IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF INDICATING NUMBERS AND NAMES ON DOORS OF PRIVATE HOUSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Drury, of Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road,
in the County of Surrey, Carver, and Charles Westrup, of Old Street
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Chair Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF INDICATING NUMBERS AND NAMES ON
DOORS OF PRIVATE HOUSES."
Sealed the 3rd January 1868, and dated the 18th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Drury and Charles
Westrup at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 13th July 1867.
We, WILLIAM DRURY, of Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road, in the County
of Surrey, Carver, and CHARLES WESTRUP, of Old Street Road, in the County
of Middlesex, Chair Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF INDICATING NUMBERS AND NAMES
ON DOORS OF PRIVATE HOUSES," to be as follows:-
According to our improvements. we cast the head of a street door knocker,*
which is usually of solid metal, with a round, oval, or other shaped opening,
and in the back of this opening we insert a ground or other glass tablet, having
thereon the number of the house inscribed. An aperture of similar form is
also made through the door immediately bebind the tablet in the knocker
head; in this manner the number may be easily discerned on the transparent

page_text: tablet from the street at all times, especially at night by the light of the hall
or passage lamp, or from other source. The metal frame containing the glass
tablet may have a more or less ornamental appearance, and either form the
head to which the knocker is attached or be made separate therefrom and
fixed to the door above the knocker, or in other suitable position, by a screw 5
at each end, an opening being made through the door at such point.
In addition to the number the name of the occupant may also be indicated
on the small glass tablet, or such tablets may be used for indicating names
only on private doors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Drury and Charles Westrup in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
DRURY, of Thorne Street, Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey, Carver,
and CHARLES WESTRUP, of Old Street Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Chair Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said William Drury and Charles Westrup, Her special licence that
we, the said William Drury and Charles Westrup, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Drury and Charles
Westrup, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS
OF INDICATING NUMBERS AND NAMES ON DOORS OF PRIVATE HOUSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Drury and Charles
Westrup, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Drury and Charles Westrup,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):-
:-
According to our improvements we cast the head of a street door knocker,
which is usually of solid metal, with a round, oval, or other shaped opening,
and in the back of this opening we insert a ground or other glass tablet,
having thereon the number of the house inscribed. An aperture of similar
form is also made through the door immediately behind the tablet in the
knocker head; in this manner the number may be readily discerned on the
transparent tablet from the street at all times and especially at night by the
light of the hall or passage lamp, or from other source. The metal frame
containing the glass tablet, which has a more or less ornamental appearance,
may either form the head to which the knocker is hinged or be made separate
therefrom and fixed on the door above the knocker or in other suitable position
by a screw at each end, an opening being made through the door at such
point.
In addition to the number the name of the occupant of the house may also
be indicated on the small glass tablet, or such tablets may be used for
indicating names only on private doors.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Our Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 of
which shows a front view of our improved combined knocker and name tablet;
Figure 2 being a transverse section of the same showing the mode of fitting
the tablet to the knocker and attaching it to a street door.
A is the pendant part of the knocker jointed to the head at B, the whole
being more or less ornamental in form as desired. The knocker head C is
cast with a central opening D of round, oval, square, or other form instead of
being made solid as usual, at the back part of which is rebated or otherwise
fitted a transparent, ground, or other glass tablet E bearing the number of the
house, as seen in Figure 1. Provision is made for obtaining light behind
said transparent tablet by making an opening F in the door G corresponding
with that of the tablet E, as shown in the transverse section Figure 2. The
combined number, tablet, and knocker is fixed to the door by bolts and nuts
a, a, or in any other suitable manner. In this manner the number of the house
may be readily ascertained at night supposing there to be a light provided

page_text: behind the transparent tablet, such as a ball lamp for example, while the
number will also be sufficiently conspicuous in the daytime.
These improvements are particularly applicable in suburban streets and
roads where the houses usually have gardens in front rendering it difficult to
ascertain the numbers of the houses at night, which is however at once
obviated by the use of the transparent tablets herein described.
In Figure 3 I have shown a modified arrangement of the knocker and
tablet, in this case the knocker is binged above on each side of the tablet E
at b, b, while the latter is recessed in the knocker head as before; in this
manner the upper part or head of the knocker C forms a kind of frame for
the transparent tablet E.
Figure 4 shows a number tablet and frame to be used alone, it being fixed
to a door above the knocker, or in any other suitable position for indicating
the number of the house, an opening being made in the door corresponding
with the tablet, as before, giving access to the light for illuminating said
tablet. The tablet is fixed to the door by screws c, c, or otherwise.
Lastly, Figure 5 shows, on a reduced scale to the previous Figures, a
combined number and name tablet for private doors, the arrangement being
the same as that before described, or such tablets may be used to indicate
names only on private doors if desired.
Having described the nature of our Invention and the manner of performing
the same, we declare that what we claim as our Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the use and application of
transparent tablets as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for indicating
numbers and names on the doors of private houses, to be employed either in
combination with the knocker or separate therefrom, as and for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Drury, for myself and on behalf
of the said Charles Westrup, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM DRURY. (L.S.)