IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND RELEASING CORDS, CHAINS, BANDS, OR BARS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Lewtas, of the City of Manchester, Manu-
facturer of Venetian and other Blinds, and John Humphreys, the
younger of the same Place, Mechanic, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Lewtas and John
Humphreys at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 5th July 1856.
I, JOSEPH LEWTAS, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer of Venetian
and other. Blinds, and JOHN HUMPHREYS, the younger, of the same Place,
Mechanic,,do hereby declare the nature of the .said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND RELEASING CORDS, CHAINS, BANDS, OR
BARS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists.in certain improvements upon the apparatus for
holding and letting go cords, chains, or bands, for which former Letters Patent
were granted to the. within-named Joseph. Lewtas.
i.
The object of the present Invention is to simplify the apparatus, to reduce
the cost of construction, and consequently to render the parts less liable to get
deranged.
According to the present Invention, the slots, described in the Specification
of the Patent above referred to, are dispensed with, and the cord, chain, band,
or bar to be held or released, passes between a moveable roller, ball, or block
and a fixed surface. . When the apparatus is in action, the moveable roller,

page_text: ball, or block, is retained in its position by a back plate or guard, set at a
suitable angle to the fixed surface, and when the cord, chain, band, or bar has
been released, the roller, ball, or block is prevented dropping by a guard of
any suitable construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Lewtas and John Humphreys in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd January 1857.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
LEWTAS, of the City of Manchester, Manufacturer of Venetian and other
Blinds, and JOHN HUMPHREYS, the younger, of the same Place, Mechanic,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph
Lewtas, and John Humphreys, Her special license that we, the said Joseph
Lewtas and John Humphreys, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Joseph Lewtas and John Humphreys, our 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 APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND RELEASING
CORDS, CHAINS, BANDS, OR BARS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Joseph Lewtas and John Humphreys, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Joseph Lewtas and John Humphreys,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
The nature of this Invention consists in certain improvements upon the
apparatus for holding and letting go cords, chains, or bands, for which Letters

page_text: Patent were granted to the within-named Joseph Lewtas, on the Seventeenth
day of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. The cords,
chains, bands, or bars to be held or released, pass between a moveable roller,
ball, or block, and a fixed plane or surface; and the slots, described in the
Specification of the Letters Patent above referred to for guiding the roller or
block, are dispensed with.
In order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings, reference
being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents a window with a roller blind of the usual construction;
to which our improved apparatus for holding and releasing the cord is applied;
Figure 2 is a window with a Venetian blind of the usual construction, to which
our improved apparatus for holding and releasing the two cords is applied.
Figures 3 and 4 are a front and side view, drawn full size, of the improved
apparatus, shewn on a small scale in Figure 1 as applied to the ordinary roller
blind. a is a bracket, screwed to the framework of the window; to this bracket
are cast or fixed the projections 6 and c, between which the roller d'is at liberty
to move freely. The lid e is soldered or otherwise attached to the projections
b and c, thereby forming a box for the roller d; the cord f passes between the
projection 6 and the roller d, and is made fast to the pulley g of the roller
blind: In Figures 1 and 3 the cord is supposed to be held fast by the roller d
which is represented in Figure 3 as binding the cord against the inclined plane
of the projection b. If the blind is required to be lowered, the cord f is drawn
down sufficiently to allow the roller to release it; the roller then drops to the
lower part of the projection c, which forms a guard to prevent the roller drop-
ping; the cord is then brought into the position shewn by dotted lines, and the
blind is allowed to descend-by its own weight until it is sufficiently lowered; the
cord is then brought into the vertical position again, thereby coming in contact
with the roller d, which is thus raised by the friction of the cord into its original
position to bind the cord against the projection b. In raising the blind, it is only
necessary to pull the cord f downwards in order to release it from the binding
action of the roller d, and to give motion to the roller blind in the usual
manner.
Figures 5 and 6 are two views of a modification of the apparatus shewn in
Figures 3 and 4. In this instance the box, formed by the projections b and c,
with the plate that connects them and the lid e, is jointed to a stud h, on which
it swivels, the amount of the swivelling motion being governed by the segmental
slot in the bracket a and the stud on the box. The object of this modification
is to allow the box containing the roller d to yield to the action of the cord

page_text: when it is being wound on the barrel g of the blind roller. Instead of making
the box of the rollerid to swivel, as shewn in Figures 5 and 6, a small anti-
friction roller i, as shewn by dotted lines, in Figure 3, may be placed to guide
the cord on to the barrel g.
Figures 7 and 8 are two views of our improved apparatus as applied to the
ordinary Venetian blind, shewn in Figure 2. The bracket jis made with three
projections k,-k, and k², and the bracket 1 forms also: the lid to retain the
rollers d, d, in their places. The two cords f; f, are guided by pulleys to the
blind in the usual manner, and are held fast or released by the rollers d, d, in
the manner above described in reference to Figures 1, 3, and 4. In Venetian
blinds of great width requiring three cords, it is evident that the bracket is
made with three compartments, and that three rollers d are employed, so that
each cord may be acted upon by one roller. In some cases a ball or block
may be used instead of the roller d.
Although in the said Drawings we have only shewn the application of our
Invention to the construction of apparatus for holding and releasing the cords
of window blinds, it is evident that by increasing or varying the dimensions of
the parts, apparatus of the same kind may be used for holding and releasing
the cords, chains, bands, or bars of machinery, the teagles of warehouses, and
for other purposes. The tightening roller, ball, or block, or the inclined.sur-
face against which it is pressed, may be acted upon to release the cord, chain,
band, or bar by screws, levers, or other suitable agents.
Having thus particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, we declare that what we claim is, the com-
combination of a moveable roller, ball, or block, and a fixed holding plane or
surface, between which the cord, chain, band or bar is held, when used in the
manner and for the purposes herein-before described..
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Lewtas and John Humphreys,
the younger, have hereunto 'set our lands and seals, this Thirty-first
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
JOSEPH LEWTAS.
(L.S.)
JOHN HUMPHREYS, JUN. (L.S.)