IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM ANTHONY HUNTER of Deepgill Cottage, Plumpton, near Penrith in
the County of Cumberland, Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention was designed originally for raising and lowering and detaining
a rack or frame to hang clothes and other materials upon for drying and other
purposes; the apparatus is also suitable for the raising and lowering of venetian
blinds and similar articles, and also for opening and closing swing skylights, and
windows, and other ventilating appliances actuated as they usually are by means
of cords, etcetera.
When applied to clothes drying and suspending this Invention consists of a
frame of one, two or more parallel bars, united by cross bars, and may be minde
of wood or any suitable material, and suspended in a proper manner by a rope or
ropes running over pulleys, fixed to a suitable support or supports, as for instance
the joists of a floor.
When it is desired to fix the apparatus in a kitchen or other room of a house,
and two ropes are used to suspend the frame or rack, one double pulley and two
single ones are screwed or otherwise fixed to the joists, at a suitable distance apart,
and from the fire, if there be one in the room.
The double pulley and one single one are fixed about half the length of the track
apart, and at equal distances from each end of it.
The second single pulley (which must be wide enough to take the rope or cord
double) is fixed to a joist near the wall of the room to which it will be most
convenient to fasten the raising and lowering part of the apparatus, which consists
of a roller with flanged ends made to revolve within a small frame by means of a
spindle (with handle attached) passing through but fast to it, and bearing on
the sides of the frame, which may be fixed to the wall or other convenient
support.
Upon the same spindle (and preferably outside the frame) is fixed a small ratchet
wheel, into the teeth of which falls a pawl moving on a pivot attached to the
frame and serving as a check to prevent unwinding when the weight of the rack
is on the cord and the hand is removed from the handle. By turning the handle
attached to the spindle and roller, the one end of the rope attached to the roller
is wound up, the other is attached to the rack in the manner to be described.
D

page_text: The said pawl by engaging into one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel prevents
the roller from revolving and so keeps the rack securely suspended. But by
throwing back the pawl and taking hold of the handle to prevent the too sudden
revolution of the roller, the rack will descend gradually by its own gravity to the
required distance from the floor of the room. Now reverse the position of the
pawl and the rack will hang secure in its position, when the clothes or other
articles may be taken off or put on it as the case requires.
When the pawl is thrown back upon the stud and out of gear with the catch
wheel, the gradual descent of the rack then depends upon the operator keeping a
firm hold of the handle, which if left loose would spin round and the rack descend
too quickly. To guard against this there may be a screw put through the frame
of the winch that when turned will press against the flange of the bobbin and act
as a break, so that the rack could not make a too rapid descent, or it might be
done by a wedge passing through both sides of the frame, and which when
pushed in would also press against the flange of the bobbin and prevent or retard
its revolution but I would prefer the screw break.
The mode I prefer of attaching the ropes to the roller and rack is as follows:
I take a length of rope a little more than the length required to raise and lower
the rack the required distance; one end of this I pass through the eye of the split
cotterel, which fastens the roller to the spindle, and make it fast; at the other end
of this short rope I form a loop, and through this loop I pass the longer rope, the
two ends of which after passing over their respective pulleys I fasten to the cross
bars near each end of the rack.
By sliding the long rope one way or the other through the loop in the short
rope, the rack may be made to hang horizontally from end to end. But instead
of using a short length of single rope in combination with the double rope, the
double rope somewhat twisted together may be used alone and attached to the
roller of the raising and lowering part of the apparatus, and wound upon it as
described before. But I prefer to use the short length of single rope in combination
with the double one.
When the raising and lowering part of the apparatus is applied to raising and
lowering venetian blinds, skylights, etcetera, the usual cords attached to these
are fastened to the roller as described in the case of the clothes rack, when they
may be made to rise and fall open or shut in the same secure and steady manner
and may be detained at any elevation within the compass they are designed
to move.

