Improvements in Appliances for Raising or Lowering the Glass Frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors, and for other Purposes, and for Retaining or Holding same in any Desired Position.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 7th May, 1889-Accepted, 6th July, 1889.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances for Raising or Lowering the Glass
Frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors, and for other
Purposes, and for Retaining or Holding same in any Desired
Position.
I JAMES MATTHEW MATTHEWS of No. 12 Lorne Road Finsbury Park N. in the
County of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
My invention is intended to provide a simple and efficient means of controlling
and working the glass frames of Railway and other carriage doors, windows &c. and
also holding them in any desired position whereby the unpleasant rattle of the frames
caused by the motion of the carriages or by wind or other causes, shall be prevented;
in order to accomplish this in one part of my invention I provide and fix to the
glass frame or window or shutter as the case may be, in a suitable position, one or
more wheels, the said wheels being hollow and containing a volute or other suitable
spring, the periphery of the wheels is allowed to press against the framing of the door
or a rib provided for the purpose and may be covered with rubber, leather or other
suitable material, or they may have teeth or projections working in similar teeth or
projections on the door pillars or otherwise, the springs are so arranged in the wheels,
that the action of lowering a glass frame or window will wind it up sufficiently either
to raise the glass frame when free, or only to balance the weight of it, the power of
the springs can be adjusted by means of a ratchet and pawl or other suitable con-
trivance. In order to hold the glass frame in any desired position I provide a cross
bar or plate, which I call a gripper, either of wood metal or other suitable material
which I fix about the centre of the door, this gripper works upon a hinged joint and
by means of suitable springs or weights is made to press against the glass frames; along
the edge of the gripper which comes in contact with the glass frame, I by preference
fix a rib of rubber or other suitable elastic material, this gripper is so arranged that
when pressing against the glass frame and at rest it is not at right angles to it, I
provide upon the gripper in a suitable position a thumb plate or ring, or knob by
which it can be released from the glass frame which will then be free to act. The
action of this arrangement is as follows, when the springs in the hollow wheels are
set to raise the frames automatically the gripper will be so adjusted that its edge when
in contact with the frame, is below a line at right angles to the frame and consequently
the two are wedged together, in order to allow the frame to rise, it is only necessary
to depress the gripper by means of the thumb plate when the glass frame is
set free.
If it is not desired to use the wheels and springs for raising the frames but to leave
it to fall by reason of its own weight as is generally the case in most Railway
Carriages Broughams & other carriages, the glass frames being held in set positions
by means of straps having eyelet holes which fit over a button or stud on the garnish
bar, in order to prevent the unpleasant rattle of frames when so held, and to simplify
the manipulation of them; I provide and fix the gripper as herein before described,
it is then however so adjusted that when at rest the edge in contact with the
glass, frame is above a line at right angles to the frame, by this arrangement the
tendency of the glass frame to drop will cause the two to become wedged, the
gripper may be fixed over the garnish bar, or in its stead as may be desired, and
may be constructed somewhat in the form of a letter with two gripper edges, so
that the person lowering a glass frame or window may have entire control of same
and prevent it falling suddenly; instead of a rubber rib, wheels or rollers may be
provided so arranged that when the gripper is in contact with the glass frame the

page_text: wheels or rollers are wedged against it, and when the gripper is released the wheels
or rollers will revolve with the frame, I prefer to use the rubber rib as it acts
more effectually as a dust excluder.
JAS. M. MATTHEWS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances for Raising or Lowering the Glass-
frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors, and for other
Purposes, and for Retaining or Holding same in any Desired
Position.
I, JAMES MATTHEW MATTHEWS of 12 Lorne Road, Finsbury Park, N. in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention provides a simple and efficient means of retaining or holding in any
desired position the Glass-frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors dispensing
with the leather straps now generally used which are liable to damage and are very
inconvenient, and of manipulating a spring arrangement affixed to the glass frame
and not fitted in the door pillars by which the glass-frame can be raised.
One advantage of my improved arrangement for holding the glass-frame is that no.
part of it being attached to the glass-frame it does not in any way weaken the glass-
frame and it allows of the removal of the glass frame from the door without entailing
the removing or refixing of any part of my appliance.
My said Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings throughout which
like letters indicate like parts.
Fig. 1. is an elevation of part of the inside of a Carriage Door with my improved
Gripper or Glass-frame holder fitted thereto.
Fig. 2. is a central vertical transverse section of the same part of a door.
Fig. 3. is a part of Fig. 2. on an enlarged scale.
Fig. 4. is a side view and Fig. 5. is a front view of a bracket connecting the
Gripper with the Garnish bar.
