Improvements in and connected with Adjustable Sliding Sashes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 2nd June, 1892-Accepted, 9th July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Adjustable Sliding Sashes.
We, JOSEPH INGRAM, of Rose Villa, Lechmere Road, Willesden Green, in
the County of Middlesex, Clerk, and JOHN PHILLIPS, HENRY PHILLIPS,
BENJAMIN PHILLIPS, and SAMUEL PHILLIPS, trading as John Phillips & Sons,
of Bell Yard 58, City Road, in the Administrative County of London, Railway
Stores Contractors and Sponge Importers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to improvements in and connected with adjustable
sliding sashes, and is particularly applicable to the sashes of the doors of railway
carriages.
One of the distinguishing features of it is the absence of all springs, and the
reason why such automatic and apparently suitable devices are discarded, is their
rapid destruction by the corrosive vapours met with in railway tunnels, and
consequent cost of inspection and replacement.
The object of the invention is to provide for the sash being held at definite
heights without the use of straps or springs and to dispense with the familiar
fence rail and tapered grooves in the side rails of the door or other frame of
the sash.
In carrying the present invention into effect, the garnish bar or equivalent part,
is fitted on its inner face with a pair of fingers. The latter are preferably placed
one at each end of the bar, and both are fast to the extremities of a rod for which
suitable bearings are provided. Both rod and fingers are flush with the inner
face of the bar, or recessed therein when the fingers are in their inoperative
position. There projects through the said bar a thumb piece. This is fast to the
rod, and inasmuch as it is much heavier than the pair of fingers, it will always
tend to hold them in their inoperative position. In each side rail of the sash I
form a series of recesses. Those of one series are preferably exactly opposite
those in the other. Each series stands opposite its respective finger. I prefer, on
the score of durability that these recesses be formed in metal plates made fast to
the respective side rails.
My invention is used as follows:-
The sash is pulled up by means of a suitable sash lift or other device. The
thumb piece is pressed upwards thereby projecting the fingers, and the sash is
dropped. As a pair of recesses come opposite the fingers, the latter will be
compelled by the upward pressure on the thumb piece to engage therein. The
excess weight of the sash over that of the thumb piece maintains the engagement.
The thumb piece may be recessed or guarded by an extension to safeguard it
against being unintentionally raised.
The above mentioned series of recesses may be racks, and they may be on
either face of the side rails, the position and shape of the fingers being modified
accordingly. These latter may be adapted to engage with the recesses or racks by
either a depression or an elevation of the thumb piece.
According to a modification of the invention, the rod and fingers are fitted in
and to the top rail of the sash, and the racks or recesses are fitted to the side rails
of the door or other frame. This is done preferably by forming them in one
flange of an angle bar which is made fast to the rail by the other. The fingers
may be arranged to engage in the rack or the recesses either by the weight of the
thumb piece or by its depression or by its elevation. The racks or recesses of this

page_text: modification may also be placed on either face of the sash and the position or shape
of the fingers be modified accordingly.
Dated this 25th day of March 1892.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Adjustable Sliding Sashes.
We, JOSEPH INGRAM, of Rose Villa, Lechmere Road, Willesden Green, in the
County of Middlesex, Clerk, and JOHN PHILLIPS, HENRY PHILLIPS, BENJAMIN
PHILLIPS and SAMUEL PHILLIPS, trading as John Phillips & Sons, of Bell
Yard, 58 City Road, in the Administrative County of London, Railway Stores
Contractors and Sponge Importers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
lescribed and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The present invention relates to improvements in and connected with adjustable
sliding sashes, and it is particularly applicable to the sashes of the doors of railway
carriages.
The objects of it are to provide for the sash being set or held at definite heights
without the use of straps and studs and especially of springs, and to dispense with
the familiar fence rail and sash seat as well as the tapered grooves in the side rails
of the door or other frame of the sash.
The absence of all springs is one of the distinguishing features of the invention,
and the reason why such automatic and apparently suitable devices are discarded
are, firstly, their inability to withstand the corrosive and destructive power of the
vapours present in railway tunnels, and secondly, the cost of inspection and
replacement.
