, and the C11Cll1l;S so arranged, that current will alternately flow throughthe magnets and so effect a movement of tiie '0'1-e dinoneoirectiou or theother, thereby moving the-switchpointsithrough the intermediary of the conn'ection c rod Cl, to one position or the other. This arrangement is entirely arbitrary, however, as any other suitable or approi 'ecl "In the-accompanying drawings Fignrel is a diamech ani ins may be used for' accomplis hin'g theinovee switchpoints and Whicharewell'uiiiien stood intheart,

E, designates an indicatilin me hanisin which-is usually comprised in an "ii t erloc 111g inachine' 'ar ranged a cabin. or tower locatedfgeinerally, 'atsoliie distance away the sts'itchil lhese levers are usually arrangechhl rows ahii control the operation either of witches or signaling deyices and; as here shown, one of these levers, (lesignated'FQ isc on nected to a slide bar G; upon which are arranged contact plates g; g g g properly insulated therefrom and adapted 109 i I theslidehar isino'ved bacli'iand ioi-th, to close and 6 en certain circuits leadingto the switch" opratingand indication mechanisms; The slide haiisiprovidecl with shoulders h, h-, with which atappet Mocking device 1 is adapted and its movement limited, under certain conditions ,to be described, in both directions, and this tappet or locking device is controlled by any ordinary or desired electromagnetic device.

' As here shown, the controlling device is diagrammatically illustrated as an ordinary electro-magnet H, the armature of which may constitute the tappet or locking device referred to, and upon the end of which is formed a nose or projection which, when the magnet H is denergized, will rest upon the slide bar G, at timesbetween the shoulders h, h-, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 2, and at other times beyond the respective shoulders h, h as shown in Figs. 12 and 3, to permit of a limited to and fro movement of the slide bar G. This limited to and fro movement is known in the art as a f preliminary movement.

I do not limit myself to this form of indicating device, as this is a diagrammatical representation only and as such is used. Any form of indicating device can be used and the controlling device may be of any appro priate 'form capable of operating an armature by means of current used and can be constructed in numerous ways well known in the art.

J designates a source of electric energy for the switch operating mechanism which may comprise an ordinary battery, as shown, or it may be of any other desired character, such for example as a generator, preferably of the direct current type and which .is intended to alternatelfl energize the magnets d and (P, so as to move the switch points from one position to another.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the slide bar G has been moved to a position incident to a prelimi-- nary movement of the controlling lever F, thereby causing the contact plate 9'' to engage the contacts f f included in the circuits for controlling the magnets d, (P. Thuscurrent from the source of supply J, will flow from the positive side of battery along wires 2 3, contact plate g, wire 4, winding of magnet d, wire 5, back to negative side of battery. A further movement of the controlling lever will bring the slide bar into position to open the circuit justdescribed, and bring the contact plate g into engagement with the contacts f f thereby closing acircuit leading to the magnet (F, energizing that magnet, and causing it to effect a movement of the switch points in the opposite direction. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, where.

the operation of the indicated mechanism, and to be hereinafter fully described) will be moved out-of engagement with the contacts f, P, f, or at least will be so placed with relation to said contacts as to open both Circuit's leading to the magnets d and d thereby cutting off the supply of current therefrom. Obviously, a reverse movement of the controlling lever and slide bar G will reverse the order of making and breaking contacts between g'-, g, and f f, f, f; that is to say, the contact plate 9 will first engage the contacts f, f and close the circuit leading to the magnet (P, as shown in Fig. 1, which will temporarily energize it, but will in no way effect a movement of the switch points (as they had previously been moved to the limit of their throw) but a continued movement of the controlling lever will open the circuit leading to the magnet rF just described and bring the contact plate g" into engagement with the contacts'f f, thus closing the circuit leading to theflfignet d' and thereby effecting a movemeht of the switch points to bring them back to their former position, shown Fig. 1.

K designates an alternating current generator for supplying current to any humber of indication mechanisms, usually comprised in an interlocking machine for controlling the operation of switch and lock movements in an electric interlocking railway system, and the circuits for which may each have included in them a transformer L, condensers M, M and impedance coils N N as shown in Fi s. 1 2 and 3 or'as shown in 7 r a r 1 4 and- '3, the transformer maybe omitted in the former instance, and-a condenser alone used, or the condenser may be omitted in the latter instance and an impedance coil alone used. These changes, which in themselves are slight, are illustrated merely for the purpose of showing the scope of my invention, and by which other means the results sought to be obtained may be accomplished, 'i. e., the various means by which'the operation of the indication mechanism may be effected by a current of predetermined frequency only. i I It is well understood that where a condenser alone is used in a circuit, a current of high frequency will traverse the circuit readily, while it will offer a high resistance to a current of low frequency. Conversely, where an impedance coil alone is used in the circuit, a current of low frequency is permitted to readily traverse the circuit, while it offers a high resistance to a current of high frequency.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the transformer L is wound with two primary coils l, P, so connected with the generator K that the-current therefrom will magnetize the core on which they are wound, in opposite directions.

