IMPROVEMENTS IN OB CONNECTED WITH GREENHOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO STRETCHING WIRES IN OTHER SITUATIONS FOR TRAINING PLANTS OR TREES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Nicholas Voice, of Handcross, in the County
of Sussex, Plumber, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OB
CONNECTED WITH GREENHOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PART OF WHICH IS
APPLICABLE TO STRETCHING WIRES IN OTHER SITUATIONS FOR TRAINING
PLANTS OR TREES."
Sealed the 27th July 1869, and dated the 27th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Nicholas Voice at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th March 1869.
I, NICHOLAS VOICE, of Handcross, in the County of Sussex, Plumber,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN OR CONNECTED WITH GREENHOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS, PART OF WHICH IS
APPLICABLE TO STRETCHING WIRES IN OTHER SITUATIONS FOR TRAINING PLANTS
OR TREES," to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to the opening and closing of
the ventilating apparatus in greenhouses and other like buildings. This
ventilating apparatus consists of hinged glazod frames, and I regulate
',]

page_text: the opening and closing of the same in the following manner :-I carry
a horizontal bar through the mullious for the length of the glazed
frames, and at each mullion I fit a rack which is connected to the glazed
frames. On the horizontal bar is a cog wheel to gear into each rack, and
near the outer end of the bar is an additional cog wheel provided with a
stop or catch.
The horizontal bar is fitted with a crank handle or other
appliance for rotating it. When it is desired to open or close the glazed
frames the catch is disengaged from its cog wheel, and the horizontal bar
is then rotated, so that the other cog wheels act upon the racks, and
therefore open or close the frames according to the direction in which
the bar is rotated; when the glazed frames have been moved into the
required position the catch is allowed to take into its cog wheel, so
that the parts are all held. This part of my Invention further consists
in hinging the upper glazed frames or upper ventilating apparatus at the
bottom instead of at the top thereof, as heretofore, whereby more perfect
ventilation is obtained, and to prevent wet getting in between the ridge
of the building and the glazed frames when closed I run a strip of zinc
or other material along the ridge to cover and protect the joint. I also
make the ventilating apparatus, whether the upper or lower, of one
glazed frame extending the required length instead of a number or
series of glazed frames as heretofore, between which wet is liable to get
in and injure the woodwork; and I make the glazed frame forming the
lower ventilating apparatus to come or lap quite over the lower sill,
whereby the same is protected from wet.
The second part of my Invention is intended to prevent wet running
down against the bars of the glass panes in greenhouses and other like
buildings, as it is found that the putty and paint or other material
become soon injured thereby. This part of my Invention consists in
cutting off the lower corners of each pane of glass, which causes the wet
to run down the panes in two streams in a line with the two inner angles
forined by the cuts. This part of my Invention and the method or
arrangement herein-before described of opening and closing glazed
frames also apply to skylights in ordinary buildings.
The third part of my Invention is intended to provide a better means
of stretching the wires which are employed in greenhouses and other
like buildings for the purpose of training plants, vines, or trees. Here-
tofore the wires have been stretched and tightened either by being passed
through the frame of the greenhouse and screwed up by a nut outside,

page_text: or by being passed through an iron or other frame fixed for the purpose
inside, and being screwed up in the samo manner. Now this part of my
Invention consists in passing the ends of the wires through holes made
in the heads of screws, which have been screwed a short distance into
the frame of the greenhouse, and in then screwing the screws further in
so that the wires are tightened or stretched. This modo can be applied
to tightening or stretching wire on trelliswork, or in other positions
where it is desired to train plants or trees.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Nicholas Voice in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NICHOLAS
VOICE, of Handcross, in the County of Sussex, Plumber, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Nicholas Voice, Her special
licence that I, the said Nicholas Voice, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others ns I, the said Nicholas Voice, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN OR CON-
NECTED WITH GREENHOUSES AND OTHER BUILDINGS. PART OF WHICH IS APPLICABLE
TO STRETCHING WIRES IN OTHER SITUATIONS FOR TRAINING PLANTS OR TREES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Nicholas Voice, my
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under ny, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Nicholas Voice, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The first part of my Invention relates to the opening and closing of the
ventilating apparatus in greenhouses and other like buildings. This
ventilating apparatus consists of hinged glazed frames, and I regulate
the opening and closing of the same in the following manner:-I carry
a horizontal bar through the mullions for the length of the glazed
frames, and at each mullion I fit a rack which is connected to the
glazed frames. On the horizontal bar is a cog wheel to gear into each
rack, and near the outer end of the bar is an additional cog wheel
provided with a stop or catch. The horizontal bar is fitted with a
crank handle or other appliance for rotating it. When it is desired to
open or close the glazed frames the catch is disengaged from its cog
wheel, and the horizontal bar is then rotated, so that the other cog wheels
act upon the racks and therefore open or close the frames according to
the direction in which the bar is rotated; when the glazed frames have
been moved into the required position the catch is allowed to take into
its cog wheel so that the parts are all held.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a transverse section of
a "lean-to" greenhouse provided with my arrangement for opening and
closing the ventilating apparatus. a is the wall against which the
greenhouse is built, and 6 is the front of the greenhouse; c is the lower,
and d the upper ventilating apparatus, consisting of glazed trames as
before mentioned; e is a horizontal bar carried through the mullions
for the length of the lower ventilating apparatus; fis one of a series of
racks connected to the glazed frames at each mullion, and g is one of a
series of cog wheels on the bar e, coresponding with and gearing into
the racks f, an additional cog wheel provided with a stop or catch
(not shown in the Figure, but similar to that seen in Figure 2, and
hereafter referred to), is fitted near the outer end of the bar e. When
it is desired to open or close the ventilating apparatus c the catch is
lifted from its cog wheel, and the bar e is rotated by a crank handle
or otherwise so that the wheels g act upon the racks f, and open or close
the apparatus c, according to the direction in which the bar is rotated.

