IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND CORD RACKS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, CHARLES HOMER of 88 Vauxhall Road Birmingham in the county of
Warwick Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND CORD RACKS, to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the construction and arrangement of certain parts
forming a rack, and its attachments for the purpose of securing and retaining the
one end of a blind cord, or, other similar purposes.
In constructing and arranging this my said invention, I take a piece of metal of
suitable length, then fold and bend it in such a manner, so as to form along its
centre (lengthwise) a raised part or rib, standing up from the base say about one
quarter of an inch more or less; in, and along this raised part or rib, I cut and
form notches or teeth of a suitable shape, and at a suitable distance apart along its
length. Further, the outside edges of the piece of metal I bend upwards and then
inwards say about three sixteenths of an inch. At each end of the piece of metal
I make provision to receive a screw, whereby it is secured in its working position.
This piece I will call the bracket for the sake of description.
Again. I further form another piece of metal, which I will call the catch, to
work, or slide in, and along the aforesaid bracket, and also so formed as to engage
at will, with the notches or teeth along the centre of the inside of the bracket. To
the front or upper end of this catch I attach a ring through which the cord is
threaded, or, there may be attached to the first ring a second ring, and the cord
threaded through the second ring, or instead of simply a ring or rings I may attach
a small pulley either to the ring, or, otherwise to the catch, over which the cord
may run.
When in working position the tension of the cord acts upon the front
end of the catch in such a manner, so as to lift it against the underside of the
overbanging sides of the bracket, while the rear end engages with the teeth in the
rib in the centre of the bracket and prevents it moving. But by lifting the rear
end of the catch out of the teeth it is then free to move.

page_text: Improvements in Blind Cord Racks.
I, CHARLES HOMER of 88 Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, in the county of
Warwick, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN BLIND CORD RACKS 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 the construction and arrangement of certain parts
forming a rack and its attachments, for the purpose of securing and retaining the
one end of a blind cord or other similar purposes.
In constructing and arrangeing this my said invention I 'take a piece of metal of
suitable size, then fold and bend it in such a manner, so as to form along its centre
(lengthwise) a raised part or rib, standing up from the base, say about a quarter of
an inch, more or less. In and along this raised part or rib I cut and form notches
or teeth of a suitable shape and at a suitable distance apart along its length.
Further. The outside edges of the piece of metal, I bend upward and then inward
say about three sixteenths of an inch. At each end of the piece of metal I make
provision to receive a screw whereby it is secured in its working position. This'
piece I will call the bracket for the sake of description.
Again. I further form another piece of metal which I will call the claw catch or
runner, to work or slide in and along the aforesaid bracket, and also so formed as
to engage at will, with the notches or teeth along the centre of the inside of the
bracket. To the front or upper end of this catch I attach a ring through which
the cord is threaded, or there may be attached to the first ring, a second ring, and
'the cord threaded through the second ring, or instead of simply a ring or rings
I may attach a small pulley either to the ring, or otherwise to the catch over
which the cord may run.
When in working position the tension of the cord acts upon the front end of the
catch in such a manner so as to lift it against the underside of the overhanging
sides of the bracket, while the rear end engages with the teeth in the rib in the
centre of the bracket, and prevents its moving. But by lifting the rear end of the
catch out of the teeth it is then free to move,
In order to explain this my invention more fully I have appended hereunto a
sheet of illustrative drawings upon which are figures and letters of reference, like
letters referring throughout to the same thing.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a blind rack constructed according to this my
invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of
Fig. 1 upon line A-B. Fig. 4 is a part sectional view of rack showing another
modified form of claw catch 61. Fig. 5 shewing front view of the claw catch and
ring Fig. 4.
Fig. 6 Shews a section of bracket Fig. 1, upon line C-D shewing the folding of
the metal plate to form the bracket a. Fig. 7 shews the metal plate stamped or
cut out to fold and form the bracket a. Fig. 8 shews the metal plate stamped or
cut out, ready to form the claw catch b, see Figs. 1, 2, & 3. Fig. 9 shews the
metal plate stamped or cut out ready to form the claw catch 61, see Figs. 4 & 5,

page_text: It will be seen that the metal plate Fig. 7 is cut out to the required shape to
form the finished article, and then by suitable tools bent and folded into the shape
as shewn in (double size scale) section at Fig. 6, to form the bracket a. At c, cl,
I form two projections or ears, which, when the bracket is formed, prevents the
possibility of sliding the claw catch down the bracket, and out or through at the
bottom, see c, c1, Figs. 1, 3, 6 & 7. At d, d1, &c I form teeth into which
engages one or other of the claw catches.
One form of the claw catches is formed out of a plate similar to that shewn in
Fig. 8, in which two bearings are provided at e, e 1, and turned up, so as to receive
a spindle and pulley f, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, & 3. Referring again to Fig. 8, the
opening at g, is cut away so as to provide room in order that this part of the catch
may freely slide up and down the bracket, without coming in contact with the
teeth part (h Fig. 6) of the said bracket. Upon each side of this opening g, the
Inetal widens out forming a kind of neck part at i. The width of this neck part
being somewhat narrower than the width of the opening k, Figs. 1, & 6, while the
width of the part 1, Figs. 5, 8 & 9, is wider than the said opening k, and lies behind
(inside) the sides m, n, of the bracket a, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6, and prevents its
detachment therefrom except out through at the top.
In some instances however I dispense with the bearings e, & el, and the pulley f,
and in their stead provide simply a ring o, as shewn in Figs. 4 & 5; or I may
further modify this ring arrangement, and by providing a joint in the ring, (instead
of making it solid), or by means of a "split" ring, mount upon the said ring a
pulley similar to that at f, Fig. 1. Again, the rear or lower end at p Figs. 3 & 4,
S&9, is bent up anglewise to engage with the teeth.
It will now be seen that the pull of the cord r, tends to force the wide part 1, of
the plate or catch against the sides of the bracket, while the lower end p, is the
more firmly pressed into the teeth d, d1 &c. 8, is any fancy ornament attached
according to pleasure.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1st. The forming of a rack bracket out of a piece of sheet metal, having a rib
part h, Figs. 1, 3, 4 & 6, standing out from the base of such bracket, wherein are
formed teeth, similarly as shewn and described herein and upon the drawings.
2nd. The forming of claw catches or runners, in the manner, and for the purposes
hereindescribed and shewn upon the drawings, or any mere modification of the
same.