1 designates a secondary winding on the transformer in which a current is induced to supply current .for the controlling device. These windings although shown as located each on a separate leg of the core, may also be wound upon a single leg or core which, for practical purposes may be more desirable. A wire 9, leads from one pole of the generator K to, and connects with,

the terminals of the primary windings, l, l, the opposite' terminals thereof lieing connected respectively to the impedance coils, N, N, and condensers M, M, from which latter they pass to and connect with a wire 10, which terminates in the contact f 1 previously mentiond,'-and adaptedto engage and disengage the contact plates g'ahd g on the slide bar G fa-s I shall presently describe. The impedance N is of less value than the impedance N and consequently will offer less resistance to a current of high frequency, and most of such current will, therefore, follow the path of leastresistance. A wire 12. lads from the opposite pole of the generator K and terminates in a frontand back contact 13, 14, respectively, which are adapted to altea nately engage a contact piece 15 located on 'and incu ,lated from the switch rod 0, as the latter moves back the circuits leading from the generator K to the trans-' l5, and, with the contacts 13 and 14 serve to establish circuits leading to the indicator mechanism. The

opposite terminals of the wires 18 and 19 are provided with the contacts f, f previously referred to, which, with the contacts f serve to make and break contact with the. contact plates 9, g, and thus op en'ahd close former Land thereby governing the operation of the indication mechanism. I

Assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. -1 and the generator K is generating an alternat 'ing current of a predetermined frequency, most of the current will flow through wires 9, 9, through the primary winding Z, through impedance'coil N and condenser M, wire 16, contact plate g, wire 19, contact piece 15, and .wire 12 toopposite' pole of generator.-

This will induce a current in the secondary coil Z of 1 I just sufiicient amount to energize the controlling dc vice causing the magnet H to attract .its armature i and release the slide bar. G, thereby permitting the latter to be moved to anotheiposition. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 2 the current will flow from the generator K,. inthe same manner,

of the controlling device through the niediumoi transformer, condensers and impedances being determined upon. and the condensers and impedances being tuned to .pass .current of one frequency only, and which may 35 be that of a high irequency compared with surrounding stray currents of a low frequency, it will be obvious that the low frequency will not operate the device, Conversely, if the apparatus is tuned to .pass current of predetermined low irequencya current of high irequcncy will not .pass to operate the controlling devicev In brief, let ,it be assumed that a high frequency is desired for purposes of controlling the indication device, and' it is desired to guard against its operation by a current of low frequency, then the condensersM, M and impedances N, N will be so proportioned or tuned that a current of low frequency, and of equal or nearly equal value, will pass through the two circuits and, therefore, will not induce a sufficient amount of current in the secondary winding 1 to operate the controlling device; but the apparatus is out of tune for currents of satire-( awman will be an unbalancing in the two circuits and current will be induced in the'iyinding Z suiiicient in amount and frequency to operate the controlling device.

Claims.

1. The combination with a railway switch and lock movement having means for moving the switch points from one position to another, of an indication mechanism comprising an electromagnetic device, a source of alternating current supply for the indication mechanism, and means whereby the indication mechanism is permitted to be operated only by an alternating current from the said source and of one predetermined frequency.

2. The combination with a railway switch and lock movement/having means for moving the switch points from one position to another, of an' indication mechanism comprising a'u electro-magnetic device, a leyer under the control of the electro-magnetic device for controlling the movement of the switch points; 'a source of alternating current supply for the indication mechanism, and means whereby the indication .mechanism is permitted to be operated only by the alternating current from said source and of one predetermined frequency.

. 3. The' combination with a railway switch and lock movement having electro-magnetic means for moving the switch points from one position to another, of an indication but will pass through the contact plate 9 and return by mechanism comprising an electromagnetic device, a source of direct curreutsupply for the switch moving means, and a source of' alternating current supply for the indication mechanism, and means whereby the indication mechanism is permitted to be operated only by the alternating current .from the saidsource. and of one predetermined frequency.

4. The combination with a railway switch 'andlock movement having means for-moving the switch points 'from' one position to another, of an indication mechanism comprising an electromagnetic device, a lever for controlling the movements of the switch points, a locking device for said lever, a source. of alternating current supply for the indication mechanism, and means whereby the locking device is permitted to be operated to release the lever only by the alternating current from said source and

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