page_text: The arrangement for operating the upper ventilating apparatus dis
similar to that just described except that as a crank handle cannot
conveniently be applied direct to the horizontal bar e, one of the racks f
is continued downwards in the form of a rod h, which terminates in another
rack i into which a cog wheel gears; by rotating this wheel k by a
crank handle the rack i is operated on, and the movement is transmitted
by the rod h, to the racks f, and wheels g of the upper ventilating
apparatus d.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of a "span roof" greenhouse, provided
with my arrangement for opening and closing the ventilating apparatus,
the upper ventilating apparatus d, is here shewn as provided at each
side with a horizontal rod e, racks f, cog wheels g, and other parts so
that it may be raised at either side desired according to the direction
of the wind, or at both sides if desired; in this Figure are shewn
the additional cog wheels with their catches m, and the crank
handles n.
It will be seen in Figure 1 that the upper glazed frames or upper
ventilating apparatus are hinged at the bottom instead of at the top
thereof as has heretofore been usual, whereby more perfect ventilation is
obtained, and to prevent wet getting in between the ridge of the
building and the glazed frames when crossed I run a strip o of zinc or
other material along the ridge to cover and protect the joint. Each
ventilating apparatus, whether the upper or lower, is made by preference
of one glazed frame extending the required length instead of a number
or series of glazed frames as heretofore, between which wet is liable to
get in and injure the woodwork, and I make the glazed frame forming
the lower ventilating apparatus c to come or lap quite over the lower
sill p, as seen in the Figures, whereby the same is protected from wet;
this is an important improvement as the sill being kept dry is prevented
from rotting.
The second part of my Invention is intended to prevent wet running
down against the bars of the glass panes in greenhouses and other like
buildings, as it is found that the putty and paint or other material
become soon injured thereby. This part of my Invention is represented
in Figure 3, and consists in cutting off the lower corners of each pane
of glass as seen at 2, whereby the wet is caused to run down the
panies in two streams in a line with the two inner angles formed by the
cuts.

page_text: This part, of my Invention and the method or arrangement herein-before
described of opening and closing glazed frames, also apply to skylights in
ordinary buildings.
The third part of my Invention is intended to provide a better means of
stretching the wires which are employed in greenhouses and other liko
buildings for the purpose of training plants, vines, or trees. Heretofore
the wires have been stretched and tightened either by being passed through
the frame of the greenhouse and screwed up by a nut ouside or by being
passed through an iron or other frame fixed for the purpose inside and
being screwed up in the same manner. Now this part of my Invention
consists in passing the ends of the wires through holes made in the heads
of screws which have been screwed a short distance into the frame of the
greenhouse, as illustrated by Figure 4, and in then screwing the screws
further in, so that the wires are tightened or stretched. This mode can be
applied to tightening or stretching wire on trelliswork or in other positions
where it is desired to train plants or trees.
Figure 5, shows this mode applied to stretching wires for training peas
or beans. a, a, are two posts, one at each end of the row of peas; b, b, are
two horizontal wires attached at their ends to the heads of screws c, c, as
before described; d is a coil of wire, the two ends of which are respec-
tively attached to one of the screws at each post, this coil is passed over
the two wires b, b, before the latter are attached to the screws. By
screwing the screws further into the posts, a, a, the horizontal wires are
stretched tight, so that the coil d is kept in position with its circles at
uniform distances from post to post, if the wires b, b, were not tight
they would sag and the circles of the coil d would collect at the lowest
point.
Figures 6 and 7, shew another way of applying any mode of stretching
wire for training beans. a, a, are two posts as before, and b is a bar con-
necting them at their upper part; c, c, are wires attached at their ends to
the heads of screws d screwed a short distance into stays a¹; c, e, are
inclined or vertical wires connected at their ends to the wires c, and carried
over the bar b; these wires were pulled rather tight so as to draw the
wires c into the position shewn by the dotted lines, then screwing the
screws further in the wires c are drawn straight, so that the other
wires e, e, are held in position.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as

page_text: my "Improvements in or Connected with Greenhouses, and other Build-
ings, Part of which is applicable to Stretching Wires in other Situations
for Training Plants or Trees,"
First. The arrangement of mechanisın for opening and closing the
ventilating apparatus of greenhouses and other buildings, substantially as
herein-before described and represented, in Figures 1 and 2.
Second. Constructing and fitting the glazed frame which forms the
lower ventilating apparatus of greenhouses so that it comes or laps quite
over the lower sill, and for the purpose herein-before described and repre-
sented in Figures 1 and 2.
Third. The employment in greenhouses and other like buildings and in
skylights in ordinary buildings of panes the lower corners of which have
been cut off, as and for the purpose herein-before described and represented
in Figure 3.
Fourth. The mode or means herein-before described and illustrated
by Figures 4 to 7 of stretching wires in greenhouses and other like
buildings, and in other positions where it is desired to train plants or
trees.
In witness whereof, I, the said Nicholas Voice, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. C. MEWBURN,
Patent Agent,
172, Fleet Street, London.
N. VOICE. (L.S.)