Improvements in and relating to Shop-front and other Shutters.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Shop-front and other Shutters.
A communication from JOSEPH BEAUFILS, of Le Mans, in the Republic of France,
Engineer.
I, ARTHUR FREEMORE SPOONER, of 323, High Holborn, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to shutters for the fronts of shops or other similar
purposes and has for its objects to afford great facility of removal thereof without
noise and to provide a solid, simple, and secure arrangement.
The arrangement comprises the combination of known elements with a new
system of assemblage and of mounting the said elements which constitute the
essential features of the invention.
According to the said invention a suitable number of shutter-plates of appro-
priate height and width, made of metal or other convenient material are employed
which are hinged to, and fold upon, one another.
Each end plate is secured to an upright which may be either fixed or hinged,
according as the said plates when folded are to form a panel or to turn into a box
or locker.
The hinges between the shutter-plates have their pins each prolonged sufficiently
to form the axis of an idle roller that is guided and rolls at the top either on a
single or double rail, and at the bottom on a suitable similar rail which may be
sunk in the ground.
Thus arranged the plates are displaced very easily, rolling on their upper and
lower rollers and preserving an invariable vertical position; the said rollers
also form, at top and bottom, a stop constituting a locking of the plates by which
the said rollers are carried.
In the mode of folding the plates into a panel, the end plates are, as has been
said, hinged to, and close upon a fixed upright, the said plates folding per-
pendicularly to their plane of unfolding, into the thickness of the said panel. In
the alternative mode of folding of the plates into a box or locker, the upper and
lower rails are broken at their extremities at a point approximately equal to the
thickness of the folded plates. The central part (that is to say the longest part)
of the rails, remain fixed, whilst their broken extremities become independent and
are intimately united to the hinged uprights, the whole closing to form the side of
the locker into which the shutter-plates fold.
With this arrangement, it results that the shutter-plates pivot together on
themselves at the same time as the upright and the ends of the rails in order
to fold themselves into the box or locker.
The uprights are provided with bolts serving to retain them in position when
the shutter-plates are about to be extended.
With the upper bolt is combined a weighted lever retaining the shutter plates
folded in their closed position in the box or locker, in such a manner as to prevent,

page_text: in this position, the rollers from leaving the broken extremities of the rails when
these, being pivoted with the said shutter-plates and their uprights, have become
shut in the boxes or lockers. As to the lower bolt, it operates alone, descending
simply into a staple, arranged below the rail ends, thus hindering all movement of
these latter.
The arrangement is completed by a system of locking together of the shutter-
plates when extended which can be arranged in many ways, operating either with
or without a key with the object of effecting and maintaining the complete
straightening of all the shutter-plates in the same plane.
For example these locking devices may consist simply of a balanced bolt,
mounted on one of the shutter-plates and engaging in a staple carried by the
adjoining plate; or an arrangement operating more rapidly than the preceding,
consists in a movable folding bar of which the folds at the hinges correspond
exactly to the roller hinges or not of the shutter-plates; two of these hinges are
notched in the same plates with a horizontal play sufficing to permit the whole of
the bar to displace itself to the right or to the left, in such a manner as to place
its hinges in position on the outside of the axis of the corresponding hinge of the
shutter plate, thus preventing the folding thereof; or in exact concordance of their
axes with that of the hinges of the said shutters, the folding of which is then
possible.
It should be noticed that the application of this system is possible to the front
of a shop, for example, of any description, whatever may be the situation of the
door of the shop; in fact, it is sufficient to have, if the door is more or less to
the middle, or even at the side, more or less of the shutter-plates on one side than
on the other in the boxes or panels.
Tlated this 21st love of A1 1900
Improvements in and relating to Shop-front and other Shutters.
A communication from JOSEPH BEAUFILS, of Le Mans, in the Republic of France,
Engineer.
I, ARTHUR FREEMORE SPOONER, of 323, High Holborn, in the County of London,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
:—
This invention relates to shutters for the fronts of shops or other similar
purposes and has for its objects to afford great facility of removal thereof without
noise and to provide a solid, simple, and secure arrangement.
The arrangement comprises the combination of known elements with a new
system of assemblage and of mounting the said elements which constitute the
essential features of the invention.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 shows this arrangement applied to the front of a shop.
Figure
shows in elevation, to a larger scale, the special mode of assemblage,
and coupling of the shutter-plates.
Figure 3 is a plan, showing the shutter-plates folding into a panel.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent respectively a side front and plan view of the
shutter-plates adapted to fold into a box or locker.
Figures and 8 are front and plan views showing the said plates in their
folded position in the said box or locker, and

