IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WINDING, HOLDING, AND LETTING-GO CORDS, BANDS, OR CHAINS, PARTICULARLY APC AB WINDOW BLINDS
Year: 1861

page_text: Sealed the 20th June 1862, and dated the 31st December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Haslam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st December 1861.
I, JOHN HASLAM, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR WINDING,
HOLDING, AND LETTING-GO CORDS, BANDS, OR CHAINS, PARTICULARLY APC AB
WINDOW BLINDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is applicable principally to window blind furniture, but
certain parts thereof, as herein-after explained, are equally adapted for the
holding and letting-go of cords, bands, or chains for other purposes.
The first part of my Invention applies to the furniture of blind rollers where
the ordinary endless cord is used, and consists, firstly, of making the roller end
and pulley of one solid piece of wood with the roller; secondly, of making the
same (if separate) of either of the following materials, namely, gutta percha,
india-rubber, leather, buffalo hide or horn, the object being to make such parts
stronger and less liable to break than those ordinarily employed; and, thirdly,

page_text: this part of the Invention consists of a substitute for the rack and pulley used
to distend the endless cord. This part of the Invention consists of an eye or
staple, fixed in the woodwork in place of the rack, through which eye a
screwed wire passes in a perpendicular position. The upper end of this wire
has a hook, through which the endless blind cord or band passes. Below the
fixed eye a nut is screwed on to the wire, and it is evident that by turning this
nut the tension of the cord can be regulated as desired.
The second part of my Invention applies to that class of blind furniture
wherein a single cord is employed coiled on a barrel at one end of the roller,
and consists, firstly, in making the barrel either of one piece of solid wood
with the roller, or (if separate) of any of the substances above enumerated in
describing the first part of the Invention; and, secondly, of an improved
apparatus for holding and releasing the cord, as required. At any convenient
distance below the barrel on the end of the roller, a bracket or other fixing is
attached to the woodwork of the window frame. This bracket is provided
with a notch or cleft, tapering inwards, and the cord passes through this notch,
which is so situated with regard to the barrel that when the cord hangs
perpendicularly, it falls into the narrow part of the notch and wedges itself
fast; but when the cord is held in a sloping direction outwards by the hand,
it passes through the wider part of the notch or cleft, and is then free to move
up or down as desired. If the cord is pulled down, the blind is drawn up, and
if it is allowed to run through the hand, the blind descends by its own weight
and coils the cord on to the barrel. As soon as the cord. is released from the
hand altogether, it falls into the narrow part of the notch, and holds the blind
in the required position.
It will be evident that this part of my Invention is capable of much
modification in the form of the notch or opening, the principal feature being
still adhered to, namely, that when the cord is released it falls into the narrow
part of the notch, and wedges itself fast, and that this part of the Invention
is applicable for holding and releasing cords, bands, or chains for other
purposes.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Haslam, Her special licence that I, the said John-
Haslam, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Haslam, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR WINDING, HOLDING, AND LETTING-GO CORDS, BANDS, OR CHAINS,
PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO WINDOW BLINDS," upon the condition, amongst
others, that I, the said John Haslam, 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 inonths next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Haslam, 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 Drawings, that is
to say:-
This Invention is applicable principally to window blind furniture, but
certain parts thereof, as herein-after explained are equally adapted for the
holding and letting-go of cords, bands, or chains for other purposes.
The first part of my Invention applies to the furniture of blind rollers where
the ordinary endless cord is used, and consists, firstly, of making the roller and
pulley of one solid piece of wood; secondly, of making the pulley (if separate)
of either of the following materials, namely, gutta percha, indian-rubber,
leather, buffalo bide or horn, the object being to make such parts less liable
to break or be injured by falling than those ordinarily employed; and, thirdly,
this part of the Invention consists of a substitute for the rack and pulley used
to distend the endless cord. This part of the Invention consists of an eye or
staple fixed in the woodwork in place of the rack, through which eye a
screwed wire passes in a perpendicular position. The upper end of this wire
has a hook, through which the endless blind cord or band passes. Below the
fixed eye a nut is screwed on to the wire, and it is evident that by turning

