Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Sept., 1887
Complete Left, 21st June, 1888
Complete Accepted, 27th July, 1888
I, MAXIMILIAN WILLIAM HENRY CLARKE, Architect, of John Street, Bedford Row,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to curtains used to close the proscenium of theatres, music-
halls, and other buildings of the like kind, and it has for its object novel methods of
constructing such curtains so that they are fireproof, comparatively inexpensive, and
easily fitted and used.
For this purpose I make a metal frame fitting the opening of the proscenium between
the stage and the auditorium of the building, and descending when closed upon the
stage or upon a fireproof wall built in the required position to the level of the
stage. I form this metal frame preferably of a vertical iron or steel T-iron at each
side of the curtain connected at the top and bottom with similar horizontal T-irons or
angle irons.
I connect these vertical and horizontal bars by means of diagonal metal strips at a
suitable distance apart so as to form lattice work the bars being bolted or rivetted
together where they cross each other, and I further strengthen them by a sufficient
One or more
number of similar vertical bars rivetted or bolted to the diagonal ones.
similar intermediate horizontal bars may also be used rivetted or bolted to the vertical
and diagonal bars. In this way 1.obtain a sufficiently.strong and rigid open frame
filling when down the entire opening in the proscenium.
I form guides at the vertical sides of the curtain, consisting preferably of T-irons
rivetted with their central flanges outward to the side bars, such central flanges fitting
and working freely between vertical angle irons built into the masonry which forms the
sides of the opening, and I suspend the entire frame by means of one or more wire or
other ropes passing over a pulley or pulleys at the top of the building and thence
passing down to a suitable winch situated in a convenient and safe part of the building
where the curtain can be conveniently raised and lowered as desired. The whole or
the principal part of the weight of the entire curtain is balanced by balance weights
and wire ropes passing over pulleys.

page_text: Over the whole surface of the frame forming the curtain as described I fit, at the
centre of its thickness and round the diagonal and other bars already described, a
sufficient thickness (preferably about one inch) of what is well known as silicate cotton,
slagwool, or mineral fibre, which I attach to the bars by wires or other equivalent
devices, and outside such material I arrange upon each side a sufficient number of
vertical twisted wires provided at frequent intervals with projecting wire barbs, of the
kind well known and used for forming barbed wire fencing, and upon and against
these vertical barbed wires I fit upon each side of the curtain a second thickness of the
silicate cotton or equivalent mineral fibre, which is held and retained by the barbed
wires, and which may be further held by wire or other staples or fastenings.
Outside these second layers or thicknesses of the material 1 fit and fix wire net, or
sheet metal, the outside of the curtain facing the auditorium being preferably sheet
iron or steel, which may be painted or otherwise finished and ornamented with or
without the intervention of canvas or other material.
The whole of the parts which form the thickness of the curtain may be held together
by transverse bolts, wires, or other fastenings.
In this way I form a curtain of moderate thickness which prevents the passage of
smoke and is absolutely fireproof and not of too great weight or cost.
Horizontal or diagonal barbed wires, or both, may be used as well as vertical ones.
The curtain may be raised by hydraulic power in the usual well known way
instead of by the wire ropes and winch.
Asbestos may also be used as well as, or instead of, the mineral fibre described, and
the details of construction may be varied more or less according to the circumstances
and conditions under which the curtain is to be used.
Electrical releasing devices may be used by which the curtain may be allowed to
descend when required, such devices consisting preferably of an electro magnet through
which a current of electricity may be made to pass by making electrical contact through
conducting wires from any convenient point or points inside or outside the building,
the electro magnet attracting an armature by which the curtain is released and allowed
to descend, suitable retarding devices being employed to provent its too rapid descent.
Dated this 21st day of September 1887.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION..
Improvements in Fireproof Curtains for Theatres, Musichalls, and
similar Buildings.
I, MAXIMILIAN WILLIAM HENRY CLARKE, Architect, of John Street, Bedford Row,
in the County of Middlesex, 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 and accompanying drawings (that is to say):-
My invention relates to curtains used to close the prosceniums of theatres, music-
halls, and other buildings of the like kind, and it has for its object novel methods of
constructing such curtains so that they are fireproof, comparatively inexpensive, and
easily fitted and used.
In the accompanying drawings, which are in illustration of my invention, figure 1.
is a front view from the stage of a theatre, and figure 5 a horizontal section, of a
curtain constructed according to my invention and of the appliances connected with it.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on a larger scale of part of a curtain. Figure 3 is a
section on a still larger scale of a guide for the curtain. Figure 4 is a similar section
through part of the curtain. Figure 6 is an elevation, from the stage, of my improved
curtain, raised and lowered by hydraulic appliances. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in the several figures.
In order to put my invention in operation I make a metal frame fitting the opening
of the proscenium between the stage and the auditorium of the building, and
descending when closed upon the stage or upon a fireproof wall built in the required
position to about the level of the stage (as shewn in figures 1 and 6).
This metal frame is formed preferably of a vertical iron or steel T-iron or angle
iron a, a. at each side of the curtain connected at the top and bottom with similar
horizontal T-irons or angle irons b, b. I connect these vertical and horizontal bars or
angle irons by means of a sufficient number of diagonal metal strips or stays c, c, at
a suitable distance apart so as to form lattice work, the bars being bolted or rivetted
together where they cross each other, so that the entire frame is made sufficiently
rigid, and I further strengthen them by a sufficient number of vertical bars d, d,
preferably in the form of metal tubes, which may be rivetted, bolted, or otherwise
fixed to the diagonal stays c, c.
One or more intermediate horizontal bars e, e, are
also preferably used rivetted or bolted to the vertical and diagonal bars or stays, and
they may be made to cross each other between the vertical stays as shewn in
figures 2, 4, and 5. In this way I obtain a sufficiently strong and rigid open frame
filling when down the entire opening in the proscenium.
At the vertical sides of the curtain I form guides consisting preferably of T-irons

