IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE DOOR SCREENS
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Henry Chadburn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
September 1866.
I, CHARLES HENRY CHADBURN, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Optician and Manufacturer of Scientific Instruments, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOVEABLE DOOR SCREENS,"
to be as follows (that is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object certain arrangements, whereby certain
screens fitted to doors according to this Invention are drawn or partially
drawn on the opening of the door to which they are fitted for the purpose of
privacy, or to counteract or partially counteract draughts when the door is
open; and several modifications of the apparatus may be so arranged that the
curtain is spread out when the door is closed and is folded to the back of the
door when open.
To apply this Invention to a bed room or other door two horizontal rods
jointed together are used to suspend a curtain or curtains upon, one of which
horizontal rods is jointed to the post or lintel of the door, and the other to the
door on the back upper corner near the outer edge; these rods are attached
to the lintel or post and door by means of thumbscrews passing through a
plate forming foundations of the inner ends of the joints on the inner ends
of the rods, or by being fitted into sockets attached to the door and post
thereof respectively, or they may be attached by a gudgeon and socket which
forms a huge joint or in any other convenient manner. The curtain is

page_text: suspended from these pair of horizontal rods by rings or buttons in such a manner
that the curtain may cover the entire opening, or be drawn together on either
rod by means of a cord, so that when the door is open the space below the
other bar will be available for egress and ingress, or the curtain itself may be
only fitted to one of the rods, so that when the door is open the screen formed
thereby will only be at the front or side. The action of this modification is
when the door is opened the rod attached to the lintel or post of the door is
carried round in a position parallel to the door, and the rod attached to the door
is carried round in a position parallel to the wall. Where it is not desirable to
attach a curtain rod to the door, this may be obviated by using three rods
jointed together in the same way as herein-before described, but in place of
fastening the same to the door it is fastened to the lintel or post, to which the
back of the door is hung, and a guide is used to connect the upper corner of
the back of the door with the horizontal swivelling rod which is attached to
the lintel or post on which the door swings. In place of these horizontal
jointed rods a stationary rod may be used which springs from the post or lintel
of the door and passes in an horizontal direction forming a radius with the
door, or of any other form which is beyond the radius, say, at a right angle
from the wall a given distance, and then bent round in a curve, and thence
in a direction, say, parallel with the wall; this curved or bent rod may be
made sufficiently strong to carry the weight of the curtain or may be sup-
ported by an horizontal branch rod springing from the lintel at the back of
the door, or in any other convenient manner. In this arrangement the curtain
is suspended from the curved or bent rod by means of rings or other travellers,
and the curtain is opened and closed by the action of the door by an arm
attached to the upper corner of the door. The curtain in this modification,
as in all of them, may be made to cover the whole opening of the door, or
only in part, or it may be made in two parts overlapping each other for con-
venience of exit and entry therethrough. In place of the rigid arm for
supporting the outer end of the curtain rod the arm attached to the back of
the door may be used as a support for the curtain rod. In some cases in place
of using the jointed rods, or the curved or bent rod, it may be of advantage to
suspend the curtain on a cord, one end of which is attached at the back of
the door to a short arm on the upper corner and near the outer edge thereof,
and the outer end of the cord is passed over a pulley and attached to a weight,
or in place of the weight and pulley a spring barrel may be used to take up and
let off the cord, similar to that of a spring tape. In using this modification
the cord is drawn out by the action of the door, and with it the curtain which
is suspended upon it, and on the door closing the cord is taken up and the

page_text: curtain folded by the action of the spring barrel or falling weight. Where it is
desired to remove the curtain beyond a right line an horizontal radial arm
jointed in any convenient position above the door and attached at its outer
end to the top of the curtain or to the cord by an eye, or other suitable
attachment may be used, or two or more radial arms may be used in the
same way to give the required contour to the cord on which the curtain rings
or other travellers work. In other cases the cord may be dispensed with
altogether by using a series of the radial arms for suspending and carrying
the upper edge of the curtain which is opened and closed in the same manner
as the curtain suspended on the horizontal curved or bent fixed arms. In
this modification the horizontal radial arms are jointed on to a vertical rod,
which vertical rod fits through a loop and rests upon a loop or other ready-
made socket attached to the post behind the door; the radial bars may be of
sufficient strength to carry the curtain, or may be light and be supported from
the outer ends by means of cords or chains to the top of the vertical rod, in
which case the vertical rod is made of sufficient length to allow of this ;
these sustaining cords may be covered to form a tent-like appearance and
enclose the above (opening). The curtains can be detached from the door
and left folded against the post, or left spread out upon the rods when the door
is open or closed. A series of horizontal radial arms or flat blades resembling
those of a fan formed of rigid material working on a common axis vertical
with the axis of the hinges of the door may be used to carry the curtain; in
the latter case forming a fan, covering the opening between the door and the
ceiling of the room; or this fan arrangement may have the blades or radial
arms shaped so that the canopy or upper covering above the door may
resemble a portion of a sphere, shell, or other form; and the several fan blades
may be with advantage formed with one of the longitudinal edges turned a
little upwards, and the reverse edge in the opposite direction, to give rigidity
thereto. The fan blades may be corrugated in the direction of their length,
or in any other manner, to increase the rigidity of the blades.
In the last two modifications the whole apparatus can be easily removed by
lifting the vertical rod out of its bearings, the former by unscrewing the
thumbscrews or withdrawing therefrom their other fastenings. In place of
attaching the actuating arm to the surface of the door it may be fitted into a
socket formed in the top of the door in such a manner that the top of the
inner end of the arm will be flush with the top thereof. A metal plate
resembling that used to receive the bolt of a lock, but which is sufficiently
depressed on the side of the opening to allow the arm to sink flush with the
top of the door. When a curtain is used at the back of the door to form a

page_text: screen from draughts when the door is closed the same may be elevated from
the bottom thereof by means of a cord attached thereto, and passed over a
pulley at the back of the door near the top and attached to the lintel, by which
arrangement, as the door opens, the cord is drawn up, and with it the curtain,
and when the door is closed the curtain again falls.