IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF HANGING, SUSPENDING, AND BALANCING WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Sawyer, of No. 63, Alma Street, New
North Road, London, N., in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF
HANGING, SUSPENDING, AND BALANCING WINDOW SASHES."
Sealed the 16th February 1869, and dated the 20th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Sawyer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th August 1868..
I, JOSEPH SAWYER, of No. 63, Alma Street, New North Road,
London, N., in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
AND METHOD OF HANGING, SUSPENDING, AND BALANCING WINDOW SASHES," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction
of window sashes applicable to buildings of every kind, and in the
apparatus for hanging, suspending, and balancing the said window
sashes, and in the mode of operating the raising or lowering, in the
opening or shutting and securing of the same. The window sashes

page_text: are constructed with rebated joints at that part where the two sashes
meet together when shut for the purpose of excluding the air and to
be proof against rain or the action of the wind. The window sashes
have wrought-iron, brass, or other metal plates with teeth or cogs
formed thereon, and are fixed on the sides or edges of the window E
sashes.
These wrought-iron, brass, or other metal plates having teeth
or cogs on the side thereof are made the whole length of the sash,
and are let in flush or may form projections for the purpose of
The sash frame
hanging or suspending the said window sashes.
which is made to receive the window. sash is provided with a wrought-
iron, brass, or other metal pinion with teeth or cogs formed thereon.
A steel pivot is fixed in the centre of the said pinion on which it
rotates. A small wrought-iron, brass, or other metal frame will be
made suitable to receive the pinion or cog wheel to admit of being
attached to the stile of the sash frame. Two of the pinions or cog
wheels will be let in flush into the stile of the sash frame on the
right hand, two let in flush into the stile on the left-hand side of
sash frame, one pinion on each side being made to receive the top
sash and the other pinion on each side connects the bottom sash.
When the sashes are placed in position in the sash frame the pinion or
cog wheel is made to gear into the teeth or cogs which are formed on
the wrought-iron, brass, or other metal plates, and are fixed on the sides
or edges of the window sashes and by means of a cast-iron or other metal
box with teeth or cogs formed on either side. This box is made hollow
for the purpose of being adjusted or weighted so as to be a perfect
balance for the window sash. The balancing box or boxes are made
to travel up and down. The pockets of sash frame on each side covered
by a wrought-iron plate and grooves formed of metal for the box to
slide
up and down the pocket without any friction. This balance box
having teeth or cogs formed on either side thereof is connected to or
made to gear into the pinion or cog wheel which is let in flush into
the stile on both sides of the sash frame. Therefore by this arrange-
ment the balancing box is attached to one side of the centre of the
pinion or cog wheel. The window sash is connected to the opposite
side of the centre. The equilibrium being equally restored the opening
and shutting of the window sashes is thereby made self-acting.
To meet the requirements of the present plate-glass window sashes

page_text: copper, or brass, to work over a square grooved pulley or sheave, the
hollow balance box attached to one end of the chain by a metal hook
or shackle, the other end of the chain being connected to the window
sash by a metal plate or other suitable fastening.
The Material used for Creating a Perfect Balance.-I take the refuse
of the smelting furnaces or the slag or clinker which is formed in the
smelting of cast iron; this refuse I reduce to a granulated form, it can
then be applied to the hollow balance box in such quantity as will
balance the window sashes.
For the more effectual securing of window sashes I propose to fix a
brass tube or other metal the whole width of the window sash, covering
the joint where the two sashes meet together when shut, the fastening
or bolt being secreted by the brass tube being slotted out to cover the
fastening or bolt. The brass tube is fastened to the bottom sash and will
admit of it being opened upwards and not prevent the top sash being
opened downwards at the same time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Sawyer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SAWYER, of No. 63, Alma Street, New North Road, London, N., in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Joseph Sawyer, Her special licence that I,
the said Joseph Sawyer, my executors; administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Joseph Sawyer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
AND METHOD OF HANGING, SUSPENDING, AND BALANCING WINDOW SASHES,"

page_text: upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Sawyer,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Sawyer, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:―
The Invention consists in certain improvements in the construction
of window sashes applicable to buildings of every kind, and in apparatus
for hanging, suspending, and balancing the said window sashes. The
window sashes are constructed with rebated joints at the part where
the two sashes meet together when shut for the purpose of better
excluding the air, rain, and wind. The window sashes have wrought-
iron, brass, or other metal plates with teeth or cogs on one side thereof
(or formed with indentures or slots) forming racks. These racks are
of the same length as the height of the sashes and are let into grooves
or rebates in the sides or edges thereof flush therewith, or they may
form projections thereout for the purpose of hanging or suspending
the said window sashes. The sash frame which is made to receive the
window sashes is provided with a wrought-iron, brass, or other metal
pinion with teeth or cogs. A steel pivot is fixed in the centre of the
said pinion, on which it rotates. A small wrought-iron, brass, or other
metal frame is suitably made for receiving the pinion or cog wheel and
to admit its being attached to the stile of the sash frame two of the
pinions or cog wheels are let into the stile of the sash frame on the
right-hand side; two pinions or cog wheels are also let into the stile
on the left-hand side of the sash frame, one pinion on each side being
made to receive or cog into the racks of the top sash, and the other pinion
on each side receives or cogs into the racks of the bottom sash, so that
when the sashes are placed in position in the sash frame the pinions
or cog wheels gear into the teeth or cogs, indentures, or slots of the
metal plates or racks fixed on the sides or edges of the window sashes,

