IMPROVE- 13 MENTS IN REVOLVING SHUTTERS, AND IN ACTUATING THE SAME.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thaddeus Hyatt, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
13
MENTS IN REVOLVING SHUTTERS,
AND IN ACTUATING THE SAME.
Sealed the 26th February 1872, and dated the 5th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thaddeus Hyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1872.
"
I, THADDEUS HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inveni-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REVOLVING SHUTTERS, AND IN ACTUATING THE SAME,"
to be as follows:-
"
The revolving shutters now in use are made of both wood and metal,
and my improvements apply to both. The revolving wood shutters
in use are made of thin laths, either hinged together or strung upon
metal tape passed through the body of the wood. These shutters are

page_text: neither fire nor burglar proof; they are in fact mere glass protectors
and no more.
My improvement on them consists, first, in impregnating the wood
with alum silicate or other well-known chemical capable of rendering
it fire proof; secondly, in making the wood strips more in the nature
of bars than laths; thirdly, in fastening these bars to each other by
means of an india-rubber cushion between them analagous to the
gristle which connects the vertebræ of the human spine, so as to form
the whole shutter into one sheet easily and smoothly coiling upon
itself around the coiling barrel; and fourthly, in-protecting this wooden
shutter against being cut open by burglars' tools by means of stout
wires or chains passed through the interior of the shutter in sufficient
numbers, or by means of strong strips or bands of steel upon the face of
the shutter, or both combined.
The revolving metal shutters now in use are of two kinds; first, those
made of metal laths;" and second, those made of sheet metal, the
sheet metal shutters being invariably corrugated to make them suffi-
ciently resistant to render them self-supporting; the theory or principle
of all the revolving shutters in use being that the laths must have in
themselves sufficient rigidity to maintain their position.
My improvement on the sheet revolving shutter consists, first, in
using it plain or in the curtain state upon the principle of extraneous
supports in contradistinction to self-support or rigidity, the sheet or
curtain being held firmly at its sides; for which purpose it may be
perforated near its edges upon each side with holes to engage with
supporting pegs arranged within the guide ways on each side of the
window, suitable levers being adjusted at these points to force the sheet
upon the pegs when lowered and in position, or the levers themselves
may be provided with pegs to engage into the holes of the metal curtain.
This curtain form of the shutter allows of much stronger burglar and
fire proof metal being employed, besides coiling up within a much
smaller compass, a matter at times of prime importance. By embossing
in relief the face of these plain sheets or otherwise ornamenting them and
by chilling" or hardening portions of their surface they can be made not
only ornamental, but more capable of resisting the attacks of burglars.
The greatest practical difficulty which has always been experienced
in the manufacture of the sheet revolving shutter arises from the
circumstance that sheet iron is never manufactured in sheets large

page_text: enough for a single shutter, hence several sheets are united together
at their edges by riveting, which produces an unsightly appearance in
addition to the cost of getting up large sheets by this process.
My improvement upon the sheet revolving shutter whereby I obtain
slicets of any size without rivetting consists in weaving the sheet out of
flat strips or ribbons of metal after the manner of weaving or braiding
straw matting, the ribbons of metal being laid obliquely to the axis of
the drum or coiling barrel upon which these shutters are wound up;
the practical advantage of this oblique "lay" of the metal ribbons being
that they are wound spirally upon the drum and consequently stronger
metal may be employed. These braided sheets may be employed upon
the curtain method herein set forth, or stiffened by corrugations and
employed in the ordinary manner.
The corrugated sheet revolving shutters in common use are made, as
already stated, of several sheets of thin metal riveted together at their
edges; the sheets are corrugated not only for the purpose of making
them more rigid crosswise but more flexible lengthwise, but the principle
upon which they have hitherto been corrugated has caused them in
practice to fall far short of the needed "flexibility," and consequently
they are liable to crack and fall into two pieces, thereby barricading the
window to which they may be applied until a smith can be found to
clear the way. The corrugations of these shutters are made by bending
the metal upon curves less than a semicircle, the form of the corrugations
being such that the two faces of the sheet are alike and the sides of these
corrugations slope in a way to make the hollows grow constantly wider
from the bottom of the trough or hollow upwards to the tops of the
ridges. Now I find by experiment that if the sides of these corrugations
are made straight, that is to say, at right angles to the general face or
plane of the shutter in place of sloping outwards the shutter will be stiffer
crosswise and more flexible lengthwise. I also find that corrugations of
semicircles make a better shutter than the curve in use which, as I have
already stated, is less than a semicircle. I find however that a full or
nearly full circle or tube is still better; better still I find that if the
metal is bent so as to form a double tubular corrugation, the corrugations
overlapping each other or not as preferred, the shutter not only possesses
such remarkable flexibility as to guarantee it against cracking when in
use but it also forms a shutter of uncommon rigidity. The advantages
of this description of corrugated metal are that it affords increased rigidity
and increased flexibility of metal.

