IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER BLIND FURNITURE AND IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1837

page_text: LOACHS
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LOACH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Brassfounder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Fifth day of October, in the first year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Loach,
Her especial licence that I, the said John Loach, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Loach, my exors, admors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLER
BLIND FURNITURE AND IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters
Patent, there is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Loach,
by an instrument in writing under my and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six months next and immediately after the
date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Loach, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained as
follows (that is to say):
My improvements in roller blind furniture, and the mode of manufacturing
the same, have reference, first, to the mechanism or apparatus by means of
which the cord or line passed over a pulley on the roll to which the blind is
attached is tightened or stretched over another and lower pulley, so that by
means of the said cord or line the roll is made to revolve and the blind to be
moved in the direction required; and secondly, to the construction of pullies
for fixing on the ends of rolls for blinds, but which may also be applied to
various other purposes.
My improvement in the apparatus for tightening or stretching the chord
or line used for the purpose I havo mentioned and for confining the lower
pulley in the required position, consists in the application and use of a self-acting
wedge in lieu of a rack, screw, spring, or other means heretofore employed for
the purpose. For better explanation reference is made to the accompanying
Drawings wherein the same parts are denoted in the various Figures by the
same letters. Figure 1 represents a side view, and Figure 2 a front view, of
my improved and self-acting wedge pulley apparatus; Figure 3 a transverse
section of the frame or sheath (A) thereof. In Figure 4, B is a side view, and
Ca front view of one of my wedges. Figure 5 represent side and front views
of a pulley carriage, D being the base thereof, and E, a projecting pin or
axis on which the pulley revolves, and on which also is fixed an ornamental
mounting for retaining the pulley on its axis. Figure 6 shews a carriage with
a pulley F', and moulding G, on the pin or axis thereof; and in Figure 5 and 6
the shaded spaces in the edge of the base D denote channels in which slide
the front edges of the frame or sheath, distinctly shewn in the sections thereof
in Figure 3. In putting together the several portions, that denoted by
Figure 6 is placed in front of and at the narrower end of the wedge, Figure 4;
and the base D, by means of the channels in the edges thereof, is then slided
on the front of the frame A,) with the wedge behind it; the whole being then
held or fixed in a vertical position, with the thicker end of the wedge upper-
most, the pulley with its carriage moving freely up and down on the front of
the frame, but otherwise confined thereto by the projection of the edges of the
frame into the channels on the sides of the pulley carriage, and the wedge
moving freely at the back thereof; the utility and simplicity of the arrange-
ment will at once be evident. The operation is as follows:-When the pulley

page_text: carriage is depressed or moved downwards the wedge at the back thereof will
accompany or follow it in the same direction, but the wedge will resist or
prevent the return of the pulley carriage in the opposite direction. Whenever
it is necessary, however, to raise the pulley and its carriage it is immediately
effected by applying slight pressure to raise the wedge; the pulley will then
also move or accompany the bridge in an upward direction, and may thus be
fixed and retained in any position which the proper tension of the cord or line
may render necessary. I do not confine myself to the particular form of the
frame or of the pulley carriage which I have described, neither do I claim as
of my Invention any of the distinct parts described; but I claim as of my
Invention the application of the self-acting wedge, made of any suitable
material, as a means of fixing and retaining the pulley in such apparatus in
the required position however varied in construction or arrangement the other
parts of the apparatus may be.
My improvements in the manufacture of pullies for fixing on the ends of
blind rolls, and various other purposes, consist in stamping or raising in dies or
moulds of the requisite forms pieces of rolled brass, iron, or other suitable
material, and afterwards forcing or uniting together a pair of such pieces in a
manner whereby rivetting or soldering them together is rendered unnecessary.
Figures 7 represent in section a pair H and J, of such raised pieces sepa-
rately. Figure 8 represents in section the pulley formed by the union of such
a pair of stamped or raised pieces. The exterior of the cylindrical part of J
is required to be of such dimensions as to prevent its entering into the interior
of a like cylinder in H, without considerable force being applied to it. To
effect the junction of the two parts, I place the part H in the die or mould in
which it was formed, (or in another similar one,) properly fixed in a stamp or
press, and holding a piece J over it by aid of the stamp or press; but I prefer
& press for the purpose. I urge the one part within the other by means of
a suitable punch, and the two parts are thus firmly bound together and form
one pulley. The cylindrical part of the pulley forms a receptacle for the end
of a roll, to which it may be attached by screws or otherwise, having, if
required, a pivot rivetted in the centre for the whole to revolve upon.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Loach, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight..

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Second day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1888, the aforesaid John Loach came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight.