IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- RATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING VENETIAN OR OTHER BLINDS, CURTAINS, OR SHUTTERS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Sewell, of Preston, in the County of Lan-
caster, Cabinet Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING VENETIAN OR OTHER BLINDS, CURTAINS,
OR SHUTTERS."
Sealed the 19th July 1864, and dated the 22nd January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Sewell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
January 1864.
I, JOSEPH SEWELL, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Cabinet
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING VENETIAN OR OTHER BLINDS,
CURTAINS, OR SHUTTERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is applicable principally to Venetian blinds, but it may also
be adapted with advantage to other blinds, curtains, or shutters which like
Venetian blinds are gathered up from the bottom in such a manner that the
weight upon the cord which raises them gradually increases or accumulates
as they are drawn up bigher, and the object of this Invention is to counter-

page_text: balance this weight by giving to such cord an increased power or leverage as
the weight thereon accumulates, and thus equalize the strain throughout. In
mounting a Venetian blind, for instance, the blind is constructed and fixed as
usual, being suspended by short tape loops to a stout lath or piece of wood
firmly fixed to the window casing. To the upper side of this piece of
wood are screwed or fastened two metal brackets (one near to each end)
supporting a long iron spindle, which is capable of revolving and also of sliding
longitudinally therein. Upon this spindle are fixed three conical pulleys or
barrels; two of these are placed in such relative positions that when the blind
is down to its full extent the upper ends of the cords (which pass through the
holes of all the laths between the tapes and upward through holes in the piece
of wood above named) can be passed over the larger diameter of these two
cones and be firmly fixed to the ends thereof. It will be readily understood
that if these two cones are placed in the same direction (say with their
smaller ends towards the left), on a revolving motion being given to the spindle
the blind will be wound up by the coiling of the cords on to the conical
pulleys or barrels, and that as this coiling proceeds towards the smaller
diameter of the cones, the friction of the cords against the sides of the holes
will cause the spindle to slide gradually to the right, so that the particular
part of the cones on which the cords are being coiled is always immediately
over the hole through which the respective cord passes. To prevent wear of
the cords the holes in the wood may be protected by metal or porcelain
eyelets. The third conical pulley or barrel is fixed on the spindle near the
right-hand end thereof in a reversed position (namely, with its smaller
diameter towards the right), and to it the hand cord by means of which the
blind is raised or lowered is fixed, being so arranged that it shall be entirely
coiled when the cords on the other pulleys are uncoiled, and vice versa, the end
of the cord passing over the smallest diameter when the blind is down to its
full extent. It will now be evident that if the hand cord be pulled the blind
will be drawn up, and that as the weight gradually increases by the taking up
of one lath after another the hand cord passes on to the larger diameter of its
pulley, whilst the other cords gradually pass on to the smaller diameters of
their pulleys, and thus the leverage or power of the hand cord is increased
whilst the strain thereon is equalized throughout.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Sewell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd.
July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SEWELL, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Cabinet Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Sewell, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Sewell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Sewell, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING VENETIAN OR OTHER BLINDS,
CURTAINS, OR SHUTTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Sewell, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,.
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 inime-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Sewell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawing, that is
to say:-
This Invention is applicable principally to Venetian blinds, but it may also
be adapted with advantage to other blinds, curtains, or shutters which like
Venetian blinds are gathered up from the bottom in such a manner that the
weight upon the cord which raises them gradually increases or accumulates as
they are drawn up higher, and the object of this Invention is to counterbalance
this weight by giving to such cord an increased power or leverage as the
weight thereon accumulates, and thus equalize the strain throughout. In
mounting a Venetian blind, for instance, the blind is constructed and fixed as

