IMPROVEMENTS IN SASH FASTENERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elijah Atkins, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Brass Founder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SASH FASTENERS,”
Sealed the 12th May 1876, and dated the 24th November 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elijah Atkins at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1875.
I, ELIJAH ATKINS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass
Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN SASH FASTENERS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the construction and combinations of the
parts of sash fasteners herein-after described, whereby great strength
and security in the sash fasteners are obtained, and the fastening of the
sashes is effected with great certainty.
A sash fastener constructed according to my Invention consists
essentially of two hinged plates, onc plate being fixed to the back sash,
and the other and moveable plate being capable of being shut down

page_text: upon or raised from the sash bar of the front sash, the hinge of the two
plates being situated near the meeting edges of the two sash bars. The
fixed plate is flat but the outer or free end of the moveable plate is bent
at right angles to the other part, and the said bent part carries on its
inner side a sliding bolt pressed into its fastening position by a coiled or
other enring
upon or raised from the sash bar of the front sash, the hinge of the two
plates being situated near the meeting edges of the two sash bars. The
fixed plate is flat but the outer or free end of the moveable plate is bent
at right angles to the other part, and the said bent part carries on its
inner side a sliding bolt pressed into its fastening position by a coiled or
other spring
The nose or acting end of the bolt is bevilled or inclined, and a thumb
screw or head projecting through a slot in the front of the plate serves to
withdraw the bolt, and also to lock the fastener as herein-after
described.
When the moveable plate is turned down upon the front sash its flat
part lies upon the top of the sash bar, while its bent part passes over
and embraces the front vertical edge of the sash bar. At the said front
vertical edge of the sash bar is a striking or staple plate. This staple
plate has a recess in it of a shape and size proper to receive the spring
bolt on the inner side of the bent part of the plate, and at one end of the
said recessed part of the staple plate is a shoulder under which the
spring bolt may snap. The edge of this shoulder is bevilled.
When the moveable plate of the sash fastener is turned down upon its
hinge so as to cross the top of the sash bar and embrace the front edge
of the said bar the bevilled end of the spring bolt strikes against the
bevilled edge of the shoulder on the staple plate, and the said bolt is
pushed back and its spring compressed. On the moveable plate reaching
its depressed position the nose of the bolt snaps under the shoulder of
the staple plate, and the sashes are securely fastened together.
In order to increase the security of the fastened sashes I make the
thumb screw of the spring bolt act as a lock to the said bolt. For this
purpose I make the screwed stem of the thumbscrew work through a
tapped hole in the bolt, and I make in the face of the staple plate a hole
to receive the end of the said screwed stem, so that after the moveable
plate has been fastened in its place by the snapping of the spring bolt,
the driving in of the thumbscrew causes its end to engage with the
staple plate, and thereby to lock the bolt in its fastening position. To
release the fastener the thumbscrew is first turned so as to withdraw its
stem from the staple plate, the bolt can then be withdrawn by pressing the
thumbscrew laterally. By now lifting and turning back the moveable

page_text: plate upon its hinge so as to remove it from the sash bar the two sashes
are unfastened and may be opened.
In place of a spring bolt a nearly flat spring arm fixed to the inner
side of the bent part of the moveable plate of the fastener may be used,
the free and hooked end of the said spring arm, when the moveable plate
is shut down, snapping under a shoulder in a staple plate at the front
end of the sash bar. A head or thumb plate is fixed to the free end of
the spring arm, and the fastener is released by pulling outwards the said
head or thumb plate, so as to withdraw the hooked end of the spring
arm from the shoulder of the staple plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Elijah Atkins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELIJAH
ATKINS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brass Founder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Elijah Atkins, Her
special license, that I, the said Elijah Atkins, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Elijah Atkins,
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 SASH FASTENERS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Elijah Atkins, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Elijah Atkins, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the construction and combination of the
parts of sash fasteners herein-after described, whereby great strength
and security in the sash fasteners are obtained, and the fastening of the
sashes is effected with great certainty.
A sash fastener constructed according to my Invention consists
essentially of two hinged plates, one plate being fixed to the back sash,
and the other and moveable plate being capable of being shut down
upon or raised from the sash bar of the front sash, the hinge of the two
plates being situated near the meeting edges of the two sash bars. The
fixed plate is flat but the outer or free end of the moveable plate is bent
at right angles to the other part, and the said bent part carries on its
inner side a sliding bolt (or sliding bolts) pressed into its fastening
position by a coiled or other spring.
The nose or acting end of the bolt is bevilled or inclined, and a thumb
plate or head projecting through a slot in the front of the plate serves to
withdraw the bolt.
When the moveable plate is turned down upon the front sash, its flat
part lies upon the top of the sash bar, while its bent part passes over and
embraces the front vertical edge of the sash bar. At the said front
vertical edge of the sash bar is a striking or staple plate. This staple
plate has a recess in it of a shape and size proper to receive the spring
bolt on the inner side of the bent part of the plate, and at one end of
the said recessed part of the staple plate is a shoulder under which the
spring bolt may snap. The edge of this shoulder is bevilled.
When the moveable plate of the sash fastener is turned down upon its
hinge so as to cross the top of the sash bar and embrace the front edge
of the said bar, the bevilled end of the spring bolt strikes against the
bevilled edge of the shoulder on the staple plate, and the said bolt is
pushed back and its spring compressed.
On the moveable plate
reaching its depressed position, the nose of the bolt snaps under the
shoulder of the staple plate, and the sashes are securely fastened