page_text: The revolving metal "lath" shutter, as its name indicates, consists of
a slicet made up of strips or laths hinged and jointed together, thereby
admitting of the employment of stouter metal, and consequently forms
a more reliable burglar proof shutter than those manufactured from
sheets of necessarily thin metal, but in neither case are they sufficiently
fire proof to withstand the attacks of fierce conflagrations for the reason
that both the "sheet" and the "lath" shutter consist practically of a
single thickness only.
My improvements upon the revolving metal lath shutters consists
in making them of hollow laths either of an oblong, cylindrical, or
other convenient section, by preference filled with any good fire-
resisting material or a material capable of generating steam. These
tubular or hollow laths may be binged together in the ordinary way
of making the jointed shutters or connected together in any other
convenient manner. In forming these hollow laths when of a flat or
oblong section I prefer to curve each one transversely in such a manner
as that when the laths are coiled around the drum or barrel, or simply
coiled upon themselves, each lath will accurately conform to the arc of
that part of the coil in which it lies when coiled. The said laths
may be either of uniform width and have the versed sines of half the
are constituting the lath of progressively increasing length towards the
top of the shutter, or the laths may be of a progressively increasing width
towards the bottom of the shutter with versed sines of the semi-arc of
uniform length. In the former case the "ways or grooves at the sides
of the window will be wedge-shaped, the widest part being at the top in
order to accommodate the increase in the versed sines of the semi-arcs
of those laths which are nearer to the drum or coil, whilst in the latter
case, wherein the versed sines of the semi-arcs are all uniform, the
'ways" at each side of the window may be of uniform width. It is
obvious that the same system may be applied to solid laths with a view
to ensuring their coiling accurately upon themselves.
"
"
The practical value of such a system is that the whole shutter tho'
composed of jointed laths of considerable thickness is enabled to be
coiled or rolled upon itself compactly with precision and without jar,
catch, or liability to derangement.
It sometimes happens that space for the coiling drum or barrel
usually employed with revolving shutters can with difficulty be obtained.
In such cases the shutter may be slid into a "pocket" arranged as

page_text: described in the Provisional Specification filed by me on the 18th of
November, 1871, No. 3,124, by means of a pair of pressure rollers,
preferably covered with vulcanized rubber and situate near the top of the
window or doorway, the said rollers gripping and lifting the shutter
whilst pushing it forward into the aforesaid pocket. These rollers may
be actuated by any well-known mechanical means, but where the weight
of the shutter admits of it I prefer to use a right and left hand coiled
cord or strap, cach one being secured to one end of one of the pressure
rollers. One of these pressure rollers may constitute the ordinary
coiling drum itself of the shutter, and be used in conjunction with the
second roller in order to economise space, the roller used as the coiling
drum being made to yield or accommodate itself to its gradually increasing
diameter as the shutter is being wound upon it, or the two pressure
rollers may serve as feed rollers for lifting the shutter and pushing it
on to the coiling drum.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thaddeus Hyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THADDEUS
HYATT, of Gloucester Gardens, Hyde Park, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the 35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, Her special license
that I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors,
administrators, or 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, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
REVOLVING SHUTTERS, AND IN ACTUATING THE SAME," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, my executors or

page_text: ww333
vention, and in what manner me same was to be performen, w
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 Thaddeus Hyatt, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to certain improvements in the con-
struction, and fitting, and mode of actuating or opening and closing
revolving fire and burglar proof shutters.
The revolving shutters now in use are made of both wood and metal,
and my improvements apply to both constructions. The revolving
wood shutters in use are made of thin laths, either hinged together
or strung upon mėtal tape passed through the body of the wood.
These shutters are neither fire nor burglar proof they are in fact mere
glass protectors and no more.
My improvement on these consists, first, in impregnating the wood
with alum, silicate, or other well-known chemical capable of rendering
it fireproof; secondly, in making the wood strips thicker, or more in
the nature of bars than laths; thirdly, in connecting these bars to each
other by means of an india-rubber cushion between them analgous to
the gristle which connects the vertebræ of the human spine, so as to
form the whole shutter into one sheet easily and smoothly coiling upon
itself around the coiling barrel; and fourthly, in protecting this wooden
shutter against being cut open by burglars tools by means of stout
wires or chains passed through the interior of the shutter in sufficient
numbers, or by means of strong strips or bands of steel upon the face
of the shutter, or both combined.
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Sheet of explanatory Drawings,
represent in vertical section and front or external elevation respectively

