Improvements in and relating to the Sills of Windows or Doors for Buildings.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 9th May, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Sills of Windows or Doors for
Buildings.
I, EDWARD FRANCIS HUTCHINS, of No. 259 Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy near
Melbourne in the Colony of Victoria, Architect, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described d ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention has been devised to prevent rain from penetrating to the interior
of the walls of buildings by passing between the sides of window sash or door frames
and such walls, or by forcing its way between the sills and the lower part of the
framing of said windows or doors in dwelling houses or other buildings.
Its essential feature consists in providing a sink, chamber or pocket in that part
of the sill underneath each side of the window sash or door frame, a channel or
passage being formed leading from the bottom of said sink or pocket to the front of
the sill in order to drain off the water collected in said pocket.
Referring to the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is in part a front elevation and in part a section of a cast iron sill
embodying my invention.
Figure 2 represents on the left-hand side a plan of said sill, and on the right hand
side a horizontal section taken through one of the sides of a window sash and frame,
illustrating the position of my sink or pocket relatively thereto.
Figure 3 is in part a front elevation and in part a vertical transverse section of a
stone or cement, sill constructed according to my invention, whilst
Figure 4 is in part a plan of the left-hand side of such a sill and in part a
horizontal section of the right hand side of a window sash and frame fitted over
such sill.
Similar letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures.
A represents the sink, chamber or pocket, which, according to my invention, is
formed in that part of the sill covered by the sash or door frame, whilst B repre-
sents the drain channel or passage whereby any water collecting therein is discharged
outside the building.
With the ordinary construction of sill the rain is liable to be driven in between
the brick or stone and the outer wood casing of the sash or door frame, down which
latter it passes until it reaches the upper surface of the sill along which it makes its
way to the inside of the wall, and owing to the fact that it is impossible to make a
perfectly water-tight joint between the wood and the brick, stone or cement work,
it is found impossible in practice to prevent the entrance of such water.
With my improved sill, all moisture which enters in this way is caught in the
pocket or sink A. and is returned to the outside of the building by the drain
channel B.
In order to prevent the water soaking around the back of the window sash or
door frame, I nail a strip C of metal or other suitable material to the front of the
outer casing of the frame, as illustrated in the horizontal sections on the right hand
sides of Figures 2 and 4, by which means I cause any water making its way to
the back of the window sash or door frame to drip into the pocket or sink A,
from whence it is conducted by the channel B to the outside of the building, as
above described.
It will be readily understood from the accompanying drawings that the chamber A
and channel B may be formed in the body of a cement sill (as illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4), provided the ordinary wood sill is kept high enough to admit of
this construction.

page_text: In order to prevent water from entering the house underneath the bottom of the
window sash or door frame, I form or secure a tongue or strip D beneath said frame
either by casting it in one with the sill, if the latter is made of cast iron (as
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2) or else by securing it to the body of said sill (as
illustrated in Figures 3 and 4). In either case, I may if required, provide a groove E
immediately behind said tongue in order to convey any water passing either under
or over said tongue into the sink or chamber A, whence it will be conducted through
the drain passage B to the outside of the building, as above described.
In setting my improved sill, it is advisable to leave half a brick out of the wall
immediately above the pockets or chambers A-A on the inside in order to admit
of their being cleared out before such half brick is again laid in position and the
wall finished.
In order to provide a solid fixing for the sash or door frame I secure a fillet of
wood F to the outside of said frame, as illustrated in horizontal section in Figures 2
and 4, such fillet serving to partially fill up the space between the side of the frame
and the end of the wall, the remainder of such space being left free for the passage
of the water, as illustrated.
It will be readily understood by all persons skilled in the art to which my
invention relates that the precise construction of my improved sill will vary with
any special requirements.
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 1
claim is
First. A window or door sill having a sink, chamber or pocket (such as A)
formed in it underneath the window sash or door frame in order to collect any water
forcing its way between the wall and said sash or frame and having a drain channel,
or passage (such as B) for conducting such water to the outside of the building,
substantially. as and for the purposes herein. described and explained and as illus-
trated in my drawings.
Second. In a window or door sill the combination with a sink, chamber or pocket
(such as A) adapted to receive any water which forces its way between the window
sash or door frame and the wall of the building, of a groove or channel (such as E)
formed in the sill behind the ordinary strip or tongue (D) in order to conduct any
water passing the latter into said sink or chamber, the whole being constructed and
arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein described and explained and
as illustrated in my drawings.
Third. The combination with a window or door sill having a sink, chamber or
pocket (such as A) formed in each end underneath the window sash or door frame
of a strip (such as C) of metal or other material secured to the front of the outer
casing of such frame, substantially as and for the purposes herein described -and
explained and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Twenty-fourth day of February One thousand eight hundred and
MAGAMP
W. H. Beck,
ED. F. HUTCHINS.
115, Cannon Street, London, E.C., Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent.