IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW SHUTTERS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Cummings, of Blyth, in the County of
Northumberland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDOW
SHUTTERS."
Sealed the 7th April 1876, and dated the 15th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Cummings
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th October 1875.
I, GEORGE CUMMINGS, of Blyth, in the County of Northumberland,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WINDOW SHUTTERS," to be as follows:-
My improvements in window shutters mainly consist in substituting a
few wide or deep leaves of sheet metal, which when not in use are
received in a compartment under the sill of the window, in lieu of a
number of very narrow strips as now generally in use rolled up under
the facia board of the shop front. This latter method is not only
costly, but much room is occupied by the necessary machinery to roll
up
the shutter.

page_text: In order to produce a simpler and cheaper method of closing shop
windows or shutters I provide under but in front of the window a
compartment to hold, say, four wide leaves of sheet metal, the ends
running in as many grooves in each jamb. The leaves stand in front of
one another, and are kept in their place by the aforesaid grooves, up
which they each ascend a certain height. The bottom edge of the
leaves are turned or bent slightly inward and upward, while the top
edge, with the exception of the outer or front leaf, is similarly bent, but
outward and downward, consequently when the outer leaf is made to
ascend to the top of its groove by means of a balance weight (or a pair
of balance weights and chains), to which this leaf of the shutter is
attached by a chain passing over a pulley above the window, the inward
and upward turned bottom edge hitches or hooks on its way into the
bent top edge of the second leaf, carrying that upward, when it in like
manner fulfils a similar duty to the third, and the third to the fourth.
The first or outer leaf having then reached the top of the window and
the balance weight or weights on the other side having descended to the
bottom and there secured by a pin or bolt or other suitable means, the
second, third, and fourth leaves are hanging from the first and from
one another by their turned edges, but where the window is broad I
place a light upright pillar in the centre, and as this pillar has pro-
jections on its inner face corresponding to the positions of the various
drawn up leaves of the shutter it necessarily follows that the shutter is
supported and fastened by the pillar when locked in a recess formed for
it in the bressummer and sill or bottom of the window.
When the shutter is to be opened the pillar is removed, and the
balance weight unbolted and raised; the leaves being now unsupported
slide by their own gravity down the grooves.
The upper leaf may be so made as to form when it has descended the
outer covering of the others, the top representing the sill. In this
case of course a suitable foundation would be made for the upright
pillar, which could be fastened to one of the leaves by a lock.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Cummings in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
CUMMINGS, of Blyth, in the County of Northumberland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Cummings,
Her special licence that I, the said George Cummings, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Cummings, 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 WINDOW SHUTTERS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Cummings, my exc-
cutors 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Cummings, 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, that is to say :-
My improvements in window shutters consist in substituting a few
wide or deep leaves of thin sheet metal (which when not in use are
received in a compartment under the sill of the window) in lieu of a
number of very narrow strips as now generally in use rolled up under
the facia board of the shop front.
To produce a simpler, safer, cheaper, and more expeditious method of
closing shop windows or shutters is the object of my Invention, which

page_text: may be thus explained :-Under and in front of the window is a
receptacle to hold a number of wide or deep leaves of thin sheet metal,
the ends of which run in as many grooves running up the window
jambs. The leaves stand in front of one another, and are kept in their
places by the aforesaid grooves, up which they each ascend a certain
height. The bottom edge of the leaves are turned or bent slightly
inward and upward, while the top edge, with the exception of the outer
or front leaf, is similarly bent, but outward and downward, consequently
when the outer leaf is made to ascend to the top of its grooves the
inward and upward turned bottom edge hitches or hooks on its way into
the bent top edge of the second leaf, carrying that upward. The second
leaf during its upward journey performs in like manner a similar duty
on the third leaf, the third to the fourth, and so on, until the first leaf
has reached the top of its grooves, when a spring catch flics into a bolt
hole and secures it from falling; the first or outer leaf being now
secured in its place at the top the rest are hanging from it, and from
one another by their turned edges.
I will now proceed to describe my Invention more in detail by aid of
the accompanying Drawing, reference being had to the letters and
Figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a shop front fitted with my improved
shutter. At A, A, it will be seen the shutter is drawn up or closed; at
B, B, the shutter is being drawn up; C is the doorway, closed in a
similar manner to the windows. The portion D, D, represents the
windows when opened or the shutters down, and lying within the
receptacle or wainscoat F*.
Figure 2 is a section on line A, A, shewing the means I employ to
secure the first or top leaf by means of a spring latch, and the bottom
leaf by a catch.
Figure 3 is a part sectional view on line B, B, to show the manner
in which the leaves hitch or catch into each other on being drawn up.
Figure 4 is a section on line C, C, when the shutters are down and
the door opened for business; the dotted lines in this Figure indicate the
position of the receptacle or box at the time of closing.
Figure 5 is a section on line D, D, showing the shutter let down into
the receptacle F*, and the hinged flap, which is provided where the

