IMPROVED SPRING FASTENER FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND OTHER WINDOWS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Edward Makins at tlic
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th July 1870.
"AN
I, JOHN EDWARD MAKINS, of King William Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVED SPRING FASTENER FOR RAILWAY CARRIAGE AND OTHER WINDOWS," to be
as follows:-
:
My Invention relates to a fastening for railway carriage and other
sliding windows, and is designed to afford the means whereby such
windows may be conveniently and securely fastened in any desired position,
and may also be readily released and adjusted.
The said Invention consists in the combination of a peculiarly con-
structed spring catch fixed on the sliding frame of the window with a
rack placed inside the groove or some other convenient portion of the
fixed frame of the window.
In applying my said Invention to a railway carriage window, I may have
a rack on one or both sides of the same. The teeth of this rack are of a
ratchet form, that is to say, they are sloping on the back or lower side so
that the window may be raised or moved in one direction freely, while on

page_text: the
upper side they present a square shoulder for the catch to take hold of
or rest upon.
The said catch is formed or fixed on one end of a thin flat
spring of steel or other suitable metal, which is fixed at the other end to
the window. The said catch has a piece which projects laterally from the
groove and carries a head or button to which the finger is to be applied
in depressing the catch to release the window. Under this head I prefer
to place a hollow projecting stud or pin, in which I place a spiral spring
whose end rests in a small recess or cavity formed in the sliding frame
of the window. The object of this small spring is to counteract any
tendency of the projecting arm to twist or bend when the pressure is
applied to the head. In some cases this auxilliary spring will not be
necessary. The spring catch is securely attached to the sliding window
at or near the top thereof in the proper position for the point of the
catch to project between the teeth of the rack. The spring tends con-
tinually to keep the catch between the teeth of the rack, so that the
window cannot drop until the catch is depressed. There must be
sufficient space between the sliding frame and the inside of the groove
in which it slides to allow the catch to lie clear of the rack when pressed
back to release the window. When a rack and catch are used at both
sides of the window the catch springs effectually prevent any unpleasant
rattling or vibration of the same. When a rack is used at one side of
the window I place in the groove on the other side guide springs or
antifriction rollers, which keep the window parallel with the frame and
prevent such vibration and noise. The rack may be formed of wood,
metal, or other suitable material, and the pitch or distance apart of the
teeth may be varied as desired. The window slide may, if desired, have
any conveniently formed finger plates, hooks, or other devices for raising
it, but the necessity for the straps now commonly employed on railway
and other carriage windows is entirely obviated by my Invention. The
catch need not be depressed to allow the sliding frame to be raised, as
the spring yields and permits the catch to pass up over the rack, while
the shape and arrangement of the teeth and catch effectually prevent
the accidental falling of the window from the vibration of the carriage
or otherwise and allow the window to be securely retained in any desired
position.