IMPROVE- MENTS IN SUN BLINDS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Julius Jeffreys, of St. Aubyn's Road, Upper.
Norwood, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SUN BLINDS."
Sealed the 15th August 1871, and dated the 21st February 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Julius Jeffreys at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1871.
I, JULIUS JEFFREYS, of St. Aubyn's Road, Upper Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUN BLINDS," to be as follows :-
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me on the 11th
day of July 1855, No. 1551, I described sun blinds of a new con-
struction and in the Specification of a subsequent Patent dated the
28th day of January 1860, No. 226, I described improvements on such
blinds.
My present improvements relate more especially to the metallic form

page_text: Up to the present time the metallic sun blind has not come into use
on account of the difficulty and costliness of its manufacture. I now
propose to form the hoods of the blinds in one piece by stamping the
body and both ends together out of a sheet of metal in a die, having
a matrix corresponding with the exact form of the complete hood, or
of a pair of hoods should it prove desirable to stamp two hoods at
once and to divide them afterwards. For easy working and for economy
I select sheet iron as the material for the hoods in preference to zinc,
brass, or copper. The iron may, as has been suggested, be coated with
a cheap pewter of lead and tin. As a protective and ornamental coating
more durable than paint against the sun's rays, I employ japan fixed
and indurated by stone heat. In order to avoid noise and injury to the
japan or other coating of the hoods I line their interior surface with
baize or other woven fabric, or with paper or leather fixed down by a
waterproof cement. The hoods forming a blind are all suspended one
below another by two lines of web tape (one on each side) extending
from top to bottom, and fixed above inside the blind case close behind
its facia. Each tape stretches downward from hood to hood in a line,
about one-third in front of their back or inner edges and is at bottom
buckled to a staple in the sill of the window frame. To tilt the hoods
a length of tape (one on each side) is passed over a roller fixed under
the head of the blind case, and hangs down to the sill in two lines
behind the hoods, to the back edge of each of which the contiguous
tape is fixed. This tape passing under a roller in the sill rises to meet
its fellow free tape, to which it is buckled. Or the suspending tapes
may pass under the rollers in the sill and be buckled to the tilting tapes,
and these to the free tape, the three tapes keeping the hoods firm at
any fixed inclination. To lessen the friction of the lifting cords which
pass through the back edge of all the hoods, which edge is wired, I
have small friction rollers let into notches in the edge and carried by
the wires as their axes, the cords travelling on the rollers. In order to
soften the light entering between the hoods and to keep out insects I
stretch over the whole inner or back surface of the blind a fine net of
open wove cloth of a dark hue, which being fixed along the back edge
of every hood is gathered up out of view when the blind is drawn up.
Or the gauze cloth travels on a separate roller which may either be
above or fixed in a box below outside the sill, the net being drawn up
by cords passed over pulleys above.

page_text: In order that blinds of different hoods may be made of hoods stamped
in the same die, I cut such hoods into two pieces, some to the right,
others to the left of the mid line, to form by an exchange of the pieces
sets of hoods in different lengths, the pieces being rivetted together
before they are japanned. In order to cut the hoods without mis-
shapening them I employ shears made to fit their ogce curves.
In making the wire frames for the cloth blinds such as are described
in the Specifications previously mentioned, I now propose to rivet the
wires together through holes in the receiving wire made by piercing
them while red hot by a pointed piercer so streching the metal without
cutting away any substance as in punching holes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Julius Jeffreys in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS
JEFFREYS, of St. Aubyn's Road, Upper Norwood, in the County of
Surrey, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Julius Jeffreys, Her special
license that I, the said Julius Jeffreys, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Julius Jeffreys, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and Do
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 SUN BLINDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Julius Jeffreys, 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

page_text: "
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 Julius Jeffreys, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In the Specification of a former Patent granted to me on the Eleventh
day of July One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, No. 1551, I
described sun blinds of a new construction, and in the Specification
of a subsequent Patent dated the Twenty-eighth day of January One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, No. 226, 1 described improvements
on such sun blinds.
My present improvements relate more especially to the metallic form
of blinds such as described in these Specifications.
Up to the present time the metallic sun blind has not come into use
on account of the difliculty and costliness of its manufacture. I now
propose to form the hoods of the blinds in one piece by stamping the
body and both ends together out of a sheet of metal in a die having a
matrix corresponding with the exact form of the complete hood. For
easy working and for economy I select sheet iron as the material for the
hoods in preference to zinc, brass, or copper. The iron may, as has been
suggested, be coated with a cheap pewter of lead and tin. As a pro-
Lective and ornamental coating more durable than paint against the
'sun's rays I employ japan fixed and indurated by stove heat. In order
to avoid noise and injury to the japan or other conting of the hoods I
line their interior surface with baize or other woven fabric, or with
paper or leather fixed down by a waterproof cement. The hoods
forming a blind are all suspended one below another by two lines of web
tape (one on each side) extending from top to bottom and fixed above
inside the blind case close behind its facia. Each tape stretches down-
ward from hood to hood in a lino about one-third in front of their back
or inner edges, and is at bottom buckled to a staple in the sill of the
window frame. To tilt the hoods a length of tape (one on each side)
is passed over a roller fixed under the head of the blind case and hangs
down to the sill in two lines behind the hoods, to the back edge of each of
which the contiguous tape is fixed. This tape passing under a roller in
the sill rises to meet its fellow free tape to which it is buckled. Or to
lessen the friction of the lifting cords which pass through the back edge

page_text: Figure 2 shows the positions the hoods assume when passed, their sides
being slightly inclined they fit one inside the other, c is a suspending
tape, there are two such tapes, one at either end of the hoods. The
hoods 6 are fixed to the tapes c at points c*. The tapes c are made
fast at their upper ends to the frame a and when the blind is let down i
for use they are also secured in any convenient manner at their lower
ends. d, d, are the tilting webs, they are fixed to the back edges of the
hoods, they are carried over pulleys both at the top and bottom of the
frame and their ends are connected by means of a buckle or other wire,
when the blind is to be drawn up the tilting webs are released from
the lower pulleys. In order to retain the hoods at any desired incli-
nation the tilting webs are pinned or clipped together to prevent them
running around their pulleys. At a convenient height two sets of
eyelet holes are formed in the web one set in the front and the other
in the back part of the web, and when the hoods have been set a bent
staple or pin is inserted into the cyclet holes to prevent further move-
ment of the web. The hoods may have a light gauze cloth combined
with them in the manner already described.
Where in place of making the hoods of sheet metal they are of
canvas and the frames of the hoods are wires or rods in place of
soldering the frames together as heretofore I make the joints in the
manner shewn in section at Figure 3. A. hole is made in one of the
pieces without removing metal, and the other piece is reduced at the
end and inserted through it. The hole is countersunk on one side and
the end is rivetted down into it the tool which is used to make the
hole is represented partly in section at Figure 4. The wire or rod to
be pierced is inserted through an eye a, through which there is also
a. transverse passage a', the piercer then advances against it. Its
point passing through the wire or rod. It then retires and tho
piercer c advances and enters the same hole and renders it cylindrical, the
piercer c has an enlargement c' upon it which countersinks the hole.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim as my
Invention of improvements in sun blinds the construction of the hoods
by raising them in dics, cutting them in lengths, and connecting them
to the lengths required substantially as described.
Also the protecting and ornamenting the hoods by japanning their
external surfaces substantially as described.

page_text: Also the arrangement for inclining the hoods substantially as
described.
Also the construction of the wire frames substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Jeffreys, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
JULIUS JEFFREYS. (L.s.)