page_text: or angle irons frivetted with their flanges outward to the side bars or angle irons a of
the curtain, such flanges fitting and working freely between vertical angle irons or
grooved bars or guides g built into the masonry, which forms the sides of the opening
of the proscenium, and I suspend the entire frame by means of one or more wire or
other ropes passing over a pulley or pulleys i at the top of the building and thence
passing down to a suitable winch situated in a convenient and safe part of the building
where the curtain can be conveniently raised and lowered as desired. Or an endless
rope may be used as shewn in figure 1.
The whole or the principal part of the weight of the entire curtain is balanced by
balance weights and wire ropes passing over pulleys.
Over the whole surface of the frame forming the curtain as described 1 fit round
the diagonal and other bars already described, a sufficient thickness (preferably about
one inch) of what is well known as silicate cotton, slag wool, or mineral fibre
(figure 4), which I attach to the bars by wires or other equivalent devices, and outside
such material I arrange upon each side a sufficient number of vertical twisted wires m
provided at frequent intervals with projecting wire barbs, of the kind well known and
used for forming barbed wire fencing, and upon and against these vertical barbed wires
I fit upon each side of the curtain a second thickness of the silicate cotton or equivalent
mineral fibre which is held and retained by the barbed wires, and which may be
further held by wire or other staples or fastenings.
Outside these second layers or thicknesses of the material I fit and fix wire net n,
or sheet metal o either flat, or corrugated as shewn in dotted lines in figure 4, the outside
of the curtain facing the auditorium being preferably of such sheet metal, which may
be painted or otherwise finished and ornamented with or without the intervention of
canvas or other material.
The whole of the parts which form the thickness of the curtain may be held together
by transverse bolts, wires, or other fastenings.
In this way I form a curtain of moderate thickness which prevents the passage of
smoke and is absolutely fireproof and not of too great weight or cost.
Horizontal or diagonal barbed wires, or both, may be used as well as vertical ones.
The details of the method of construction and arrangement described and shewn
may be varied more or less. For instance, the silicate cotton or other mineral fibre
may be packed against the plain or corrugated sheet metal in one or more thicknesses,
and retained in its place by a sheet of wire net, or plate, upon the outside, the whole
being held together by transverse bolts, wires or other fastenings.
The curtain may be raised by hydraulic power in the usual well known way instead
of by the wire ropes and winch.
In figure 6 such a method is illustrated, p, p, being rams by which the fireproof
curtain is supported, r,, cylinders in which the rams, p, p, work, and s a valve and
handle by which water is admitted to or discharged from the cylinders, so as to effect
the raising and lowering of the curtain. t, t, are weights by which part of the weight
of the curtain is balanced.
Asbestos may also be used as well as, or instead of, the mineral fibre described, and
the details of construction may be varied more or less according to the circumstances
and conditions under which the curtain is to be used.
Electrical releasing devices may be used by which the curtain may be allowed to
descend when required, such devices consisting preferably of an electro magnet through
which a current of electricity may be made to pass by making electrical contact
through conducting wires from any convenient point or points inside or outside the
building, the electro-magnet attracting an armature by which the curtain is released
and allowed to descend, suitable retarding devices being employed to prevent its too
rapid descent.
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. The fireproof curtain, consisting of a metal frame a, b, suitably stayed, and filled

page_text: with silicate cotton, slagwool, or other equivalent incombustible fibre, enclosed between
wire net, or plain or corrugated sheet metal, or both wire net and sheet metal,
substantially in the manner described and shewn in the drawings.
2. In combination with the fireproof curtain constructed as described, the guides
and balance weights, by which its raising and lowering is facilitated, substantially as
described and shewn.
3. In combination with the curtain consisting of the metal frame a, a, b, b, and the
stays connected with it, the barbed wires m, and wire or other fastenings for retaining
the incombustible fibre in its position, substantially as described and shewn.
Dated thin 01 J
CT1000
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Patentee.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Patentee.