IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SASHES AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Walker, of the City and County of
Edinburgh, North Britain, Glass Merchant, for the Invention of
T
IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SASHES
AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Walker at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd June 1870.
I, ALEXANDER WALKER, of the City and County of Edinburgh,
North Britain, Glass Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SASHES AND PARTS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to say :-
The object and advantage of this said Invention are to enable the
outside of the window sashes to be turned inwards for the greater safety
and convenience of cleaning and repairing the same by more simple and
perfect constructions and arrangements of parts required therefor than
heretofore; and the nature of the Invention and improvements consists
in making or dividing the two upright stiles, or sliding, vertical side

page_text: rails of the window sashes or frames carrying the glass in two parts,
with a vertical joint up each side a little inside and clear of the tops of
the outer face, parting head, and batten sliding guides, and having a
lateral swivel joint pin either attached to the sash or outer swivel and
carrying stile, so divided near the middle part of their joint. The
hanging ropes are attached in the usual manner to the outside of the
two separate stiles which are fixed for general use and sliding in the
usual fixed frames by a double dovetailed or I-shaped feather or rod
inserted vertically down through nearly the whole length of each joint
into a correspondingly shaped groove, check, or ribat formed in the
adjacent surfaces of the frame and its outer stiles or separate pieces, so
as to secure them firmly together and prevent any wind or rain from
being blown in through the joint when the sashes are placed in their
usual fixed or sliding position; in which position the outer stiles may
have a kneed piece projecting under the sash at foot and thus sustain a
portion of the weight of the sash and relieve the strain on the pivot
joints. Either or both these holding feathers and grooves may be formed
of wood, or of metal, as of iron coated with zinc or tin, or made of brass,
each feather being formed with a head, a ring, or other equivalent sunk
into the top rail of the sash with a recess below it, so that these
feathers can be easily raised up and drawn out of the grooves and joints
for turning the outside of the sash or window inwards and inserting
them again, all with the greatest simplicity and ease, by any person
before and after performing the required cleaning or repairs respectively.
When the outside of the lower sash or swivelling window frame is to be
so turned inwards on its pivots at the joint it is pushed up a little off the
sill, and when it is the upper one that is to be so turned it is pulled
down a little clear of the lintel or stationary top frame when either of
them could then be swivelled round at the said joints and on the two
pivots clear of the said guides, by preference by bringing the top edges
inwards and downwards to any angle convenient or desirable for cleaning
or renewing the glass, or cleaning or repairing the putty, paint, or frame
of the outside of the window all within the inside of the house
comfortably and conveniently without the fear and danger attending
the doing so with most of the sash windows as heretofore constructed,
in which the servants and tradesmen have the trouble of either taking
out the guides and sash or going quite outside the window to do the
cleaning and repairs required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
WALKER, of the City and County of Edinburgh, North Britain, Glass
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Alexander Walker, Her special licence that I,
the said Alexander Walker, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Walker, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 for " IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW
SASHES AND PARTS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alexander Walker, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 I, the said Alexander Walker, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawings and to the several illustrative Figures,
reference letters, and numerals, all which I have appended for the
purpose of showing the best modes and means I am at present aware of
for particularly putting my said Invention into effect or practice, the
same reference letters being used to indicate the same or equivalent parts
in all the Figures.
The nature, object, and advantage of my said Invention are to enable
the outside of window sashes to be turned inwards for the greater

