AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING AND RAISING AND LOWERING. WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Holland, of Warwick, Decorator, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING AND
RAISING AND LOWERING. WINDOW SASHES."
Sealed the 28th November 1861, and dated the 26th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Holland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
June 1861.
I, WILLIAM HOLLAND, of Warwick, Decorator, do hereby declare the nature.
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN SUSPENDING.
AND RAISING AND LOWERING WINDOW SASHES," to be as follows:-
My Invention is especially applicable to the suspending and raising and
lowering of the top sashes of windows, but is also applicable to the suspending
and raising and lowering of the lower sash. I will describe my Invention as
applied to a top sash. The sash is suspended by two chains, cords, or lines,
but I prefer chains, working in the framing of the window. The end of one of
the said chains is fastened to the bottom of the sash on one side, and the end
of the other chain is fastened to the bottom of the sash on the other side.
One of the chains rising vertically is conducted over a pulley at the top of the
window frame, and crossing the said window frame, passes over another pulley
and descends vertically on the side of the sash opposite to that to which its
end is fixed. The other chain passes over a pulley situated a little higher
than the lower edge of the upper sash when raised. The ends. of the two

page_text: chains thus descend vertically side by side, and are connected with two drums
or rollers fixed on an axis, by turning which axis the chains may be either
wound on or unwound from the said drums or rollers. Motion is given to the
axis of the drums or rollers in the following manner :-On the said axis is a
worm wheel with which a worm on an axis at right angles thereto engages.
A bevil pinion on the worm axis engages with another bevil pinion on a third
axis, to which latter axis a winch is attached. By turning the said winch
motion is communicated through the worm and worm wheel to the drums or
rollers, and by winding the chains on the said drums or rollers the sash is
raised and suspended at the required height, and by unwinding the chains
from the said drums or rollers the sash is lowered. A sash fastening is
unnecessary, as pressure applied to the sash will not produce motion in the
winding mechanism. When the sash is very large or heavy it may be balanced
in the ordinary way, and its motion thereby facilitated. The chains may be con-
ducted, where desirable, to the winding mechanism situated at a distance from
the window, and the position of the sash may be the more effectually secured
in any required position by fixing the winding winch. By my Invention great
facility is obtained in raising and lowering window sashes, and the amount of
ventilation in rooms may be easily adjusted by its use. The raising and
lowering of the window sash being effected without the direct application of
force to the sash, the inconvenience experienced in raising and lowering sashes
in the ordinary way is avoided.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Holland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLLAND, of Warwick, Decorator, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Holland, Her special licence that I, the said William Holland,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Holland, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN SUSPENDING AND RAISING AND LOWERING WINDOW SASHES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Holland, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Holland, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the improvement or improvements herein-after
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in suspending and
raising and lowering window sashes.
My Invention is especially applicable to the suspending and raising and
lowering of the top sashes of windows, but is also applicable to the suspending
and raising and lowering of the lower sashes. I will describe and illustrate
my Invention as applied to a top sash.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents a front elevation (partly in section) of a
window and window frame to which my Invention is applied; and Figure 2 is
a side elevation of the same (partly in section); Figures 3 and 4 represent ou
a larger scale a portion of the same, as herein-after described.
a, b, are the top and bottom sashes respectively of the window, the said
sashes working in the window frame c in the ordinary manner. The top sash
a is suspended by two chains, cords, or lines d, e, (but I prefer chains) working
in the window frame c. The end of the chain d is fastened to the bottom of
the sash a at f on one side, and the other chain e is fastened to the bottom of
the said sash a at g on the other side. The chain & rising vertically from the
bottom of the sash a is guided by the pulleys h, h, and conducted over a
pulley at the top of the window frame c. The said chain crossing the said
window frame passes over another pulley at the opposite side of the frame
and descends vertically on the side of the sash opposite to that to which its
end is fixed, as will be understood by an examination of Figure 1. The other
chain e passes over a pulley 1 situated a little higher than the level of the
lower edge of the top sash a when the said sash is raised, or about the same
level as the top edge of the lower sash 6 when depressed; the said chain then
descends vertically. The ends of the two chains d, e, thus descend side by

page_text: side, and are connected with two drums or rollers m, n, secured together, the
said drums or rollers being fixed on an axis o situated at the bottom of one
side of the window frame c, as shown in the Drawing. By turning the axis o
the chains d, e, may either be wound on or unwound from the said drums or
rollers m, n, and the window sash thereby raised or lowered to the required
distance. Motion is given to the axis o carrying the drums or rollers m, n,
by the mechanism situated at the bottom of the window frame, the said
mechanism being constructed as follows:-
A worm wheel q on the said axis o
on the axis s, the said axis s being
On the top of the axis s is a bevil
pinion u on the axis v, to which latter
The winch x is omitted in Figures 1
This mechanism is shown on a larger scale in side elevation in Figure 3,
and front elevation in Figure 4 of the Drawing. The said axis o works in
bearings p, p, secured to the frame c.
gears with a worm (see Figure 3)
situated at right angles to the axis o.
pinion t which gears with another bevil
axis a winch or handle a is attached.
and 3. By turning the winch a a rotatory motion is communicated through
the axis v, bevil pinions u, t, axis s, and worm and worm wheel r, q, to the
druins or rollers m, n. By turning the said winch in one direction the chains
d, e, will be wound upon the drums or rollers m, n, and the sash a raised and
suspended at the required height. By turning the said winch in the opposite
direction the chains d, e, will be unwound from the drums or rollers m, n, and
the sash a lowered. The winch x may be jointed, as shown at a², and the
lower end of the said winch being raised and turned upon the said joint a², the
knob or handle of the said winch enters a hole w in the window frame, and
the position of the winch is thereby fixed. The required position of the sash
is the more effectually secured by fixing the winding winch x in the manner
described; there is, however, no need to fix the winch x so far as the weight
of the sash is concerned. A sash fastening is unnecessary, as pressure applied
to the sash will not produce motion in the winding mechanism. When the
sash is very large or heavy it may be balanced in the ordinary way, and its
motion thereby facilitated. The winding mechanism, instead of being fixed
near the window, as represented in the Drawing, may be situated where
desirable at a distance from the window, the chains being conducted by pulleys
from the sash to the drums or rollers. The lower sash b may be suspended
and raised and lowered by the arrangement described and represented with
respect to the upper sash a. By my Invention great facility is obtained in
raising and lowering window sashes, and the amount of ventilation in rooms
may be readily adjusted by its use. The raising and lowering of the window
sash being effected without the direct application of force to the sash, the

page_text: inconvenience experienced in raising and lowering sashes in the ordinary way
is avoided. For raising and lowering the sashes of large windows and sashes
situated at a great height from the floor of the room my Invention possesses
great advantages.
My Invention is specially applicable to the windows of dwelling houses and
public buildings, but is also applicable to the windows of conservatories,
stables, and other places where the window sashes are required to be easily
and expeditiously opened and closed and adjusted.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to
the precise details herein described and represented, as the same may be
varied without departing from the nature of my Invention, but I claim as my
Invention the improvement or improvements in suspending and raising and
lowering window sashes herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, that is to say, suspending and raising and lowering window
sashes by means of chains, cords, or lines disposed or arranged essentially as
described and illustrated, the said chains, cords, or lines being wound upon or
unwound from drums or rollers to which a rotatory motion is communicated
by means of mechanism constructed and worked in the manner herein-before
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Holland, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM HOLLAND. (L.S.)