CERTAIN MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS TO BE APPLIED DOOR CARTMENT WINDOWS TO PREVENT SLAMMING OR CLAPPING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ovenden, the elder, and William Ovenden,.
the younger, both of Dover, in the County of Kent, Cabinet Makers,
for the Invention of "CERTAIN MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS TO BE APPLIED
DOOR CARTMENT WINDOWS TO PREVENT SLAMMING OR CLAPPING."
Sealed the 13th October 1864, and dated the 15th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ovenden, the
elder, and William Ovenden, the younger, at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 15th April 1864.
...We, WILLIAM OVENDEN, the elder, and WILLIAM OVENDEN, the younger,
both of Dover,. in the County of Kent, Cabinet Makers, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS TO BE
APPLIED TO DOORS AND CABEMENT WINDOWS TO PREVENT SLAMMING OR CLAPPING,"
to be as follows:-
These arrangements are to be applied at any part, at the back of the door
or, under the floor, or in the ceiling above (as most convenient), and will
gradually close the door (where springs are applied) and will prevent that
unpleasant slamming of the door which is so common. It can also be applied,
Di 11

page_text: to doors without springs, but then of course the door will stand open un less
pushed to or closed by strong draughts. I have a brass or metal barrel
varying in size according to the size of the door. This is to be filled with
liquid or oil (thickened with lard if required). The barrel has two relieving
passages of, say, one quarter of an inch wide and a plunger or splunge of
copper, brass, or other metal with closing valve and brass or metal fall faced
with leather, and is secured at the end by a screw cap with leather and bulk
india-rubber washer (a gland screw can also be applied to the large size if
required). A cup or receptacle for liquid is screwed on to the end, and
can be taken off when empty. The plunger or splunge is provided with a
piston rod, with eye at the end, for fixing to the door or casement, also a
plate and regulating screw hook, with brass nut and a plate, hook and eye,
and adjuncts for fixing. At the farther end of the barrel is a screw cap
for screwing up and unscrewing for filling the barrel with liquid or other-
wise. Further, I can use a cup leather splunge to act on air, coupled with
the above Invention to use at pleasure. This apparatus will vary in length
of barrel and piston rod (as in diameter) to suit the sizes of the doors.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ovenden, the elder, and William Ovenden, the
younger, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
OVENDEN, the elder, and WILLIAM OVENDEN, the younger, both of Dover, in
the County of Kent, Cabinet Makers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said William Ovenden, the elder, and William Ovenden, the
younger, Her special licence that we, the said William Ovenden, the elder,
and William Ovenden, the younger, our executors, administrators, andassigns,
or such others as we, the said William Ovenden, the elder, and William
Ovenden, the younger, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,

page_text: we,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "CERTAIN
MECHANICAL ARRANGEMENTS TO BE APPLIED TO DOORS AND CASEMENT WINDOWS TO
PREVENT SLAMMING OR CLAPPING," upon the condition (amongst others) that
the said William Ovenden, the elder, and William Ovenden, the younger,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or
their, or one of 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 William Ovenden, the elder, and
William Ovenden, the younger, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be pȧr-.
ticularly described, and, ascertained in and. by the following statement.
and accompanying Drawing, that is to say:-
Our Invention consists in a barrel composed of brass, iron, or other suitable
metal, varying in size according to the size of the door to which it is to be
applied. This barrel we fill with a liquid oil, (or atmospheric air will answer,
as herein-after described,) such as, for instance, neat's foot or olive oil, but
for the better working of our mechanical arrangements we prefer to thicken
these liquid oils by mixing them with lard to the consistency of a paste. In
the inside of this afore-mentioned barrel we have two or more relieving.
passages in order, to permit the above-named oils or oil and lard to flow.more
readily. These relieving passages will be more readily understood and.ascer-
tained by the, accompanying Drawing. Within the afore-mentioned barrel
we have a piston made of brass or other suitable metal, and fitted with a
piston rod of steel, iron, or other suitable metal passing through one end of
the barrel which is closed by a screw cap fitted with a leather washer to
render it close, and fitted with a screwed gland through which the piston rod
is caused to work tightly to prevent leakage. The said screwed cap should be
rendered easy to take off or put on by being hexagonal or octagonal when it is
desired to fill the barrel with oil, or oil and lard. This above-named gland
may be covered with an ornamental. cover or cap if desired, which will hold
and retain any drops of oil or oil and lard that may escape. The end of the
piston rod is fitted with a fixing plate, whereby the apparatus can be attached
to the jamb of the door, or the top panel thereof, or in any other position that
may be required, by means of screws,, nails, or other equivalent fastening;

page_text: this said fixing plate is also furnished with a regulating screw actuated by a
nut and secured by a clamping nut, whereby the length of the piston rod may
be adjusted to the length of the afore-mentioned barrel. When our apparatus
is to be applied to folding doors it should be placed over the top of the door
in a niche cut in the panel to receive it, one end of the apparatus being
attached by the above-mentioned fixing plate to the top of the door, and the
other end above the top in the panel, by means of a similar fixing plate with
screws, nails, or other equivalent fastening. The above-named piston is fur-
nished with a passage through it to admit the flow of the oil, or oil and lard
which is closed by a valve opening inwards or outwards according to the side
of the door to which our apparatus is to be applied. Should it be found that
the door does not shut quickly enough, or that the piston moves too tightly. a
small slit or notch may be made in the piston, thereby allowing the oil or oil
and lard. to flow more freely. When our apparatus is to be used with air we
prefer to compose our piston of leather tightly pressed against the inside of the
barrel by means of a spring ring of steel or brass wire; the valve however
may be made the same as when the oil or oil and lard is used.
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible I shall
now refer to the accompanying Drawing, and to the letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
Fig. 1 is a section of my apparatus as I use it with oil or the oil and lard,
and Fig. 2 is a section of the apparatus às used with air. A is the barrel;
B, B, are the relieving passages, which are shewn in section at m and m' of
Fig. 3. They are made wide at the base, with only a narrow slit at the edge
to prevent the leather piston Fig.2 from filling the space. When, however, oil
or oil and lard is used, these relievingpassages may be made about a quarter
of an inch in width. C is the piston with its passage G closed by the valve'g;
D is the screw cap fitted with the gland H, which is covered in Fig. 1 with
an ornamental cap E; F is the piston rod with an eye at its extremity L for
fastening to the fixing plate N, Fig. 4; K is a similar eye at the end of the
barrel for attaching to the fixing plate T, Fig. 6. In Fig. 4, N is the
fixing plate; O is the plate hook; Pis the nut on the adjusting screw, and
R is the clamping nut. Fig. 5 is an end view of the same fixing plate. In
Fig. 2, a is the wire spring which presses the leather piston b against the
sides of the barrel.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of our said
Invention for "Certain Mechanical Arrangements to be applied to Doors and
Casement Windows to Prevent Slamming or Clapping," together; with the

page_text: best means we are acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect,
we would remark in conclusion that we hereby declare our Invention to
consist in, and we claim, the general combination and arrangement of parts
above described and represented for the purpose above stated.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Ovenden, the elder, and
William Ovenden, the younger, have hereunto, set our hands and
seals, this Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
(L.S.)
WILLIAM OVENDEN, THE ELDER.
WILLIAM OVENDEN, THE YOUNGER. (L.S.)
CHARLES S. BAKER, Clerk,
Gen. Patent Company Agents,
71, Fleet Street.