Improvement in Holding Devices for Spring Actuated Roller Blinds.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd June, 1891-Accepted, 11th July, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvement in Holding Devices for Spring Actuated Roller
Blinds.
I, HORACE LEONARD HALL, of Manchester corner of Franklin and Cedar
Streets, in the County of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, United
States of America, Mechanic, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to provide means for holding a window shade at
any desired point of elevation, and the invention consists of novel friction mechanism
applied to a shade stick whereby one or both ends are caused to expand against the
window-frame, as fully set forth in the following Specification and claims, and
clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1, represents my improved mechanism as applied to a shade stick upon the
window frame of a railway car.
Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional view of a car-window frame provided with a groove
in which the friction devices of my improved shade-stick shall rest, and a section of
a shade and its spring-actuated roller in relative position therewith.
Fig. 3, is an enlarged broken sectional elevation showing one method of putting
my invention into practice.
Similar reference letters designate corresponding parts.
A. is a window-frame, B, the window sash, and C, the light or window-glass for
same.
D, is an ordinary spring shade roller, which may be supported in the usual manner
within the window-frame.
E, is a shade attached to the spring-actuated shade-roller, and to the bottom of
said shade is secured my improved shade stick F, which may be made of either wood
or metal.
It is customary to place at the centre of a shade-stick a metal ring or other
convenient device which may be grasped by ones fingers for the purpose of moving
a shade down or up.
In place of some such device I provide the stick with pendants as seen at g-g';
-and in order to hold a shade at any desired elevation I may provide two spring-
actuated rods within the shade stick, which are normally expanded against either
side of the window-frame, and attach said pendants to the adjacent ends of the said
spring actuated rods :-but as one spring actuated rod will perform the office equally
as well as two, economy in construction strongly favors the simpler construction
illustrated in the drawings to wit:-
I provide the stick F, with a pendant g, and I also provide the stick with a
longitudinal channel, extending from one end in to the pendant g¹, where it opens
in a slot, adjacent to said pendant.
In this channel a spring-actuated rod G, is placed, one end of which projects
beyond the end of the stick, and the other end is formed into or provided with a
pendant g, which projects through the slot, and in line with the other pendant.
By placing the pendants sufficiently close together they may be grasped between
the fingers of ah operator and the pendant on the rod forced toward the pendant on
the stick, thus moving the rod inward and the stick is released so that the shade
may be moved up or down.
As my device is intended to be used upon a spring-actuated shade in which the
tension of the spring draws the shade upward as soon as released, it is necessary to
provide some means to prevent the pendants from being drawn from between the
fingers by this upward movement of the shade.
I accomplish this by making the lower ends of the pendants extend away from

page_text: each other, as for instance by making the outer side of each pendant concaved as
shown at gt.
The projecting end of the spring actuated rod G, and also the opposite end of
the improved shade stick F, are preferably provided with a rubber tip, as seen at
Fig. 3, each of which bear in one of the grooves a formed in the window frame A,
serving the purpose of a guide for the shade stick.
A suitable spring may be placed between the pendants in a manner to force them
apart, or the spring 2, may be placed upon the rod G, as seen in Fig. 3, and operate
expansively against the shoulders, and g³, respectively, of the stick F, and rod G,
and thus cause both the tips f2, to bear with sufficient pressure against either side
of the window frame to hold the shade at any desired point of elevation; and to
adjust the shade the pendants g-g', have only to be gently compressed when the
shade may be raised or lowered without any liability of its flying up the moment the
fingers of an operator are removed from the pendants.
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 combination with a spring actuated shade-roller and shade thereon, a
channeled shade stick attached to the free end of said shade provided with a slot
connecting with said channel, spring actuated rods mounted therein having pendants
attached to their adjacent ends and projecting through said slot in the shade stick,
all substantially for the purpose described.
2. A shade stick provided with a pendant and a shouldered channel which opens
in a slot adjacent to said pendant, a shouldered rod in said channel provided at its
inner end with a pendant which projects through said slot and is movable toward
and away from the pendant on the stick whereby the two pendants may be grasped
by the hand and the rod may be moved inwardly within the channel to release the
shade, and a spring on the rod between its shoulder and the shoulder of the
channel for forcing the rod outward to secure the shade when the pendant is
released.
Dated, at Manchester, N.H., this Fifth day of May 1891.
HORACE LEONARD HALL.