page_text: rendered capable of affording greater resistance to the attacks of burglars
than revolving wooden shutters of the ordinary construction.
a, a, represent stout wooden bars of a square or other convenient
section, which bars are impregnated with a solution of alum silicate or
other chemical capable of rendering them fireproof or partially so.
b, b, represent the india-rubber cushions which are interposed between
the several bars of the series, and serve to connect them together, the
india-rubber cushions being fastened to the wooden bars by waterproof
or marine glue or other suitable adhesive cement. c, c, represent a
series of steel or other metal wires, chains, or flexible metallic strips
which extend at short intervals along the entire length of the shutter
accross the series of wooden bars, the said wires, strips, or chains being
situate cither within the thickness of the shutter itself or placed on the
internal or external surface, and secured at intervals to the wooden
bars a by secrews, nails, rivets, or staples, the object being to offer
resistance to burglars' tools when employed for the purpose of cutting
away a portion of the shutter. d is the drum upon which the said
shutter with its protecting wires, strips, or chains c is coiled in the
usual or other convenient manner.
The revolving metal shutters now in use are of two kinds; first, those
made of metal laths," and secondly, those made of sheet metal, the
revolving sheet metal shutters being invariably corrugated in order to
render them sufficiently resistant to be self-supporting; the theory or
principle of all the revolving shutters in use being that the laths must
have in themselves sufficient rigidity to maintain their position.
My improvement on the revolving sheet metal shutter consists, first,
in using it plain or in the form of a curtain, with extraneous lateral
supports in contradistinction to rendering it inherently self-supporting
or rigid, the sheet or curtain being held firmly at its sides, for which
purpose it may be perforated near its edges upon each side with holes
to engage with supporting pegs, pins, or catches arranged within the
guide ways on each side of the window, doorway, or other opening,
suitable levers being adjusted at these points to force the sheet upon the
holding or supporting pegs when lowered and in position, or the levers
themselves may be provided with pegs to engage into the holes of the
metal curtain. This curtain form of the shutter allows of much stronger
burglar and fireproof metal being employed, whilst it will at the same
time coil up within a much smaller compass than the ordinary sheet

page_text: metal revolving shutters, a desideratum at times of prime importance.
By embossing in relief the face of these plain sheets or otherwise orna-
menting them, and by hardening portions of their surface, they can be
rendered not only highly ornamental but capable of better resisting the
attacks of burglars.
Figure 3 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of my revolving
sheet metal "curtain" shutter, showing the mode of fitting and securing|
the same, the shutter being represented as closed or drawn down.
Figure 4 is a front or external elevation of a portion of the upper part
thereof; Figure 5 is a similar view, showing the side way or guide and
bottom of the window frame in section; and Figure 6 is an enlarged
sectional detail, showing the mode of securing and releasing the shutter
along its edges. Figures 4 and 5 represent morcover two different
patterns of embossing.
a, a, represent the sheet metal "curtain" shutter, which is coiled
upon the drum b, and is guided along each edge by grooved ways or
guiding slots made in the stout metal side pieces c, c, fixed into the sides
of the window or other opening. Along cach side of the sheet a, near
its edge, there are made at convenient intervals a number of holes or
slots d, and working freely on centres in the metal sidė pieces c, c, are
a corresponding number of weighted lever catches e, e, which engage
at one of their ends into the holes or slots & when the sheet a has
been drawn down as hercin-after explained. These lever catches e are
held out by action by their weighted ends, as shown by the dotted lines
in Figure 6, so as to be clear of the shutter and allow the sheet to
descend freely when closing the same, but just before the shutter is
completely closed its lower edge f depresses certain pins g, which are
attached to a horizontal bar h and project up slightly above the bottom
of the window frame. This bar h rests upon two or more levers i, and
has attached to it two vertical rods k fitted with pins, which project
over the lever catches e, and by their descent bring down the ends of
the catch. levers into the retaining holes or slots d, thereby locking or
securing the shutter. The sheet shutter is thus retained at its edges
much in the same way that a web of textile fabric is sometimes held by
tenter hooks or pins along its opposite selvages. As the catches e are
completely enclosed within the metal side pieces c no access is afforded
to them from the outside. On winding up the shutter the several catch
leverse will be lifted out of their corresponding holes in the shutter,

