IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS FOR WINDOW BLINDS, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Meddowcroft at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th July
1865.
I, WILLIAM MEDDOWCROFT, of Hammersmith, in the County of Middle-
sex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLERS FOR WINDOW BLINDS, AND IN
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements whereby the advantages
resulting from the ordinary spring rollers are obtained at much less cost and
by means of very simple arrangements. The rollers are formed in two parts
or longitudinal sections, or with a longitudinal slot extending nearly the entire
length thereof, so that the blinds can be placed between the said sections, or
passed through the said slot, thus affording a simple and effective mode of
adjusting the level of the blinds, the sections of the rollers when constructed
in two pieces, as before mentioned, being connected closely together by means
of rings or sockets, or by the terminal wheels or pulleys, or in any convenient
manner. The rollers are supported in brackets in the ordinary way. One
end of the roller is furnished with a fixed wheel or pulley, which may be
called the "band wheel," a small wheel or pulley being placed below or in
proximity to the same, such small wheel or pulley being mounted and
revolving freely on a pin fixed to the bracket. Around the said two wheels
or pulleys is placed an endless band of india-rubber, gutta percha, wire, or
other suitable material or materials, the same being so adjusted that the
tension thereof will admit of the revolution of the roller The said wheels or

page_text: pulleys may be provided with teeth or cogs on the peripheries thereof, and so
arranged that such teeth or cogs shall gear into each other, and thus impart
additional holding power to the roller, and tend to retain the blind at any
level at which it may be placed. At the other end of the roller is fixed a
wheel or pulley, which may be called the "cord wheel," the same being con-
structed with a groove on the periphery thereof, to allow of the cord by which
the roller is actuated being wound round the same. The cord is fixed to the
surface of the roller, and then passed several times round the "cord wheel,"
the length of cord so passed round the "cord wheel" varying according to
the length of the blind. Leverage is thus obtained, and upon pulling the
cord the blind, if previously lowered, will be rapidly and continuosly raised.
In order to act as a guido to the cord, and also to prevent its slipping out of
position upon withdrawing the hand from the cord, a pin provided with an
-eye-or-loop-at-the end thereof, and which may be termed the "guide_pin,__ is_
attached to the bracket at a convenient distance from the "cord wheel." The
said pin is constructed of elastic material, or of metal, or in any suitable
manner so that it will exert pressure upon the cord (which is passed through
the pin), and thus prevent the cord from passing upwards and unrolling from
the wheel when it is suddenly released from the hand.