In order that the invention, and the means by which it is to be carried into
practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, we will now describe the same in
detail, and from the inside of the carriage, referring in so doing to the
accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of this Specification and
read therewith.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of one modification of the invention, showing the sash
held at about three-quarters height.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section corresponding therewith.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inside face of a sash.
Fig. 4 is an elevation of the rod and fingers.
Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a second modification of the invention, shewing the
sash held at about three-quarters height.
Fig. 6 is a vertical section corresponding therewith.
Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the notched plate.
Fig. 8 is an elevation of the outside face of a sash.
Fig. 9 is an elevation of the rod and fingers.
Figs. 10 and 11 are detail sectional elevations of modifications of the mechanism
illustrated in Fig. 6.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 4, a is the garnish bar. b is a central opening cut
through it. It is wide enough for the finger piece next described to pass through,
and its top and bottom faces are tapered outwards in the direction of the carriage
for the purpose of making room for the hereinafter described up-and-down motion
of the said piece. c is a round rod. It lies in a longitudinal recess in the opposite
or pocket side of the garnish bar, with which recess the opening b communicates.
The ends of the bar are passed respectively through eyes d which are recessed in
and made fast to the same side of the garnish bar. The type and position of these
eyes may be varied' if desirable.

page_text: e,e are two fingers alike in size, shape and weight, and fast to the bar c. ff.are
recesses of a proper size to receive the said fingers flush with the respective face of
the garnish bar, under the counterpoising influence of the finger piece. Both
fingers project from the bar in the same plane, and are sufficiently far apart for
them to both stand behind, and be concealed by, the side rails g, g of the door.
A is the finger-piece already referred to. It is fast to the centre of the bar, and
projects from it through the opening for a practicable distance. In respect both
of contour of its under face and its width, it is adapted to receive the lifting
power, of the bent forefinger. In weight it more than counterpoises the two
fingers e.
i, i are recesses formed at equal distances upon both side rails of the sash.
They are arranged in two series, those of one series respectively opposite those of
the other. For the sake of durability these recesses are cut in metal bars j, j
which are let into the rails flush with the faces of the latter, with the series of
recesses opposite the respective fingers e. The latter, being intended to engage
in the recesses, have their tips bevelled accordingly.
k is an ordinary sash lift fixed upon the top rail of the sash. Its function is to
provide for the sash being raised out of the pocket in the door.
The invention when constructed as above described is used as follows.
The sash is raised out of the pocket by means of the sash lift k a little higher
than the level at which it is to be held. The finger piece is then pressed up
and the lift let go. The pressing upwards of the finger piece pressed the fingers f
against the plates j, so that as the sash drops, the fingers enter the next
pair of recesses and hold the sash. Further raising is effected in exactly the
same way.
The sash is let quite down by lifting it just far enough to free the fingers which
are then withdrawn from the respective recesses by the finger piece acting as a
counterpoise. It is then steadied down by the lift."
It will be noticed that the fingers e, the bar c and the finger piece together
constitute a bell crank lever having its fulcrum in the axis of the rod c, and the
arm of it represented by the fingers e much lighter than the one represented by the
finger piece h.
Referring to Figs. 5 to 9, the distinguishing feature, in respect of the way the
modification illustrated in these figures is worked, consists, as compared with the
one described in connection with Figs. 1 to 4, in the use of the forefinger and
thumb, and those only of one hand, for raising or lowering the sash and setting it at
any desired level.
1,1 are recesses formed within the sash-groove of the side rails of the door and
opposite the outer face of the sash rails. Part of the right hand rail is broken
away in Fig. 5 to shew this clearly. They are, for the sake of durability, produced
by fixing a notched plate m within each groove. The notches are set out exactly
as described with reference to the plates of the preceding modification.
is a rod having its bearing in a longitudinal bore formed in the top rail of the
sash. o,o are two fingers of the same shape and size. They are fast to the rod n
from which they project opposite their respective series of recesses l, but downwards.
p is the thumb piece. This is also fast to the rod from which it projects into the
carriage. A suitable opening is made through the rail into the bore, half way
along the latter, to allow of the motion of the thumb piece. The latter is heavier
than both the fingers o.
