Im- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND FIXING THE CORDS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic Arthur Harrison, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and Charles Priestland, of
Birmingham, aforesaid, Tool Maker, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND FIXING THE CORDS OF
T
Sealed the 31st July 1874, and dated the 20th May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic Arthur
Harrison and Charles Priestland at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th May 1874.
We, FREDERIC ARTHUR HARRISON, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and CHARLES PRIESTLAND, of Birmingham,
aforesaid, Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND FIXING THE Cords
OF WINDOW BLINDS, MAPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:—
Our Invention consists in constructing and combining in the manner
herein-after described the parts of apparatus for adjusting and fixing the

page_text: cords of window blinds, maps, and other articles, the said apparatus
being used principally in lieu of the ordinary rack pulley.
We will first describe our Invention as applied to the cord of a window
blind. We make a rectangular frame open at front and top and bottom,
the said frame being fixed to the window by screws passed through holes
in the back plate of the frame. In the said frame a vertical rack bar
slides freely, the upper end of the said rack bar having a roller under
which the loop of the blind cord passes. Jointed to the sides of the
open frame is a lever by means of which the rack bar may be fastened
at any required height in the said frame and the blind cord adjusted and
fixed. The short inner arm of the said lever is excentric to the axis on
which it turns. The thumb plate end of the lever has such a size and
figure that when it is shut down upon the frame it covers the open front
of the frame. When the said lever is shut down its inner excentric arm
engages with the teeth of the rack bar or enters one of a series of
depressions in the said bar and thereby securely fastens the said rack
bar to the frame and fixes the blind cord. By lifting the thumb plate
end of the fastening lever the rack bar is released and may be raised or
lowered in the frame so as to tighten or slacken the blind cord, the said
cord being fixed after adjustment by shutting down the lever.
For fixing the cords of Venetian blinds and for other like purposes the
parts may be modified as follows:-The sliding rack bar is dispensed
with and the cord is passed through the fixed frame and is pressed
upon and held by a gripping lever jointed to the lower end of the said
frame, the upper free end of the said gripping lever being pressed
inwards so as to cause it to hold or grip the cord between itself and the
frame by the action of an excentric lever of the kind herein first.
described.
For the purpose of facilitating the releasing of the cord from the
gripping lever the thumb plate of the excentric lever may be provided
with a loop through which the end of the cord is passed. By pulling
the end of the cord from the window frame, that is at right angles to
the fixing apparatus, the thumb plate of the fastening lever is raised and
the said lever turned on its centre so as to lift the excentric arm of the
said lever from the gripping lever when the latter no longer presses on
the cord and the said cord is released.

page_text: We prefer to make the parts of the adjusting and fixing apparatus
herein-before described from sheet metal by stamping or raising
processes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and Charles Priestland
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERIC
ARTHUR HARRISON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturer, and CHARLES PRIESTLAND, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Tool
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors; give
and grant unto us, the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and Charles
Priestland, Her special license that we, the said Frederic Arthur
Harrison and Charles Priestland, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and
Charles Priestland, our exccutors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING AND FIXING THE
CORDS OF WINDOW BLINDS, MAPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition.
(amongst others) that we, the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and Charles
Priestland, our executors or administrators; by an instrument in writing
under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, 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 we, the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and
Charles Priestland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention;.

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thercof,
that is to say :-
Our Invention consists in constructing and combining in the manner
herein-after described the parts of apparatus for adjusting and fixing
the cords of window blinds, maps, and other articles, the said apparatus
being used principally in lieu of the ordinary rack pulley.
We will first describe our Invention as applied to the cord of a window
blind. We make a rectangular frame open at front and top and bottom,
the said frame being fixed to the window by screws passed through holes
in the back plate of the frame. In the said frame a vertical rack bar
slides freely, the upper end of the said rack bar having a roller under
which the loop of the blind cord passes. Jointed to the sides of the
open frame is a lever by means of which the rack bar may be fastened
at any required height in the said frame and the blind cord adjusted and
fixed. The short inner arm of the said lever is excentric to the axis on
which it turns. The thumb plate end of the lever has such a figure and
size that when it is shut down upon the frame it covers the open front
of the frame. When the said lever is shut down its inner excentric arm
engages with the teeth of the rack bar or enters one of a series of
depressions in the said bar and thereby securely fastens the said rack
bar to the frame and fixes the blind cord. By lifting the thumb plate
end of the fastening lever the rack bar is released and may be raised or
lowered in the frame so as to tighten or slacken the blind cord, the said
cord being fixed after adjustment by shutting down the lever.
For fixing the cords of Venetian blinds and for other like purposes the
parts may be modified as follows:-The sliding rack bar is dispensed
with and the cord is passed through the fixed frame and is pressed upon
and held by a gripping lever jointed to the lower end of the said frame,
the upper free end of the said gripping lever being pressed inwards so
as to cause it to hold or grip the cord between itself and the frame by
the action of an excentric lever of the kind herein first described.
For the purpose of facilitating the releasing of the cord from the
gripping lever the thumb plate of the excentric lever may be provided
with a loop through which the end of the cord is passed. By pulling
the end of the cord from the window frame, that is, at right angles to
the fixing apparatus, the thumb plate of the fastening lever is raised and

page_text: the said lever turned on its centre so as to lift the excentric arm of the
said lever from the gripping lever when the latter no longer presses on
the cord and the said cord is released.
We prefer to make the parts of the adjusting and fixing apparatus
from sheet metal by stamping or raising processes.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, Figure 2 in side clevation,
and Figures 3 and 4 in section an apparatus for adjusting and fixing the
cords of window blinds, roller maps, and other like articles constructed
according to our Invention.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, the rack bar of the apparatus is represented
fixed; and in Figure 4 released.
Figure 5 represents a back elevation of the rack bar separately.
Figure 6 represents a front elevation and section of the fixed frame in
which the rack bar slides separately; and Figure 7 a front and side
clevation of the fastening lever separately.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.
a is the frame which is fixed to the window by screws passed through
the back plate at b, b. The said fixed frame is open at the front and top
and bottom. c is the vertical rack bar sliding freely in the frame a.
The upper end of the said rack bar carries a roller d under which the
loop of the blind cord passes, as represented. The face of the rack
bar c is provided with a series of depressions marked c' having the figure
best seen in the sectional views. e, e, is the fastening lever of the
apparatus shown separately in Figure 7. The said lever is jointed by
the joints or pivots at f, f, (taking into ears at the top of the sides of the
fixed frame a) to the front of the said frame a, as best seen in the hori-
zontal section of Figure 3. By means of the said fastening lever e, e³,
the rack bar c may be fastened at any required height in the frame a,
and the position of the roller d of the blind cord adjusted and fixed.
The short inner or acting arm e of the fastening lever e, e³, is excentric
to the axes or pivots f, f, on which it turns, and the thumb plate end e²

page_text: of the said lever when it is turned down, as in Figures 1, 2, and 3, covers
the open front of the fixed frame a. When the said lever e, e2, is turned
down its excentric arm e enters one of the series of curved depressions
at c² in the rack bar c and thereby secures the said bar in the frame a,
the fixing being effected by the gripping of the rack bar between the
excentric e and the fixed frame a, as best seen in Figure 3. The position
of the roller d under which the blind cord d² passes is thereby fixed.
By lifting the thumb plate cnd e² of the fastening lever e, e³, into the
position represented in Figure 4, the excentric arm e of the lever is
removed from out the depression c* in the rack bar when the said bar is
released, and may be raised or lowered in the fixed frame a for the
purpose of tightening or slackening the blind cord d². After the cord d²
has been adjusted the fastening lever e, e², is turned down into the
position represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3 for again fixing the rack
bar c.
In order to ensure that one of the depressions c² in the rack bar shall
be stationed exactly opposite the excentric arme of the fastening lever we
make from the back plate of the fixed frame a a spring or spring tongue g,
which spring or spring tongue bears against the back face of the said
rack bar. After the rack bar has been adjusted in the frame a, on
turning down the lever e, e³, its excentric arm e presses back the rack
bar in the frame a and causes the spring or spring tongue g to drop into
a depression at the back of the rack bar and thereby hold the said rack
bar in such a position that one of the depressions c² in the front of the
said rack bar is exactly opposite the excentric arme of the fastening
lever, which arm entering the said depression fixes the rack bar as
before explained. The injury to the rack bar which might arise from
the excentric arm e pressing on one of the ridges between two adjacent
depressions in the rack bar is thereby prevented.
Figure 8 represents in front elevation; Figure 9 in side clevation;
and Figures 10 and 11 in section an apparatus for fixing the cords of
Venetian blinds and for other like purposes constructed according to our
Invention.
Figure 12 represents the fixed frame of the apparatus separately.
Figure 13 represents the fastening lever separately; and Figure 14

