Improvements in Curtain Rings.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 25th July, 1893-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Curtain Rings.
I, THOMAS BROWETT, of Sandon Works, Patricroft, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
--
My invention relates to improvements in curtain rings, such as are used to slide
on a rod or pole of wood or metal and consists in a form or forms of rings
constructed to slide on the rod or pole and arranged to grip or be attached readily
to curtains in such a manner as to support the same in a more sightly and neater
form than has been usual hitherto.
Most curtain rings are made of wood or metal and provided with hooks or loops
into which a hook or loop attached to the curtain is hung. From the usual
position of the loop on the ring and hook on the curtain, the curtains, especially if
of soft material,
< sag and hang in an untidy and irregular fashion, and this
defect among others my improved curtain ring is designed to avoid.
11
My invention consists essentially in constructing a ring in such form that the
material of the curtain is held by or directly attached to the improved ring in a
novel manner and position.
To construct one form I take an ordinary turned wooden ring and cut it through
at one part by a narrow slit cut radially with a saw. The natural spring of the
wood enables this slit to be sprung slightly open so as to allow the material of the
curtain, or any band or edging fixed thereto, to be passed edgeways into this slit.
To attain a firmer hold of the curtain, to bear its weight and the strain occurring
in drawing it, several devices may be fitted to the ring either separately or in any
convenient combination. Thus, a pin of metal attached to or caused to fit and rest
on the inner surface of the ring and pointed so as to pierce the material may be used.
Such pins may be single or double fanged as may best suit the size of the ring or
the weight of the curtain so as to support the latter without risk of tearing it.
To avoid risk of breakage of a wooden ring it may be cut entirely into two
halves and jointed at one place by a hinge of any convenient form which is simple
and strong. Such hinge may consist of a plate of metal introduced into a groove
cut in the ends of the two half rings in the plane of its diameter and pinned or
rivetted to each half ring. To give such a hinged ring a tendency to close and
grip the material at its other joint a spring or springs may be added and arranged
so as to draw the two parts together. This may be effected by surrounding the
wooden ring partly or entirely with a metal spring hoop carried in a groove in the
outer or inner surface of the ring, or the hinge may be constructed of a flat plate
of spring steel, or other metal, let into a slit lying parallel with the axis of the
ring and bent so as to tend to press the other ends of the split ring together. To
increase the hold of such a ring on the material, one face of the ring where the two
halves meet, may be provided with a spike or spikes and the opposite face with a
hole or holes to receive the spikes after they have passed through the fabric and a
clip or hook and eye may also be provided to hold the two halves of the hinged
ring together.
In all forms the same principal of construction and use obtains, namely, splitting
the ring radially in at least one place and passing the edge of the material into this
split and there securing it.
Instead of constructing the rings of wood they may be entirely made of metal or
of metal lined with wood so as to slide freely and be less noisy.
When made entirely of metal the rings may be of any section, square, round,
half-round, oval, oblong, or of a Ụ shape, like a small bicycle metal felloe, and they

page_text: may be made in two halves hinged or jointed at one part and caused to close by a
separate spring or they may be made in one piece and of a metal capable of
springing without taking permanent set when opened to allow the insertion of the
material and the gripping ends may be serrated or corrugated and have extended
surfaces to hold the material and may be provided with metal spikes and holes, or
with teeth like a saw, fitting into interstices in the adjacent face to increase the
hold on the material.
The ring may also be formed of a spiral metal spring bent into an annular form and
of circular or oval section and provided with spikes or teeth or any of the other
gripping devices described, or the ring may be hollow either entirely or only
towards each end adjacent to the split portion of the ring and may be fitted with
plungers or pistons forced against the opposite face, (or against a second piston or
plunger fitted on the other adjacent end of the ring,) by spiral or other springs, the
ring in such case being only ent through at one place radially. Instead of making
the ring hollow to receive plungers and springs, the spring plungers may be hollow
and fit over the ends of the rings at one or both ends and contain the springs to
push them forward and grip the fabric.
The details of construction admit of many variations without departing from the
principals of construction and use of my improved ring but the above devices are
sufficient to make the general construction and mode of application as clear as is
possible without the use of drawings.
Dated this 25th day of October 1892.
F. BOSSHARDT & Co.,
Agents to Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Curtain Rings.
I. THOMAS BROWETT, of Sandon Works, Patricroft, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
My invention-relates to improvements in curtain rings such as are used to slide
on a rod or pole of wood or metal and consists in a form or forms of rings
constructed to slide on the rod or pole and arranged to grip or be attached readily
to curtains in such a manner as to support the same in a more sightly and neater
form than has been usual hitherto.
Most curtain rings are made of wood or metal and provided with hooks or loops
into which a hook or loop attached to the curtain is hung. From the usual position
of the loop on the ring an hook on the curtain, the curtains, especially if of soft
material, sag" and hang in an untidy and irregular fashion, and this defect among
others my improved curtain ring is designed to avoid.
$
My invention consists essentially in constructing a ring in such form that the
material of the curtain is held by or directly attached to the improved ring in a
novel manner and position.
And in order that my invention may be more fully understood I have caused to
be appended hereunto one sheet of drawings marked with letters of reference
indicating like parts in the various figures.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 & 11 are side views partly of the entire and partly of
only a portion of curtain rings constructed in accordance with my invention.
Figs. 7 & 10 are plans respectively of Figs. 6 & 9, and Fig. 12 a sectional end view
of Fig. 11.
In carrying out my invention, to construct one form of curtain ring, see Fig. 1,
I take an ordinary turned wooden ring a,and cut it through at one part by a narrow
slit cut radially with a saw. The natural spring of the wood enables this slit b
to be sprung slightly open so as to allow the material of the curtain c, or any band

