IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING, ADJUSTING, AND ARRANGING CORDS, ROPES, AND CHAINS EMPLOYED FOR RAISING AND LOWERING VENETIAN BLINDS, CURTAINS, WINDOWS, SHUTTERS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to
Samuel Jefferies, of Dudbridge Hill, Stroud,
in the County of Gloucester, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING, ADJUSTING, AND
ARRANGING CORDS, ROPES, AND CHAINS EMPLOYED FOR RAISING AND
LOWERING VENETIAN BLINDS, CURTAINS, WINDOWS, SHUTTERS, AND OTHER
ANALOGOUS PURPOSES."
Scaled the 28th August 1868, and dated the 4th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Jefferies
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th March 1868.
I, SAMUEL JEFFERIES, of Dudbridge Hill, Stroud, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING, ADJUSTING, AND
ARRANGING CORDS, ROPES, AND CHAINS EMPLOYED FOR RAISING AND LOWERING
VENETIAN BLINDS, CURTAINS, WINDOWS, SHUTTERS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the affording facility for raising,
lowering, adjusting, and securing Venetian blinds, curtains, shutters,

page_text: windows, ventilators, and other like purposes with greater rapidity and
more efficiently than has been done heretofore.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a reel or pulley having flanges,
between which and on the reel or pulley the cord, rope, or chain is
wound. This reel or pulley I make self-revolving by the action of a
coiled spring (partially or wholly powerful enough to raise the blind
or other article) placed within a ratchet wheel fixed on the outside of
one of the flanges of the reel or pulley. One end of the spring I fasten
to the inside of the ratchet wheel, and the other end is held by a hook
projecting from a, pin or axis on which the pulley revolves. This
pin or axis is fastened to a plate fixed to the window frame or other
suitable place. In this plate and above the ratchet wheel I fix two
other pins, one to carry a pawl or catch to be forced into the teeth of
the ratchet wheel by a spring, the other pin to carry a lever, which
lever is brought into contact with the back of the pawl or catch by a
pawl to be acted upon by the finger or by a cord, lever, or other suitable
means, according to the position in which it is desired to fix the plate
which carries the pulley. Instead of using the catch, lever, and
plunger the same object can be attained by a friction brake and catch.
The brake can be placed above the ratchet wheel and act against a
rim formed on the plate which carries the pin or axis of the revolving
pulley, and the catch can be held on the brake by a pin and be forced
into the ratchet wheel by a spring. By a modification of the above
I apply a friction brake to the revolving pulley.
When the first-described apparatus is used for Venetian blinds, in order
to keep the blinds always level and parallel the outside cords should
be fastened together at the bottom and made to run under pulleys or
through eyelet holes fitted to receive them at the bottom of the blind,
and the middle cord can be made to pass. over a V-shaped groove formed
on the opposite flange of the pulley to that which carries the ratchet
wheel, so that by pulling the cord to raise the blind the pulley will be
caused to revolve by friction and gather in the other two cords and
dispense with the spring.
The apparatus may be enclosed in an ornamental case or otherwise if
desired by having a slot in the side or on the top of the case to allow
the cord, rope, or chain to pass in and out.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Jefferies in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
JEFFERIES, of Dudbridge Hill, Stroud, in the County of Gloucester,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Jefferies, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel Jefferies, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Jefferies,
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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR SECURING, ADJUSTING, AND ARRANGING
CORDS, ROPES, AND CHAINS EMPLOYED FOR RAISING AND LOWERING VENETIAN
BLINDS, CURTAINS, WINDOWS, SHUTTERS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Jefferies, 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 Samuel Jefferies, 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 statement:-
This Invention has for its object the affording facility for raising,
lowering, adjusting, and securing Venetian blinds, curtains, windows,
and other analogous articles.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention I employ a reel or pulley having
flanges, between which and on the pulley the cord, rope, or chain is
fastened and wound. This pulley I make self-revolving (for gathering
in the cords, ropes, or chains) by the action of a coiled spring placed
within a ratchet wheel fixed on the outside of one of the flanges of
the pulley. One end of the spring I fasten to the inside of the ratchet
wheel, and the other is held by a hook projecting from a pin or axis on
which the pulley revolves. This pin or axis I fasten to a plate which
may be fixed to the window frame or other suitable place. In this
plate at the outside of the ratchet wheel I fasten a pin to carry a pawl
or catch which is forced into the teeth of the ratchet wheel by a spring.
This catch can be thrown out of gear by a plunger pressed against a
tail piece by the finger or by a lever and cord or other suitable means,
according to the position in which it is desired to fix the plate which
carries the pulley. Instead of using the catch and plunger I sometimes
use a friction spring and catch. The whole can be enclosed in a case,
ornamental or otherwise, by having a slot in the side of the case to
allow the cord to pass in and out.
A modification of the above apparatus can be used for Venetian
blinds by fixing the plate which carries the pulley at the top of the
window frame and making the pulley with a V-groove on the opposite
flange to that which carries the ratchet wheel, so that by bringing the
middle cord over the V pulley and using it to raise the blind the
pulley will be caused to revolve by friction, thus dispensing with the
spring for gathering in the cords.
The second part of my Invention relates to keeping the slats or
laths of Venetian blinds level and parallel by joining the two outside
cords at the bottom or making them in one continuous cord.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood I shall refer
to the Figures in the accompanying Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved apparatus
with the case removed in order to show the details more clearly; Fig. 2
is a transverse section of the same.
A is a circular plate with ears or lugs to fix the apparatus by screws
or otherwise to any convenient part of the window frame or shutter;
B is a stud or axle projecting from the centre of the circular plate A;
B is a hook projecting from the stud B; C is a coiled spring fastened
at one end to the hook B', the other end thereof being fastened to the

