IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW, SASH FASTENERS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Lovy, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Factor, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW,
SASH FASTENERS."
Scaled the 13th October 1871, and dated the 28th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Levy at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1871.
I, HENRY LEVY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Factor,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WINDOW SASH FASTENERS," to be as follows:—
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of window sash fasteners for fastening sashes either
in their closed position or partly open position.
By constructing sash fasteners according to my Invention the sashes
are fastened very securely together, and the parts of the sash fasteners
are few in number and not liable to derangement. The body of the
sash fastener consists of a tubular case or barrel in the axis of which a

page_text: sliding bolt works, the said bolt being forced outwards by a coiled spring
around the said bolt. One end of the bolt passes through the front of the
case and is provided with a handle or head by which the bolt is worked.
On the rear or acting end of the bolt is a flat rib, and in the rear end of
the case is a slot or opening through which the said rear end of the bolt
and its rib may pass. The said bolt besides a sliding motion is capable
of a partial rotation. By rotating the bolt its rib can either be made
to coincide or not with the slot or opening in the rear end of the case.
When the bolt is pulled inwards by its handle or head so as to compress
the coiled spring and the outer end of the rib is brought within the
inner side of the rear end of the bolt the rotation of the bolt removes
the rib from opposite the slot in the end of the case and causes it to bear
upon the inner end of the case. The bolt is thereby locked in the case
in its withdrawn position. When the handle or head is turned so as to
bring the rib of the bolt opposite the slot described the action of the
coiled spring projects the rear end of the bolt and its rib from the case,
the inner end of the rib being situated beyond the end of the case. By
now turning the bolt through a small angle the rib on the bolt is removed
from opposite the slot in the case, and the bolt is locked in its shot or
advanced position.
In order to withdraw the bolt it is first necessary to turn it so as
to make its rib coincide with the slot in the rear end of the case,
when by a sliding motion the said rib is withdrawn into the case, a
second rotation of the bolt causing it to be locked in its withdrawn
position.
The fastening described is fixed horizontally on the top and at one
side of the bottom sash by means of a flange or plate at the bottom of
the case or barrel. On the side of the top sash and in a line with the
sash fastener on the bottom sash is a plate having in it two (or more)
holes a few inches apart. The bottom hole in the plate is situated
opposite the bolt of the fastening when the sashes are closed, and by
raising the bottom sash the said bolt can be brought opposite onc or
other of the holes in the plate above the bottom hole. By projecting
the bolt into the bottom hole in the plate and turning the said bolt as
herein-before described the closed sashes are securely fastened together,
and by projecting the bolt into one of the other holes in the plate and
fixing the bolt the sashes are securely fastened together in their open
position. The shutter of the window cannot possibly be closed so long

page_text: as the window is unfastened, nor can a blind be drawn down if the
window is unfastened without attention being drawn to the unfastened
state of the window.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Levy in the Great Scal Patent Office on
the 23rd October 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
LEVY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Factor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Levy, Her special licence that
I, the said Henry Levy, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Levy, my executors, adminis
trators, 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, exercisc, and vend;
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW.
SASH FASTENERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Levy, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Levy, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is.
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
My Invention consists of the arrangement or combination herein-after
described of the parts of window sash fasteners for fastening sashes
either in their closed position or partly open position..