A is the glass-frame; B the Gripper; the ordinary Garnish bar and D the
Door-pillar.
The Gripper is formed by preference of mild sheet steel or brass folded to form
an OG mould the lower part being shaped to nearly complete a cylinder the end
being bent over as shown at a. Fig. 3; a helical spring bis inserted at each end of
this cylinder one end of the spring being held by the lap a. Fig. 3. and the other
end by the projection or stop E. Fig. 4; a rod or tube screwed at one or both ends
is passed through the springs b and the Gripper B and connects the two brackets F
thereto; the whole can then be fastened to the Garnish har by means of the screws c;
a ring is provided to enable the Gripper to be eased off the glass-frame to allow of
the glass-frame being lowered and a stop is provided to prevent the gripper being
raised more than is necessary; along the edge of the gripper I fix a strip of rubber
leather or other suitable material b³ which is held, in place by screws and is allowed
to project beyond the edge of the Gripper; although I have shown the gripper
constructed of metal this being a convenient form for application to existing carriages
it can readily be made of wood or other material if desired and instead of the springs
being fixed in the gripper as illustrated they may have one end attached to the gripper
and the other end to the inside of the door panel or garnish bar.
Fig. 6. is an elevation of the inside of a carriage door and
Fig. 7 is a central vertical transverse section of a similar door showing the mode
of attaching the wheels containing the springs to the glass-frame for the purpose of
raising or sustaining it.
Fig. 8. is an enlarged view of the wheel and case containing the spring the wheel
being flanged to take a rubber ring.

page_text: Fig. 9 is an enlarged view. of another form of wheel having teeth or corrugations
gearing into corresponding teeth or corrugations on a rack fitted to the door pillar.
Fig. 10 is a side view of Fig. 8.; and Fig. 11 is a side view of Fig. 9.
A is the glass-frame or window as generally fitted to railway and other carriage
doors sliding in grooves J in the door pillars D; the lower part of the frame A is
made wider than usual to enable the cases H containing the wheel G and spring d
to be fixed thereto which may be done by the screws has shown in Figs. 6.8
and 9.
The wheel G is a hollow drum or barrel which may be formed of two circular
discs of metal having a rim to keep them apart, and in which is contained a
volute spring the end d¹ of the spring being fastened to the inside of the rim and
the other end to the spindle f; the whee! G revolves freely upon the spindle f, the
diameter of the rim being less than the discs to form when fitteil together a grooved
wheel or drum as shown at e, Fig. 10; a rubber ring e is fitted loosely into this
groove; in fitting these wheels to the glass-frame they are so adjusted that the rubber
ring on the wheel presses firmly against the groove in the door-pillar; upon the
window being pressed downwards the wheels are caused to revolve in the direction
indicated by the arrows Figs. 8 and 9, winding up the springs; when the window
is released it is held in position by the Gripper B which is inverted as illustrated
in Fig. 7.; when the Gripper is eased by means of the ring 63 the wheels are free
to act and at once revolve in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows
carrying the window upwards by the action of the springs unwinding.
The power of the spring can be regulated by the key or handle. I fitted on the
spindle as shown in Fig. 9 and secured from becoming detached by a pin f'; when
the spring is set the handle I is pressed close to the case H and the notch q¹ being
allowed to engage with the screw g the handle I is by its means firmly screwed down;
to wind or unwind the spring and thereby vary its power the screw g is eased and
the handle I being thus released is free to be used as a winder to the extent required
after which it is again secured in place by the screw g.
Instead of the grooved wheel with rubber ring as described I sometimes form the
wheel or drum with teeth (g, Fig. 9) which may be formed by pressing sheet steel in
dies or may be cast in metal vulcanite or other suitable material; these teeth gear
into a rack having corresponding teeth g³ affixed to the door-pillar or window frame;
upon the window being pressed down the wheel is caused to revolve and wind the
spring as herein before described by reason of the teeth g³ engaging with the
teeth g.
Instead of the wheels or drums G containing the springs being fitted in separate
cases as illustrated in Figs. 6 8 and 9. a case may be made the full width of the glass
frame or window and fixed to the lower end of the glass frame which then need not
be wider than usual, a wheel or drum containing the spring being fitted at each end
of the case.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :
1. Holding the glass-frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors in any desired
position by means of the Gripper or bar substantially as illustrated and described.
2. Operating the glass-frames of Railway and other Carriage Doors by springs
and wheels fitted to the glass-frames which work in grooves in the door-pillars or
against the inside of the door-pillars substantially as illustrated and described.
3. Regulating the power of the spring by means of the pivotted handle I substan-
tially as illustrated and described.
4. The combination of the several parts as and for the purposes specified substan-
tially as illustrated and described.
n
1000