page_text: and will also elevate the rods k, bar h, and pins g in readiness for the
next descent of the shutter, or these may be lifted by the levers i.
The greatest practical difficulty which has always been experienced
in the manufacture of the sheet revolving shutter arises from the cir-
cumstance that sheet iron is never manufactured in sheets large enough
for a single shutter, hence several sheets are united together at their
edges by riveting, which produces an unsightly appearance in addition
to the cost of getting up large sheets by this process.
One of my improvements in sheet revolving shutters, whereby I
obtain sheets of any size without the rivetting above referred to, consists
in weaving the sheet out of flat strips or ribbons of metal, as shown
clearly in Figure 7 of my Drawings, after the manner of weaving or
braiding straw matting, the ribbons of metal being laid obliquely to the
axis of the drum or coiling barrel upon which these shutters are wound
up, the practical advantage of this oblique "lay" of the metal ribbons
being that they are wound spirally upon the drum, and consequently
stronger metal may be employed. These braided or woven sheets may
be employed upon the “curtain" method herein set forth, or they may
be stiffened by corrugations and employed in the ordinary manner.
The corrugated sheet revolving shutters in common use are made, as
already stated, of several sheets of thin metal riveted together at their
edges; the sheets are corrugated not only for the purpose of rendering
them more rigid crosswise but more flexible lengthwise; the principle
however upon which they have hitherto been corrugated has caused
them in practice to fall far short of the needed flexibility, and conse-
quently they are liable to crack and fall into two pieces, thereby
barricading the window or opening to which they may be applied until
a smith can be found to clear the way. The corrugations of these
shutters are made by bending the metal upon curves less than a semi-
circle, the form of the corrugations being such that the two faces of the
sheet are alike, and the sides of these corrugations slope in a way to
make the hollows grow constantly wider from the bottom of the trough
or hollow upwards to the tops of the ridges. Now I have found by
experiment that when the sides of these corrugations are made straight,
that is to say, at right angles to the general face or plane of the shutter,
as shown in cross section at Figure 8, in place of sloping outwards the
shutter will be stiffer crosswise and more flexible lengthwise, and there-
fore more easily "coiled. I also find that corrugations of complete

page_text: semicircles, as shown in Figure 9, make a better shutter than the
curve at present in use, which, as I have already stated, is less than a
semicircle. I find however that a full or nearly full circle or tube,
as shown in Figure 10, is still better; and that a still better result is
obtained when the metal is bent so as to form a double tubular corru-
gation, as shown in Figure 11 (the corrugations overlapping each other,
as shown in Figure 12, or not as preferred). A shutter of this form of
corrugation not only possesses such remarkable flexibility as to guarantee
it against cracking when in use, but it also forms a shutter of uncommon
rigidity crosswise, thus combining the advantages of increased rigidity
and increased flexibility of metal.
"
The revolving metal "lath shutter, as its name indicates, consists
of a sheet made up of strips or laths of metal hinged and jointed together,
thereby admitting of the employment of stouter metal, and consequently
forming a more reliable burglar-proof shutter than those manufactured
from sheets of necessarily thin metal, but in neither case are they
sufficiently fireproof to withstand the attacks of fierce conflagratious,
for the reason that both the "sheet" and the "lath" shutter consist
practically of a single thickness only.
My improvements upon revolving metal lath shutters consists in
making them of hollow laths either of an oblong, cylindrical, or other
convenient section, by preference filled with any good fire-resisting
material or a material capable of generating steam. These tubular or
hollow laths may be hinged together in the ordinary way of making the
jointed shutters, or they may be connected together in any other
convenient manner.
Figure 13 represents a vertical section of my improved fire and
burglar-proof revolving metal lath shutter. a, a, are the laths, made
of sheet metal, bent into a hollow or tubular form, and having in this
case the interior hollow space or cavity filled in with any well-known
fire-resisting or steam-generating material, such, for example, as those
which are mentioned in the Specification of my Patent, No. 3124,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
If preferred however the fire-resisting substance or composition
may be omitted, merely using the stratum of air in the laths as
the fire-resisting medium. These hollow metal laths are here repre-
sented as connected together by being rivetted on to thin flexible steel
straps b, and are coiled in the ordinary manner on the drum c.
onc.