page_text: and I balance the sashes by means of cast-iron or other metal or wooden
sliding boxes or weights with teeth or cogs, indentures, or slots on one
side of each box or weight forming racks corresponding with the racks
on the sashes. The boxes are hollow to allow of their weight being
adjusted so that the two boxes of each sash may balance their sash.
The balancing boxes travel up and down the pockets of the sash frame
on each side. The pockets are covered by a wrought-iron plate, and
grooves are formed of metal for the boxes to slide up and down the
pockets with the least possible friction. The racks of the balancing
boxes gear into the pinions or cog wheels in the sides of the sash frame.
Thus by this arrangement the balancing boxes of each sash retain it
in equilibrium in whatever position it may occupy, thus rendering the
opening and closing of the sashes nearly self-acting. I can use as the
material for producing a perfect balance the refuse from the smelting
furnaces or the slag or clinker formed in the smelting of cast iron. .I
reduce this refuse. to a granulated form, it can then be applied to the
hollow balance boxes in such quantities as will balance the window
sashes. Solid weights instead of boxes may be used.
To meet the requirements of the plate-glass window sashes now in
use I use a flat link chain, either of wrought iron, copper, or brass,
working over a square grooved pulley or sheave. The hollow balance
box is attached to one end of the chain by a metal hook or shackle,
the other end of the chain being connected to the window sash by
a metal plate or other suitable means, but to this use of a flat link
chain I make no claim as a separate improvement.
For the more effectual closing of the meeting rails of ordinary window
sashes I sometimes fix a semi-tubular piece of brass or other metal
along the whole width of the window sash, covering the joint where
the two sashes meet when shut. The sash fastening or bolt is let
into a slot or hole made in the brass piece. The piece is fastened to
the bottom sash, and will admit of it being opened upwards and not
prevent the top sash being opened downwards. To this mode of closing
the sashes I make no claim.
To make my Invention better understood I will now proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing in which
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a sash frame and sashes shewing
my improved mode of and apparatus for hanging or suspending and
balancing the sashes, the line of section being taken through the lower

page_text: sash; and Figure 2 is also a sectional elevation of the same, the line of
section being taken through the upper sash. Similar letters of reference
in both Figures represent similar parts.
a, a, is the sash frame; b, b', the sashes, in the side edges of which
are grooves or rebates for receiving the racks c, c, c¹, c¹, so that the
teeth of the racks shall be flush with the edges of the sashes; d, d, stiles
of the sash frame provided with the toothed pinions e, e, e¹, e¹, moving
on pins in the small metal frames f, f, f, f, screwed in the stiles d, d.
The pinions e, e, gear into the racks c, c, of the top sash 6, and the
pinions e, e, into the racks c', c, of the lower sash b¹. 9, 9, are the
pockets of the sash frame for receiving the cast-iron or other metal
boxes or weights h, h, h', h'; these boxes or weights are each provided
with a rack i, i, i, i, similar to the racks of the sashes. The racks i¹, i,
of the boxes or weights h', h', gear into the pinions e¹, e', and are loaded
with granulated iron, lead, or other material k, k, until the two boxes
together exactly balance the lower sash 6', and the boxes h, h, (the
racks i, i, of which gear into the pinions e, e,) are loaded so as to exactly
balance the upper sash b. 1, 1, wrought-iron plates screwed to the lining
of the pockets for the boxes to work against so as to greatly lessen the
friction; m, m, beads to keep the boxes or weights separate. n, n, holes
for receiving bolts by which the balance boxes and consequently the
sashes are fastened when closed. The balance boxes or weights are
in some cases made of wood when the iron plates 1, 1, are not
required. Instead of the racks on the sashes and balance boxes or
weights being formed with cogs or teeth, as shewn, they may be
formed of plates with indentures or slots made therein corresponding
with the teeth or cogs of the pinions.
The action is as follows:-The sashes being closed, as shewn in the
Drawing, the boxes or weights ', ', of the lower sash will be in
the upper part of the pockets, as seen in Figure 1, while the boxes
h, h, of the upper sash 6 will be in the lower part of the pockets, as
seen in Figure 2: If the lower sash be raised the racks c¹, c', moving
with it will turn the pinions e', e¹, which gearing also with the
racks,, of the boxes or weights h', h', will move these boxes down-
wards in proportion as the sash is raised, and as these boxes are
weighted so as to exactly balance the sash 6', the latter will remain
in any position that it may be placed requiring very little force to
move it. The action is the same for the top sash b, the racks of which

page_text: when moved down with the sash cause the pinions e, e, to raise the
boxes h, h, by means of their racks i, i.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I
claim,―
Firstly. The rebating of window sashes in the manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Secondly. The employment of adjustable weighted boxes or weights
with racks or their equivalents in combination with toothed pinions
in the sash frame and racks or their equivalents on the sashes, sub-
stantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Sawyer, have hereto set
my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JOSEPH SAWYER. (L.S.)
Witness,
W. A. GILBEE.