IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS AND MEANS FOR OPENING, SHUTTING, AND FASTENING ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF SLIDING AND LIFTING WINDOWS, WINDOW SASHES, AND WINDOW SHUTTERS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAN
BARNARD BODDY, of Saint Mary, Newington, in the County of Surrey, Surgeon,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Barnard Boddy, Her especial licence that I, the said William Barnard Boddy,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Barnard Boddy, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS AND MEANS FOR OPENING, SHUTTING,
AND FASTENING ALL DESCRIPTIONS OF SLIDING AND LIFTING WINDOWS, WINDOW
SASHES, AND WINDOW SHUTTERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said William Barnard Boddy, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of

page_text: Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Barnard Boddy, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention consists in the application of various modifications of a rack catch
and spring catch or bolt, or both, to the sides of what are generally denomi-
nated lifting and sliding window sashes or windows, and window shutters,
for the purpose of their being opened, shut, or fastened without the use of
pullies, lines, weights, and the usual sash fasteners as at present con-
structed, thereby avoiding the inconvenience occasioned by the breaking of
sash lines, derangement of weights, annoyance by the removal of what are
called the pocket pieces in case of repairs, the disagreeable noise of the
rattling of windows in windy weather, while a facility is given for removing
the sashes for the purpose of cleaning and painting them on the outside.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William Barnard
Boddy, do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be
performed by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Drawing annexed, as to the figures and letters marked thereon, similar letters
being used. to denote similar parts in all the Figures wheresoever they occur,
that is to say:-
The means by which I accomplish these objects are by the use of racks, or
indented pieces of metal or other suitable materials, which I denominate
window racks. These racks are let into and fixed either in the edges of the
sashes, parting bead, or pulley style of the window frames; and opposed to
them in any of these positions, there is a little metal box, similar to a small
lock, with a catch or spring catch, to strike into the before-mentioned rack.
When the apparatus containing the catch is fixed into the pulley style or
window frame it is stationary, but if fixed into the edge of the sash it moves
with it, or reversed; the rack by being fixed into the pulley stile is stationery
or by being fixed into the edge of sash it moves with it. The action in
such case will be the same in supporting the sashes. If the catch is fixed
into the sash it is then withdrawn or relieved from its position by a knob, lever,
or handle in front of the sash, placed conveniently for the thumb, finger, or
hand; but if the catch is fixed into the pulley stile, it may be detached by the
means of a key of any construction, permanently fixed or capable of being
'withdrawn, and secured by a small chain, or taken away altogether, similar to
any ordinary key, making it impossible, particularly in the upper sash, for any
person either within or without (without the key) to open it if shut, or, if at

page_text: all open, to open it further; it may, however, be shut easily. This key is
introduced to the apparatus through a hole partly made in the pully stile and
inside lining. When the windows are large and heavy, I propose to attach
my apparatus to each side of the window, for the purpose of keeping the edge
of the sash close up, and the meeting nails even and flush; -in this case the
upper sash is opened or the lower one shut by detaching the catch on one side
first, and keeping it back by a small hook or pin, then release the other and
move the sash. This method is only necessary when the windows are indeed
very large and heavy, as in almost every case the apparatus being fixed on one
side only will be found quite sufficient. In addition to the catch supporting
the sashes at any point, it becomes for the lower window sash a self-acting
fastener by the following means:-At the bottom of the rack, the sharp edgo
of which is reversed, there is a square-shouldered recess cut into the wood for
receiving a greater projection of the catch into which it enteres, making it
impossible when the sash is shut down to be opened on the outside, in con-
sequence of a slight indentation in the upper part of the catch coming in
contact with the sharp reverse edge of the rack.
Another part of my Invention consists in introducing the means of securing the
lower sash at any required height, which is accomplished as follows;-In the
upper part of the apparatus containing the catch there is a small bolt, which is
thrown by a key (similar to a common lock) into a rack of square-shouldered
indents, so that when the catch rests at any point of opening upon the bottom
part of one of the square indents, the bolt being thrown enters the square indent,
making it impossible without violence to move the sash until the bolt is with-
drawn; the same key to be used for the upper and lower sashes. To prevent
the too sudden detachment of the catch, and consequently the falling of the sash
in opening or shutting, I sometimes make the catch with a small projecting
tooth or hook, which hangs over the tooth of the rack, making it thereby quite
impossible to remove the catch from its situation with the rack without the
sash being first lifted a little by the other hand.
In order that the window sashes may move with the greater facility, I
propose in most cases to introduce small antifriction rollers in the sides of the
sashes to run against the frame, and in order to overcome any irregularity in
the pulley stile or the sashes of old windows or frames, these rollers are fixed in
spring plates, to yield to inequalities of the frames. The rollers may be either
of wood or metal, with a metal plane for them to work upon, if necessary.
For the convenience of lifting the sashes, in some cases it may be desirable
to fix handles either in the styles or rails of the sashes; these handles may be
of the fixed kind, or flush, let into the wood similar to a flush desk handle, but

