IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO WINDOW SASH FASTENERS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Anderson Mac Leod of Birkenhead, in the
County of Chester for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO
WINDOW SASH FASTENERS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Anderson Mac Leod
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th September 1882.
WILLIAM ANDERSON MAC LEOD, of Birkenhead, in the County of Chester
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO WINDOW SASH FASTENERS"
My Invention has for its object certain improvements in and relating to window
sash fasteners, whereby ventilation is allowed to rooms by partially opening the
windows and at the same time, the window sashes open, or shut are rendered
burglar proof. Further by disengaging the apparatus the sashes can be opened to
their fullest extent and when shut the sash fastener automatically reengages.
A sash fastener constructed according to my Invention consists of two parts,
namely, a spring catch bolt and a guarded slide. The spring catch bolt is fixed
at the side of the meeting rail of the inner sash and the guarded slide is fixed, or
by preference sunk into the inside of the side rail of the outer sash in such a
manner that the spring catch bolt will take into the guarded slide and thus, when
such bolt is in position, the window sashes can be moved and opened up, or down
only to the extent of the length of the guarded slide. By preference the guarded
slide is designed to allow of either the top, or bottom sash to be open six inches, or
both sashes to be open three inches each for the purpose of ventilating a room.
At the same time through the construction of the fastener, both sashes are always
secured against being opened a greater distance than six inches, unless it be
requisite to have them opened a greater distance for cleaning, or other purpose, in
which case by first closing the sashes and then drawing back the spring catch
bolt and at the same time opening the top, or bottom sash, the spring catch bolt
through its construction as hereafter defined will ride outside the guarded slide
and the sashes can be opened to their fullest extent. Again on closing the sashes,
the spring catch bolt, when the sashes are shut automatically reengages with the

page_text: guarded slide and it is impossible to open either sash from the outside a greater
distance than six inches, thus preventing a burglar from entering the room by the
window even if the ordinary sash fastener be left open by accident. Thus if the
window be left open for any purpose more than six inches, the act of closing the
window again locks the sashes, so that they cannot be again opened more than
six inches except from the inside at the will of the occupant of the room.
The spring catch bolt. A convenient form of this consists of a box casing of
suitable metal open at one end and securely fastened to the inside meeting rail of
the lower sash with its open end opposite the side bar of the upper sash. This
casing contains a spring catch bolt consisting of a flat bolt with a catch at its
outer end and forced out from the casing by a spiral or other spring round the
shank of the bolt. The shank projects through the back of the casing and is
provided with a ring, or equivalent device by which the bolt may be drawn into
the casing against the spring.
The guarded slide. A convenient form of this consists of a flat plate with a
central slot. The length of such slot corresponds to the locked travel of the
sashes, namely the six inches before spoken of. The width of the slot at the
bottom corresponds to the thickness of the spring catch bolt at its end, and such
width extending up slightly over the depth of the catch bolt. The width of the
rest of the slot corresponds to the thickness of that part of the bolt behind the
catch so that when the bolt slides up the slot, the catch at the end of the bolt is
securely caught in the slot. At the bottom of the back of the plate, there is
provided a box guard so as to prevent the bolt being tampered with through the
sash bar from the outside. It is only necessary that this guard should extend
behind that part of the slot which the bolt enters. The guarded slide as before
mentioned is placed on the inside of the side bar of the upper sash, directly opposite
the spring catch bolt, so that when the sashes are closed, the spring catch bolt
engages with the slot.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Anderson Mac Leod in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th March 1883.
WILLIAM ANDERSON MAC LEOD, of Birkenhead in the County of Chester
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO WINDOW SASH FASTENERS"
My Invention has for its object certain improvements in and relating to window
sash fasteners, whereby ventilation is allowed to rooms by partially opening the
windows, and at the same time, the window sashes open, or shut are rendered
burglar proof. Further by disengaging the apparatus, the sashes can be opened to
their fullest extent and when shut the sash fastener automatically reengages
A sash fastener constructed according to my Invention consists of two parts,
namely a spring catch bolt and a guarded slide. The spring catch bolt is fixed at
the side of the meeting rail of the inner sash and the guarded slide is fixed, or by
preference sunk into the inside of the side rail of the outer sash in such a manner
that the spring catch bolt will take into the guarded slide and thus when such bolt
is in position the window sashes can be moved and opened up, or down, only to
the extent of the length of the guarded slide. By preference the guarded slide is
designed to allow of either the top, or bottom sash to be open six inches, or both
sashes to be open three inches each for the purpose of ventilating a room.
At the
same time through the construction of the fastener both sashes are always secured
against being opened a greater distance than six inches, unless it be requisite to
have them opened a greater distance for cleaning, or other purpose, in which case
by first closing the sashes and then drawing back the spring catch bolt and at the
same time opening the top, or bottom sash, the spring catch bolt through its
construction, as hereafter defined will ride outside the guarded slide and the sashes
can be opened to their fullest extent. Again on closing the sashes, the spring
catch bolt, when the sashes are shut automatically reengages with the guarded slide
and it is impossible to open either sash from the outside a greater distance than six
inches, thus preventing a burglar from entering the room by the window, even if
the ordinary sash fastener be left open by accident. Thus if the window be left
open for any purpose more than six inches, the act of closing the window again
locks the sashes so that they cannot be again opened more than six inches except
from the inside at the will of the occupant of the room.
The spring catch bolt.-A convenient form of this consists of a box casing of
suitable metal open at one end and securely fastened to the inside meeting rail of
the lower sash with its open end opposite the side bar of the upper sash. This
casing contains a spring catch bolt consisting of a flat bolt with a catch at its outer
end and forced out from the casing by a spiral, or other spring round the shank of
the bolt The shank projects through the back of the casing and is provided with
a ring, or equivalent device, by which the bolt may be drawn into the casing against
the spring.
The guarded slide.-A convenient form of this consists of a flat plate with a
ceutral slot. The length of such slot corresponds to the locked travel of the sashes,
namely the six inches before spoken of. The width of the slot at the bottom
corresponds to the thickness of the spring catch bolt at its end and such width
extending up slightly over the depth of the catch bolt. The width of the rest of the
slot corresponds to the thickness of that part of the bolt behind the catch, so that
when the bolt slides up the slot, the catch at the end of the bolt is securely caught
in the slot. At the bottom of the back of the plate, there is provided a box guard
so as to prevent the bolt being tampered with through the sash bar from the

page_text: outside. It is only necessary that this guard should extend behind that part of the
slot which the bolt enters. The guarded slide as before mentioned is placed on the
inside of the side bar of the upper sash, directly opposite the spring catch bolt, so
that when the sashes are closed the spring catch bolt engages with the slot.
The annexed sheet of Drawings illustrates my improvements in and relating to
window sash fasteners. The Drawings are marked with letters and figures of
reference corresponding with those in the following explanation, like letters and
figures being used to denote the same; or corresponding parts throughout the
various views.
In the Drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a spring catch bolt according to my Invention.
Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the guarded slide in which the spring catch
bolt shown at Figures 1 and 2 works.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of Figure 3.
C Figure 5 is a sectional plan of Figure 4 taken through the line A. B.
Figure 6 is a sectional plan taken through sash and pulley still showing the
spring catch bolt and guarded slide in position.
Figure 7 is a front elevation showing spring catch bolt and guarded slide in
position.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation taken through the meeting rails of the window
sashes showing spring catch bolt and guarded slide in position.
Upon reference it will be seen that a sash fastener according to my Invention
consists of two parts, namely a spring catch bolt as shown at Figures 1 and 2 and
a guarded slide as shown at Figures 3 4 and 5. Such spring catch bolt and
guarded slide being applied in the manner shown at Figures 6. 7 and 8.
The spring catch bolt. Figures 1 and 2 shows one form of this, which consists
of the box casing A made of any suitable metal and open at the end A¹. The box
casing A contains the flat bolt B which is provided with the catch C at its outer
end and with a shank B¹ and a thumb piece, or puller D at its inner end. The
bolt B is forced out from the casing A by the spiral springs E E against the pressure
of which the bolt B may be drawn back into the casing A by the puller D.
The
casing A is provided with a flange A2 by which it can be secured by screws to the
'meeting rail as hereinafter shown.
The guarded slide. Figures 3. 4 and 5 show one form of this, which consists
of the 'plate F which has a central slot H widened at the bottom as shown at
Figure 4. The length of the slot H corresponds to the locked travel of the window
sashes namely the six inches before spoken of. The width of the slot H at the
bottom corresponds to the thickness of the spring catch bolt at C such width
extending up slightly over the depth of the catch bolt, the width of the rest of the
slot H corresponds to the thickness of that part of the bolt behind the catch C Fo
that when the bolt B slides up the slot H, the catch C at the end of the bolt is
securely caught in the slot H. At the bottom of the back of the plate F, there is
provided a box guard J so as to prevent the bolt B being tampered with through
the sash bar from the outside. The plate F is also provided with side pieces F¹ as
shown at Figures 3 and 5.
In the application of my Invention the spring catch bolt A B is fixed to the
meeting rail K of the lower sash as shown at Figures 6. 7 and 8. The guarded
slide F is fixed, by preference sunk, into the side rail L of the outer sash so that
'the catch bolt B will take into the slot H as shown at Figures 6 and 8. When in
this position the window sashes can be moved up, or down only to the extent of
the slot H. When it is required to open the sashes to a greater extent than allowed
by the slot H, the sashes must first be closed, then by drawing back the catch
bolt B by means of the puller D, the catch bolt will ride, when the sashes are open,
with its end C resting on the face of the plate F and outside the slot H. After
passing the plate F, the catch C rides on the upper plate M, which is placed up the
side rail L to keep the wood from wearing. It will be evident that when the

page_text: meeting rails are brought together again by the closing of the sashes, the catch C
automatically re enters the slot H so that the sashes cannot again be opened more
than the length of the slot H except from the inside at the will of the occupant of
the room.
Having now described my Invention and shown how the same may be put into
practical operation, what I claim as my Invention and secured to me by the herein
before in part recited Letters Patent is
First Limiting the extent of opening of sliding window sashes by means of a
sliding fastener consisting of a self acting bolt working in a slot, substantially as
herein set forth and for the purposes specified.
Second A sliding window-fastener consisting of a self acting spring catch bolt
and a guarded slide substantially as herein described and shown in the Drawings
hereto annexed.
In Witness whereof I the said William Anderson Mac Leod have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
WILLIAM ANDERSON MAC LEOD.
(L.S.)