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures 8, 9,
10, 11, 12, 13, and 14.
a is the frame fixed to the window; e, e³, is the fastening lever
pivotted at f, f, to the top of the fixed frame a. The excentric acting
arm e of the lever in this arrangement is flat instead of curved as in the
first described arrangement. h is the gripping lever pivotted at h³ to
the lower part of the fixed frame a. In the back plate of the fixed
frame a are cross ribs a², between which and the gripping lever h the
Venetian blind cord i (or other cord) is gripped to fix the said cord.
The cord is introduced into the apparatus or cord holder when the
parts are in the respective positions represented in Figure 11, that is,
when the fastening lever e, e2, is raised into the position represented,
and the gripping lever h is moved outwards into the position indicated.
in dotted lines. When the gripping lever h is in this position the blind.
cord i may be readily introduced into the frame a, the said cord being
situated between the back of the said frame and the gripping lever h, as
represented. After the cord i has been adjusted in the frame a the
fastening lever e, e², is turned down, as illustrated in Figures 8, 9, and 10.
By the turning down of the said lever its short excentric end e acting
upon the free end of the gripping lever h presses the said gripping lever
inwards and causes the said gripping lever to grip the cord i between
itself and the cross ribs a² at the back of the fixed frame a, as best seen
in Figure 10.. When the fastening lever e, e², is turned down its short
arme holds the gripping lever very firmly in its gripping or holding
position. By lifting the thumb plate end e' of the fastening lever into
the position represented in Figure 11, the gripping lever is released
and the cord may be lengthened or shortened in the fixed frame a as
may be desired. To facilitate the releasing of the cord i from the
gripping lever h the lower end of the said cord may be passed through
a loop or opening in the bottom of the thumb plate e² of the fastening
lever, as indicated in dotted lines at ² in Figure 9. By pulling the end
of the cord at 2 from the window frame or towards a horizontal position
the thumb plate end es of the fastening lever is raised and turned on its
centre so as to remove its excentric arm e from the gripping lever h
when the latter no longer pressing on the cord allows the said cord to be
adjusted in the frame a.
The parts of the adjusting and fixing apparatus described and illus-
trated in the Drawings are made from sheet metal by the ordinary

page_text: stamping and pressing processes, but the said parts may be otherwise
made.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
our Invention, but we claim as our Invention, the improvements in
apparatus for adjusting and fixing the cords of window blinds, maps,
and other articles herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say, fixing the rack bar carrying the pulley
under which the blind or other cord passes to and releasing it from the
fixed frame in which it slides by means of a fastening lever constructed
and working and combined with the other parts of the apparatus, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 7,
both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawings, also fixing and releasing
the cords of Venetian blinds and other cords by a gripping lever acted
upon by a fastening lever, the said levers being constructed and com-
bined and working substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 8 to 14, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederic Arthur Harrison and
Charles Priestland, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and seventy-four.
FREDERIC ARTHUR HARRISON. (L.s.)
CHARLES PRIESTLAND,
(L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.