A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND ADJUSTING VENETIAN BLINDS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brownfoot, of Leeds, in the County of York,
Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND ADJUSTING
VENETIAN BLINDS."
Sealed the 7th November 1854, and dated the 5th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brownfoot at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th September 1854.
J, WILLIAM BROWNFOOT, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cabinet Maker
and Upholsterer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND
ADJUSTING VENETIAN BLINDS" to be as follows:-
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents my Invention in plan;
and Figure 2 represents the same in vertical longitudinal section. a, b, are the
cords connected with the two ends of the blind respectively. The said cords
pass first under the guide pullies c, d, and afterwards over the large pullies e, f,
and hang down vertically, as shewn in Figure 2; between the two pullies e, f,
is a ratchet wheel g, Figure 2; the click engages in the said ratchet wheel.
The said click turns upon the centre i at the top of the lever k, and the said
lever turns upon the centre l; a cord m is attached to the short end of the
lever i. A pin n, fixed in the lever k in the position represented, bears against
h

page_text: the two levers o, p, situated respectively opposite to the pullies e, f. The
action of the apparatus is as follows: --When it is wished to raise the blind,
it is only necessary to pull the hanging ends of the cords a, b; when it is
wished to lower the blind, the said hanging ends of the cords a, b, must first be
pulled sufficiently to permit of the click being disengaged from the ratchet
wheel g by pulling the cord m; by then letting go the hanging cords a. b, the
blind may be lowered to the desired extent. The cord m is then loosed, and
afterwards the cords a, b; the click h engages in the ratchet wheel g, and the
pressure of the ratchet wheel on the said click causes the lever & to be pressed
towards the pullies e,f. By this action the pin presses the levers o, p, upon
those portions of the cords a, b, which are opposite to the said levers, and
prevents the said cords from slipping on the pullies c, f.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Brownfoot in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROWNFOOT, of Leeds, in the County of York, Cabinet Maker and Uphol-
sterer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Iler reign,
did, for Herself, 1er heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Brownfoot. Her special licence that I. the said William Brownfoot,
iny executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Brownfoot, my executors, administrators, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT
OB APPARATUS FOR RAISING, LOWERING, AND ADJUSTING VENETIAN BLINDS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Brownfoot, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should particularly describo
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said William Browntoot, do hereby declaro
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of an instrument or apparatus for raising, lowering,
and adjusting Venetian blinds constructed in the manner herein-after described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Figure 1 represents in plan a Venetian blind to which my Invention is
applied for the purpose of raising, lowering, and adjusting the same; and
Figure 2 represents the same in vertical longitudinal section. a, b, are the
cords, connected respectively with the ends of the blind; the said cords, after
passing from the blind over the pullies a', ', and assuming thereby a horizontal
direction, pass under the guide pullies c, d, and pass afterwards over the large
pullies e, f, and from the said pullies e, f, the said cords hang down vertically,
as shown in Figure 2. Between the two pullies e, f, and turning upon the
same axis as the said pullies, is a ratchet wheel g; h is a click or pall, which
engages with the ratchet wheel g. The said click h turns upon a centre i, at
the top of the arm or lever k, and the said lever turns upon the centre l. A
cord m is attached to the short end of the lover k, and bangs parallel to the
cords a, b. A pin n, projecting on either side of the lever k, in the position
represented, bears against the two levers o, p, situated opposite the pullies e, f,
respectively. The action of my Invention is as follows:-
When it is wished to raise the blind, it is only necessary to pull the hanging
ends of the cords a, b, the pall h permitting of the rotation of the ratchet
wheel g in the direction in which it moves, when the ends of the cords a, b, are
pulled downwards. When the blind has been raised to a sufficient height, the
ends of the cords a, b, are loosed, when a momentary descent of the blind
causes the click h to engage with the ratchet wheel g, and arrest the motion of
the pullics e, f. The pin n at the same time bears against the levers o, p, and
pressing the said levers o, p, against the cords a, b, prevents the said cords from
slipping on the pullies c,f. When it is wished to lower the blind, the hanging
ends of the cords a, b, must first be pulled sufficiently to permit of the click h
being disengaged from the ratchet wheel g by pulling the cord m; so long as
the cord m is pulled downwards, the lever k and ratchet wheel h occupy the
positions indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2, and by letting go the hang-
ing cords a, b, the blind may be lowered to any desired extent. The cord mis
then loosed, and afterwards the cords a, b; the click h engages in the ratchet
wheel
9, and the pressure of the ratchet wheel on the said click causes the
lever k to be pressed towards the pullies e, f. By this action the pin n presses

page_text: the levers o, p, upon those portions of the cords a, b, which are opposed to the
said levers, and prevents the said cords from slipping on the pullies e, f, as
herein-before explained.
Although I have only described my Invention with reference to a blind
having two cords, yet my said Invention may be used with a blind having four
cords by a duplication of the parts described; or my Invention may be carried
into effect by the use of any other convenient number of cords.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the nature of my said Invention; but I claim as my
Invention, the method herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing of constructing an instrument or apparatus for raising, lowering, and
adjusting Venetian blinds; that is to say, by causing a ratchet wheel on the axis
of the pullies over which the cords pass to engage with a pall or click, whereby
when the motion of the said pullies is arrested, the cords shall be pressed against
the said pullies to prevent their slipping thereon, the said pall or click being
capable of being disengaged from the said ratchet wheel by the pulling of a
cord or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Brownfoot, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM BROWNFOOT. (L.S.)
Witness,
J. B. WILKINSON,
Clerk to Mess" J. & W. Richardson & Gaunt,
Sol", Leeds.