IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND ROLLERS AND IN FIXINGS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Tall, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND ROLLERS AND
IN FIXINGS FOR THE SAME."
Sealed the 6th June 1856, and dated the 27th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Tall at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th March
1856.
I, JOSEPH TALL, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND
ROLLERS AND IN FIXINGS FOR THE SAME," to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention, which has reference, firstly, to the construction of blind
rollers, so that they may be readily and conveniently fitted or adjusted to any
ordinary size window, consists in supplying or giving to the said rollers a
telescopic action or movement, by which they may be extended or contracted
to any required width. For this object, I cause a metallic tube, having a slot or
opening extending throughout its entire length, to be furnished with a core or
roller of wood, divided transversely into two lengths in like manner to the tube,
for the purpose of sliding or drawing out, the blind being inserted edgeways
within the slot, and retained in that position by a rod or bar enclosed within
the top of the blind, a pulley at either end being subsequently fitted, and, if

page_text: necessary, a recoil spring added, which I prefer to be of india-rubber wound
round in the form of a band, and secured in the ordiary manner.
My Invention has reference, secondly, to an improved fixing for securing the
said rollers to the framework or beading of windows, in place of the common
bracket, and consists of small cramp irons (with suitable hole bearings in which
the blind roller turns) capable of being attached or detached at pleasure by
means of thumb screws..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Tall in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
TALL, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,. give. and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Tall, Her special license, that I, the said Joseph Tall, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such. others as I, the said Joseph Tall, my
executors, administrators, or 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 BLIND. ROLLERS AND IN
FIXINGS FOR THE SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Tall, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 iuonths next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Tall; 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 accompanying Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My said Invention relates,. firstly, to the construction of blind rollers for
windows or other similar places, in such a manner that they may be readily

page_text: and conveniently fitted and adjusted to any ordinary sized window, and consists
in supplying or giving to such rollers a telescopic action or movement, by which
they may be extended or contracted within certain limits to any required width.
For this object, I cause a metallic tube, having a slot or opening extending
throughout its entire length, to be furnished with a core or roller of wood,
divided transversely into two lengths, the tube itself being also made in two
parts, for the purpose of sliding or drawing out, one end of the blind being
inserted edgwise through the slit or opening in the tube, and retained in that
position by a.rod or bar enclosed within the top of the blind, such rod or bar
being of a thickness greater than the slit or opening. A pulley at either end
is afterwards fitted to the roller, and, if necessary, a recoil spring may be
added.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved bracket' or fixing
for securing blind rollers to the framework or beadings of window frames, in
place of the common bracket, and consists of small cramp irons (with suitable
bearings in which the journals of the blind roller turns), capable of being
attached or detached at pleasure by means of thumb screws.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,,tho
same letters of referenco indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents an elevation and transverse section of
my telescopic blind roller; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the same,
taken along the centre thereof; Figure 3 is a full-sized side elevation of one of
.the moveable brackets for carrying the roller; and Figure 4 is a corresponding
plan of the same, shewing the mode of fixing the bracket to the beading of a
.window; Figures 5 and 6 are similar views of a slightly modified form of
bracket. The blind roller consists of two pieces of thin metal tubing A, A¹.
Inside the shorter piece A is fixed the wooden core B, which slides inside the
longer length of the tube A¹, by which means the roller may be regulated or
adjusted in length to suit any ordinary width of window. The core B has a
straight longitudinal groove on one side to receive the thin wooden rod C,
which is sewed into one end of the blind, a portion of which is shewn at I).
A longitudinal slit or opening E is left in the tubing, corresponding in
position to the groove in the core, and it is along this slit that the width of the
blind is made to pass when being attached to the roller, as I shall herein-after
more fully explain.

page_text: In order that the longitudinal groove of the core B may always correspond
to or lic immediately below tlie slit E in the tubing, a second straight longi-
tudinal groove is made in the core, into which a small tongue piece F; part of. the
longer tube A', is made to project, thereby serving as a stop to prevent the core
from being turned round in the tube, and also to ensure that it shall always be
introduced into the tube in its proper position. A short length of core G is
secured into the end of the longer tube A', and this short core is grooved on
one side, corresponding to the slit E, such groove also forming a continuation
of the first-mentioned groove in the longer core B. The flange H and pulley I
of the roller may be made either of wood, metal, or other suitable material, and
may be glued or otherwise secured on to the ends of the roller. K, K, are pins,
which pass into the wooden cores B and G, and form the journals on which
the roller turns. Preparatory to attaching a blind to this roller the rod C
must be attached to one end of the blind, and is then to be introduced into the
groove in the core B, the blind itself being guided along the slit E in the tube
A; the other end of the rod is then introduced into the tube A', and the blind
passed along the slit formed therein, until the end of the rod enters the groove
in the short core G. The tubes with their cores are then pushed together or
closed up, until the length of the roller is suited to the width of the blind, the
blind itself having been previously adjusted to the width of the window. The
julley I may be used with an endless cord in the ordinary way to draw up or
let down the blind; or a recoil spring may be employed, in which case the
pulley becomes unnecessary.
I shall now proceed to describe the moveable bearing brackets which I
propose to employ either for ordinary blind rollers or for those of my improved
construction. In Figures 3 and 4, A is the body of the bracket, which is made
with an upper and lower projecting arm or stop B & C, and is formed with a
claw D and lug E, through the latter of which works the thumb screw F, for the
purpose of securing or attaching the bracket to the beading of the window, as
shewn clearly at Figure 4. G is the slot in which works one of the pivots or
journals of the roller, such journals having heads formed upon them, as shewn
at h, k, in Figures 1 and 2, so that when the roller has once been arranged on
its brackets it cannot by any chance alter in length until it is removed from
them. When the bracket is being fixed, the end of the upper arm B is placed
against the under side of the top beading of the window frame; that arm
must of course be made sufficiently long to admit of the roller working
perfectly clear of the beading above it. As both brackets are made of the
same size and shape, with the exception of being made for right and left hand
sides respectively, it follows that, provided the top of the window frame be

page_text: horizontal, the roller will always be placed perfectly horizontal likewise. The
lower arm C of the bracket acts as a stop to prevent the sash of the window
when being thrown up from striking the roller. In the modified bracket,
shown in Figures 5 and 6, the thumb screw is placed inside the bracket, so as
not to be seen from the room. This bracket is intended more particularly for
windows fitted with internal shutters, the thumb screw offering no impediment
to the closing of the shutters. With this exception, the general construction
of the bracket is similar to that shewn in Figures 3 and 4.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my said Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the application and use of telescopic or adjustable rollers for window
blinds, as herein-before described.
Second, the peculiar construction and arrangement of rollers for window
blinds, as herein-before described.
Third, the construction and arrangement of moveable or detachable brackets
as bearings for window blind rollers, and the mode of fixing or securing such
brackets to window frames, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Tall, have hereunto set my band
and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
JOSEPH TALL. (L.S.)