page_text: or edging fixed thereto, to be passed edgeways into this slit b. To attain a firmer
hold of the curtain c, to bear its weight and the strain occurring in drawing it,
several devices may be fitted to the ring a, either separately or in any convenient
combination. Thus a pin d of metal, see Fig. 2, attached to or caused to fit and
rest on the inner surface of the ring a and pointed so as to pierce the curtain or
material c, may be used. Such pins may be single or double fanged, as may
best suit the size of the ring or the weight of the curtain, so as to support the
latter without risk of tearing it.
To avoid risk of breakage of wooden rings they may be partly embraced by a
wire e, see Fig. 3, fitted into a groove formed in the exterior periphery of the
ring a.
Such wire e may be adapted to slide in the groove and the ends e²
thereof pointed so as to allow of being passed through the curtain or material c;
or the ring a may be cut entirely into two halves, see Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, & 12,
and jointed at one place by a hinge of any convenient form which is simple and
strong. Such hinge may consist of a plate of metal, see Fig. 4, introduced into
a groove cut in the ends of the two half rings in the plane of its diameter and
pinned or rivetted to each half ring. To give such a hinged ring a tendency to
close and grip the material at its other joint a spring or springs may be added and
arranged so as to draw the two parts together. This may be effected by
surrounding the wooden ring partly or entirely with a metal spring hoop, similar to
that shown in Fig. 4, or carried in a groove in the outer or inner surface of the
ring, or the hinge may be constructed of a flat plate y of spring steel, see Fig. 5,
or other metal, let into a slit g' lying parallel with the axis of the ring and bent so
as to tend to press the other ends of the split ring a together.
Figs. 6 & 7 show a combined hinge and locking device for the ring halves a, a
horn like plate a' being suitably fastened to near the joint of each of the two ring
halves in such a manner as to lay across each other and permit of being hinged
together, a link or slotted plate a² being placed on the same, which when resting on
the ring a locks the two halves in position, whilst when slid to the top, see dotted
lines, it will allow of the ring being opened. To increase the hold of such a ring
on the curtain or material c, one face of the ring, where the two halves meet, may
be provided with a spike or spikes d, see Figs. 4 & 5, and the opposite face with a
hole or holes d to receive the spikes d after they have passed through the curtain
or material c and a clip or hook and eye may also be provided to hold the two
halves of the hinged ring together.
In all forms the same principal of construction and use obtains, namely, splitting
the ring radially in at least one place and passing the edge of the material into this
split and there securing it.
Instead of constructing the rings of wood they may be entirely made of metal or
of metal lined with wood so as to slide freely and be less noisy.
When made entirely of metal the rings may be of any section, square, round,
half-round, oval, oblong, or of a U shape, like a small bicycle metal felloe and they
may be made in two halves hinged or jointed at one part and caused to close by a
separate spring or they may be made in one piece and of a metal capable of
springing without taking permanent set when opened to allow the insertion of the
material and the gripping ends may be serrated or corrugated and have extended
surfaces h, see Fig. 8, to hold the curtain or material c and may be provided with
metal spikes d and holes d', or with plates h having teeth like a saw, see Figs. 9 & 10,
fitted into interstices in the adjacent face to increase the hold on the curtain or
material C, the plates being suitably hinged to the ring a.
In connection with the latter form of gripping device a hinge, as shown in Fig. 9,
is used, which allows of turning the ring halves in a lateral direction and prevents
the same from opening when the curtain or material c is in position between the two
plates h.
The said hinge may consist of a plate fitting between the two ring halves and
formed with a screw at each side adapted to engage the respective. ring half.
Fig. 8 also shows how the gripping device may be provided with a locking

page_text: device, consisting of a spring hook h¹ carried by one half and adapted to engage a
projection on the other half of the ring a.
Figs. 11 & 12 also show extended surfaces h, one being formed with a T slot /³
and the other with a T or tongue slide, adapted to grip the material and at the
same time lock the two halves of the ring a together by being placed into the..
T slot h³.
The ring may also be formed of a spiral metal spring bent into an annular form
and of circular or oval section and provided with spikes or teeth or any of the
other gripping devices described, or the ring may be hollow either entirely or only
towards each end adjacent to the split portion of the ring and may be. fitted with
plungers or pistons forced against the opposite face, (or against a second piston or
plunger fitted on the other adjacent end of the ring,) by spiral or other springs, the
ring in such case being only cut through at one place radially.
Instead of making the ring hollow to receive plungers and springs, the spring
plungers may be hollow and fit over the ends of the rings at one or both ends and
contain the springs to push them forward and grip the fabric.
The details of construction admit of many variations without departing from the
principals of construction and use of my improved ring but the devices herein
described and illustrated are sufficient to render the general construction and mode
of application clear.
All the hinged forms of rings have the contingent advantage that they may be
made to open wide enough to enable them to be placed on the curtain pole or removed
therefrom as required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim, is―
1st. A curtain ring formed with a slit or opening adapted to receive and hold
the curtain or material, substantially as specified with reference to Fig. 1.
2nd. A curtain ring as specified in the preceding claim, formed with a hinge h
adapted to facilate the placing of the curtain or material e in the said slit or
opening and the ring a itself onto the pole substantially as set forth with reference
to Figs. 4 & 5.
3rd. In curtain rings formed in two parts, as specified in the preceding claim, the
special form of combined hinge and locking device, substantially as set forth with
reference to Figs. 6 & 7.
4th. In combination with the curtain ring specified in the preceding claims I & II,
the devices for gripping the curtain or material, substantially as set forth with
reference to Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12..
F. BOSSHARDT & Co.,
4, Corporation Street, Manchester, Agents to Applicant.