AN IMPROVED PROTECTOR FOR SASH FASTENERS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, of South Kensington, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROTECTOR FOR
SASH FASTENERS.”
Sealed the 23rd August 1878, and dated the 27th February 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th February 1878.
ALICE ISABEL LUCAN GORDON, of South Kensington, in the County of Middlesex.
"AN IMPROVED PROTECTOR FOR SASH FASTENERS."
My Invention relates to an improved device forming a guard or protector for
window sash fasteners, its object being to prevent the possibility of the bolt being
thrown back by means of a knife blade or other instrument inserted between the
meeting rails of the sashes from the outside. This guard or protector is made
entirely separate from the fastener, and can be sold separately and applied in con-
nection with any of the ordinary sash fasteners at present in use.
This improved guard or protector consists of a thin metal plate with another and
preferably thicker plate hinged thereto along one edge, the first mentioned plate
corresponding with, and being intended to be clamped beneath the ordinary catch
plate of the fastener, whilst the last mentioned or thicker plate forms a hinged flap
which lies flat down upon the meeting rails flush with and between the two plates
of the fastener, so as to cover the slit or interval between the meeting rails for such
a distance at either side of the bolt as to prevent it being acted upon by any instru-
ment inserted between the sashes, the bolt which comes across the protector flap
holding it securely down whilst in use.
In order to make the protector flap flush with the back plate of the fastener, the
latter may be packed up by a thin metal plate similar to that to which the
protector flap is hinged, or both plates of the protector may be let into a slight
recess made for their reception in the meeting rail.
The protector plate is hinged so that it may be turned up out of the way to
allow the relative positions of the sashes to be reversed as required when cleaning
the window.
:

page_text: The protector plate is bevilled off at the end where the bolt when thrown forward
first comes across it, so as to allow of the bolt passing over it, even if the meeting
rails are not quite level, and this end of the protector plate may be cut away
slightly to allow it to clear the knob of the bolt when the window is raised.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th August 1878.
ALICE ISABEL LUCAN GORDON, of South Kensington, in the County of Middlesex.
"AN IMPROVED PROTECTOR FOR SASH FASTENERS."
My Invention relates to an improved device forming a guard or protector for
window sash fasteners, its object being to prevent the possibility of the bolt being
thrown back by means of a knife blade or other instrument inserted between the
meeting rails of the sashes from the outside. This guard or protector is made
entirely separate from the sash fastener, and it can be sold separately and applied
in connection with any of the ordinary sash fasteners at present in use.
This improved guard or protector consists of a thin metal plate with another
(preferably thicker) plate hinged thereto along one edge. The first mentioned plate
is generally intended to be clamped on the front meeting rail beneath the ordinary
catch plate of the fastener, or it may be otherwise secured to the front meeting rail,
whilst the last mentioned or thicker plate forms a hinged flap which lies flat down
upon the two meeting rails between the two plates of the fastener, so as to cover
the slit or interval between the meeting rails for such a distance at either side of
the bolt, as to prevent it being acted on by any instrument inserted between the
sashes, the bolt which comes across the protector flap holding it securely down
whilst in use.
In order to make the protector flap flush with the back plate of the fastener, if
desired the latter may be packed up by a thin metal plate, or the protector may be
let into a slight recess made for its reception in the meeting rail.
The protector flap or plate is hinged so that it may be turned up out of the way
to allow the relative positions of the upper and lower sashes to be reversed as
required when cleaning the window.
The protector flap is bevelled along one edge or at the point where the bolt when
thrown forward first comes across it so as to allow of the bolt passing over it even
if the meeting rails are not quite level.
If necessary, the protector flap may have a slight notch or recess cut in its edge
to allow it to clear the knob of the bolt when the lower sash is raised.
The protector need not be limited to the immediate vicinity of the sash fastener,
but it may be made of such length as to extend entirely along the meeting rails the
whole width of the window, as it then serves also to keep out wind and dust. The
plate to which the hinged flap is hinged may then either be clamped beneath the
catch plate of the fastener as before, or it may be secured to the meeting rail by
independent means,

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a cross section through the meeting rails of the sashes, showing the
protector as used in connection with an ordinary sash fastener.
Figure 2 is a cross section of the meeting rail of the lower sash, showing the
protector turned up out of the way.
Figure 3 is an end view, and Figure 4 a plan of the protector separately, the sash
fastener being indicated by dotted lines in the latter Figure.
Figure 5 shows on a smaller scale the protector made of such length as to extend
the entire width of the window.
a is a thin metal plate, and a¹ is a flap, preferably thicker, hinged to a at a².
Plate a may correspond with the ordinary catch plate b of the fastener, beneath
which it is to be clamped, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and have holes through
which the screws of plate 6 pass, or it may be otherwise secured to the meeting
rail. The hinged flap a' lies between the front or catch plate b and the back or
bolt plate c of the fastener so as to cover the slit between the meeting rails A, B,
and it extends a sufficient length on either side of the bolt d to prevent the latter
being acted on by a knife or other instrument inserted between the meeting rails.
The bolt & when in the locked position lies across the flap a' and holds it securely
down. The flap or guard plate a¹ is bevelled off along one edge to allow of the
latch & passing over it should the two meeting rails not be perfectly level. The
guard plate a being hinged to a, can be turned up as in Figure 2, in order that the
upper sash may be drawn down, and the lower sash raised to facilitate cleaning the
window.
In Figure 5 the guard or protector is made long enough to cover the whole
length of the interval between the meeting rails and the plate a, instead of being
clamped beneath the catch plate b as before, has a space cut out for the reception of
the latter, and is separately screwed to the sash. The hinge joint a² may be made
in any ordinary way, but a cheap form is shown on a larger scale in Figure 6, in
which the hinge knuckles on plate a are made by bending over the edge of a single
thickness of sheet metal (iron or brass) previously stamped out to the proper form,
whilst the flap a¹ is made of a double thickness of sheet metal stamped out and
bent or doubled along the middle of its length or thereabouts to form the hinge
knuckles.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing the
same, I would observe that I am aware that similar protectors, both hinged and
fixed, have been proposed, but they have always formed an integral part of the
fastener itself, and could not therefore be sold separately or applied to fasteners
already in use, which is the special object of my Invention, and I declare that what
I claim as my Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is the improved guard or protector for sash fasteners composed of two
plates hinged together and applied in connection with the sash fasteners, substan-
tially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alice Isabel Lucan Gordon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.