page_text: on either case to be fixed in such a situation, that whilst the hand is used for
lifting the sash the thumb may be occupied in disengaging the catch. In
order that the catch may quickly enter the indents of the rack, in some cases I
put a spring at the back, to force it forward the instant it has passed the
point of the rack; but in others I accomplish the same by making the catch
with a projecting back, so that it may fall in by reason of the weight of such
projection, on the same principle of operation as the common drop sash
fastener. To afford facility for taking the sashes out of the frames to be
cleaned, painted, or repaired, I propose that the parting and inner bead on one
side of the window be easily removeable, so that by holding back the catch the
sashes may be taken out with the greatest ease.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a section of part of a window frame, containing the catch box
and spring catch; A being the catch; B, the catch box; C, the spring; D, the
centre on which the catch turns; and E, the thumb pin or trigger, which being
pushed inwards releases the catch from the rack F, which is here shewn
attached to the sash frame. Figure 2 is another section of the same part of
the frame, shewing a front view of the thumb pin and catch. Figure 3 repre-
sents the meeting bars of the window sash, with parts of the upper and lower
sides of the sashes, with the racks F, F, and friction rollers G, G, attached.
Figure 4 represents the window frame with the catches let into them, and the
key placed ready for use. Figure 5 shews the catch in action to support the
upper sash; and Figure 6, the catch in action to keep down the lower sash.
Both these catches depend on the key for their action, and are therefore shewn
without the thumb pin. Figure 7 represents the sort of rack used when the
locking bolt is added, H being the said bolt. Figure 8 represents another
variety of rack and catch, which require the window to be lifted as usual before
the catch can be withdrawn; and in both these cases a pin projects outwards
from the top in Figure 8, and from the bottom in Figure 7, of the catch, which
must be pushed sideways, to release the catches. Figure 9 is a separate view
of the key; Figure 10 is a separate view of the spring friction roller; and
Figure 11 is a separate view of the self-acting catch. Figures 12 and 13 are
horizontal sections of sashes and frames with my said Invention applied thereto.
Figure 14 is an elevation of a sash and frame fitted with my said Invention.
Now whereas the foregoing description embodies the general principle of
my Invention, but which may be varied to suit particular cases, and adapted in
a variety of ways, so as to be applicable to every description of sliding window
sashes and shutters, whether horizontally or vertically, and also whether for

page_text: houses, carriages, or ships; and whereas other varieties of construction and
materials based on the same principle may be devised, but I consider these
herein described as being the most practically useful; I therefore claim as my
Invention aforesaid the use of the rack catches and lock bolt, with key acting
in the said rack as such supporters and fasteners, and as means for opening,
shutting, and fastening windows, window sashes, and shutters of the kind herein-
before described, combined in any of the various ways as heretofore mentioned.
And such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and belief entirely
new, and never before used within that part of Her said Majesty's United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her said Dominion of
Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or the Colonies abroad, I do hereby
declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe
this my said Specification doth comply in all respects fully and without reserve
or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Barnard Boddy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
W BARNARD (L.S.) BODDY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July, in the
seventh year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Barnard Boddy came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year
of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Thirty-first day of July, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-three.