Improvement in Spring Balancing Appliances for Window Sashes and a Locking Mechanism combined therewith.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 28th May, 1891-Accepted, 18th July, 1891
COMT DIN SEMIFICATION.
Improvement in Spring Balancing Appliances for Window Sashes
and a Locking Mechanism combined therewith.
I, RAY BURGES of (has no fixed domicile or street) City of Oswego in the
County of Oswego and State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman
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 :-
Figure 1 is a front view of a window with portions broken out, illustrating my
invention.
Figure 2 is a broken edge view on an enlarged scale of a sash showing parts
of my invention :
Figure 3 a broken sectional view on an enlarged scale, illustrating my invention,
and
Figure 4 is a, view of the inner edge of the window frame and its rack.
My invention consists in a spring mounted on a supporting bar, and one or more
toothed wheels, the latter working in a rack bar applied to the frame of the window,
whereby the sash or sashes are balanced, their movement. eased, and binding pre-
vented. My invention also consists in a locking or stop mechanism, whereby the
sash can be held at any desired altitude and permanently secured when down or
closed.
In the drawing, A indicates the frame of a window and B, B' its sashes. C is a
rack bar set upon the inner edge of the said frame and extending upward far
enough to accommodate the up and down movements of the lower sash B. D is a
bent supporting bar, bifurcated at its upper and lower ends, and having journal or
arbor bearings a, a' at said ends. This bar is fastened about midway of its length,
as indicated at e, to a bulging projection of the a recessed portion of the sash B',
and its upper and lower ends are allowed to vibrate in recesses, provided, above
and below the said bulging projection, in the edge of the said sash. E is an arbor
or short shaft fitted in the bearings a, a' of the support D, and turning freely
therein. To this shaft a spring F, either of scroll, coil, or other analogous form,
is securely fastened by one of its ends, its other end being fastened to a bracket
pine of the bar D. The spring F winds and unwinds by the revolution of the
arbor or shaft, and it is located between the prongs of the upper bifurcated end of
the bar D, and may be enclosed within a light housing or casing G, as shown.
His a primary toothed wheel, keyed to the shaft E, on one side of the spring.
This wheel and the spring have freedom to vibrate with the upper end of the bar D
in the recess of the sash. The toothed wheel His of a diameter which enables it
to gear with the rack C of the window frame. I is a secondary toothed wheel
keyed to an arbor E' and revolving between the prongs of the lower bifurcated
end of the bar D. This wheel also gears with the rack C, and is free to vibrate
with the lower end of the bar in the recess of the sash. A similar device to one
described may be applied on the other edge of the sash and window frame; and a
pair of the devices may be applied on the upper sash or a single one may
be applied to the upper sash and in each of the secondary wheels, a series of
stop holes may be provided; and, in coinciding relation to one of said
holes of each wheel, a spring locking pin J may be provided on the sash,
and by passing said pin into such hole, the said wheel will be locked and prevented
from turning, and by withdrawing said pin and holding it, or fastening it back,
the wheel will be left free to revolve. In the drawing a cam device J¹ is shown
for aiding in withdrawing the pin and holding it back. Any one of the series of
holes which may be in coincidence with the pin can be used for this purpose.

page_text: From the aforegoing description it will be seen that when the sash is raised, the
primary toothed wheel will gear with the rack and be caused to revolve and
thereby unwind the spring or springs, said springs having been previously wound
to their full tension, and such winding having been accomplished by the lowering
of the sash to the sill of the window frame and the gearing of the said toothed
wheels with the racks during the lowering operation. Now by lowering the sash,
the toothed wheels are revolved by the racks and the springs again wound to their
proper operating capacity or tension, and power thereby secured in the springs
which will, about, balance the sash and assist the operator in raising the same.
During the revolutions of the primary wheels, the secondary wheels gear with
the racks and thus the sash is kept in a vertical position and tendency to bind
avoided. If it is desired to lock the sash in a raised position, at any intermediate
point, the spring pins are entered into one or the other of the locking holes in
the secondary wheels, and the sash thereby held in such position. The supporting
bar D might be straight, in which case the recesses in the sashes would have to be
deeper. Any other suitable spring than tlie one shown may be adopted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The supporting bar attached to a window sash and carrying a balancing
spring and a wheel at its upper end, substantially as described.
2. The supporting bar carrying a balancing spring and a wheel at its upper end,
in combination with a rack bar, substantially as described.
3. The supporting bar carrying a spring and a wheel at its upper end, and a
wheel at its lower end, substantially as described.
4. The spring supporting bar carrying a balancing spring and a wheel at its
upper end, and a wheel at its lower end, in combination with a rack bar, substantially
as described.
5. The spring balancing device described, in combination with the described
locking-pin mechanism, substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of May 1891.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.