Improvements in Curtain Rods or Supports for Supporting Curtains or Screens at the Back and Sides of Articles of Furniture, and for other like purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Oct., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 20th June, 1896-Accepted, 25th July, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Curtain Rods or Supports for Supporting Curtains
or Screens at the Back and Sides of Articles of Furniture, and
for other like purposes.
We, BENJAMIN ASHBY and CHARLES ASHBY, of No. 19 Bartholomew Street,
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers and Co-partners do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the con-
struction of curtain rods or supports for supporting curtains or screens at the
backs and sides of chairs and other like articles of furniture and for other like
purposes whereby the height of the said screens may be varied and the sides of
the screens turned to any desired angle with the back or the sides of the said screen
may be turned back in line with the back of the screen or folded upon the part
constituting the back when the said sides are not required for use. When the
screen is not required the curtain can be removed and the curtain rod or support
be folded into a small compass for storage or transit.
In constructing curtain rods or supports according to one arrangement of our
invention we form a tubular socket with an attaching or fixing plate in one pieco
therewith the said attaching plate being inclined to the axis of the tubular socket
at such an angle that when the attaching plate is fixed by screws to the back of a
chair or other article the axis of the tubular socket is vertical or nearly vertical.
In the said tubular socket is an upright rod or tube the said upright rod or tube
being fixed in the said socket when its height has been adjusted by a set screw or
pin passing through a screwed hole preferably in the back of the tubular socket.
On the top of the said upright rod or tube we fix by means of a screw pin a
horizontal crossing tube the arnis of which are provided with one, two or more
joints which permit the ends of the arms to he turned in a horizontal plane to any
desired angle with the back or fixed part of the crossing tube or to be folded upon
the back or fixed part of the tube. The said crossing tube and its jointed arms
carry the curtain rings by which the curtain or screen is suspended.
When the curtain rod or tube is not required for use the crossing tube with its
jointed arms is first removed from the upright rod or tube and the upright rod or
tube is removed from the chair by detaching its fixing plate from the back of the
chair.
Instead of having a jointed curtain rod or tube on the top of the upright rod or
tube an unjointed rod or tube bent preferably into the figure of three sides of a
rectangle may be employed. In this case we support the curtain rod or tube at
the middle of that side which is opposite the open side of the rectangle by means
of a tubular socket on the top of the upright rod or tube herein before described a
fixing screw pin passing through the socket and gripping the curtain rod or tube
and preserving the side arms in a horizontal plane. When the side curtains are
not required they are drawn back onto the part of the curtain rod or tube
constituting the back part and the fixing screw pin of the tubular socket being
relaxed the side arms may be turned down so as to be parallel with the upright rod
or tube.

page_text: Instead of fixing the adjustable upright rod or tube in a tubular socket fixed by
screws to the back of the chair or the like the said upright rod or tube may be
fixed in a tubular standard or pedestal provided with a base or feet.
Dated this Fourteenth day of October 1895.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in Curtain Rods or Supports for Supporting Curtains
or Screens at the Back and Sides of Articles of Furniture, and
for other like purposes.
We BENJAMIN ASHBY and CHARLES ASHBY, of No. 19 Bartholomew Street,
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers and Co-partners, do
hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to
he performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following|
statement :-
Our invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described in the con-
struction of curtain rods or supports for supporting curtains or screens at the backs
and sides of chairs and other like articles of furniture and for other like purposes,
whereby the height of the said screens may be varied and the sides of the screens
turned to any desired angle with the back; or the sides of the said screen may be
turned back in line with the back of the screen or folded upon the part constituting
the back when the said sides are not required for use. When the screen is not
required the curtain can be removed and the curtain rod ur support be folded into
a small compass for storage or transit.
In constructing curtain rods or supports according to one arrangement of our
invention we form a tubular socket with an attaching or fixing plate in one piece
therewith the said attaching plate being preferably inclined to the axis of the
tubular socket at such an angle that when the attaching plate is fixed by screws
to the back of a chair or other article the axis of the tubular socket is vertical or
nearly vertical. In the said tubular socket is an upright rod or tube the snid
upright rod or tube being fixed in the said socket when its height has been adjusted
by a set screw or pin passing through a screwed hole preferably in the back of
the tubular rocket. On the top of the said upright rod or tube we fix by means
of a screw pin a horizontal crossing tube the arms of which are provided with one,
two or more joints which permit the ends of the arms to be turned in a horizontal
plane to any desired angle with the back or fixed part of the crossing tube, or to
be folded upon the back or fixed part of the tube. The said crossing tube
and its jointed arms carry the curtain rings by which the curtain or screen is
suspended.
When the curtain rod or tube is not required for use the crossing tube with its
jointed arms is first removed from the upright rod or tube and the upright rod or
tube is removed from the chair by either detnching its fixing plate from the back
of the chair or withdrawing the rod or tube from its fixing plate without detaching
the latter from the chair.
Instead of having a jointed curtain rod or tube on the top of the upright rod or
tube an unjointed rad or tube hent preferably into the figure of three sides of a
rectangle may be employed. In this case we support the curtain rod or tube at the
middle of that side which is opposite the open side of the rectangle by means of a
tubular socket on the top of the upright rod or tube hereinbefore described, a fixing
screw pin passing through the socket nud gripping the curtain rod or tube and
preserving the side arms in a horizontal plane. When the side curtains are not