page_text: safety and convenience of cleaning and repairing the same by the
adoption of more simple and perfect constructions and arrangements of
certain parts thereof to effect this purpose and required therefor than
has heretofore been employed.
Figure 1 is an inside front elevation of an ordinary construction of
sliding double sash balance weighted window and fixed frame shown as
fitted with and illustrative of one modification of my said Invention or
improvements. Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken
on the line 1-1, in Figure 1, showing the outside of the two sash frames
in the position of being swiveled or turned inwards in red lines; and
Figure 3 is a corresponding sectional plan taken on the horizontal line
2-2 of the same in Figure 1. Figures 4 and 5 are angular inside front
elevations of the same, corresponding to Figures 1 and 2, but showing
the upper and lower sashes respectively reversed as indicated in red
lines in the latter Figure with the outside turned inwards. Figure 6 is
a front elevation of the one side of the lower sash with the side rails in
section to show the new parts, Figure 7 being a corresponding elevation
of the fixing feather as withdrawn up out of the two parts of the said
side rail in Figure 6 and which it holds together; the foregoing general
views being all to a small scale. Figure 8 is a full-sized irregular
horizontal section of one side of the fixed sash frames corresponding
to Figures 1 to 7. Figure 9, 10, is a corresponding sectional front
view of the side and central parts of one of the sash frames, Figures
11 and 12 being front or face views and horizontal sections on the
lines 3-3 and 4-4 respectively of the two central parts of the
said side or stile through the new swiveling joint at right angles to
Figures 9, 10; and Figures 13 and 14 are each a side elevation and
horizontal section on the lines 5-5 and 6-6 respectively at right
angles to each other of the central joint part of the locking feather
(shown in Figure 8), all drawn full size corresponding to Figure 8, so
as to show the details of the construction of the new parts and their
arrangement more clearly than in the small scale views, Figures 1 to 7.
Figures 15 to 21 show slightly different modifications or constructions of
the locking feather and groove arrangement for fixing the two parts
of the side stiles of the sashes from that shown in the former, Figures 1
to 14. Referring to these Figures 1 to 14, the nature of my said Inven-
tion or novel improvements, and mode of performing or carrying it or
them into effect or practice, substantially consists in making or dividing

page_text: the two upright stiles or sliding vertical side rails a, a', of window sashes
or frames A, A', and A", A³, carrying the glass, each in two parts a, a³,
with a vertical joint b up each side, just a little inside and clear of the
tops of the usual outer face, parting beads B and B', and inner batten
sliding guides B" (B, B', B", respectively). These joints b are all that
is outwardly or visibly different in this new arrangement and construction
of the parts of sashes and windows when in proper steady position from
that of the ordinary construction and arrangement of sliding balanced
weighted sash windows. A lateral swivel joint pin b' and its hollow
bush or counterpart 6", by preference made of cast malleable iron or
brass, are screwed or otherwise attached to the faces of the sash stiles a
and new outside pieces or swivel carrying stiles a¹, so divided and near
their middle part forming the joint b, all so that the sash frames A, A',
and A", A, work and swivel on the opposite pivot joints 6', 6". The
ordinary ropes C of the hanging weights C' are attached to grooves C"
at the top and outside of the two said separate stiles d' (in the usual
manner), thus forming swiveling, hanging, or carrying, and sliding
stiles or rails to the sashes, and both being thus fixed together in vertical
position for the general use of sliding in the usual guides (B, B', B")
and fixed frames B2 by a double dovetailed or it may be I-shaped
feather or rod c inserted vertically down through correspondingly
shaped grooves d formed in the centre and whole or nearly the whole
length of the faces forming the joints 6 of the stiles a, a'. These corre-
spondingly shaped grooves d, whether of the dovetail form, Figure 12, or
of the check or ribat form, Figures 17 and 18, may be formed in the
adjacent edges or surfaces 6 of the wood frame itself only, or have
hollow rolled or drawn thin metal cases d¹ formed and fixed therein,
Figures 11 and 12, for the insertion of the locking feathers c, which are
also shown as made of thin sheet metal, Figures 13 and 14, by preference
rolled or drawn out of strips of sheet zinc or brass, the joints c¹ formed
by the two edges being either closed, soldered, or left open to give
elasticity to it, as shown in Figure 15, and which, when inserted into
the recesses d, d', of the stiles or separate pieces a, a', firmly secures
these together, and prevents the possibility of any wind or rain being
blown in through the joint 6 when the sashes are placed in their usual
fixed or sliding position (as in Figure 1). The holding feathers c, as
also the grooves d, may in some cases be formed of wood, and instead
cases d' of thin sheet
of making the locking feathers c or their recessed
metal and hollow, the feathers may be made of any of the shapes shown

