AN IMPROVED METHOD OF SUPPORTING WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1884

page_text: I FREDERICK HOWCROFT, Seedsman of 19 Villiers St, London, W.C. in the
County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF SUPPORTING WINDOW SASHES to be as follows:-
My invention consists of a chamber to be inserted into the window casing in
which chamber a cylinder works freely as a roller allowing the sash to rise but on
reversing the motion the cylinder is forced by a spring (which can be regulated
to any strength) against the sash and holds it at any desired point until power
sufficient to overcome the pressure of the spring releases it.

page_text: I, FREDERICK HOWCROFT of 14 Tavistock Row Covent Garden London Seeds-
man do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN AUTOMATIC SASH
HOLDER (communicated by J. A. Stewart) and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The improvement relates to side attachment for windows, for the purpose of
holding the sash at any desired position: and the following is a full, clear and
exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,
in which-
Figure 1 is a front elevation partially in section, of a window showing my
improvement attached thereto.
Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the fastening device. Figure 3 is
a back elevation of the same.
Figure 4 is a cross section in line xx of Figures 2 and 3, showing the device on
an enlarged scale.
The invention consists in the combination of an inclined socket for holding
a roller, a spring bearing on the lower end of the socket, to allow elastic action of
the latter, and a clamp operated from the outside and adjustable up and down, to
increase or lessen the stiffness of the spring, all as hereinafter described.
In the drawings A A show the two sashes of a window, and B B the jambs or
casing.
My invention is as follows:-
C is a cast iron case set into a mortise, a, in the jamb opposite the edge of the
sash, and secured fast in place by screws 6 b.
D is a socket piece or way having a pivot, c at the upper end, which rests in
bearings dd of the case so as to turn easily, the lower end of the socket. piece
having a round or curved knuckle, f, which rests against the back of the case.
The body g of the socket is inclined upward and backward, and in the same rests
a wooden or other roller, h, which bears against the edge of the sash when at its
lower position, but is thrown away from the sash when at the highest position, as
indicated by the dotted lines, Fig 2.
E is a straight, flat steel spring on the back or inner side of the case, its upper
end bearing against the knuckle fat the bottom of the socket piece, and its lower
end secured by the adjustable clamp.
G is the adjustable clamp, the same consisting of a square half loop which slips
endwise over the bottom of the case and spring, and has claws ii, which embrace
the edges of the case, as shown in the cross section, Fig 4, which prevents the
clamp from coming off, but allows it to be adjusted up and down. The clamp is
placed in position on the fixture before the latter is placed in its mortise in the
jamb, and when once in place it cannot be removed till the fixture is taken off:
but the claws ii rest flush in the mortise, and by taking hold of them with the
fingers, the clamp can be raised and lowered, while the fixture is in place and
without removing it from the jamb.
The great advantage in this invention consists in the combination of the three
parts, the pivoted socket-piece or guideway for the roller, the straight spring
bearing against the bottom of the same so as to allow the guideway to spring out
or in to accommodate the roller, and the clamp sliding on the lower end of the

page_text: casing embracing the spring and increasing or lessening its power accordingly as it
is moved up or down-A peculiar advantage results from the form of the clamp
which brings it to the outside of the jamb, flush with the surface, whereby, while
it allows free movement of the sash up and down, yet it can be seized by the
fingers and adjusted higher or lower without removing the fixture from its
fastening. These fixtures are used on both sides of the sash, and may be used on
both the lower and the upper sashes, or either, as may be desired.
Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by
Letters Patent, is-
In a sash balance, the combination, with the main case, of the socket piece or
guideway pivoted at its top but free at its bottom, the straight spring bearing
against the bottom of the socket, a clamp sliding over the lower end of the case
and embracing the spring, whereby the stiffness of the latter may be increased or
diminished, and a roller resting on the inclined body of the socket-piece, as shown
and described, and for the purpose specified.
The oth
T
.100.