Improvements in and connected with Roller Blinds for Attachment to the Hoods of Bassinette and other Baby Carriages.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Nov., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 10th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 13th May, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Roller Blinds for Attachment
to the Hoods of Bassinette and other Baby Carriages.
RICHARD CORBETT NICHOLS 6, Thomas Street, Miles Platting Manchester in
the County of Lancaster Botanic Beer Brewer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of an improved method of fixing on non-reversible hoods
of bassinette & other baby-carriages, roller blinds made wholly of some open meshed
material such as muslin, lace or a similar class of goods or of some heavier material
such as American leather cloth or any of the usual woven fabrics sold for making
blinds, with a panel in made of one of the open meshed materials, of such a size as
will admit of sufficient light & allow a child that is under the hood when the blind
is down to see the person in charge. When such blinds are fixed in the usual way
that is, only fastened to the roller and at the bottom, they are but poor protection
if a strong wind is blowing against them, the wind forces the blind out of the groove
in which it is placed and so blows under the hood.
In my improved method the roller (whether spring or turned by haud) is fixed
by means of brackets on the front of the hood, outside. The blind is attached to
the roller in the ordinary way, but the blind must always have three or four stud
or button holes down each side and be large enough (that is the blind) to loop on to
studs fixed in the wooden bow or frame which forms the front of the hood (it
is usually a bent bow but not always) thus the blind is held securely in its
place, giving better protection to a child under the hood from the wind & rain.
The ordinary front bow of a bassinette hood is made of a strip of suitable
wood five eights of an inch in cross section and bent to the required shape,
when fixed the front of the hood is generally narrower at the top than at the
bottom and as the roller must be as long, as the bow is wide, in its widest
part for the blind to be rolled up on it, the brackets would have to be made
& fixed to allow of that length of a roller. Other front bows are framed not
bent and made with sides parallel to each other, the corners at the top being
but slightly rounded, thus allowing ordinary brackets to be used. In other
cases the front bow does not form the front of the hood, the covering is tacked
to it and lace put on in front, flat headed ornamental nails being used, but on
the front of the front bow thus finished is fixed either by screws or other means,
a frame usually made of half inch boarding but shewing a greater surface in
front view, than the bent front bow, projecting outside & inside of it and usually
of an ornamental outline & fitted up with a valance, the hood thus has a fixed
front and a front that can be taken off, where such a front frame is used, the
brackets in which the roller works and the studs for fastening the blind on
when hanging down, are attached to it. In a case where the front bow forms
the front of the hood from the apron to the roller and the screwed on frame
forms the upper part of the front, the studs would be fixed in the front bow
and the brackets for the roller to the screwed on frame. The front bow above
the brackets may be thicknessed up to form a cap over the roller and so may
the screwed on frane when used.
Dated this 10th day of November 1892.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Roller Blinds for Attachment
to the Hoods of Bassinette and other Baby Carriages.
1, RICHARD CORBETT NICHOLS of 6 Thomas Street, Miles Platting, Man-
chester in the County of Lancaster Botanic Beer Brewer 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:-
And in order that my invention may be fully understood, I shall in describing
the particulars of it, refer to the annexed sheet of drawings, the scale is one
fourth or three inches equals one foot. The object of my invention is to attach
roller blinds of the class described below, to the hoods of bassinette and other
baby carriages, so that they will resist the force of the wind and exclude
draught, better than when attached in the usual way, the blinds referred to are
made of muslin, lace, net, or similar class of goods, that can be seen through
and admit air, or of some heavier material such as American leather cloth or
any of the usual fabrics used for making blinds, with a panel in made of one
of the open meshed materials, of such a size as will admit of sufficient light
and allow a child that is under the hood when the blind is down, to see the
person in charge.
In effecting my object, the roller used whether spring or turned by hand is fixed
by means of brackets or plates on to the front bow or frame whichever may form
the front of the hood, outside, the blind is attached to the roller in the ordinary
way, but the blind must have button or stud holes worked down each side and must
be large enough, that is the blind so that it can be attached by looping on to studs
or buttons fixed in the front bow or frame which forms the front of the hood.
The roller being fixed in its position by the plates or brackets and the blind
dropped, the position of the studs or buttons to which the blind must be attached
would be shewn by the button holes, it depends upon the material the blind is made
of, what number of holes would be the best, if made of lace and not strongly
bound I should prefer four down each side, if partly made of American leather
cloth and bound down each edge with galloon binding, two would hold it in place,
but I prefer three button holes, the blinds being held firmer without straining the
material, it is not a nescessity that all the buttons or studs should always be used,
for if the bottom studs are in such a position that there is a slight strain on the
blind when it is looped on to them they would hold it. The button holes should
loop on easily so as to be readily undone, and the slits of the button holes should
be parallel with the roller, the studs I prefer drive in like nails and are known
as gig-knobs and ivory headed nails and the buttons those with shanks, and are
sewn on to the lace, ordinary blind sticks are used in the bottom of each blind.
