IMPROVEMENTS IN CURTAINS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Theodor Simis, Merchant and Manufacturer, in the City
of Hamburg, Germany, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CURTAINS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Theodor Simis at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st April 1878.
BE
THEODOR SIMIS, Merchant and Manufacturer, in the City of Hamburg, Germany.
IMPROVEMENTS IN CURTAINS."
The object of this curtain is to prevent the entering of the rays of the sun into
a window or room which has to be protected against the sun without hindering the
view from outside the window or room through the former or into the latter.
This curtain will be evidently mainly useful for show or shop windows.
My curtain consists of rows of cells constructed of sufficiently broad vertical
strips of cloth, or similar flexible material, and of adjustable frames covered with
transparent cloth or other material, mounted on horizontal shafts or axles placed
in bearings or eyes fastened to the vertical strips.
The vertical strips of cloth, or other suitable material, prevent the entering of
rays of the sun coming from either side, while the frames mounted in horizontal
direction prevent the rays of the sun falling in a direction from above entering
through the corresponding window or into the room.
A curtain of my construction, of a protecting surface of about 60 square feet, and
furnished with 20 rows of cells, each row containing four cells only, requires
a space of height of 4 inches when being lifted, and has a total weight of about
10 pounds.
The axles of the frames turn in metal eyes fastened within the vertical par-
titions. These axles may be made of rods of wood, cane, metal, or other suitable
material; or the same may be constructed by connecting the end boards of two
frames facing each other by means of metal boxes and pins.

page_text: The connection between the frames facing each other may also be made with an
iron or metal bolt furnished with a thread at each end for fastening the frames to
each other, while the part of the bolt between these threads is of somewhat larger
diameter and rests in the eye of the corresponding vertical partition.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Theodor Simis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st October
1878.
THEODOR SIMIS, Merchant and Manufacturer, in the City of Hamburg, Germany.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CURTAINS."
The object with these curtains is to prevent the entrance of the sun's rays while
still making it possible to look in through the window or the whole space protectedl
against the sun.
The advantage of these curtains is especially apparent for show or shop windows,
where the curtains heretofore used only offered the desired complete protection
against the entry of the sun's rays when the closure was complete, that is, when
at the same time the direct entry of all light rays was shut out.
The curtain or blind made according to this Invention consists of a series of
cells, which are formed of vertical strips or bars of suitable width, made of woven
or other suitable material, and of adjustable frames, which can turn on horizontal
axes, and which on one or both sides are covered with a transparent material or
fabric. By this construction I attain that the vertical strips or bars prevent the
entry of the lateral sun's rays, while the rays from above are caught by horizontal
frames. By the double walls of the latter (when so made) the heat is also kept
out from the rooms or spaces thus protected, because there is a hollow inside
space
the frame which badly conducts the heat.
The depth of the cells is in proportion to the size of same in horizontal and
vertical direction. The greater the depth the greater may the cells be made, and
the greater will be the intervening openings for looking through.
The annexed Sheet of Drawings represents the curtain or blind to a reduced
scale.
Figure 1 is an outside view; Figure 2, a side elevation; and Figure 3, a plan
of same.
Figures 4 and 5 are details of the frames and their connection with the vertical
strips or bars in full size.
The vertical strips or bars a, b, c, d, are made of textile or other suitable material,
whereby I am enabled to draw the curtain up; the separate frames then lio flat
on one another; m, n, o, are the separate frames of a horizontal series; the number
of frames in a series may be more or less, all according to the size of the curtain.
The frames are connected together by screw bolts & resting in metal eyes 7, which
are fastened in the vertical strips or walls b, c. The frames are by preference made

page_text: of wood, and can be set as required by means the cord g; h is a cord serving to
raise the curtain, this cord is by separate branch cords led down by the vertical
strips or walls, and united to thein under the lowest series of frames. When the
curtain is raised all the frames are thus raised also, and lie flat on one another.
According to the height of the sun the frames are set, and the blind may also be
completely closed by turning the frames completely.
The details of construction, as for instance, the frames and their connection with
one another and with the vertical strips, can be carried out in very different ways,
and I do not limit myself to the above described mode of carrying the Invention
into effect, but I claim the construction of curtains or blinds consisting of vertical
strips or bars of textile or other flexible material, and of adjustable frames, which
can turn on horizontal axes, forming a series of cells, for the purpose set forth as
described, and as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Theodor Simis, have hereunto set my hand and
sual, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
ATLILIT