Improvements in Window Fasteners.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 28th Sept., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Window Fasteners.
We, THEODORE BALDWIN WILCOX and HENRY WILCOX of 355 Mulberry
Street, Newark in the County of Essex, State of New Jersey, United States of
America, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to an automatic sash fastener, adapted to act by gravity in
such a manner as to lock together the upper and lower sashes of a house window
whenever the said sashes are respectively pushed up and pulled down to their
extreme limit. In other words, our device acts to lock the sashes together
automatically whenever the window is completely closed. One form of our device
is adapted to act on a similar principle for locking a car window in various positions,
the two parts which are locked together in this instance being the window sash and
the frame of the window.
The invention further contemplates the actual binding together of the window
sashes in the act of locking them, the object being to secure a firm union of the
two and thereby prevent all unpleasant rattling.
Our invention will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings in which :-
Figure is a side clevation and part section of our improved sash fastener
applied to a house window, the parts being shewn as they appear when the sashes
are locked together.
Figure 2 is a similar view shewing the parts as they appear when the lower sash
is somewhat raised.
Figure 3 is a front elevation of our sash fastener as applied to a car window,
and
Figure 4 illustrates a modified form both in side elevation and end view.
In the drawings, A is the upper sush and B the lower sash of a window. On
the top of the lower sash we mount a frame C consisting chiefly of two upright
plates which form the bearing for a shaft D on which a catch E is mounted. The
said catch E is made heavier at its inner end than at its outer end, for which
reason it will, when liberated, assume the position illustrated in Figure 2. At its
said inner end, it is formed into a yoke e and at its outer end it is provided with a
jaw e. The part which we have called the jaw is not necessarily a toothed surface
but it may be simply roughened for friction purposes.
With the gravity catch E co-operate two other parts, which, together with the
said catch constitute practically the whole sash fastener. One of these parts is the
trip F pivoted at f and having a tooth or point which is adapted to engage with
the jaw e. The trip itself is weighted so as normally to rest upon a stop f¹, but
its heavier outer end can be lifted with the hand to remove the trip from the said
stop and thus to disengage the jaw e¹ and the trip point.
The other part which co-operates with the catch E is a lug G supported upon
a standard H. In practice we may employ two standards, with the part G
constituting a cross bar between them. This is the arrangement illustrated in
Figure 1 in small detail.
The part G whether a lug or a cross bar, is preferably curved on its lower side
and provided on its upper side with a notch whereby a point is formed at 9, which
point is in a position to be engaged by or to engage one point of the yoke e,
according as the lower sash is moved down from the position shewn in Figure 2, or
the upper sash is moved up from the said position.

page_text: t
Suppose now, that the sashes occupying the position illustrated in Figure 2 are
moved (one or both of them) so as to bring the window to a closed position.
Assume that the right hand sash is moved downward. In that case the point
of the yoke e will catch over the point g and the inner end of the catch E will be
raised with relation to its outer end, while the latter will descend into engagement
with the point of the trip F. The parts will then occupy the position illustrated
in Figure 1 and will be locked together so that it will not be possible to raise
the lower sash or to lower the upper sash by simply pressing up or down upon the
one or the other. Anyone attempting to open the window from the outside would
be defeated of his purpose and would not be able to gain an entrance through the
window without breaking or removing the glass.
In order to open the window from the inside, however, it is only necessary to lift
the outer end of the trip by hand and then exert pressure upon the upper or lower
sash as the case may be. At the first movement the inner end of the catch E will
descend and the trip F can then be released by the hands to be brought by gravity
to its rest npon the stop. We prefer to arrange it so that the trip will at once
take care of itself as soon as its outer end has been lifted, this act serving to throw
the trip's outer end vertically to the left of the axis or pivot and leave it in the
range of motion of the jaw e whereby the trip will be thrown back by the descent
of the catch E, or rather by the ascent of the outer end e¹ of the catch. The
trip is brought to rest by the engagement of a heel on the lower side of
the said trip with the stop f¹ when the said trip is thrown over for releasing the
catch.
1
In Figure 4 we pivot the catch E upon rectangular lugs or trunnions oo which
extend into slots of o¹ in the frame B' B'. The lower sides of the said slots are
curved and the upper sides are so shaped as to receive the lugs oo as shewn.
When the window is closed the lugs are in the upper portion of the slot, resting
upon the curved lower faces thereof. On the release of the catch E, and the
upward movement, say, of the lower sash, the lugs drop down into the lower enda
of the slots leaving the catch in substantially the same position as is illustrated in
Figure 2. F is the point of a trip similarly arranged to the trip F shown in
Figures 1 and 2.
Now Figure 4 shews that a claw e is formed on the catch Ę and by following the
movements of the parts, as already described, in the act of closing the window, it
will be observed that the said claw gradually encircles the lug or bar G and that
towards the end of the movement the said claw has got a firm hold upon the said
lug or bar, while at the same time the lugs oo have been carried up into the position
shewn in Figure 4. Manifestly this causes the binding together of the upper and
lower sashes of the window, as already described.
Figure 3 shews our fastener applied to a car window. The catch appears at E¹
with a roughened or toothed edge S and a slot T riding on a shaft or pivot R
carried by plates U and U' the latter of which is broken away to show the slot.
The trip is shewn at P. The whole is supported upon a metallic base U secured
to the window sash. In the window frame angular slots or notches V co-operating
with the angular end of the catch itself. In raising the window from the position
shewn, the trip is first moved over so that its weighted outer end rests upon the top
of the catch E. Both hands are then free to raise the window, in which process
the catch itself is forced inward and upward, serving thus both to free the window
and to restore the trip at the time the limit of movement is reached. At the same
time when the next notch is reached, the catch will fall into place by gravity and
hold the window once more.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A sash fastener constructed arranged and operated substantially as herein-
before described and or illustrated by the ana

page_text: 2. An automatic sash fastener having a lug or bar for attachment to one sash, a
pivoted weighted catch for attachment to the other sash, a yoke to engage the said
lug or bar automatically as the window is closed, and a pivoted weighted trip or
pawl, all constructed arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore described
and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. An automatic sash fastener comprising a pivoted gravity catch for attachment
to a sash frame and having a roughened or toothed edge, and a pivoted weighted
trip or pawl having a tooth or point adapted to engage the said catch, both the
catch and the trip having their pivots carried by the same base plate, stops being
provided for limiting the movement of the trip, and the catch being adapted to
engage a lug or bar on the meeting rail of the same, substantially as hereinbefore.
described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
4. An automatic sash fastener comprising a pivoted gravity catch for attachment
to a sash and having a roughened or toothed edge, and a pivoted weighted trip or
pawl having a tooth or point adapted to engage the said catch, both the catch
and the trip having their pivots carried by the same base plate and the catch being
provided with a claw for engaging and holding a lug or bar on the meeting rail of
the sash, whereby the two sashes are automatically bound together when the
window is closed, substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 8th day of AntilAD 1005
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.