page_text: Figures 9 and 10 are detail views showing the mode of straightening and
locking the plates.
According to the said invention a suitable number of shutter-plates a of appro-
priate height and width, made of metal or other convenient material are employed
which are hinged to, and fold upon, one another at b.
Each end plate is secured to an upright c, which may be either fixed or movable
according as the said plates a when folded are to form a panel or to turn into a
box or locker.
The coupling-hinges 6 between the shutter-plates a have their pins each pro-
longed sufficiently to form the axis d of an idle roller e that is guided and rolls
at the top either on a single or double rail f, and at the bottom on a suitable
similar rail g which may be sunk in the ground.
Thus arranged the plates a are displaced very easily, rolling on their upper and
lower rollers e and preserving an invariable vertical position; the said rollers e
also form, at top and bottom, a stop constituting a bolting or locking of the
plates a by which the said rollers are carried.
In the mode of folding the plates into a panel as shown in Figure 3, the end
plates a are, as has been said, hinged to, and close upon a fixed upright c, the
said plates folding perpendicularly to their plane of unfolding, into the thickness
of the said panel h. In the alternative mode of folding of the plates a into a
box or locker, as shown in Figures 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, the upper and lower rails f
and are broken at their extremities i and j at a point approximately equal to
the thickness of the folded plates a. The central part (that is to say the longest
part) of the rails f, g, remain fixed, whilst their broken extremities i, j become
independent and are intimately united to the movable hinged uprights e, the
whole closing to form the side of the locker into which the shutter-plates a fold.
With this arrangement it results that the shutter-plates a pivot together on
themselves at the same time as the upright and the ends i, j of the rails f, g in
order to fold themselves into the box or locker as shown in Figures 7 and 8.
The uprights c are provided with bolts m serving to retain them in position
when the said uprights being disengaged from the boxes or lockers are placed
in such a manner that the broken extremities i, j of the upper and lower
rails f, g, find themselves exactly placed in the prolongation of the fixed central
part of the said rails, in such a manner as to permit the unfolding and folding of
the shutter-plates a the rollers e of which should then run freely guided by their
corresponding rails f, g (Figures 4, 5 and 6).
With the upper bolt m is combined a weighted or swinging lever n retaining
the shutter-plates a folded in their closed position in the box or locker /, in such
a manner as to prevent, in this position, the rollers e from leaving the broken
extremities i, j of the rails when these, being pivoted with the said shutter-plates
jo
and their uprights c, have become shut in the boxes or lockers 7. As to the lower
bolt m, it operates alone, descending simply into a staple, arranged below the
broken extremities of the rail j thus hindering all movement of these latter.
16
The arrangement is completed by a system of locking together of the shutter-
plates a when extended which can be arranged in many ways, operating either
with or without a key with the object of effecting and maintaining the complete
straightening of all the shutter-plates in the same plane.
bar
q
For example these locking devices may consist simply of a balanced or swinging
bolt o as shown in Figure 9, mounted on one of the shutter-plates a and engaging
in a staple carried by the adjoining plate or an arrangement operating more
rapidly than the preceding, and shown in Figure 10 consists in a movable folding
of which the folds at the hinges r, s, t, u, correspond exactly to the roller
hinges b or not of the shutter-plates a two of these hinges r and t are notched
or hinged the same as the plates a with a horizontal play sufficing to permit the
whole of the bar g to displace itself to the right or to the left, in such a manner
as to place its hinges r, s, t, u in position y. Figure 10, of the axes of the corre-
sponding hinges of the shutter-plates a, thus preventing the folding thereof;

page_text: or in exact concordance of their axes with that of the hinges b of the shutter-
plates a as shown at x, Figure 10, the folding of the said shutters being then
possible.
It should be noticed that the application of this system is possible to the front
of a shop, for example, of any description, whatever may be the situation of the
door of the shop; in fact, it is sufficient to have, if the door is more or less to the
middle, or even at the side, more or less of the shutter-plates a on one side than
on the other in the boxes or panels.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:
9
1. A shutter device, the essential features being an arrangement of shutter-
plates a the end plates being mounted either on fixed or movable uprights c, each
pair of coupling-hinges comprising a roller device e travelling and suitably main-
tained on, or between, upper and lower rails f, whereby the said shutter-plates
are maintained in a vertical position, and bolt-work or locking devices for the
purpose of fully straightening the said shutter-plates along their edges which are
not provided with rollers e substantially as hereinbefore described and shown by
way of example in the accompanying drawings.
2. The modification of the arrangement for folding into a box or locker compris-
ing a system of rails f, g, the broken extremities ij, of which are movable and are
together with the end plates a, mounted upon a movable upright e so that the
said parts may be folded and enclosed within the box or locker in which the
said parts are secured by bolts m and a swinging lever n, the latter being adapted
whilst the said parts are thus confined to prevent the rollers e from becoming
disengaged from their corresponding rails i, j.
3. The shutter devices constructed substantially as described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.