page_text: in the sections, Figures 16, 17, or 18, and of solid malleable cast iron
or brass, or of rolled or ordinary malleable iron or other metal, and also
have the edges of the grooves formed by strips of sheet iron or brass d",
or the whole recess in each may be so formed of solid cast or wrought
malleable metal, as shown at din the two latter Figures 17 and 18
respectively, and when made of iron they are preferred to be coated with
zinc or tin. Each feather c is formed with a ring c¹¹, or a head, or
other equivalent, sunk into a recess at e in the top rails A, A", of the
sashes, so as not to project above these. A joint c³ is formed near the
middle (Figures 7, 13, and 14) of each feather c to allow it to fold over
towards the centre of the window when half up, and thus be easily
drawn quite up out of the grooves and joints d, b, all so that the out-
side of the sashes or windows can be turned inwards on their swivel
joints 6, 6, and when cleaned, painted, or repaired, as required, from
the inside, they are again turned back to the vertical position, and have
the rods c inserted, all with the greatest simplicity and ease, by any
ordinary servant or person. When the outside of the upper sash or
swiveling window frame A, A¹, is to be so turned inwards on its
pivot 6, 6, at the joint b, it is first pulled down a little clear of the
lintel or stationary top frame and batten beads B³, and when it is the
under sash that is to be so turned it is preferred to be pushed up a
little clear of the sill B, when either sash, one at a time, can then be
swiveled round on its said two pivot joints clear of the guides B, B¹, B¹¹,
by bringing the top edges A, A", inwards and downwards to any angle.
convenient or desirable for the said cleaning or renewing of the glass, or
the cleaning or repairing of the putty, paint, or frame of the outside of
the window, all from the inside of the house comfortably and conveniently
without the fear and danger attending the doing so with most of the
sash windows as heretofore constructed, in which the servants and
tradesmen have the trouble of either taking out the guides B¹¹ and
sashes, or going quite outside the window to do the cleaning or repairs
required. To retain the stiles a¹ in working position they may be
formed with lateral feathers all sliding in corresponding grooves
in their guide batten beads B, B¹, B", indicated in Figures 8, 17,
and 10

page_text: at ff, in the detached front and edge view of the lower part of a sash,
Figure 19, which would support part of the weight of the sash, and
relieve the strain on the pivot joints b', 6". Referring to Figures 20
and 21, which are detached edge views and horizontal sections of one
side of a sash, showing other modifications of fixing and arranging the
stiles a and a', and joint b, although I have herein-before shown and
described the sliding and hanging stiles as made of wood and fixed to
the sides a of the sashes by a feather c passing down a grooved in the
centre of the joint 6, and the sashes as turned inwards on pivots b', b",
near the middle, considering these arrangements and modifications the
best, yet still it is to be understood that the sashes may be swiveled
on pivots at other parts of these stiles a, a', (which may be made wholly
of metal), such as nearer the top or bottom, indicated in the latter
position at 6, and at a², in red lines, in the act of being turned in, in
Figure 20, with a feather b³ on the outside of the stile a¹ opposite the
joint 6, for the side of the sash a to fold up against, and prevent wind
or water passing through the joint 6 instead of the fixing feather c,
which in this case can be dispensed with; the sash being fixed by a
spring or sliding catch, as at g in Figures 20 and 21; in the latter
Figure the sash A", A², is shown as swiveled in the middle with a
feather 63 on the outside, and one 6¹¹ on the inside, at the upper and
lower parts of the joint b and sliding stiles a', which thus prevent the
wind and rain from passing in through the joint 6 when the sash is
turned up against them and fixed by the bolt or catches, indicated at g,
without the use of the fixing joint rod c described in reference to the
former Figures.
Having thus particularly described the nature of and manner of
performing my said Invention, I have to state that I have herein
referred to and indicated the new, modified, or improved parts of the
window sashes and their mountings, in accordance with this my said
Invention, by italic letters; and further, that I do not restrict myself
to the precise form and construction of the details shown and described
by the said italic letters, as many variations may be made therefrom
without departing from the essential and substantial nature of my said
Invention, but what I believe to be novel and original and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The construction and arrangement of window sashes and their

page_text: parts in the new or improved manner and for the purposes substantially
as herein described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The hanging and swiveling of window sashes on transverse
horizontal pivots in their side stiles, and separate sliding and hanging
part thereof, at each side, in the new or improved manner and for
the purposes substantially as herein described and shown in the accom-
panying Drawings.
Third. The construction and use of removable and attachable feathers
for being inserted into and withdrawn from grooves formed in the main
swiveling and the hanging sliding parts of the stiles of window sashes
for the purpose of fixing and releasing these parts and for closing up
the joint between them, and all otherwise, in the manner and for the
purposes substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Walker, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.