Improvements in Roller Blinds.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Nov.. 1890
Complete Specification Left, 1st June, 1891-Accepted, 4th July, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Roller Blinds.
We THOMAS TABERNER of Market Street Adlington near Chorley in the
County of Lancaster Tin Plate Worker and WILLIAM TABERNER of 1 Tunstall
Lane Pemberton in the same County Grocer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
Our said invention relates to roller blinds and consists in means for raising and
lowering the same and for rendering the roller adjustable as to its length.
The roller is supported from brackets as is usual one bracket containing a simple
slot or hole to receive the pivot of one end of the roller while the bracket at the
other end carries or may carry the part which embodies our invention in so far as
it relates to the raising and lowering.
This bracket is formed with a square slot or recess which fits and at times contains
a square neck on the roller pivot at that end. Above the said square slot or recess
we form a gap or hole large enough to clear the square neck. Beyond the square
neck is a pivot extension which is carried by the shorter arm of a bell crank lever
pivotted upon the bracket. A cord is connected to the longer arm of the bell
crank lever and by pulling upon this string the lever can be turned on its pivot so
as to lift the square neck of the roller pivot out of the square recess in the bracket
and so permit the roller to revolve. The other end of the same cord or a separate
cord is passed through an eye on the bracket and coiled upon the ordinary pulley
at that end of the roller. When it is wished to lower the blind all that is necessary
is to pull the cord attached to the bell crank lever whereupon the square neck is
lifted out of the square recess and the weight of the blind revolves the roller and
lowers the blind. The descent of the blind can be checked at any moment by
releasing the cord and bell crank lever whereupon the square neck is allowed to
drop into the square recess and the lowering of the blind is arrested. The blind
is raised by pulling simultaneously upon the bell crank lever and the cord which
has become coiled on the roller pulley. The arrangement of the parts might be
somewhat modified so long as the square neck on the roller pivot and a corre-
sponding recess or key is used. For example the square recess might exist in a
lever or arm operated by a spring or weight against the pull of the cord and the
said key a locking means might be operated horizontally or vertically as found
most convenient. To render the body of the roller adjustable with regard to its
length we form the roller in two parts. The wooden body of the roller might
extend to within a short distance from the end pivot and enter the metal or other
sleeve extending up to the pivot. The roller can be drawn in and out of the sleeve
and is thus rendered telescopic so that its length can be increased or reduced to
suit the distance between the supporting brackets. We might however use other
means to render the roller telescopic although we consider the described hollow
sleeve to be a convenient method of doing so. Any suitable or convenient means
may be used for attaching the calico or other material constituting the blind to
the roller.
Dated this 15th day of November 1900.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Roller Blinds.
We THOMAS TABERNER of Market Street Adlington near Chorley in the
County of Lancaster Tin Plate Worker and WILLIAM TABERNER of 1 Tunstall
Lane Pemberton in the same County Grocer 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 :-
Our said invention relates to roller blinds and consists in means for raising and
lowering the same and for rendering the roller adjustable as to its length.
The roller is supported from brackets as is usual, one bracket containing a simple
slot or hole to receive the pivot of one end of the roller while the bracket at the
other end carries or may carry the part which embodies our invention in so far as
it relates to the raising and lowering. This bracket is formed with a square slot
or recess which fits and at times contains a square neck on the roller pivot at that
end. Above the said square slot or recess we form a gap or hole large enough to
clear the square neck. Beyond the square neck is a pivot extension which is
carried by a shorter arm of a bell crank lever pivotted upon the bracket. A cord
is connected to the longer arm of the bell crank lever and by pulling upon this
string the lever can be turned on its pivot so as to lift the square neck of the
roller pivot out of the square recess in the bracket and so permit the roller to
revolve. The other end of the same cord or a separate cord is passed through an
eye on the bracket and coiled upon the ordinary pulley at that end of the roller.
When it is wished to lower the blind all that is necessary is to pull the cord
attached to the bell crank lever whereupon the square neck is lifted out of the
square recess and the weight of the blind revolves the roller and lowers the blind.
The descent of the blind can, be checked at any moment by releasing the cord and
bell crank lever whereupon the square neck is allowed to drop into the square recess
and the lowering of the blind is arrested. The blind is raised by pulling simul-
taneously upon the bell crank lever and the cord which has become coiled on the
roller pulley. The arrangement of the parts might be somewhat modified so long
as the square neck on the roller pivot and a corresponding recess or key is used.
For example the square recess might exist in a lever or arm operated by a spring
or weight against the pull of the cord and the said key or locking means might be
operated horizontally or vertically as found most convenient. To render the body
of the roller adjustable with regard to its length we form the roller in two parts.
The wooden body of the roller might extend to within a short distance from the
end pivot and enter the metal or other sleeve extending up to the pivot. The
roller can be drawn in and out of the sleeve and is thus rendered, telescopic so that
its length can be increased or reduced to suit the distance between the supporting
brackets. We might however use other nicans to render the roller telescopic
although we consider the described hollow sleeve to be a convenient method of
doing so. Any suitable or convenient means may be used for attaching the calico
or other material constituting the blind to the roller.
To render our invention clearly understood we have attached hereunto, an,
illustrative sheet of drawings to which we will refer, throughout, the following
description.
Fig. 1 is a separate side view of the aforesaid bracket formed with the square
locking recess.
Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the pivotted lifting bell crank lever and the end
of the roller in conjunction with the bracket.
Fig. 3 shows the cord pulley end of the roller, showing a view of our improved
appliance, at right angles to Fig. 2.

page_text: Figs. 5 and 6 are views of modifications of the appliance.
Fig. 7 illustrates our improved means for adjusting the length of the blind
roller.
The bracket a shown at Fig. 1 is made with a sole a' whereby to screw it to the
window frame and is formed as shown with an inclined key-hole shaped
perforation & the square portion 6' acting as a locking recess the hold the squared
necke of the pivote of the roller. Upon the bracket a we pivot loosely at ea
bent arm or bell crank lever d the inner end carrying the pivote of the roller
while to the outer end we attach a cord which is of sufficient length to be easily
handled.
The pivote of the blind roller has a square or oblong neck e as clearly shown
at Fig. 2 and at Figs. 2, 3, and 4 and this square neck when allowed to drop into
the square recess is held thereby and the roller prevented from revolving. When
the square neck is lifted out it has ample room, to revolve in the circular portion
of the key-hole recess. The raising and lowering of the square neck is effected
by the arm d. The weight of the blind roller tends normally to keep the square
neck in the square recess but by pulling on the cord the inner end of the arm d
is raised, lifting the pivote and square neck into the larger circular portion of the
key-hole recess and thereby allowing the blind roller to revolve and lower the
blind g or permitting the roller to be revolved for the purpose of raising the blind
by pulling on the cord which passes through a guide or eye on the bracket a and
coils upon the cord pulley i at the end of the roller. Thus either in raising or
lowering the blind all that is necessary to maintain the blind at any height is to
release the cord and allow the square neck e to drop into the square recess !
where it is held until the arm is again operated. In some instances to avoid
the necessity for separately operating the arm & we might pass the cord from the
cord pulley through an eye on the cranked end of the arm d as indicated in
dotted lines in Fig. 4 so that when the cord is pulled it must necessarily operate
the arm d first. To limit the play of the arm we provide a projecting stop d'
which extends into a gap in the bracket a and prevents the arm d from being raised
too high. The herein before described appliance is capable of modification. For
example as shown at Fig. 5 we might dispense with the key-hole or locking recess
in the bracket a and form a square on the outer end of the blind roller pivot e.
The inner end of the arm d is formed with a square recess fitting the square end
of the pivot e and the arm is upheld normally in gripping contact with the square
end by means of the spring k. The arm d is pivotted at the outer end and the
cord is attached midway so that by pulling on the cord the resistance of the
spring is overcome and the aim pulled away from the square end leaving
the blind roller free to revolve. In some instances the arm or key d might be
pivotted in the horizontal plane so as to be moved in and out of gear with the
square neck on the pivot by pulling on a cord. Another modification is shown at
Fig. 6.
In this case the arm dis. pivotted and arranged as in the figs. first
described, but instead of the square neck and key hole recess we form the bracket
with a radial slot and cut ratchet teeth in the periphery of the cord pulley and
provide a stop 7 forming part of the bracket «. By pulling on the cord and
raising the arind the ratchet teeth are raised clear of the stop and the blind
roller is allowed to revolve until the arm is again lowered whereupon the ratchet
teeth again gear with the stop and so lock the blind roller in position.
Fig. 7 illustrates the means we employ to adjust the length of the roller to suit
the distance apart of the supporting brackets a. One of the end discs or it might
be both is or are formed with a sleeve m into which we slide the end of the wooden
roller n.
The roller n can be pulled out or pushed in so as to adjust the roller
exactly to the required length. It will also be evident that the solid part might
be on the end disc and the roller consist of a sleeve or the roller might be made of
two sleeves sliding telescopically one within the other.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The general arrangement construction and combination of parts comprising
our improved arrangements for raising and lowering window blinds substantially as
described and shown.
2. As means for raising and lowering window blinds the bracket a with inclined
key hole shaped perforation in combination with an arm d pivotted to the bracket a
and capable of raising and lowering the square neck of the blind roller pivot into
and out of the oblong portion of the key hole perforation so as to lock or release
the blind roller substantially as described and shown.
3. The arm or bell crank lever d employed as means for raising and lowering
the pivot of a blind roller and thus locking or releasing the same by the means
illustrated and described, or otherwise employed as a key to lock and release the
square end of a fixed pivot substantially as described and shown.
4. The improved construction of blind rollers whereby the same are rendered
adjustable relatively to their length substantially as illustrated at Fig. 7 of the
drawings and as described with reference to the said fig.
Dated this 90 1001
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.
DUTTON & FULTON,
1, St. James Square, Manchester, Agents.