IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William John Cunningham, of Oxford Street, in
the County of Middlesex, Machinist and Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING
Sealed the 19th January 1869, and dated the 20th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William John Cun-
ningham at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th July 1868.
I, WILLIAM JOHN CUNNINGHAM, of Oxford Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Machinist and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING
AND LOWERING WINDOW BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in means or apparatus for
raising and lowering window blinds, curtains, and other articles, and
consists in applying an india-rubber or other elastic band to an ordinary
nail or hook in the wall, window sash, or other convenient position,
the other end of which band is sprung on a C-shaped hook on which

page_text: the cord for raising and lowering the blind works, the said hook being
hidden from sight by any suitable ornament; or the india-rubber or
other band may be sprung on a hook with a pulley attached, round
which pulley the cord for raising and lowering the blind runs. By
this means the present complicated forms of pulleys and racks are
dispensed with, and on pulling the cord the blind or other article is
raised or lowered without noise and with extreme facility.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William John Cunningham in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 19th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JOHN CUNNINGHAM, of Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Machinist and Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William John Cunningham, Her special
licence that I, the said William John Cunningham, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William John
Cunningham, my executors, administrators, 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, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING
WINDOW BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William John Cunningham, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William John Cunningham, do hereby
declare 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
Sheet of Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in means or apparatus for
raising and lowering window blinds, curtains, and other articles, and
consists in applying an india-rubber or other elastic band, or a metal
or other spring, to an ordinary nail or hook in the wall, window sash,
or other convenient position, the other end of which band is sprung on
a C-shaped hook round which the cord for raising and lowering the
blind works, the said hook being hidden from sight by any suitable
ornament; or the india-rubber or other band may be sprung on a hook
with a pulley attached, around which pulley the cord for raising and
lowering the blind runs, so that on pulling the said cord the blind or
other article is raised or lowered without noise and with extreme facility;
or a curtain or blind may be pulled aside in a horizontal direction, when
so required, by slightly altering the position of the respective parts.
By this means the present complicated forms of pulleys and racks are
dispensed with.
In order that this Invention may be clearly understood, I will
describe the same in connection with the accompanying Drawings, in
which Fig. 1 is a back view of one form of my improved apparatus;
Fig. 2, a section of the same; Fig. 3, an outside view of another form of
my improved apparatus; and Fig. 4, a section of the same.
In Figs. 1 and 2 a is the india-rubber band sprung on a hook bin
the wall or wainscoting, the other end being placed over the C-shaped
hook c, which is soldered or otherwise fastened to the cover or any
suitable ornament d, so that the hook and its connection shall be out
of sight, and the cord e which passes round the blind roller as usual is
also caused to pass round the upper end of the said hook c; thus on
gently pulling the cord e the blind will be raised and lowered with the
greatest facility and without noise.
In Figs. 3 and 4 f is the elastic band, g the hook in the wall or
wainscot, and h the hook affixed to the ornament, one end of which
hook forms a shaft for the pulley i, around which pulley the cord k runs,
the action of raising and lowering the blind being the same as before.

page_text: Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention, I claim, the improvements in means or apparatus for raising
and lowering window blinds, curtains, and other articles as herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William John Cunningham, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
W. J. CUNNINGHAM. (L.S.)
W. J. CUNNINGHAM. (L.s.)