IMPROVED MEANS OF ATTACHING CORDS TO WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Rawlings, of Carlton Hill East, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF
ATTACHING CORDS TO WINDOW SASHES."
Sealed the 7th January 1864, and dated the 29th October 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Rawlings at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
October 1863.
I, JAMES RAWLINGS, of Carlton Hill East, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
MEANS OF ATTACHING CORDS TO WINDOW SASHES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the opening and closing of large
and heavy sash windows by the use of a cord, which is to be attached to the
top of the sash, one end being led over pullies fixed to the window frame, and
the other to be pendent from the middle of the top bar of the sash. In order
to ensure the adoption of this principle of opening and closing windows, it is
necessary so to attach the cord to the sash that the coupling will not offer an
obstruction to the upper and lower sash passing each other for the purpose of

page_text: being the more readily cleaned. To this end I form a kind of pendent having
a cup-shaped recess, and this I attach to the top bar of the sash, so that it
shall be flush therewith, and present no projection for the other sash to come
in contact with. In this cup I insert a knot of the hauling cord, and secure
it therein by a clamping cap or cover, which may be held in position by a catch
or screw, or their equivalent. When, therefore, it is required to push one
sash entirely past the other the cap or cover is removed, and there will then
be no obstruction offered to the vertical movements of the sashes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Rawlings in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th April 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
RAWLINGS, of Carlton Hill East, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Iler reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Rawlings, Her special license that I, the
said James Rawlings, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Rawlings, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OF ATTACHING CORDS TO WINDOW SASHES,"
upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Rawlings,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Rawlings, 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 fol-

page_text: lowing statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the opening and closing of large
and heavy sash windows. This I effect by the use of a cord, which is attached
in a peculiar manner to the upper bar of the top of the sash. One end of this
cord is led over guide pullies which are mounted in bearings attached to the
upper part of the window frame, and the other end is pendent from the middle
of the upper bar of the top sash.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 shews a front view of a window fitted
according to this Invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same taken in
the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shews, on an enlarged scale, the fastening for
securing the cord to the bar of the upper sash, the front plate, which is shewn
detached at Fig. 4, being removed; Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the fastening;
and Fig. 6 shews it in cross section.
In order to ensure the general adoption of the principle of opening and
closing windows by a draft cord, it is necessary so to attach the cord to the
upper sash that the coupling will not possess an objectionable appearance, nor
offer a permanent obstruction to the upper and lower sash passing each other
for the purpose of being the more readily cleaned. To this end I use a
pendent metal fastening a, which has a cup-shaped recess cast in it, and is
fitted with a detachable cap b. This fastening I attach, by means of screws,
to the top bar of the upper sash, so that it shall be flush therewith when the
detachable cap is removed, and present no projection for the lower sash when
raised to come in contact with. The cavity in the fastening is formed to
receive a knot c of the hauling cord d, and I secure the knot therein, as shewn
at Fig. 5, by applying the cap or cover b to the part a, and securing it in
position by means of a clamping screw c. A pin or projection on the cap
fitting into a notch cut in the part a will effectually prevent the cover from
shifting if the screw should become loose. One end of the cord d is conducted
over the pullies f, f, affixed to the top of the window frame, and allowed to
hang down at the side of the window within easy reach of an attendant, and
the other end of the cord hangs down from the fastening a at the middle of
the window. It will now be understood that when it is required to push one
sash entirely past the other in the act of cleaning a window fitted according to
my Invention, it will only be necessary to take out the clamping screw, and
the cap or cover b, which is the only part of the fastening that projects in front
of the sash, may then be readily removed.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved. Means of

page_text: Attaching Cords to Window Sashes," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim. attaching hauling cords to window sashes by
means of a fastening constructed as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rawlings, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES RAWLINGS. (L.S.)