page_text: together. Two spring bolts snapping under shoulders on opposite ends
of the staple plate may be employed, the said bolts being simultaneously
withdrawn to unfasten the sashes.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying
Drawing the manner in which my Invention is carried into effect.
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in cross section, Figure 3 in
front elevation partly in vertical section, and Figure 4 in front elevation
a sash fastener constructed according to my Invention, the said sash
fastener being represented in its depressed or fastening position.
Figure 5 represents in side elevation, Figure 6 in front elevation,
and Figure 7 in plan, the said sash fastener in its raised or unfastened
position.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.
a, b, b, are the two plates constituting the principal parts of the
fastener, the said plates being hinged together at c. The plate a is fixed
to the back sash d, and the other and moveable plate 6, 62, is capable of
being shut down upon or raised from the sash bar e of the front sash.
At the middle of the fixed plate a is a stop a² for limiting the motion of
the moveable plate b, 62, when the latter is raised to unfasten the sashes
(see Figures 5 and 7). The free or outer end 63 of the moveable plate is
situated at right angles to the part 6 of the said plate, the said free or
outer end 6 forming a lip or embracing piece for the front sash. On
the inner side of the lip part 6 of the moveable plate are two sliding
bolts ff, pressed into their fastening position by the coiled springs 9, 9,
the said springs bearing at one end against the heads of the said bolts
ff, and at the other end against the central block h in which the inner
ends of the bolts f,f, work (see Figure 6). The noses of the bolts ƒiƒ,
are bevilled or curved as represented. Attached to the sliding bolts ƒ, f,
are heads or thumb plates i, i, for withdrawing the said bolts, the stems
of the said heads working in slots k, k, in the lip part 6³ of the moveable
plate. At the front vertical edge of the sash bar e is a staple plate / of
a size and shape proper to receive the bolts f,f, and lip part 6* of the
moveable plate b. The said staple plate 7 has at each end a horizontal
shoulder m, the upper side of which is bevilled as best seen in Figures
3, 6, and 7. When the moveable plate 6, 6%, of the sash fastener is turned
down upon its hinge, so as to make the part 6 cross the top of the sash

page_text: bar e, and the lip or part 2 embrace the front vertical edge of the said
bar e, the bevilled ends or noses of the bolts f, f, bear against the
bevilled upper sides of the shoulders m, m, of the staple plate l, and the
said bolts are pressed back and their coiled springs compressed. On
the moveable plate b, 62, being fully shut down, the noses of the bolts
ff, snap under the shoulders m, m, of the staple plate l, and the sashes
are securely fastened together, as illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
To unfasten the sashes the two knobs or heads i, i, are grasped
between the thumb and finger, and pressed so as to make them approach
one another. The bolts f, f, are thereby withdrawn from under the
shoulders m, m, of the staple plate l, and the sashes are unfastened and
the moveable plate b, 63, may be lifted into the position represented in
Figures 5, 6, and 7. On relaxing the pressure on the heads or knobs
i, i, the bolts return to their normal positions by the action of the
springs g, g, ready on the shutting down of the plate b, b, to be first
pushed back and afterwards made to snap under the shoulders m, m, as
before described.
Although I prefer to use two spring sliding bolts engaging at opposite
ends of the staple plate yet a single spring sliding bolt may be employed.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illus-
trated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the arrangement or com-
bination of the parts of sash fasteners, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elijah Atkins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
ELIJAH ATKINS. (L.S.)