IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXING OF WINDOW SASHES."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Ramsden, of Hunslet, near Leeds, in the
County of York, Engine Smith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXING OF WINDOW SASHES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by tho said Samuel Ramsden at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
July 1857.
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I, SAMUEL RAMSDEN, of Hunslet, near Leeds, in the County of York,
Engine Smith, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXING OF WINDOW SASHES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to a micans of facilitating the removal and replacement
of the sashes of windows.
The sashes slide up and down by means of cords in the usual manner, the
cords by means of a tube fastened to the ends lock into a self-acting lock fixed
on each side the sash, and in some cases blocks are also used attached to tho
centre of the sashes, and made so as to be removable at will. The mouldings
of the window frame are made loose to a certain height, and one moulding
which has a V joint at one part of it fastens with a screw; the other moulding
made also with a V joint is fastened by a lock; just below each of the pulleys
on which the cords supporting the sash are carried is fixed a clam, by means
of which the cords are retained in the position most convenient for re-affixing
the sash during the time the sash is removed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Ramsden in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
RAMSDEN, of Hunslet, near Leeds, in the County of York, Engine Smith, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said Samuel Ramsden, Her special license that I, the said Samuel
Ramsden, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Samuel Ramsden, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND FIXING OF WINDOW SASHES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Ramsden, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Samuel Ramsden, 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
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed; and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of "Improvements in the Construction and Fixing of Window
Sashes" has for its object the more convenient removal of window sashes from
their frames when required. The sashes slide up and down the frames in the
usual manner and are provided with the ordinary cords and weights, but
instead of the cords being aflixed permanently to the sash as is usually the
case, they are attached thereto by a contrivance which I denominate a self-
acting lock. The lower part of the mouldings within which the sashes slide
are made loose so as to be removable, and one of them is fastened in its
position by screws, and the other by means of a flush bolt or other convenient

page_text: and analogous contrivance. In order to prevent the window cords from
slipping away when the sashes are taken out, a clasp can be fixed in the
window frame, and made to press or bear upon the cords and thereby retain
them in position until they are again attached to the sashes.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, Fig. 1 represents an elevation of
a window frame with the sashes mounted therein. Fig. 2 is a vertical section
of the same. Fig. 3 is a side or edge view of one of the sashes; and Fig. 3*
is a sectional front view of a sash. These four Figures are drawn to a scale
of one inch and a half to the foot: Fig. 4 is a side or edge view drawn full
size of part of a window sash, shewing the manner of attaching and securing
the suspending cords. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section, and Fig. 6 is a
horizontal section of the same drawn to the same scale. When the sash is
required to be removed the lower part of the inner moulding or bead b, b, may
be removed by withdrawing the screws a, a, (Figures 1 and 2). These bead-
ings are further secured in their position by being dovetailed into the upper
beading, where they meet as shewn at a (Figures 1 and 2), when the
beading 6 has been removed the sash can be drawn out, but will still be
suspended by the cords, the ends of which are secured in the self-acting locks
which are let into both sides of the sashes.
These self-acting locks are shewn at A in the Figures, and they are let into
the sashes by cutting a recess, as shewn best in Fig. 5, and forming a groove
sufficiently large to admit of a hollow weight c sliding within. The lower part:
of the lock plate A is open to allow of the entrance of the weight c, and the
upper part covered or provided with flanges to keep the weight in its placo
and prevent it from escaping. To this weight is attached the cord which
hangs or supports the sash in the usual way. When, therefore, the sash is
required to be removed, the beading 6 is first taken out and the weight c is
drawn out of the lock through the opening below with the cord, which is
simply attached to it by a common knot. This releases the sash from the
cords and admits of their being removed from the window frame.
The same process is gone through with the other sash, the only difference
being that the other beading is let into the window frame and an ordinary
flush bolt or other analogous or suitable contrivance is combined with the
dovetailed end, and fixes it in position. In order to prevent the cords from
slipping away when they are unloosed from the sashes, as would be the case if
the larger weight in the box of the window frame were not prevented from
dragging them up; any kind of ordinary clasp may be adapted to prevent them
from doing so, and in the Drawings I have shewn two modes of such
adaptation.

page_text: In Figures 7 and 8, d is a plate let into the hanging stile, and has a hole
tapped in it to receive the end of the screw e of a clasp C, provided with sharp
cones, pins, or points f, f, which are made to enter and hold each cord as
shewn in the detached plan view Fig. 8, and by means of the thumb-
screw e, e, entering the plate d, the cords are pressed tightly against the
hanging stile and kept in their position as shewn in the Drawing. When the
sashes are to be replaced in the window frame the cords and hollow weights c
are first let into their places in the locking plates A, and then the clasp C may
be removed by unscrewing the thumbscrews e.
The other mode is shewn in Fig. 9, and consists of a very common form of
clasp combined with a thumbscrew. The cord is entered between the two
arms or nippers g, g, and pressed tight between them by means of the thumb-
This clasp is made of such a length that each end of it may rest
upon the two upper beadings and across the hanging stile.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
and Fixing of Window Sashes," and having explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, the mode herein shewn and described of constructing,
fixing, or hanging window sashes, so that they may be removed from their
frames with facility when required.
I also claim the mode of securing or holding the cords when the sashes aro
removed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Ramsden, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, tho Ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed and sealed by the said Samuel
Ramsden in my presence,
J. B. WILKINSON,
11, Albion Street,
Leeds.
SAMUEL RAMSDEN. (L.s.)