IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUS- PENDING AND SECURING WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Whiteside Morville, of Pendleton, Salford,
in the County of Lancaster, late of the United States, Engraver, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUS-
PENDING AND SECURING WINDOW SASHES."-A communication from abroad
by Porter A Gladwin of Pawtucket Rhode Island. United States.
Sealed the 23rd December 1859, and dated the 2nd July 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Whiteside
Morville at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 2nd July 1859.
1, ROBERT WHITESIDE MORVILLE, of Pendleton, Salford, in the County of
Lancaster, late of the United States, Engraver, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUS--
PENDING AND SECURING WINDOW SASHES," (a communication from abroad by Porter.
A. Gladwin, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States,) to be as follows:-
Firstly, the Invention consists in the substitution of spiral springs in place.
of weights usually employed for balancing window sashes sliding vertically..
Each spring is placed in a pulley carried by bearings in a box recessed into
the window frame. The cords from each sash are secured to and wound round!
the pulleys of the springs, so that the tension put upon the springs, sustains
wholly or partly the weight of the sash frame.. Springs are employed to give
friction, to prevent the sashes from moving too easily, or to retain them in the
positions in which they are left when opened, which springs are secured to the
sashes, and press and slide against the window frames. By these arrangements

page_text: the cases or boxes usually provided for sash balance weights can be dispensed
with.
Secondly, in arrangements by which window sashes sliding vertically, when
shut, are made self-securing, and these arrangements consist in a spring hook
or latch, which is secured on the upper sash, and a catch plate which is secured
on the lower sash, and arranged so that by the act of closing the window sashes
the plate forces back the spring hook or latch till the hook part passes the
catch plate, when the reaction of the spring brings the hook into the first
position, so that the sashes cannot be opened again till the hook is pressed
back by the hand to release it from the catch plate.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Whiteside Morville in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WHITESIDE MORVILLE, of Pendleton, Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
late of the United States, Engraver, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Whiteside Morville, Iler special license that I, the said
Robert Whiteside Morville, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Whiteside Morville, 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 (communicated to me from abroad by Porter A. Gladwin,
of Pantucket, Rhode Island, United States,) for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM
OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUSPENDING AND SECURING WINDOW SASHES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Whiteside Morville,
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 months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said. Robert Whiteside Morville, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):
:
Firstly, the Invention consists in the combination of spiral springs for sustain-
ing the weight of window sashes, sliding vertically, with peculiar formed and
arranged tension or friction springs fixed to cach sash. Fig. 1 is a side sectional
view, shewing the combination above referred to, as applied to a window sash;
Fig. 2 is an edge view of part of a sash, shewing the tension spring applied to
it. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are respectively a front, side, and plan view of the
pulley for the spiral spring, and the frame carrying it without the suspending
cord. Two spiral springs and two tension or friction springs are employed for
each sash, and they are constructed in size and strength according to the
weight of the sash to which they are to be applied. The spiral springs are
fixed in the top part of the window frame, where the ordinary pulley is placed
when weights are employed. Each pulley frame a is let into the window
frame (6) as shewn in Fig. 1, and is secured in its place by two screws (a').
The pulley frame (a) by two projections holds and carries an axis (c),
so as to prevent it from turning round, and on this axis (c) the spring box
is mounted, which is formed by a circular box (d) and a lid (d), which
is secured to the box (d) by the two screws (d); one end of the spiral
spring (which is omitted in the Drawing) is secured to one of these screws (d'),
and the other end to the central axis. (c). The cord (e) for suspending
the window sash (f) is secured to the spring box (d) by passing the end
through an eye (³) formed on the spring box (d) and making a knot on it;
the cord (e) passes the required number of times round the spring box (d)
and over the guide pulley (9), (carried by two projections from the frame (a);)
down a groove in the edge of the sash (f) to the tension or friction spring (h),
which is forked or slotted to receive the end of the cord (c), which has a knot
made upon it to prevent it from passing through the slot, as shown in the
Drawings, Figs. 1 and 2. The tension or friction spring (h) is fixed to the
sash, as shewn by two screws (h'); with this combination and arrangement the
ordinary boxes in window frames formed for the suspending weights may be
dispensed with, and the cords can be readily attached to or detached from the
window sash; or they may be readily renewed when required, by taking out
the two screws (a'), securing each spring pulley frame (a).
:
Secondly, the Invention relates to a simple, ornamental, and cheap self-
securing sash fastener, and consists in the combination and arrangement of a
spring book and perforated plate. The spring hook may be modified in shape

page_text: and arrangement, but the one shewn in the accompanying Drawing is the best
in the opinion of the Inventor. In Figs. 6, 7, and 8, the fastner is shewn as
applied to the sash bars of the upper and lower window sashes; Fig. 6 is a
side view, the sash bars and perforated plate being shewn in section; Fig. 7, a
front view, the perforated plate in section, the front sash bar being supposed
removed; and Fig. 8, a plan view. a is the lower bar of the upper window
sash, and 6 is the upper bar of the lower window sash shewn in the position
they occupy when shut; c is a spring bent in the form shewn, and secured to
the sash bar (a) by a screw (c'); to this spring a hook (d) is rivetted; this
hook passes through a hole in the perforated plate (e), which is secured to the
bar (6) by two screws (6). When the window is to be opened, the top of the
hook is pulled back towards the bar (b) till clear of the perforated plate (e),
then the window can be opened; and when the sashes are shut, the under side
of the perforated plate comes against the incline surface of the hook (d), and
forces it back till the hook part has passed, when the reaction of the spring (c)
brings the book back, so that the sashes cannot be opened again till the book
is pressed back by hand. The spring (c) may be made to descend straight
.from the hook part (d), and be secured to the front edge of the sash (a) by a
The hook may also be made to move on a joint, and be acted upon by
a spring, but I believe the arrangement, as shewn in the Drawing, is that
which, as before stated, the Inventor considers the best and most economical
.in construction.
screw.
I have now particularly described the nature of the said Invention, and the
mode of carrying the same into effect, as communicated to me, and wish it to
be understood that I claim,―
Firstly, the combination and arrangement of the mechanism for suspending
window sashes sliding vertically, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly, the combination and arrangement of a hook (d) and plate (e), for
securing window sashes sliding vertically, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Whiteside Morville, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
ROB. W. MORVILLE. (L.8.)