page_text: usual, being suspended by short tape loops to a stout lath or piece of wood
firmly fixed to the window casing. To the upper side of this piece of wood
are screwed or fastened two or more metal or wooden brackets (one near to
each end) supporting a long iron spindle, which is capable of revolving and
also of sliding longitudinally therein. Upon this spindle are fixed three (or
more) conical pulleys or barrels, according to the number of tapes on the
blind. Two (or more) of these are placed in such relative positions that
when the blind is down to its full extent the upper ends of the cords (which
pass through the holes of all the laths between the tapes and upward through
holes in the piece of wood above named) can be passed over the larger
diameter of these two cones and be firmly fixed to the ends thereof. It will
be readily understood that if these cones are placed in the same direction
(say with their smaller ends towards the left), on a revolving motion being
given to the spindle the blind will be wound up by the coiling of the cords on
to the conical pulleys or barrels, and that as this coiling proceeds towards the
smaller diameter of the cones, the friction of the cords against the sides of the
holes will cause the spindle to slide gradually to the right, so that the par-
ticular part of the cones on which the cords are being coiled is always
immediately over the holes through which the respective cords pass, or if a
screw thread is cut on the spindle the same effect will be produced. To
prevent wear of the cords the holes in the wood may be protected by metal or
porcelain eyelets. The third conical pulley or barrel is fixed on any part of
the spindle in a reversed position (namely, with its smaller diameter towards
the right), and to it the hand cord by means of which the blind is raised or
lowered is fixed, being so arranged that it shall be entirely coiled when the
cords on the other pulleys are uncoiled, and vice versâ, the end of the cord
passing over the smallest diameter when the blind is down to its full extent.
It will now be evident that if the hand cord be pulled the blind will be drawn
up, and that as the weight gradually increases by the taking up of one lath
after another the hand cord passes on to the larger diameter of its pulley,
whilst the other cords gradually pass on to the smaller diameters of their
pulleys, and thus the leverage or power of the hand cord is increased, whilst
the strain thereon is equalized throughout.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for " Improvements
in Apparatus for Raising or Lowering Venetian or other Blinds, Curtains, or
Shutters," I will now proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which
the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in
order that the same may be distinctly understood I have annexed hereunto
a Drawing illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with letters of

page_text: reference corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof, that is
to say:-
The annexed Drawing represents part of a Venetian window blind with my
improved apparatus adapted thereto.
a, a, is the lath or board which is fixed to the window casing, and to which
the blind is suspended as usual by the short tape loops 6, 6. To the upper
side of the lath a, a, are screwed or fastened the two metal brackets c, c, or, if
preferred, for the sake of diminishing noise, box or other wood brackets may
be substituted. These brackets support the iron spindle d, d, in such a way
that it can revolve and also slide longitudinally therein, and upon the spindle
are fixed the three conical grooved pulleys e, e, f,f. 9. g. To the pulleys e, e, f,f,
are fastened the upper ends of the two cords h, h, which pass through the
blind to the bottom lath in the usual manner, and to the pulley g, g, is fastened
the end of the "pull-up" cord i, i. It will be seen, on reference to the
Drawing, that the pulleys e, e, f,f, both taper in the same direction, and that
the pulley g, g, is tapered in the reverse direction, and also that when the
cords h, h, are entirely uncoiled from their respective pulleys e, e, f,f, (the
blind being drawn down to its full extent,) the cord i, i, is, on the contrary,
entirely coiled on to its pulley 9, 9, from which it will be evident that the
pulling down of the cord i, i, will uncoil it and wind up the two cords h, h,
and vice versa. It will also be equally evident that as the blind is drawn up
the cord i, i, gradually passes on to the larger diameter of its pulley, whilst,
on the other hand, the cords h, h, at the same time gradually pass on to the
smaller diameter of their respective pulleys, and thus the leverage or power of
the cord i, i, is increased as the weight of the blind accumulates, and the strain
thereon is equalized throughout.
I
may here observe that, although I have shown in the Drawing only two
grooved conical pulleys e, e, f,f, a larger number may be used, according to
the number of tapes and the width of the blind, and that if preferred the
'pull-up" pulley g,g, may be placed on any other part of the spindle between
the pulleys e, e, f,f, or to the extreme left of them, and the cord i, i, pass over
sheaves to the side of the window.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
* Improvements in Apparatus for Raising or Lowering Venetian or other
Blinds, Curtains, or Shutters," together with the manner in which the same is
to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I would remark in
conclusion that I claim as my Invention the general construction and arrange-
ment of the apparatus as shown in the Drawing and above described, or any
mere modification thereof, and especially I claim the use of conical pulleys

page_text: (whether grooved or otherwise) for the purpose of equalizing the strain upon
the "pull-up" cord, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Sewell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOSEPH SEWELL. (L.S.)