page_text: I, WILLIAM ANTHONY HUNTER, of Deepgill Cottage, Plumpton, near Penrith in
the County of Cumberland, Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES ***
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this Invention is to provide a means or apparatus for quickly,
easily and securely raising and suspending clothes or other articles which require
to be hung up, or spread out in the air,
Referring to the Drawings which shew my Invention designed for use in the
drying or airing of clothes.
Fig. 1 shews the apparatus complete as applied in a kitchen or other room
where clothes are hung out for drying or other purposes.
Fig. 2 shews an enlarged sectional elevation of elevating device.
Fig. 3 end elevation of same.
Fig. 4 is a detailed cross sectional view of the rack on which the clothes
are hung.
Fig. 5 suspension hooks upon which the rack is supported when at rest.
Fig. 6 enlarged front view of brake pulley.
Fig. 7 end view of same.
'
A is a frame or rack consisting of one two or more parallel bars a united
together by cross bars a¹, and may be made of wood or other suitable material,
but wood is what I prefer, and it must be understood as being made of wood in
the further description of the Invention. The frame A is suspended by a rope or
ropes B running over pulleys C C₁ screwed or otherwise fixed into the joists of the
floor above or other suitable support. The rack A is preferably suspended by
ropes b attached to the cross bars a¹ in the manner shown in the Drawings, to
which the ropes B are attached. The ropes B pass over the pulleys C C' and then
over a brake pulley D being joined together at the point E, the single end B' of
the ropes being attached to the winder F. The pulleys C C₁ are single pulleys,
but C is made sufficiently wide for both ropes to pass over it. G are hooks
fastened to the joists or supports upon which the rack A is allowed to rest when
full or empty, and which bears its weight, thus relieving the strain upon the ropes
and pulleys.
The hooks are shewn in detail at Fig. 5 and are so formed that when the rack
is being raised the cross bars a¹ first come in contact with the under side of the
hook as shewn at G', and slide up the incline of the hook, and when they have
cleared it, fall into the position shewn at G" when the rack and its load rest
secure, and the ropes are relieved froin further strain.
.
:
To relieve the rack from this position and lower it, it is first slightly raised by
pulling on the ropes B, and then pulled to one side clear of the hooks by means
of the cord H passing over pulley h and attached to one end of the rack A. H' is
a weight attached to end of cord H to keep it in place, this action brings the rack
from off the hooks when it may be lowered as desired.
It is obvious that a hook of other construction than that shewn in the Drawings
might be used and that instead of the exact action described, the rack might be

page_text: pulled into position when being raised as well as when being lowered by the
rope H, or the hook might be pulled from under the rack by being hinged and
operated by a rope and returned to its normal position by a spring or its own
gravity.
The winder or elevating apparatus F shewn in detail in Figs. 2 and 3 consists
of a simple winch with a barrel f to which the end B¹ of the ropes is attached,
supported in framing f¹ and actuated by a handle f2. f³ is a ratchet wheel acted
upon by the pawlf to prevent the backward movement of the winch and sustain
the weight of the rack when desired.
The brake pulley D is shewn in detail in Figs. 6 and 7. It is self acting
provided with a pawl and catch-wheel action as shown; it is free to move when
the rack is being raised, but when it is being lowered it does not revolve, the cords
slide over it and so retard the descent of the rack. The cord as it passed over
pulley D is shewn crossed, for the purpose of having a better grip of the pulley,
but it might pass over the same as at C or C¹ when the position of the catch wheel
and pawl would have to be reversed. As shown with cross cord, pulley D must
be canted a little to one side, so that the cord in passing will not rub against
itself when in action having given pulley D the desired cant to one side, I put a
screw or nail through the lug d to keep it in the desired position.
The self acting brake pulley eases the strain upon the handle of the winder
when lowering the rack, and the heavier the weight the tighter the cord grips the
brake pulley, so that the rack descends when loaded almost as gently as if empty,
enabling a young person to operate it with safety.
It will be observed that the pulleys C C¹D and are all screwed into the
supports at an angle of about forty five degrees, this position I believe is the best
for resisting the strain put upon them.
Fig. 4 shews an end section of the rack the long bars a are let into notches in
the cross bars a¹ and screws, nails, or pins driven up from below to fasten them
in their place as shewn, and thus when screws or pins are used to fasten the long
bars, the rack is easily taken to pieces, the bars tied together, when the whole
thing becomes very portable. If the rack be a large one and it is thought desirable
it may be pulled up and let down by cords passing over four pulleys instead of
two as shewn,
A wood rack so formed as to be easily taken to pieces and removed or put
together again, is better than a fixed frame, the screws driven up from below do
not come in contact with the clothes which when wet might otherwise be iron
moulded, unless the screws or pins were made of a material that would not so
affect them. Instead of wood the rack may be made of suitable metal wire or for
lightness of cord, except an outer frame to stretch such cord from.
The winch shewn in Figs. 2 and 3 and the brake pulley shewn in Figs. 7 and 8
may be applied to raising and lowering venetian blinds, skylights, etcetera, the
usual cords attached to these are fastened to the roller as described in the case of
the clothes rack, when they may be made to rise and fall open or shut in the
same secure and steady manner, and may be detained at any elevation within the
compass they are designed to move, but for such use, I do not intend to make any
claim but dedicate the same to the public.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1st. The combined apparatus for drying or airing clothes consisting of a rack
or frame suspended from ropes, a winch or winder for raising or lowering the
rack, and a brake or friction apparatus to assist in the lowering of the rack,
substantially as described and shewn.
2nd. The herein described apparatus for drying or airing clothes, in which a
rack or frame upon which the clothes are placed is raised and lowered by means

page_text: of a winch or winder assisted by a brake or friction apparatus and held suspended
at or near the ceiling when in normal position.
3rd. The general arrangement and construction of apparatus taken as a complete
whole, substantially as and for the purposes described.
WM P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Patent Agents for the Applicant.