page_text: inside of the ratchet wheel D, which is fixed to the side of the pulley E;
this pulley revolves on the stud B, and is made with deep flanges,.
between which the cord, rope, or chain (which may be attached in the
usual manner to a Venetian blind) is fastened and wound. In the
plate A a small stud F is also fitted to carry the pawl or catch G, which
is forced into the teeth of the ratchet wheel D by the spring H. The
pawl G is formed with a tail piece I, against which a plunger J (provided
with a button head) is pressed to throw it out of gear.
In applying the apparatus to an ordinary Venetian blind I lower the
blind to the bottom and cut off two of the three cords which are hanging
loose, and fasten the ends which are left to the remaining cord, as
shewn in Fig. 3. The action will be as follows:-By pressing on the
plunger J the pawl G will be thrown out of gear and the pulley E
allowed to be turned round in the direction of the arrow, and by so
doing will wind up the spring C which by being in tension will (on the
operator pulling the cord L to raise the blind) cause the pulley to be
self-revolving for gathering in the loose cords and retain the blind
at any desired height by the pawl G being forced into the teeth of the
ratchet wheel D. To lower the blind the operator must raise it slightly
by means of the cord L, which will allow the pawl G to be thrown out
of gear by pressing the finger on the plunger J; it can then be lowered,
and the finger being removed from the plunger the pawl G will enter
the teeth of the ratchet wheel and retain the blind at any height
desired.
Figs. 4 and 5 represent a modification of the above apparatus wherein
the middle cord of the Venetian blind is brought over a V pulley fixed on
the outward flange of the pulley M, as shewn in Fig. 5. The apparatus
is in all respects the same as that herein-before described, with the
exception of the spring C and the addition of a lever and cord, as shewn
in Fig. 4. To raise the blind I pull down the cord P, and by its being
passed over the V pulley will cause it to revolve by friction and gather
in the other two cords which will retain the blind at its desired height.
To lower the blind the operator must raise it slightly by the cord P,
when by pulling the tassel O the pawl will be thrown out of gear, and
allow the blind to be lowered; then by releasing the tassel O the pawl
will be forced in gear and retain the blind at the height desired.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated in Fig. 3, wherein
one continuous cord is employed in lieu of two cords as before used. It

page_text: will be obvious without further illustration that should the blind by
any means lose its parallelism the act of pulling it up against the level
base of the frame on which it hangs will cause it to regain its level,
and on being lowered it will retain the same.
I may here observe that I wish it to be distinctly understood that
I lay no claim to a self-revolving barrel for winding up blinds and
shutters; but what I claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before recited Letters Patents is,―
First. The application and use of a self-revolving reel or pulley for
gathering in the cords of Venetian blinds to maintain them at any
desired height as herein fully described; I claim also the mode of
gathering in the cords of Venetian blinds by friction, as herein described.
Second. I claim the mode of maintaining the laths or slats of Venetian
blinds parallel and level, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Jefferies, have hereunto set 1
my hand and seal, this Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
SAM. JEFFERIES. (L.S.)