Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Nov., 1887
Specification Accepted, 9th Dec., 1887
We WILLIAM HENRY HOPKINS of Albert Street Birmingham in the County of
Warwick Manufacturer and JOHN HALL of 8 Beech Road Stratford Road Birmingham
in the County of Warwick Manager do hereby declare the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object an improved combination door curtain rod or door
spring which also when desired answers both purposes. There has been difficulty
experienced in hanging a rod and curtain over door sin such a manner that the curtain
would be effective and yet allow the door to open in a proper manner. Our invention
is intended to meet this difficulty and at the same time to act as a door spring though
it is not absolutely necessary that the device should be made to act in both ways.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood and more easily carried into
practice we have appended hereunto two sheets of drawings showing a door upon
which one of our curtain rods is mounted in such a manner as to act as a door
spring.
Figure 1 is a broken off front elevation of the door shut with the rod and its parts
fitted in conjunction therewith.
Figure 2 is a broken off perspective view of the same door slightly open with the
rod mounted in conjunction therewith.
Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the said rod and brackets.
Figure 4 is a sectional view of the door and door post and a small portion of the
wall on each side with a plan of the mountings in conjunction therewith the door
being shut.
Figure 5 is also a section view of the same parts as above but showing the door
opened and the position of the mountings thereto when the door is thus opened.
The curtain rod is in all cases a compound or telescope one and is composed of the
parts B and B' the part B' being sufficiently small to slide comfortably inside
the part B as shown in section Figure 3. If the rod isto be used for curtains only the
spring S is not required but if for a combined curtain rod and door spring then the
spring S is used. The ends 6 and 6* screw or otherwise slide or fasten on or in
separately as usual or they may be made fast each end being threaded through its
D621

page_text: brackets. The bracket D is fastened with screws or other suitable means to the door A
and is formed into a suitable eye d¹ to carry the thick part B or instead of the eye
d'
it may be slotted from the top like an ordinary curtain bracket for the rod to drop
therein. The strength of the spring S may be regulated by sliding the rod B back-
wards or forwards in the eye d¹ where it is secured by the screw d². The other
similar bracket E is fastened to the side mouldings of the loor or to the architrave C in
fact to any stationary part beyond the hinges of the door. If the part projects far
beyond the bracket E it must be cranked outwards as shown in the perspective view
Figure 2 which allows for the other, otherwise it would come in contact with the
wall W when open. The part of the rod B¹ is allowed to turn by means of any
suitable pivot e¹ which is shown more clearly in section at Figure 3 i.e. the ornament e¹
may have a shank formed underneath to pass through the rod B' and to fasten into
the bracket E may have a fast pin upon it to pass through the rod B³ with a projecting
screwed end upon which the ball or other ornament e' may scrow. There are of course
a variety of ways to make this pivot or joint. If however it is desired to keep the
rod B nearer to the door and frame it may be accomplished as shown by Figure 6
where the rod B is jointed at 65 and the part 4 does not turn when the door is opened
but is stationary with the lower part of the bracket E or the rod may entirely finish
at with any ordinary knuckle or other joint without the projecting ornamental
end b'. The brackets E and D may also be made to reach outwards i.e. E reaching
out to the right and D to the left so as to bring the socket parts of the brackets near
to the ends of the rods B or B thus reducing the amount of bend or cranking
required in the bracket. It will be obvious that when the curtain is not required as
in hot summer weather the rod would still act as a door spring and indeed it may be
so fitted as a door spring only in that case the parts may be shorter and simpler and
they may then be fitted to any part of the door but when so used for the single
purpose the spring S or its equivalent must always be there.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
The improved combination door curtain rod or door spring consisting of a double
tube or telescope rods B and B' and with or without the spring S so as to also act as
a door spring substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Dated this 7th day of November 1887.
GEORGE BARKER,
77, Colmore Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicants.