for Window-blinds.
Year: 1884

page_text: for Window-blinds.
I GORDON DONALDSON PETERS, of Moorgate Works, Moorfields, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE ACTION OF SPRING-ROLLERS
FOR WINDOW-BLINDS" to be as follows:-
"
My invention relates to window blind rollers which are provided with a spiral
spring arranged to be coiled up or compressed by the act of drawing down the
blind, thereby storing sufficient energy to react upon the roller and automatically
roll or draw up the blind when released from a preponderating weight as herein-
after described.
The object of my invention is to provide improved mechanism which will
facilitate the action of the roller, and therefore of the blind, in respect of its
adjustment to, and retention in, its extreme positions, or in any desired intermediate
position.
In carrying my said invention into practice I provide a spindle which is pre-
ferably tubular. Surrounding this spindle is a spiral spring one end of which is
secured to the spindle, the other end being secured to a collar fitted to rotate upon
one end of the spindle; this collar supports and closes one end of the tubular part
or body of the roller which encloses the spring and spindle.
The said collar is retained in its position on the spindle by means of a flanged
pin which forms one of the bearings of the roller.
At the other end of the spindle is a collar provided with a long boss, which is
bored to fit and rotate upon the spindle.
This second collar has formed in its outer side a circular recess or cavity, the
periphery of which is provided with ratchet teeth, for a purpose hereinafter
specified. This collar is retained in its position by means of a pin having upon it
a flange as hereinbefore described and forming a bearing of the spindle.
Upon the inner end of the long boss rotates another collar which is attached to,
and supports, one end of the roller.
On the boss between the two collars are placed friction pieces of vulcanized fibre
or other suitable material. These pieces should cover nearly the entire surface of
the said boss but their edges must be so far apart that as they wear they will not
impinge upon each other and thereby cease to bear upon the spindle,

page_text: Surrounding these friction pieces is a spiral spring arranged to exert a constant
pressure upon the said pieces to keep them in proper frictional contact with the
boss. One end of this spring is fastened to the loose collar on the long boss, so
that the friction pieces are compelled to move with the said collar and body of the
roller. Any other suitable means may be employed for pressing the said ring upon
the boss.
Through the flange which holds the ratchet collar on the spindle there is a
diametrical hole in which is inserted a pin adapted to slide freely through the
same.
When the roller is properly mounted, the rotation of the spindle is prevented,
and the sliding pin is in a vertical position whereby it will always tend to drop so
that its lower end projects into engagement. with the ratchet teeth and prevents
the rotation of the ratchet collar while the blind is being drawn down. And as the
aforesaid long boss is inseperably connected with the ratchet collar it is necessary
to overcome the friction between the said boss and the friction device connected
with the loose collar, fitted on the said boss, as this friction is sufficient to hold the
blind.
It is necessary that this friction device should prevent the running down of the
blind under the nction of the weight attached to the bottom thereof, but should
have no power to prevent the rising of the blind when the weight is raised by
hand. It would obviously have power to do so if there were no other provision
for releasing the roller from the fixed support. But this provision exists by virtue
of the disconnection between the ratchet collar and fixed support which only act to
prevent the rotation of the roller in one direction as aforesaid.
1
100
T
1007

page_text: Improved Apparatus for Facilitating the Action of Spring-rollers
for Window-blinds.
I, GORDON DONALDSON PETERS, of Moorgate Works, Moorfields, in the County
of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE ACTION OF SPRING-ROLLERS FOR
WINDOW-BLINDS" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to window-blind-rollers of that class wherein a spiral
spring is arranged to be coiled up or compressed by the act of drawing down the
blind, so that sufficient energy will be stored in the said spring to react upon the
roller and automatically roll or draw up the blind, when released from a prepon-
derating weight as herein-after described.
The object of my invention is to provide improved mechanism which will
facilitate the action of the roller, and therefore of the blind, in respect of its
adjustment to, and retention in, its extreme positions or any desired intermediate
position.
In the accompanying drawings, I have shewn how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a window-blind-roller with my
present improvements applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a central longitudinal section shewing various details of construction.
Figure 3 is an elevation of the right hand end of the roller, the metal cap thereof
being removed.
Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a front elevation, partly in section, illustrating a modification of the
said invention.
Figure 5 is an elevation of the left hand end of the roller, the metal cap thereof
being removed.
and
Figure 6 is a longitudinal central section shewing various details of construction,
Figure 7 is a transverse section on the line x, x¹, Figure 4.
a is a spindle or rod which is preferably tubular, except at its ends, which are
supported in the brackets a¹, but are prevented from rotating therein. Surrounding
this spindle is a spiral spring b, one end of which is secured to the said spindle, the
other end being secured to a collar c fitted to rotate upon one end of the spindle;
this collar is fixed in, and supports, one end of the tube or hollow roller d, which
encloses or surrounds the said spring and spindle. The said collar is retained
end wise in its position on the spindle a by means of a flanged pin or stud e, which
forms one end of the said spindle and is held in one of the brackets a'.
g is a sleeve or tubular piece fitted to rotate upon one end of the spindle a,
whereon it is retained by means of a pin or rod h forming one end of the said
spindle and provided with a flange h¹. The sleeve g has, at its outer end, a
fixed collar or flange g¹ formed with internal ratchet-teeth, as shewn in Figure 3.
Another collar i is fitted to rotate upon the inner end of the sleeve ġ and is
attached to, and supports one end of the tubular roller d.
It is necessary that these parts should be relatively so arranged that the collar i,
though held by the sleeve g in such a manner as to offer considerable resistance to

page_text: its movement independently of the said sleeve, is yet capable of such independent
movement. For this purpose I employ a device constructed in the following
manner, viz:-On the sleeve g, between the two collars g¹ and i, I place one or
more friction pieces j of vulcanized fibre or other suitable material, which partially
cover, and bind upon, the surface of the said sleeve. The edges of these friction
pieces must not be in contact, and they must be so far apart that, however much
the said pieces wear or become reduced in thickness, their edges will not meet and
thus prevent the proper bearing or binding of the said pieces upon the surface of
the sleeve g. A spiral spring k is arranged around the pieces j in such a manner
as to constantly exert pressure thereon to keep them in frictional contact with the
sleeve g for the purpose hereinafter explained. One end of the spring k is secured
to the collar i, so that the said spring and the friction pieces jare compelled-to
turn with the collar i and the roller d to which the said collar is attached. Instead
of the devices above described other suitable means may be employed for main-
taining the friction pieces j in contact with, and pressing them against the surface
of the sleeve g.
•
The end h of the spindle a is, as above stated, made with a flange h¹ which
retains the sleeve g on the spindle a, the end h being secured, by a rivet or other-
wise, in the hollow part of the said spindle. This flange h¹ has a hole formed
vertically through it. In this hole' a pin or bolt is fitted to slide freely, so that
the said pin will always tend, by its gravitation, to fall into engagement with that
one of the ratchet-teeth in the collar or flange g¹ which is below it at any time,
and thus prevent the rotation of the sleeve g while the blind is being drawn down.
be blind, the
Now, as the rotation of this sleeve g is prevented in drawing do
collar i must turn independently thereof; therefore the resistance due to the
pressure of the friction pieces ; upon the sleeve g must be overcome, but this
friction is sufficient to ensure the retention of the blind in any desired position and
prevent its running down under the action of the weight alone, that is to say, the
weight which is, as usual, attached to the lower end of the blind. The drawing
down of the blind coils up or compresses the spring b, thereby storing energy,
which, when the said weight is raised by hand, is utilized for automatically rolling
or drawing up the said blind. During this action of the blind, the ratchet-teeth
raise and pass under the pin 7 so that the sleeve g can freely rotate on the spindle a
with the collar i and the friction pieces j, which offer no resistance to the action of
the spring b.
The construction shown in Figures 4 to 7 differs from that. herein before
described in the arrangement of the ratchet-teeth and in the means for producing
the friction necessary to retain the blind in any desired position.
In the form or modification of my invention shewn in these figures, the collar gl
has external, instead of internal, ratchet-teeth, and there are four sliding pins
which are adapted to engage with the said teeth, and are located in a collar or
ring fixed in the interior of the roller d. The said collar or ring ", in order that
it shall retain its proper position relatively to the ratchet-teeth, is fitted to rotate
upon the sleeve g in contact with the flange g¹. The sleeve g is retained in its
proper position upon the spindle by means of the flange h¹ as hereinbefore described.
I provide the requisite friction, for retaining the blind in any position against
the action of the weight, by employing, in lieu of the pieces j of vulcanized fibre
and the spring k, an elastic device which I term a spring-cylinder k¹ formed of
metal or other suitable material. This cylinder is made of slightly less diameter
internally than the external diameter of the sleeve g, and is slit or divided longi-
tudinally. It is then expanded and placed upon the said sleeve so that it will
partially encircle the same and will exert the required pressure thereon. The slit
must be sufficiently wide to prevent the meeting of the edges of the spring
cylinder, however much the latter may wear or become reduced in thickness.
The said spring cylinder is attached to a flanged .collar m secured to the spindle a,
preferably by the same rivet that secures the pin or rod h in the hollow part of the
said spindle.