page_text: In forming these hollow laths when of a flat or oblong section I
prefer to curve each one transversely in such a manner as that when
the laths are coiled around the drum or barrel, or simply coiled upon
themselves, cach lath will accurately conform to the arc of that part of
the coil in which it lics when coiled. This is clearly shown in Figure 14,
where a, a, are the curved laths hinged together; is the coiling drum,
and ca guide roller. The said curved laths may be either of uniform
width and have the versed sines of half the arc of progressively increasing
length towards the top of the shutter, or the laths may be of a pro-
gressively increasing width towards the bottom of the shutter with
versed sines of the semi-arc of uniform length; in the former case the
"ways" or grooves 6 at the sides of the window will be wedge-shaped,
as shown in the enlarged detail, Figure 15, the widest part of the groove
being at the top, in order to accommodate the increase in the versed
sines of the semi-arcs of those laths a which are nearer to the drum or
coil; whilst in the latter case wherein the versed sines of the semi-arcs
are all uniform, but where the widths of the laths a progressively increase
towards the bottom, the " ways bat each side of the window may be
of uniform width, as shown in Figure 16, where a represents, say, the
top lath and a¹ the bottom one. It is obvious that the same system
may be applied to solid laths with a view to ensuring their coiling
accurately upon themselves.
"
The practical value of such a system is that the whole shutter though
composed of jointed laths of considerable thickness is enabled to be coiled
or rolled upon itself compactly with precision and without jar, catch, or
liability to derangement.
It sometimes happens that space for the coiling drum or barrel
usually employed with revolving shutters can with difficulty be obtained.
In such cases the shutter may be slid into a "pocket" arranged as
described in the Specification of my Patent, bearing date the
Eighteenth of November, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one, No. 3124, by means of a pair of pressure rollers, preferably
covered with vulcanized rubber, and situate near the top of the
window or doorway, the said rollers gripping and lifting the shutter
whilst pushing it forward into the aforesaid pocket. These rollers may
be actuated by any well-known mechanical means, but where the weight
of the shutter admits of it I prefer to use a right and left hand coiled
cord or strap, each one being secured to one end of one of the pressure

page_text: rollers. One of these pressure rollers may constitute the coiling drum
itself of the shutter and be used in conjunction with the second roller in
order to economise space, the roller used as the coiling drum being
made to yield or accommodate itself to the gradually increasing dia-
meter of the coil as the shutter is being wound up. Or the two pressure
rollers may serve as feed rollers for lifting the shutter and pushing it on
to the coiling drum.
This last arrangement is illustrated by Figure 17, in which a is the
shutter, here shown in the form of a sheet, guided in the ways b, and
lifted and pushed on to the coiling drum c by the two pressure or
nipping rollers d, d, which are shown covered with india-rubber e, in
order to afford a better hold or grip on the shutter which is held between
them. The coiling drum may be provided with one or more (by
preference three) pressing rollers f,f, forced inwards or towards the
centre of the drum by helical or other springs, as shown, for the purpose
of keeping the several coils close and compact round the drum, the
journals of the said rollers f working in radial slots in the end flanges of
the drum, in which slots the pressing springs work.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is :-
First. The manufacture of fireproof wooden revolving shutters, by
making the wooden laths in the forms of bars and impregnating the same
with a solution of alum silicate or other chemical capable of resisting
fire, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. The manufacture of wooden revolving shutters by inter-
posing layers or thicknesses of india-rubber between the several wooden
bars composing the laths, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Thirdly. The combination of stout wires, chains, or strips of stecl,
with the above-described wooden revolving shutters for the purpose of
rendering them better able to resist the attacks of burglars' cutting tools,
as herein-before described.

page_text: Fourthly. The construction and use of sheet revolving shutters in the
form of a "drop curtain," held firmly along the opposite edges when
closed by moveable pins or other suitable catches or holders, substantially
as herein-before described.

page_text: pressure rollers are employed to lift a revolving shutter and push or
fced it into the said pocket or on to the said coiling drum or barrel, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thaddeus Hyatt, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of May
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.