page_text: window is wide, and further security than that afforded by the spring
latch is required.
In all these Figures a¹, a², a³, a³, and a³ are the thin leaves of sheet
metal forming the shutter; 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are the grooves or guides,
up which the leaves ascend a certain height, as shown in Figure 2;
> is the lid drawn up with the last leaf in order to close the receptacle
against the weather; c is the spring catch with a bifurcated bolt, which
escaping the rope & springs into the two bolt holes e, e, (see Figure 1)
when the leaf is fully drawn up; g is a pulley fixed in any convenient
position over the window. Over this pulley runs a rope d with a hook
at the one end, the other end being attached to a balance weight; or
where the window is not wide it may be taken by the hand, and the
shutters drawn up by manual power. h, h, is the catch or hook, into
which the bottom leaf locks, as shewn in Figure 2.
F, F, Figures 1 and 4, is the receptacle or box to receive the shutter
of the door, which may be so made as to be carried by hand to the
doorway, and bolted thereto by the bolt i; or, as shewn in Figure 4,
it may be provided with a hinge j, on which it would turn and fall into
a recess made to receive it in the floor.
The mode of closing the shutters would be as follows:-A long arm
in the first instance would be used to bring the hook and cord down
from under the facia board where it has been concealed during the day;
the cover (see Figure 5) is next taken away, and where the flap / is
used it is opened to allow the leaves to pass up; the hook being attached
to the outer leaf the assistant can now pull up the shutter by hauling at
the free end m of the rope d, which passes over the pulley g, sce
Figures 1 and 2. When the shutter is drawn high enough the turned
bottom edge of the last leaf is caught in the hook h, and held fast
thereby while the spring bolt c shoots into the bolt holes e, e, of the top
leaf, thus making the whole shutter secure; but where the window is
broad the flap, Figure 5, is used, which when closed and locked further
secure the shutter.
To open the shutters the assistant taking hold of the free end of the
said rope with one hand, with the other and a long arm, he unfastened
the bolt c by pulling the handle n. The shutter is now at liberty to
slide down the grooves, but is held in check by the assistant holding the
rope, which being slackened the whole of the leaves slide down into the
receptacle or box F*, Figures 2 and 5.

page_text: Should the window be very broad, and consequently the shutters
heavy, I would then have a pulley and a balance weight at each side.
On the outside I would have a light removeable centre pillar of the
shape of the flap (Figure 5); this pillar could be locked to the shutter
by lock and key or other suitable means when in use to be afterwards
unfastened and taken away when the shutter is to be lowered.
Another plan I would adopt in a very broad window is to divide the
breadth of the window into two or more parts, and insert at each
division a removeable pillar that could be bolted to the bressummer and
sill of the window when the shutters are to be raised; on each side of
this pillar are grooves or guides coinciding with the grooves or guides
of the receptacle beneath, and up which the leaves travel as before
explained. In this arrangement each shutter has but one pulley and
bolt, and may be pulled up by manual power, as before explained and
illustrated on the accompanying Drawing.
Having now described my said Invention, and explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the method and means
of closing shop fronts, substantially in manner as herein set forth and
illustrated on the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Cummings, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.