page_text: By constructing such fasteners according to my Invention the sashes
arc fastened very securely together, and the parts of the sash fasteners
are few in number and not liable to derangement. The body of the
sash fastener consists of a tubular case or barrel, in the axis of which
a sliding bolt works, the said bolt being forced outwards by a coiled
spring around the said bolt. One end of the bolt passes through the
front of the case and is provided with a handle or head by which the
bolt is worked. On the rear or acting end of the bolt is a flat rib, and
in the rear end of the case is a slot or opening through which the said
rear end of the bolt and its rib may pass. The said bolt besides a
sliding motion is capable of a partial rotation. By rotating the bolt
its rib can either be made to coincide or not with the slot or opening in
the rear end of the case. When the bolt is pulled inwards by its handle
or head so as to compress the coiled spring, and the outer end of the
rib is brought within the inner side of the rear end of the case, the
rotation of the bolt removes the rib from opposite the slot in the end
of the case and causes it to hear upon the inner end of the case. The
bolt is thereby locked in the case in its withdrawn position. When
the handle or head is turned so as to bring the rib of the bolt opposite
the slot described the action of the coiled spring projects the rear end
of the bolt and its rib from the case, the inner end of the rib being
situated beyond the end of the case. By now turning the bolt through
a small angle the rib on the bolt is removed from opposite the slot in
the case, and the bolt is locked in its shot or advanced position.
In order to withdraw the bolt it is first nccessary to turn it so as to
mako its rib coincide with the slot in the rear end of the case, when
by a sliding motion the said rib is withdrawn into the case, a second
rotation of the bolt causing it to be locked in its withdrawn position.
The fastening described is fixed horizontally on the top and on one
or on each side or at the middle of the bottom sash by means of a
flange or plate at the bottom of the case or barrel. On the side of the
top sash and in a line with the sash fastener on the bottom sash is a
staple plate having in it one, two, or more holes a few inches apart.
The bottom hole in the staple plate is situated opposite the bolt of the
fastening when the sashes are closed, and by raising the bottom sash
the said bolt can be brought opposite one or other of the holes above
the bottom hole. By projecting the bolt into the bottom hole in the
staple plate and turning the bolt as herein-before described the closed

page_text: sashies are securely fastened together, and by projecting the bolt into
one of the other holes in the staple plate and fixing the bolt the sashes
are securely fastened together in their open position. The shutter
of the window cannot possibly be closed so long as the window is
unfastened, nor can a blind be drawn down if the window is un-
fastened without attention being drawn to the unfastened state of the
window.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in side clevation
a window sash fastener constructed according to my Invention; Figures
3 and 4 are horizontal sections of the same, the bolt being represented
withdrawn and locked within the case in Figure 3, and projected from
out the case in Figure 4; Figure 5 represents an end elevation of the
fastener; Figure 6 is a diagram of a pair of window sashes to which
my improved fasteners are applied; Figure 7 represents a portion of the
sashes drawn to a larger scale, the bottom sash being shewn in plan
and the top sash in horizontal section; Figure 8 represents the staple
plate, and Figure 9 the tubular staple which I use with my fastener
as hercin-after explained. The same letters of reference indicate the
same parts in the several Figures of the Drawing.
a is the tubular case or barrel of the fastener fixed by the flanges or
base plate b, b, to the bottom sash c in the positions shown in Figures 6
and 7. In the axis of the case a is a bolt d, capable both of sliding
and rotating in the said casc. The said bolt d is forced outwards by
the coiled spring e around it, one end of the said spring bearing against
the abutment f on the bolt, and the other end bearing against the inner
side of the screw cap or cover a² of the case a. The front end of the
bolt d passes through the cap a² and is provided with a flat jointed
handle 9, the said handle being capable of being raised into a line with
the case a for working the bolt, as seen in Figures 1, 2, and 4, or of
being turned down after the sashes have been fastened or unfastened
parallel with the bottom sash, as seen in Figures 3, 6, and 7. On the
rear or acting end of the bolt d is a flat rib d³, and in the rear end of
the case a is a slot or opening a³ (see Figure 5), through which slot
the said rib d² and rear end of the bolt d may pass. By giving the
bolt da motion of partial rotation by its handle the rib d³ can either