Its under face is convex, or at any rate bevelled from
the front. The sash lift is fixed at only a short distance underneath the
thumb piece.
9 is a stud or lift fixed to the outside of the top rail of the sash. The object of
it is to provide for the sash being put full up from the outside, eg., by the porters
after all the passengers have left the train at the terminus, thereby obviating the
necessity of opening the carriage door. This stud can be used in combination with
any of the modifications herein described.
To set the sash at any particular level, it being then in the pocket, it is raised a

page_text: acting as a counterpoise engages both fingers in the two recesses which were next
below them when the sash was let go. Further raising is effected in exactly the
same way. The sash is let down by pushing the thumb between the lift k and the
thumb piece p, thereby raising the latter as indicated by the arrow, and
disengaging the fingers from their respective recesses; and steadying the sash
down by keeping the finger under the lift. Its descent can be arrested, and itself
held at any level of the descent, by withdrawing the thumb.
It will be noticed that the fingers o, the rod n, and the thumb-piece or
counterpoise p together constitute a bell crank lever having its fulcrum in the
axis of the rod n, and the arm of it represented by the fingers o much lighter than
the one represented by the thumb piece p.
It is obvious that with a bell crank lever actuated from the inside of the carriage
by the insertion of the thumb between it and a sash lift immediately underneath it
with which the forefinger is engaged, the direction of the lighter arm of the lever
with reference to that of the heavier arm, and the angle which it makes with the
fulcrum, as well as the position of the recesses, may be considerably modified
without going outside the invention, as the same has been described with reference
to Figs. 5 to 9.
:
The series of recesses may, both of thein, be formed upon the opposite sides of
the sash grooves, and with reference to the lighter arın o it may be reversed, that
is bent upwards in the direction of the recesses to the same extent as the one
illustrated in Fig. 6 is bent downwards. These details are illustrated in Fig. 10.
The thumb piece is worked exactly as described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6.
Or, the said arm may be bent downwards and towards the recesses on the said
opposite side of the groove, in which case the depression of the thumb piece p,
instead of its elevation, would effect disengagement. This depression would be
automatically effected by the greater weight of the counterpoise p as soon as the
sash was raised by the sash lift. The elevation of the thumb piece as indicated
by the arrow would lead to the engagement of the fingers in the recesses.
The
details are illustrated in Fig. 11.
In any case the terminal position of the thumb piece is equivalent to either
engagement or disengagement of the sash.
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. The combination of bell crank lever having its fulcrum in a rod which has
its bearings in the garnish bar through which the heavier arm of the lever
projects into the carriage, and two series of recesses on the sash respectively
opposite to the fingers together constituting the lighter arm of the said lever, as
set forth.
2. The combination of bell crank lever having its fulcrum in a rod which has
its bearings in the garnish bar through which the heavier arm of the lever
projects into the carriage, an internal sash lift on the top of the sash and two series
of recesses on the sash respectively opposite to the fingers together constituting the
lighter arm of the said lever, as set forth.
3. The combination of bell crank lever having its fulcrum in a rod which has
its bearings within the top rail of the sash through which the heavier arm of the
lever projects into the carriage and two series of recesses within the sash-grooves
in the side rails of the door respectively opposite to the fingers together constituting
the lighter arm of the said lever, as set forth.
5. The combination of an internal sash holding and releasing device consisting
of series of recesses and a bell crank lever the heavier end of which tends to keep
the lighter end always disengaged from the said recesses, with an external stud o
lift, as and for the purpose set forth.
6. The combination of an internal sash holding and releasing device consisting

page_text: of series of recesses and a bell crank lever the heavier end of which tends to keep
the lighter end always engaged in the said recesses with an external stud or lift,
as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 31st day of May 1892.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.