IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING HINGES, IN SPRING ROLLER BLIND3, AND, IN APPLYING SPRINGS TO EASY CHAIRS AND CARRIAGES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GOLLOP, of Charles Street, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send'
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her'
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of January, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Gollop, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that. I, the said John Gollop, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Gollop, my exors, adñiors,:
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein 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 SPRING
HINGES, IN SPRING ROLLER BLIND3, AND, IN APPLYING SPRINGS TO EASY CHAIRS
AND CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that
I, the said John Gollop, 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
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Gollop, do hereby declare that the nature of my 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 Drawings hereunto annexel, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates, first, to various improvements in spring hinges.
Secondly, my Invention relates to improvements in roller blinds where
springs are used as a means of preventing such blinds unrolling.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to improvements in applying springs to easy
chairs.
And, fourthly, my Invention relates to improvements in applying springs to
carriages.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me.
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a side view of a hinge constructed according to one part
of my Invention; Figure 2 shews an end view; Figure 3 shews a front view
of the hinge open, the knuckle joints being in section, in order that the appli-
cation of the spring thereto may be more readily traced; Figure 4 shows three
views separately of the instrument used for winding up the spring; and
Figure 5 shows other details separately. The peculiarity of this binge is the
use of a flat coiled spring a on the axis b of the hinge. I would remark, that
I am aware that cylindrical wire springs have before been used in a similar
manner, but cylindrical wire, in order to obtain a like strength, must be of
greater diameter than the thickness of the flat bar of steel of which the spring
a is made, hence the use of cylindrical wire for making such springs is
objectionable for various reasons; amongst others, it takes more room than the
spring a. The axis 6 is retained at the top and bottom, and the spring is
placed thereon, but the knuckle joints do not turn thereon as an axis, it simply
acting as a means of combining the parts together; the tube c acting as the
axis of the hinge; d, e, are the two flaps. The flap d having the parts d¹, &³,
of the knuckle joints formed therewith, whilst the flap e has the parts e', e, of
the knuckle joints formed therewith. On the upper part of e' is formed a
ratchet or notched edge, as is shown, and on to this notched edge the
cap f, having similar notches or teeth, is placed, and there is a projecting
pin or stud g on the interior of this cap, against which the end of the
spring rests, hence, when the cap is turned round, so that the teeth of

page_text: the cap rise over the teeth of the end ³, the coils of the spring will be
opened, and they will have a tendency to shut the two flaps together; the
other end of the spring being prevented moving by the stop k, which forms
part of the bar i, the ends of which enter notches formed in the part d³, and
the whole are combined by rivetting the ends of the rod or axis b. Figure 6
shews another arrangement of hinge constructed in respect to the interior with
the use of a flat spring a, exactly as above described, but in this case the flaps
are differently formed, as shown, and only one of the flaps is fixed, the
other flap sliding with a friction wheel, so as to push the door to close it, as
is shown.
I will now describe another arrangement of hinge constructed according to
another part of my Invention. Figure 7 shews a side view of a hinge con-
structed according to my Invention; Figure 8 shows an end view; Figure 9
shows a front view, the knuckle joints being in section; and Figure 10 shews
the springs used, which are so applied as to act by torsion. d, e, are the two
flaps, the parts e, e, being formed with the flap e; and the parts d', d³, are
formed with the flap d, and these parts are made concave and convex so as to
work together, as shewn; and in order that the parts may be kept together, a
washer or filling piece k is introduced, and the cap f is applied, as is shown, there
being notches or recesses formed at l, m, to receive the ends of the springs.n,
which are simply flat steel bars, and it will be understood that by turning the
cap f, it will cause the steel plates or bars n to be twisted and held in a state
of torsion, and this will be increased when in use by opening the flaps of the
hinge.
I will now describe another arrangement of hinge, with springs applied for
closing the same. Figure 10 shows a front view of a hinge partly in section;
and Figure 11 shows a transverse section of the hinge. d, e, are the two flaps ;
the parts d', d, are parts of the knuckle joints which are formed with the
flap d, and the parts e', e, of the hinge joint formed with the flap e. The
axis b, when wound up so as to obtain the required tension to the springs o, o,
is secured in the upper knuckle joint by a pin passing through it or by other
means. The springs o, o, are coiled round the, axis b, one end of each spring
being attached to the axis b, and the other end of each spring o is fastened to
the barrel or lower part of the knuckle, joint, as is shown, and the two ends of
the axis bare rivetted, as shown, to secure all the parts together.
I will now describe another arrangement of spring hinge, which is, so
arranged that inclined surfaces, similar to what have before been used for rising
hinges, are used as a means, combined with suitable springs, for closing doors,
but such hinges do not cause one of the flaps to rise as heretofore. Figure 12

