A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING DRAUGHTS OF AIR AND THE ADMISSION OF RAIN THROUGH THE APERTURES UNDER AND AROUND DOORS AND WINDOWS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Sanderson Fletcher, of the City of
Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, for the
Invention of "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING
DRAUGHTS OF AIR AND THE ADMISSION OF RAIN THROUGH THE APERTURES
UNDER AND AROUND DOORS AND WINDOWS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS."
Sealed the 19th February 1869, and dated the 31st August 1.868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Sanderson
Fletcher at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 31st August 1868.
I, WILLIAM SANDERSON FLETCHER, of the City of Manchester, in
the County of Lancaster, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING
DRAUGHTS OF AIR AND THE ADMISSION OF RAIN THROUGH THE APERTURES
UNDER AND AROUND DOORS AND WINDOWS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS," to be as
follows:-
In constructing my draught preventing apparatus I make use of

page_text: sheet india-rubber or other elastic material held in a clip or clasp of
brass or other suitable metal. The india-rubber or other elastic material
is cut into strips of the required length and breadth. The clip or
clasp is made of sheet metal having one or both edges turned over
to form a recess sufficient to hold the rubber and under which the
edges of the india-rubber or other clastic material are laid and held.
The clasps are made narrower than the strip of clastic material, thus
contracting the latter, and thereby producing an elastic cushion which
is readily adjusted around doors and windows and effectually prevents
the passage of wind or rain. I prefer to make the clasps or clips as
long as the strips of india-rubber and thus the edges of the india-rubber
are protected. The strip of india-rubber or other elastic material may
be used with or without a metallic clip or clasp.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Sanderson Fletcher in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th February 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SANDERSON FLETCHER, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first 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 beirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Sanderson Fletcher, Her special
license that I, the said William Sanderson Fletcher, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Sanderson Fletcher, 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 "A NEW METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING DRAUGHTS OF AIR
AND THE ADMISSION OF RAIN THROUGH THE APERTURES UNDER AND AROUND

page_text: others) that I, the said William Sanderson Fletcher, 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Sanderson Fletcher, 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):
In constructing my draught-preventing apparatus I make use of
sheet india-rubber or other elastic material held in a clip or clasp of
brass or other suitable metal. The india-rubber or other elastic material
is cut into strips of the required length and breadth. The clip or
clasp is made of sheet metal having one or both edges turned over to
form a recess sufficient to hold the rubber and under which the edges
of the india-rubber or other clastic material are laid and held. The
clasps are made narrower than the strip of elastic material, thus
contracting the latter and thereby producing au elastic cushion which
is readily adjusted round doors and windows and effectually prevents
the passage of wind or rain. I prefer to make the clasps or clips as
long as the strips of india-rubber, and thus the edges of the india-rubber
are protected. The strip of india-rubber or other clastic material may
be used with or without a metallic clip or clasp.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a section of my improved apparatus for preventing
draughts of air as applied to a door, the line a represents the floor of
a room, hall, or passage, and b, a section of the lower part of a door.
The space between the door and the floor is occupied by my improved
apparatus which is constructed in the following manner-c is a clip

page_text: or clasp made of sheet brass or other metal, both edges of which are
turned over to form recesses under which the edges of the strip of
india-rubber or other elastic material d are held. I prefer to employ
vulcanized india-rubber for this purpose, but any other compound of
india-rubber or other elastic material may be used. The clips or
clasps c are made narrower than the strip of elastic material d, so that
when the elastic strip is in the clip the centre portion thereof bulges
upwards, thereby producing an elastic cushion, which comes in contact
with the under side of the door and effectually prevents the passage of
wind and rain. The length of the apparatus is made to correspond with
the width of the door or window to which it is applied, as shewn in
Figure 2, and by making the metal clips of the same length as the
elastic strips the edges of the latter are protected; the apparatus is
secured to the floor by wood screws as shewn in the Drawing or to the
door or window.
Figure 3 represents a modification in the mode of constructing my
improved apparatus. In this instance the edges of the elastic strip are
protected by the ribs e, e, which are secured to the floor or to the door
or window by screws; by fixing the ribs nearer to or further from each
other the elastic strip can be made to bulge up more or less according
to the space to be closed. When the elastic strips are made of
vulcanized india-rubber they may be vulcanized in a mould of the
requisite shape to form the elastic cushion, and in some cases the metal
ribs e may be dispensed with and the edges of the elastic ribs may be
protected by ribs of vulcanite or other material cemented to the elastic
strip.
In the foregoing description and Drawing I have only shewn my
Invention as applied to the under side of doors, it is however applicable
to the under side of windows and to the vertical sides and tops of doors
and windows.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described the
manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I do
not intend to limit myself to the details herein set forth, as the same
may be varied, but what I claim as my Invention, of a new method of
and apparatus for preventing draughts of air and the admission of rain
through the apertures under and around doors and windows, is the

page_text: elastic cushion d, when used in the manner and for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Sanderson Fletcher, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of February
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
W. S. FLETCHER. (L.S.)