IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS, APP
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Soper, of No. 52, Mornington Road, in the
Parish of St. Pancras and County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS, APPLI-
Sealed the 19th May 1865, and dated the 1st December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Soper at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st December
1864.
I, JOHN SOPER, of No. 52, Mornington Road, in the Parish of St. Pancras,
and County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS,
APPLICABLE TO VENETIAN BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to raise a weight by means of a cord and
pulley in such manner that on the bauling part of the cord being released
from the hand the weight shall not run down, but shall remain at the altitude
at which it may happen to be until released by the pulling of another cord.
My Invention consists of an improved appliance for affecting the above object.
I use a pulley working in a block which is one arm of a lever, which lever
works upon a pin or pivot in a frame or box, the cord is passed over the
pulley in such manner as to pass also between the outer arm of lever and the
frame or box. When any weight is depending from the pulley, the opposite

page_text: arm of the lever is pressed against the frame or box, thus pressing the part
of the cord which passes between them and preventing the weight from
running down; the release of the cord is effected by another cord attached
to the check arm of the lever, by pulling which the lever is depressed, the
pressure removed, and the weight is lowered. If more than one cord be
required to raise the weight, two or more pullies may be used working on the
same axis. The apparatus may be made of iron, brass, or any other metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Soper, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st June
1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN SOPER,
of No. 52, Mornington Road, in the Parish of St. Pancras, and County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Soper, Her special licence that I, the said John Soper, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Soper,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OF
RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS, APPLICABLE TO VENETIAN BLINDS, CURTAINS, AND
OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Soper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 John Soper, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: The object of my Invention is to raise a weight by means of a cord and
pulley in such manner that on the hauling part of the cord being released
from the hand the weight shall not run down, but shall remain at the altitude
at which it may happen to be until released by the pulling of another cord.
My Invention consists of an improved appliance for effecting the above
object. I use a pulley working in a block which is one arm of a cranked
lever, which lever works upon a pin or pivot in a frame or box; the cord is
passed over the pulley in such manner as to pass also between the outer arm
of lever and the frame or box, thus pressing the part of the cord which passes
between them, and preventing the weight from running down; the release of
the cord is effected by another cord connected with the check arm of the
lever, by pulling which the lever is oscillated on its axis, the pressure removed,
and the weight lowered. If more than one cord be required to raise the
weight, two or more pullies may be used mounted in levers working on the
samè axis, but moving independently of each other. The apparatus may be
made of iron, brass, or any other metal, and is peculiarly adapted for Venetian
blinds, curtains, and other like purposes.
This apparatus being principally applicable for Venetian blinds, I have in the
Drawings annexed represented an arrangement particularly adapted for that
purpose, the illustration of which however will indicate clearly in what manner
the principle may be applied to other purposes without other Drawings illus-
trative thereof. As well understood, Venetian blinds are suspended by two,
three, or more cords passing over pullies in the upper and fixed lath; these
cords and pullies I dispose in the usual position, but instead of simply using
fixed turning pullies in the position where the cords pass down towards the
pull or tension to be applied to them, I mount such pullies on the cranked
levers before mentioned, which sustain and hold the cords supporting the
weight of the blind in any position as described. In the Figures of the Drawings
I have represented the apparatus as arranged for two cords from which the
application of three or more will be readily understood. Fig. 1 is a side
view; Fig. 2, plan; Fig. 3, an end view, and Fig. 4 a view of the opposite
end all of the apparatus complete as applied to a Venetian blind, but detached
therefrom, the position of the pulley lath being however indicated by the
colored sectional lines. Fig. 5 represents a lateral section of the apparatus
with the cranked pulley lever holding the cord, while Fig. 6 shows that lever
operated on by the check or releasing cord in the operation of lowering. The
other. Figures show the several parts detached, which are severally indicated by
the reference letters herein-after given, and marked on the Drawings.
a, a, is the metal box in which the cranked pulley levers are mounted; it is

page_text: of brass, and may be cast in one piece; it is furnished with flanges b, b, by
which it is fixed to the pulley lath; c, c is a mouth or channel by which the
raising and lowering cords leave the box a, and pass downwards at 1, 1, toward
the pull; the horizontal part of the cord 2 leads along the pulley lath; Fig. 7
represents the cranked levers d, d, and pullies e in edge view detached from
the case a; Fig. 8, the same seen in plan, while Fig. 9 exhibits them separate
and in side view showing the two sides which abut against each other. The
pullies e are mounted on the axes f, f, between the cheeks of the levers d, on
which axes they rotate freely, while the levers d themselves are mounted
on the axis g, which consists of a pin having its bearing in the case a;
part h, shown separately, is a T piece disposed between the gripping ends of
the levers d, d, in the notches i, i, the T head rests on the gripping ends of the
levers d, d, while a cord l depends from the lower end. The action of the
apparatus (which will be best understood reference to sections Figs. 5 and 6)
is this, when the cords are pulled downwards at 1, 1, the gripping end a of
lever d (which is the same in both levers) is depressed and the lever caused
to oscillate on its axis as seen dotted in Fig. 5, releasing the cord and leaving
it free to run over the pulley e, whereby the weight of the blind is raised
with the same freedom as in ordinary, while on releasing the cords after
elevating the blind the weight thereof keeps constant tension on the cords,
at 2, 2, cants the cranked lever d back to the position shown in line, and
causes part to press hard against the cord and nip it between such part x,
and that part of case a offering the requisite abutment; the cord is thus freely
gripped, the greater the tension on the cord at point i the greater is the
pressure of a on it, the cord will thus be firmly and securely held in all cases,
and this at all points to which it may be moved, therefore the blind may be
raised and sustained at any point in the height of its traverse by simply pulling
the cord at 1, and then releasing it. The lowering of the blind is operated
by the cord l, by pulling the cord the piece h cants the levers d into the
position seen at Figs. 6, when the cords are free to run through from the
points 1 to 2, the weight of the blind preponderating and bringing itself down.
In practice it would not be usual to pull cord 7 to cant the lever so as to free
the cord entirely as at Fig. 6, (except perhaps when the blind is near the
bottom) it would be sufficient to pull only so as to remove some or the greater
part of the pressure of a on the cord, and just so as to allow the weight of the
blind to overcome the friction on the cord exerted by the remaining pressure
of x thereon, which thus acts as a brake and allows the blind to descend more
or less freely.
From the foregoing the application of this apparatus to purposes of raising

page_text: and lowering other weights will be sufficiently obvious without further illustra-
tion. Instead of pullies being mounted in the cranked levers the cords may
simply pass through eyes or runners in the proper position, but this of course
would increase the friction and would be prejudicial in the application to
Venetian blinds.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination and
arrangement of parts herein-before described, and represented in the Drawings
annexed, applied to the raising and lowering of Venetian blinds and other
preponderable bodies.
In witness whereof, I the said John Soper, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
W. CLARK,
Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
JOHN SOPER. (L.S.)