page_text: shews a hinge partly in section according to this part of my Invention;
Figure 13 shews a side view thereof; and Figure 14 shews the inclined sur-
faces separately. p, q, are the two flaps; the parts of the knuckle joints p¹, p³,"
being formed with the flap p; and the parts of the knuckle joints q', q², are
formed with the flap q. The axis r is fixed in the upper part of the hinge,
and the lower part of the axis has a suitable coiled spring or springs thereon,
there being a screw nut at the lower end of the axis to tighten the spring or
springs; the part of the knuckle joint p has inclined surfaces thereon, and
there are corresponding inclined surfaces which can rise and fall in the lower
part of the knuckle joint q³, but the same is prevented turning in the barrel q²
by projections at the side, which slide in grooves or slots formed in the
barrel g².
I would remark, that although I have shewn a coiled wire spring for this
hinge, a spring may be used of a flat bar.
;
I will now describe another part of my Invention, which relates to applying
springs to hinges for folding doors. Figure 15 shews a vertical side section of
a hinge made according to this part of my Invention; parts being in section
Figure 16 shews some of the parts separate from the other parts or outer case;
Figure 17 shews a plan of Figure 16, with the upper part of the spindle
removed; and Figure 18 shews part of the axis. s is a shoe or socket to
receive the door; t is the axis on which the door moves, this axis has a bearing
at its lower end at t' in the outer case v, which outer case is let into the floor
and fixed; the nature of the case, v will readily be traced in the Drawing. On
the axis t is fixed the circular disc t2, which has a recess cut at t³, in order to
receive the friction roller u, which is constantly borne towards the circular disc
by the spring u'; around the axis is coiled the spring w, and in order to cause
the spring to act in whichever direction the door may be opened, the barrel x
is applied; y is a standard or projection in the case v. In order to obtain the
desired degree of tension of the spring used in the barrel, the end and cover of
the end of the barrel have ratchet teeth, as shewn, and there is a projection y',
against which one end of the spring constantly presses, the upper end of the
spring resting against a projection 2' in the upper cap z, which moves on the
axis t, hence, when the door is opened in one direction, the cap z will, by a pro-
jection (1) formed thereon, rest against the standard y in the case v, which will
resist the spring in that direction, the stop (2), on the disc 2, carrying round
the barrel a by coming against the projection (3) of the barrel, and such pro-
jection (3) rests against the projection or standard y when the door is opened
in the opposite direction, when the projection (2) will come agaiust the pro-
jection (1) and carry round the cap or cover z.

page_text: I would remark, that in carrying out this part of my Invention I have
shewn a flat spring to be used, because I prefer it, but a wire spring or springs
may be substituted therefor.
I will now describe my improvements applicable to those roller blinds which
require springs. Figure 18 shews part of an endless cord suitable for a
roller blind, the ends of this cord are joined together by means of a coiled.
spring (4), so as to produce elasticity thereto, by which means, when a band or
endless cord of this description be used for raising and lowering a roller blind,
the elasticity of the band caused by the coiled spring (4) will retain the roller
blind from unwinding. The spring or springs (4) may be covered with a case,
if desired. In constructing easy chairs, I cause the back to be hinged to the
back rail of the seat by means of hinges, such as are herein described, where
the flaps d, e, have at all times a tendency to close by their springs, and I
apply two such hinges to the back and seat of a chair, and I cause the arms of
such chair to be retained in any desired position by suitable stops, as are well
understood, this part of my Invention only consisting of the combining the
backs and seats of easy chairs by means of spring hinges made according to
my Invention, as herein described.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which consists of a
mode of applying coiled springs to carriages. Figure 18** is a plan in
section. Figure 19 is a side view; and Figure 20 is an end view of the
apparatus according to this part of my Invention. (5) is a barrel, which is
fixed to the axletrec of a gig or other carriage by means of the parts (6).
This apparatus acts by means of two sets of two springs (7), the one coiled
from right to left, and the other being coiled from left to right; (8) is a pro-
jection formed or fixed in the interior of the barrel (5), against which the
inner ends of the four springs rest; (9), (9), are caps which turn freely in
sockets formed at the ends of the barrel, and in these caps are formed or fixed
projections (10), (10), against which the other ends of the springs rest;
(11), (11), are two arms fixed on the cars (10), and to these arms the
carriage is to be slung.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described, provided the
peculiar character of either part of the Invention be retained.
But what I claim is, first, the application of flat springs to hinges, as
described in respect to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; and I also claim the
mode of applying springs to hinges as described in respect to Figures 6, 7, 8,
and 9; an! I also clai.n the mode of applying a spring or springs o in the

page_text: knuckle joints of hinges, as described in respect to Figures 10* and 11; and
I also claim the mode of applying springs in combination with inclined surfaces,
as described in respect to Figures 12, 13, and 14; and I also claim the mode
of applying springs to hinges for folding doors, as described in respect to
Figures 15, 16, and 17.
Secondly, I claim the application of a spring or springs to the endless cords
'or bands of roller blinds.
Thirdly, I claim the combining backs and seats of easy chairs by means of
spring hinges, as herein described.
And, fourthly, I claim the mode of applying springs to carriages, as described
in respect to Figures 18* *, 19, and 20.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gollop, have hereunto set his
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
11
Enrolled the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-five.