IN APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND LETTING-GO CORDS, CHAINS, OR BANDS
Year: 1855

page_text: IN APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND LETTING-GO CORDS, CHAINS, OR BANDS."
Sealed the 11th March 1856, and dated the 17th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lewtas at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th September
1855.
I, JOSEPH LEWTAS, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer of Venetian
and other Blinds, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND LETTING-GO CORDS, CHAINS,
OR BANDS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in passing the cord, chain, or band to be held or let
go between a fixed surface and a moveable roller or block which is guided in
slots. When the fixed surface is inclined, the slots for guiding the roller or block
are straight, but when the surface is plane, the slots must be inclined. By this
means, the friction of the cord, chain, or band on the roller or block causes the
cord, chain, or band to be compressed and securely held; but when the cord,

page_text: chain, or band is to be let go, the tension being then applied in the contrary
direction, releases the cord, chain, or band, and allows it to be let off. This
apparatus is applicable to the teagles of warehouses, to the cords of window
blinds, and to other purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Lewtas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
LEWTAS, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer of Venetian and other
Blinds, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Lewtas, Her special license that I, the said Joseph Lewtas,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Lewtas, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR HOLDING AND LETTING-GO CORDS, CHAINS, OR BANDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Lewtas, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 Joseph Lewtas, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
(that is to say) :-
My said Invention consists of a combination of a moveable or travelling
roller or block, having its ends or the ends of its axle mounted, and
working in slots slightly curved at their lower ends, and a fixed plane or

page_text: surface, against which the roller or block, moving with its ends or the ends
of its axle along the slots, may, as required, be caused to approach towards or
recede from the fixed or holding plane or surface, for the purpose of pressing
against and holding a cord, chain, or band, or for the purpose of releasing it;
the slots and the fixed plane or surface being placed at a proper angle
relatively to each other for effecting those objects, so that a cord, chain, or band
passing between the roller or block and plane or surface may be held fast or
let go at pleasure. I have in the said Drawings shewn how my Invention
may be applied in the construction of apparatus for holding or letting go the
cord of a window blind, similar parts in the different Figures or views being
marked with similar letters of reference.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section, of my improved
apparatus, constructed for holding or letting go the cord of a window blind.
a is a light metal casting, which is screwed to the side of the window frame, as
shewn on a small scale in Figure 3, and the inner side of the back part of this
casting serves as the fixed plane or surface, against which the cord 6 may be
pressed by the moveable roller c for the purpose of holding it. The trunnions
or pivots of this roller fit easily in the inclined slots d, which are formed in the
sides of the casting a at a proper distance from, and at a proper angle to,
the holding plane or surface in the interior of the casting, for the purpose of
holding and letting go the cord when required. The lower ends of the slots d
are slightly curved, and the object of this curved part will be explained here-
after.
e is a cover, which partly covers the front of the apparatus and one of
the slots, the other slot being covered or protected by the side of the window
against which the apparatus is screwed. The cover may, however, be dispensed
with entirely. The mode of operation will be better understood by referring
to Figures 4, 5, and 6, in which different views of the apparatus are drawn in
perspective. Figure 4 represents the apparatus with the cover e in its place.
Figure 5 represents the apparatus with the cover removed; and in this view,
as well as in Figure 2, the weight of the blind is supposed to be pulling the
cord upwards; that is to say, the friction of the cord b, acting on the move-
able roller c, has drawn the roller with its trunnions or pivots partly up the
inclined slots d, or until the inclination of the upper ends of those slots towards
the holding plane or surface causes the roller c to approach towards and
compress the cord against the fixed holding surface within the casting a. It
will be apparent that the pressure of the roller c against the cord will increase
in proportion to the weight of the blind sustained by the cord to be held; for
as the slots d form guides for the pivots of the roller c, and have their upper
ends inclined, and approaching towards the fixed holding surface in the interior,

page_text: the greater the upward pull on the cord the more the roller ascends and
approaches towards the holding surface, and the more the cord is compressed
against that surface. When it is desirable to lower the blind, the cord is
drawn downwards sufficiently to allow the pivots of the roller c to descend to
or near to the bottonis of the slots d, and cause the roller to recede so far from
the holding surface as to allow the cord to pass freely, when the person holding
the cord must cause it to be bent, or held so as to assume about the angle
to the holding plane or surface, shewn in Figure 6. The pivots of the roller
will then enter the curved ends of the slots above referred to, in which. position
the roller can revolve without ascending, and permit the cord to be drawn up
while the blind is being lowered. Instead of making the slots for the roller
pivots inclined, so as to form an angle with a vertical holding planè or surface,
as shewn in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, the slots & may be made vertical or
straight, and the holding plane or surface in the interior of the casting à must
in that case be inclined, so as to cause the upper end of it to approach the
upper ends of the vertical slots, as shewn in Figure 7, which represents a
section of this modification of my Invention as applied to the construction of
apparatus for holding the cord of a window blind. The operation of this
apparatus is substantially the same as that which I have above described. The
friction of the cord to be held or let go upon its ascent causes the roller to
ascend and press the cord against the upper end of the holding plane or surface;
and when the cord is pulled down, so as to allow the roller to descend until its
pivots enter the curved ends of the slots, the cord may be allowed to pass
upwards, and the blind descend, as above described. Figure 8 represents a
double apparatus, which is applicable to Venetian blinds of the ordinary con-
struction, or to other blinds in which two cords are required. Each roller c
shewn in this apparatus is capable of acting independently of the other;
consequently, if there are inequalities in the thickness of the cords, each roller
can adapt itself to the cord independently of the other. In cases where the
revolution of the roller is unnecessary, a moveable block or bar may be used,
having its ends moving in and guided by slots; the operation of the apparatus
being substantially the same as above described, with the exception of the
revolution of the moveable roller. Although in the said Drawings I have only
shewn the application of my Invention to the construction of apparatus for
holding and letting go the cords of window blinds, it is evident, that by
increasing or varying the dimensions of the parts, apparatus of the same kind
may be used for holding and releasing the cords, bands, or chains of machinery,
the teagles of warehouses, and for other purposes.
Having thus particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the

page_text: manner of performing the same, I declare that what I do claim is, the com-
bination of a moveable roller or block moving with its ends in and regulated
by slotted guides, and a fixed holding plane or surface, the slots and holding
surface being placed at angles of inclination with reference to each other, in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Lewtas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
0 Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
JOSEPH LEWTAS. (L.S.)