Further as the fronts of baby carriage hoods are made of different kinds of bows,
and in other cases the front bow has a frame attached to the front of it, that can
be taken off. I use brackets or plates suitable for each kind for the pins at the
ends of the rollers to work in, when an ordinary framed bow is used with sides
parallel to each other, plates can be screwed on the sides of the front bow for the
roller to work in Fig. 4. is a side elevation shewing the plate a. in position.
In cases where ordinary screw on brackets are used the side pieces of the bow
should be about one inch and a quarter, front view, which would allow for the
room taken up by the brackets, the blind in such cases only reaching to the centre
of the side pieces. Fig. 5. is a front elevation of part of a square framed bow with
roller b. and blind in position, shewing part of side piece c. uncovered by the blind,
bent bows with round tops are not suitable for this purpose, the front bows should
be one inch and half higher than usual, to allow for the room taken up by the
roller, & the other bows be regulated to them, the hoods are covered as usual, but
a piece of ornamental leather or other suitable material should be nailed on as a

page_text: valance, of such size as will cover the space from the bottom of the roller to the
the top of the bow, the valance being at the back of the roller. The bow that I
prefer is shewn in the drawings. Fig. 1. is a front elevation and Fig. 6. the plan
of one half of it, Fig. 2. is a side elevation, it is a framed bow with a projecting
top, under which the roller is fixed by means of plates screwed on the outsides of
the projecting top and side pieces, as shewn in Fig. 2. d. the projecting top is of
birch one inch and half by three quarters of an inch, shaped at the back as shewn
in Fig. 6. e. to make the frame light, is glued and nailed on to the front bow, and
the bow is further strengthened by the plates in which the roller works as shewn in
Fig. 2. or a bow could be used, made with side pieces as shewn in Fig. 3. which is
a side elevation, the roller being fixed under cover by means of the plates d. the
projecting top in this case is of the same size and put on in the same way, without
overhanging so far, the valance is nailed on the front of the projecting top, in the
two last cases and hangs down in front of the roller.
In cases where a moveable front is attached to the front bow, the hood is finished
on the front bow in the usual way, with the exception, that flat headed nails are
used instead of nails with projecting heads, so that the moveable front will lie flat
against the lace when it is screwed on or otherwise attached, the moveable front
may cover the whole of the front bow, forming a different outline, as shewn in
Fig. 8. which is a front elevation shewing part of the bow and frame and should be
made of half inch birch or ash halved together, and attached to the front bow by
means of screws as shewn in Fig. 8. g. such front frames may have the blind rollers
attached, by means of plates for the pins at the ends of the rollers to work in, as
shewn in Fig. 4. but I prefer a frame with a projecting top, and plates the same as
shewn in Fig. 2. d. the studs or buttons for the blind to be looped on when hanging
down, are fastened in the moveable frame, or the moveable front may only extend
so low as to allow the brackets or plates, in which the roller has to work to be
screwed to it. It will then be nescessary for the studs on which the blind is to loop
when hanging down, to be fastened into the front bow as in Fig. 1. and instead of
screwing such a moveable front piece to the bow, it should be attached in a similar
way to that, by which a back and front plane iron are attached to one another.
Fig. 10. is a front elevation of one half such front piece, the square h. is a hole
cut through, the dotted lines m. represent an iron plate let into the back, level,
and screwed on, having a hole in it shaped as n. Fig. 9 is a front elevation shewing
it attached to the bow. p. is a round headed screw with a space between the head
& the bow sufficient to allow the iron plate m. to slide between the head and the
bow, the head of the screw passes through the hole in the plate at the bottom, but
is larger than the hole is at the top, by that means the front piece is held in its
place and can be readily taken off when required, such moveable front piece may
have a projecting top and the blind roller may be attached by similar plates to
those shewn in Figures 2. & 3. The moveable fronts will require covering the
same as the hoods, including the valance.
The roller Fig. 7. has an iron pin at one end, at the other end is a knob by
which it is turned, the knob is turned with a dowell attached to it, which is let into
the roller and is held firm by the screw q. which passes through the roller into the
dowell, when it is required to take the roller out, unscrew it and draw the
knob out.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I, would have it under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the exact details, as shewn, which may be
varied, without interfering with the spirit of the invention, and knowing that the
parts which I combine are well known, but that, which I believe to be new and
therefore claim is.
1st. The application of button holes or other analagous devices, to the sides of
roller blinds, for attachment to the hoods of bassinette and other baby carriages,
substantially as herein before described.

page_text: 2nd. The application of studs or buttons or other analagous devices, to the front
of bassinette and other baby carriage hoods, substantially as herein before described,
and shewn by the drawings.
3rd. The application of a front bow having a projecting top, to the hoods of
bassinette and other baby carriages, in combination with a roller to which a blind
is attached, substantially as herein before described, and shewn by the drawings.
4th. The application of a moveable front with a projecting top, in combination.
with a roller to which a blind is attached, to the front bows of bassinette and other
baby carriage hoods substantially as herein before described, and shewn by the
drawings.
Dated this 9th day of March 1893.