page_text: required they are drawn back onto the part of the curtain rod or tube constituting
the back part and the fixing screw pin of the tubular socket being relaxed the side
arms may be turned down so as to lie parallel with the upright rod or tube.
Instead of fixing the adjustable upright rod or tube in a tubular socket fixed
by screws to the back of the chair or the like the said upright rod or tube may be
fixed in a tubular standard or pedestal provided with a base or feet.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents one of the arrangements of
our invention for supporting a curtain or screen at the back of a chair, the said
arrangement being shown in connection with an upholstered chair; Figure 2
represents the curtain rod or support detached from the chair and partly folded,
the curtain being removed and Figure 3 represents the parts of the said curtain
rod separated and with the jointed parts completely folded up ready for packing
for storage or transit.
Figures 4 and 5 represent the method of fixing the curtain rod proper in the
tubular socket at the top of the vertical or inclined upright of the curtain support
and Figures 6 and 7 represent modified methods hereinafter described for fixing.
the curtain rod proper in the tubular socket of the upright; Figure 8 represents
the said curtain rod or support when used in connection with a tubular pedestal
provided with a base or tripod (or other) foot Figures 9, 10 and 11 represent
other modifications of our invention hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawing
We will first describe the arrangement Figures 1, 2, 3 and 8 and the details of
the same represented in Figures 4 and 5.
in
The curtain rod or support constituting our invention consists essentially of a
tubular socket a having in one piece therewith a preferably inclined fixing plate a²
by means of which the tubular socket a is fixed to the back of the chair or other
article of furniture with which the curtain is to be used. In the said tubular
socket a the adjustable upright rod or tube b is fixed by the screw c which passes
through a screwed hole in the back of the tubular socket a and bears against the
rod b. The adjustable rod terminates at top in a horizontal tubular socket
which the middle part of the jointed curtain rod d², d', d, d³, d³ is fixed by the set
screws e, as will be best understood by reference to Figures 4 and 5. The
curtain rod ,d', d, d', d² carries the curtain rings as will be seen by reference to
Figure 1. When it is desired to screen the chair from side draughts as well as
from a back draught one or both of the side arms d², d' of the curtain rod are
turned at any desired angle with the middle or back part d of the said curtain rod
as is represented in Figure 1; but where it is desired to shield the occupant of the
chair from a back draught only the curtain or screen is fully extended, that is, the
jointed side arms d², are arranged in line with the middle part d of the curtain
rod as represented in Figure 8.
When the inclination of the back of the chair is such that the axis of the
tubular socket a of the fixing plate a² attached to the back of the chair is not
vertical it is necessary to partially rotate the middle part d of the curtain rod in
its socket so that the side arms d, when turned shall be horizontal or
approximately horizontal. The partial rotation of the curtain rod in the tubular
socket 2 is effected by slightly relaxing the set screw e the point end of which
engages in an eccentric groove in a boss on the middle part d of the curtain rod
(see Figures 4 and 5) when the weight of the side arms causes the curtain rod to
turn in the tubular socket b². When the jointed side arms d', d, d', d' of the
curtain rod are horizontal or approximately horizontal the curtain rod is again
fixed by the screwing up of the set screw e³.
We wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to any method of
fixing the curtain rod in the tubular socket as various devices may be employed
for that purpose; for example the boss on the middle part of the curtain rod may
be elliptical in cross section as represented in Figure 6, a vertical screw e only,
being employed for fixing the rod. Or the boss on the part d may be square in

page_text: cross section the vertical screw e bearing on one of the flat faces as represented in
Figure 7.
In place of the detachable socket a, a fixed to the back of the chair, the rod b
may be used in connection with a tubular standard or pedestal provided with a
tripod or other base or foot as represented in Figure 8, the adjustable rod b being
fixed in the pedestal by a set screw.
Instead of employing a jointed curtain rod we may use a bent rod d', d, of the
kind represented in Figures 9, 10 and 11 the said bent rod being turned through a
right angle so as to effect the turning down of the side arms, when the side
screens are not required, the curtain in this case being drawn onto the middle or
back part
of the curtain rod as is represented in Figure 11. In Figure 9 the
last described arrangement is shown in connection with a chair and in Figures 10
and 11 in connection with a tubular standard with a base or foot.
We wish it to be understood that the curtains used with the rods Figures 9, 10
and 11 are continuous as represented in Figures 1 and 8 and are only shown
divided in Figures 10 and 11 for the purpose of better exhibiting the upright rod b
and pedestal.
Although we have only described and represented our invention in connection
with curtains or screens for chairs yet we wish it to be understood that it may be
applied to supporting curtains or screens for other articles of furniture, such for
example as, settees, couches and the like and to supporting curtains or screens for
other like purposes, such for example na bed screens.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as our invention :-
The improvements in curtain rods or supports for supporting curtains at the
back and sides or back only of chairs or other articles of furniture and for other
like purposes herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing
the said improvements consisting essentially in the combination with a jointed or
unjointed curtain rod of an adjustable upright rod or tube which is fixed to the
back of a chair or other article of furniture by means of a screw socket clip on
the back of the chair or the like, or is supported behind the chair or the like by
means of a pedestal or stand substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated the Eighteenth day of June 1896.
BENJAMIN ASHBY.
CHARLES ASHBY.