Improvements in Hold Fasts for Window Blind Cords and other Cords and Ropes.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1892-Accepted, 30th Apr., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hold Fasts for Window Blind Cords and other
Cords and Ropes.
I, ALEXANDER CLELAND, M.A. of 159 Queen Street, Melbourne in the
Colony of Victoria, a Minister of the Presbyterian Church, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HOLD FASTS FOR WINDOW
BLIND CORDS AND OTHER CORDS AND ROPES," and in what manner the same
is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention belongs to that class of apparatus by which cords and ropes when
under tension may be firmly gripped by mechanical means and so temporarily held
fast at the point desired, while the parts are so arranged that the cord or rope may
be quickly liberated and allowed to travel in any direction at will. In the con-
struction I have devised many advantages are found combined to-wit-the parts
are few and simple, and so arranged as to enable entire disengagement of the cord
from the hold fast, immediate "bite" or release of cord, and to almost entirely
dispense with friction on the cord whilst the bite or grip is between jaws which
are not adapted to injure the cord the tension is utilized to itself put on the
"grip" and to throw the movable jaw into different positions and all operations
are conducted silently, no disagreeable "clicks" being heard further the same
hold fast is adapted to hold (without adjustment for the purpose), cords of different
thicknesses or to hold not only one but two or more cords of equal thicknesses
concurrently. A familiar instance of the class of cords which require to be secured
whilst under tension are the cords of venetian blinds, and I have accordingly
illustrated the application of my hold fast to such a pair of cords in the accom-
panying drawings. In the drawings
:
Fig. 1, shows fixed in place to a window frame one form of my hold fast whilst
the cords of the blinds are being raised or lowered by an operator, after having
been entirely disengaged from the hold fast and brought into a more con-
venient position than where the cords could not be altogether removed from the
hold fast.
Fig. 2 shows in perspective the same parts as in Fig. 1 but with the cords at rest
under upward tension and gripped by the hold fast.
Fig. 3 shows another form of hold fast having the fixed and movable jaws
made flaring and having a spring to actuate the movable jaw as described
hereafter.
In the drawings A represent a base plate adapted to be secured in any position
convenient to the cords to be gripped the said plate carrying three fixed projections
viz., a spindle B and two stops C & D.
FF represent the cords which, when held fast are gripped between a fixed and
a swinging jaw. C being a projection as aforesaid is the fixed jaw, and T forming
the free extremity of an arm E is the swinging jaw. The swing of T is limited to
a short arc by the positions of the projections C on one side and D on the other.
The other end of the arm E is pivoted as shown to the projection B. The jaw C
may be slightly roughened or milled and have either a straight or an indented
surface as shown by C and this jaw is of hard unyielding material. The jaw T is
of equally unyielding material but covered with a layer of elastic material. It
requires to possess considerable depth so as to be available for holding two or more
cords side by side, and it requires that the pivot B should be sufficiently distant
from the gripping point to allow of the cord or cords ample leverage in raising
O

page_text: the jaw into gripping position as explained below. The elastic material should be
sufficiently hard to yield but slightly when pressed by the cord or cords. The:
form of this movable jaw is obviously susceptible of many variations without
departing from its characteristic features. The position of jaw C is such that the
jaw T may when a cord is between be carried upward sufficiently to hold or jam
the cord tightly between the said jaws without being able to pass to the other side
and so release the cord again. In order to enable the movable jaw to work without
noise or clattering I arrange the elastic material so that it covers not only the
point of grip on the cord but also the point where in falling it strikes the stop D.
It is essential in my invention that the gripping part of the jaw T be in the shape
of a curve such as an are of a circle, and it will be evident that by making the
jaw cylindrical as shown in Fig. i the elastic may be conveniently affixed in the
shape of a stretched rubber ring (or a section of a rubbed covered canvas hose),
which may be when necessary very easily removed and renewed. Another object
of making this curve of rubber extend over a considerable arc in the vicinity of
the gripping points of the jaw T is to enable the rapid securing of the cords or
rope, when it is desired to hold them fast. In Fig. 1 the jaws T & C are shown at
a distance apart this distance is always in my invention at least equal to the
diameter of the cord, but it is also frequently several times the diameter of the
thickness of the cord which may have to be held. In the position shown in Fig. 1
the cords might thus be placed between the jaws and moved in either direction
without the holdfast operating. In many cases will be found a desirable arrange-
ment as with heavy ropes or cords under great tension, or where a straight line is
thereby preserved by the moving cord but where the cord is light or the position is
not the most convenient for operating then the clear open space I provide enabling
the cords to be entirely removed as in Fig. 1 is preferable and hence my apparatus
combines both features. In order to put the gripping jaw into operation it is
necessary for an operator to not only bring between the jaws the cords under
tension but also to press the cords against the surface of the elastic arc shaped
jaw T whilst allowing the cord to move upwards. The cords will then act in the
same manner as a belt on a pulley drawing the jaw into gripping position. In
order to loosen the grip shown in Fig. 2 a single downward pull will suffice; such
a pull causes the jaw T to fall entirely out of the way and remain out of the way,
and allows the cords to be operated upon in any direction:
In the form shown in Fig. 3 the jaws are shown as flaring that is they are
several diameters of the cords apart at their outer edge, but approach each other
to the equal of one diameter as shown. The projection (if any is used corre-
sponding to D in Fig. 1) would in this case allow the jaw T to move to a further
distance from the jaw C but except when pressed back by superior force the
spring S keeps the jaw as close as the one diameter aforesaid. In this form of
hold fast the cord need not be so much inclined as in Fig. 1 when the grip is to be
put on. All that is necessary is to firmly draw the cord into the close fitting part
of the opening between the jaws with a slight inclination under the movable jaw
and the close contact thus naturally resulting with the elastic will suffice to draw
the swinging jaw up.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a hold fast in the class described having a fixed jaw as C, and a swinging
jaw limited in its drop by a stop as D the general construction and arrangement of
said parts as herein set forth and illustrated in Figs. 1 & 2 substantially as and for
the purposes described.
2. In a hold fast of this class described having the fixed and swinging jaws
made with flaring edges as illustrated in Fig. 3 and having the general construction
and arrangement set forth, the combination of a spring as S with the said swinging

page_text: jaw whereby the latter is kept in the position set forth substantially as and for the
purposes described.
Dated this 22nd day of March 1892.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agents.