IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO FACILITATE THE REMOVAL OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY FROM PREMISES IN CASES OF FIRE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS GENERALLY, TO ASSIST SERVANTS CLEANING WINDOWS, AND AS A SUBSTI- TUTE FOR SCAFFOLDING
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WINTERBORN, of Clarence Place, Hackney Road, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Winterborn, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Winterborn, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Winterborn, my exors, admors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years thérein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend; within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY TO
FACILITATE THE REMOVAL OF PERSONS AND PROPERTY FROM PREMISES IN CASES
OF FIRE, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO RAISING AND LOWERING
WEIGHTS GENERALLY, TO ASSIST SERVANTS CLEANING WINDOWS, AND AS A SUBSTI-
TUTE FOR SCAFFOLDING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said John Winterborn, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed;
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Winterborn, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The Invention relates to certain apparatus which can be conveniently
conveyed from one place to another, and be readily applied, in cases of fire, to
facilitate the escape of persons and for lowering property, as well as for raising
firemen and others to assist in saving persons and goods, and for carrying up
an engine pipe, in order to be able to direct the water through a window or
other opening, and thus more advantageously apply the water thrown by an
engine; and the apparatus may also be used when cleaning windows, and as
a substitute for scaffolding. And in order that the Invention may be most
fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the
Drawing hereunto annexed, in the various Figures of which the same letters
are used to indicate similar parts.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents part of the apparatus constituting my Invention;
Figure 2 shews a section, on a large scale, of some of the parts shewn in
Figure 1; and Figure 3 shews that part of the apparatus by which persons
and goods may be lowered from houses when on fire. These parts are on the
same scale as those in Figure 2. a is a tube, which I prefer to be of wood,
hooped, as is shewn, as I am enabled by such construction to obtain lightness
with the required strength; but I do not confine myself to that material.
At the lower end of the tube a is a spike to enter the ground when using the
apparatus. b is a rod or pole which slides within the tube a, and is raised
or lowered by means of the cord d, which, passing over the pulleys e, e, at the
upper part of the tube a, passes under the pulley f at the lower end of the rod
or pole b; hence, when the ends of the cord d are pulled, the pole or rod will
rise. In the upper end of the rod or pole b is formed a hole to receive the lower
stem of the hook g, as is shewn. This hook is to be hooked into a window
or other part of a building suitable for supporting any weight which may be
required to be lowered or raised by the apparatus, and on the stem of the
hook are applied projections h, which, resting against any surface, keep the
hook steady when in use, the tube and rod being removed when the hook is
once fixed. i is a projecting arm affixed to the stem of the hook, and to the

page_text: arm is applied the block j, by which the apparatus, Figure 3, is raised
and lowered, as will readily be understood on examining the Drawing.
Hence it will be seen, that in case of fire, the apparatus Figures 1, 2, and 3,
being brought by a man or by a fire engine, the hook may be quickly affixed,
and the apparatus brought into use, either for the escape of persons, or for
the saving of property from the upper stories of a house when on fire; and
the apparatus may also be used for carrying up firemen, with or without an
engine pipe, as circumstances may require.
Figure 4 shews a variation of the apparatus Figure 3, in order to be used
as a substitute for scaffolding. In using this apparatus there would be as
many hooks as there are parts 1; each part 1 carrying a short beam or bar m,
which rests on a window sill or other convenient place, n, n, being the planking,
and o, o, being bars through the ends of which the cords pass, by which
means the planking will be retained secure.
In this Figure I have not thought it necessary to shew the hooks
upper blocks, they being similar to those shewn in Figures 1 and 3.
9, or the
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood, that I do not
confine myself to the precise details, provided the general character of the
Invention be retained, as herein described. But what I claim, is the mode
herein described of combining apparatus for the purposes mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Winterborn, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November in the year of our