page_text: be made to coincide with the slot as in the case, as seen in Figure 4,
or be removed from opposite the said slot, as seen in Figure 3. On
the sides of the top sash hand in a line with each of the sash fastenings
on the bottom sash c is a staple plate i having in it an elliptical hole i³.
One of these staple plates is shown in plan and edge view in Figure 8.
A recess is cut in the sash ¹ behind a portion of the staple plate i
(as seen in Figure 7) of a size proper to receive the head and rib of
the bolt & and to permit of the rotation of the said head and rib therein.
The inner end of the rib d of the bolt is inclined, and that part of the
staple plate i, against which the said inclined inner end of the rib bears
to fasten the sashes is also inclined or wedge-shaped for the purpose
herein-after explained.
In using my improved sash fastener it is fixed horizontally on cachi
side of the bottom sasb, as seen in Figure 6, a staple plate i being fixed
on the top sash / opposite cach fastener. When the two saslics c, h, are
closed each of the spring bolts d is situated opposite the hole in the
plate i, and when the sashes are unfastened the spring bolts occupy
the position represented in Figure 3, that is, the spring bolts are with-
drawn into their cases and locked by giving the bolts a partial rotation.
In order to fasten the sashes h, the handle g of each of the bolts a
is turned so as to bring the rib d² of the bolt opposite the slot a³ in
the rear end of the case a. This having been done the action of the
compressed coiled spring e projects the rear end of the bolt and its rib
from the case and through the hole in the staple plate i into the
recess in the top sash h. By now turning the bolt d to the right
through a small angle the rib d³ is removed from opposite the slot 2²
in the staple plate and made to bear against the inclined inner side
of the said staple plate, as seen in Figure 7. The two sashes are thereby
secured, locked together. In consequence of the inclination of the
inner end of the rib and the inner acting side of the staple plate i
the bolt in the act of fastening the sashes also draws them close together.
To unfasten the sashes it is necessary first to turn the bolt d so as to
make its rib d² coincide with the hole in the staple plate i and with
that in the rear end of the case a, when by a pulling motion the
said rib and rear end of the bolt are removed from the plate i and
withdrawn into the case a, the coiled spring e being compressed. By
now giving the bolt a second rotation the rib is removed from
opposite the hole a³ in the end of the case and made to bear against

page_text: the inner end of the case, as scen in Figure 3. The bolt d is thereby
locked in the case in its withdrawn position and the sashes are un-
fastened. The extent to which the bolt & may be withdrawn into its
case is limited by the stud or stop bearing against the cap a³ of the
case. In consequence of the projecting of the bolts d, d, when in their
withdrawn position the shutter of the window cannot be closed so long
as the window is unfastened, nor can a blind be drawn down if the
window is unfastened without attention being called to the unfastened
state of the window.
When my improved fasteners are used both to fasten the sashes in
their closed position and partly open position respectively I fix on each
side of the top sash, as indicated at m, m, Figure 6, one or more staple
plates similar to the plate i, . By projecting the spring bolts into
the holes in the plates at m, m, after the window has been opened,
and turning the bolts, as before described, the sashes are fastened
together in their open position. A long staple plate with two or more
holes in it fixed at the sides of the sash may be used in place of the
separate staple plates i, m.
Instead of using my improved fastener on one or on each side of
the sashes the said fastener may be fixed at the middle of the sashes,
that is, at the position marked n. In this case I use on the middle
of the top sash a tubular staple of the kind represented in end elevation
and plan in Figure 9 for the rear end of the spring bolt to engage with,
the front of the said tubular staple having in it an elliptical hole
similar to that in the staple plate as represented. The outer end of
the bolt ad of the fastener when used at the middle of the sashes is
provided with a knob or head instead of the jointed handle g.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, the construction and
arrangement or combination of the parts of window sash fasteners
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
that is to say, providing the acting end of the bolt of the sash fastener
with a flat rib, which rib when the bolt has been projected into its
staple or staple plate is made to engage by a partial rotation with the
inner side of the said staple or staple plate, and thereby securely fasten

page_text: the sashes together, the partial rotation of the bolt after it has been
withdrawn into its case to unfasten the sashes effecting the locking of
the said bolt in its case, the said bolt, bolt case, and staple or staple
plate being combined together and used substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Levy, have hercunto set
my hand and scal, this Eighteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
W. E. HARRISON,
Stockton-on-Tees.
HENRY LEVY. (L.S.)