page_text: The roller & is, in this instance, supported upon the spindle a by broad rings n n ¹
of wood or other suitable material, as shown in Figures 4 and 6, which rings afford
a large bearing surface. The roller is secured to the said wooden rings by means
of screws, as shown in Figure 6, or in any other convenient manner. One end of
the spring 6 is secured to the spindle a; the other end of the said spring is
secured to the ring n. This ring has a boss n which bears against a collar o on
the spindle and retains the said ring in place against the action of the spring.
The operation of the apparatus last described differs slightly from that of the
apparatus shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, and is as follows, that is to say :-In
drawing down the blind, the engagement of one or more of the pins with the
ratchet-teeth of the collar g', causes the sleeve g to rotate with the roller d, but, to
effect this movement of the sleeve, the friction between the said sleeve and the
spring cylinder / must be overcome.
This friction must be sufficient to ensure
the retention of the blind in any desired position and prevent its running down
under the action of the weight alone. When the weight is raised, the pins / slip
over the ratchet-teeth and allow the blind to be rolled up under the action of the
spring, the sleeve g being held and prevented from rotating by the friction piece or
cylinder k¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
First. In a spring roller-blind, the employment of the device consisting of the
collar attached to the roller, and the sleeve capable of rotation in one direction but
prevented from rotating in the other direction, and connected with the said collar
through the medium of friction pieces which permit, but offer resistance to, the
movement of the said collar independently of the sleeve in drawing down the
blind, for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination, with the sleeve g having the flange or collar g¹ formed
with the internal ratchet-teeth, of the flanged end h of the spindle a and the pin or
rod passing through the same and operating by gravity, substantially as, and for
the purpose, set forth.
Third. The combination, with the sleeve g arranged to be rotated upon the
spindle a when the blind is drawn down, of the spring-cylinder ¹ which is
attached to the said spindle and offers resistance to the rotation of the said sleeve,
substantially as described with reference to Figures 4 to 7 of the drawings for the
purpose specified.
Fourth. The combination, with the sleeve g having the flange or collar g¹ formed
with external ratchet-teeth, of the collar and the sliding pins located in holes
therein, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Fifth. In a spring roller-blind, the employment of the rings n, n¹ of wood or
other suitable material fixed within the hollow roller and serving to support the
same upon its spindle, as above set forth.
Sixth. The improved apparatus consisting of the parts constructed and combined
substantially as described with reference to either of the forms or modifications
shewn in the accompanying drawings for facilitating the action of spring rollers
for window-blinds, as above specified.
יו זובו
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.