page_text: this nut the tension of the cord can be regulated as desired. I may here
observe that endless modifications of this part of my Invention may be made,
the principal novelty consisting in using a fixed frictional surface in the place
of a pulley for the cord to run on.
The second part of my Invention applies to that class of blind furniture
wherein a single cord is employed coiled on a barrel at one end of the roller,
and consists, firstly, in making the barrel either of one piece of solid wood
with the roller, or (if separate) of any of the substances above enumerated in
describing the first part of the Invention; and, secondly, of an improved
apparatus for holding and releasing the cord, as required: At any convenient
distance from the barrel on the end of the roller, a bracket or other fixing is
attached to the woodwork of the window frame. This bracket is provided
with a notch or cleft tapering inwards, and the cord passes through this notch
which is so situated with regard to the barrel that when the cord hangs
perpendicularly it falls into the narrow part of the notch and wedges itself fast,
but when the cord is held in a sloping direction outwards by the hand, it
passes through the wider part of the notch or cleft, and is then free to move
up or down as desired.
If the cord is pulled down, the blind is drawn up,
and if it is allowed to run through the hand the blind descends by its own
weight, and coils the cord on to the barrel. As soon as the cord is released
from the hand altogether it falls into the narrow part of the notch, and holds
the blind in the required position.
It will be evident that this part of my Invention is capable of much
modification in the form of the notch or opening, the principal feature being
still adhered to, namely, that when the cord is released it falls into the narrow
part of the notch, and wedges itself fast, and that this part of the Invention is
applicable for holding and releasing cords, bands, or chains for other
purposes.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "improved
apparatus for winding, holding, and letting-go cords, bands, or chains," par-
ticularly applicable to window blinds, 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 Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof,
and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding
with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:-
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 shows the end of a blind roller, illus-
trating the method of making the roller and pulley of one solid piece of wood,
which consists in simply turning or forming a groove a, a, near the end of the

page_text: roller for the ordinary endless cord to run in. It will be evident that the
same principle is equally applicable to rollers working with a barrel and coiled
cord, as shown at Figure 11.
Figures 2, 3, and 4 illustrate the method of permanently fixing or attaching
an end or pulley made of gutta percha, india-rubber, or of metal. A groove b, b,
is turned near the end of the roller, and two or more channels c, c, are cut
therefrom; the end of the roller is then placed in a mould along with the
pivot and the gutta percha or other material in a molten state is poured in, by
which means the end and pulley are cast solid on to the roller, as shewn at d, d,
in Figure 4. Figure 10 shows a barrel cast on to the end of a roller in the
same way.
Figure 5 shows a substitute for the rack and pulley ordinarily employed to
keep the endless cord at a proper tension. e, e, represents a staple or eye
driven or fixed into the woodwork, and through which the wire f, f, passes in
a perpendicular position. The upper end of the wire is formed with a hook,
through which the endless cord of the blind passes. The wire f, f, is screwed,
and is fitted below the staple e, e, with a nut g, by turning which the tension
of the blind cord can be regulated at pleasure.
Figures 6, 7, 8, and 9 show an arrangement whereby the roller and pulley
are made detachable, so that the roller can be taken down without disturbing
the cord and pulley, which always remain in their place. On the end of the
roller (see Figures 7 and 9) is a cap h, h, having two holes i, i, therein.
The pulley k, k, has two pins capable of fitting into the two holes i, i. The
central pin or stud m on which the pulley k, k, runs is fixed to the bracket,
so that the pulley maintains its place on the bracket when the roller is
removed. It will be evident that the pins 1, 1, may be fixed on the cap h, h,
and the holes i, i, be made in the pulley, or the connection may be made by a
square projection on the one, and a similar socket on the other, or in any other
suitable manner. By having a barrel instead of the pulley k, this arrangement
may be applied to blinds worked by a coiled cord instead of an endless one, or
to spring blinds.
Figures 11 and 12 illustrate my improved means of holding and releasing
cords or bands as applied to a blind worked with a barrel and coiled cord.
a, a, is the roller supported by the brackets b, bx, (one at each end). The
bracket 6* is provided with an arm c, c, carrying a wire d, d, so formed and
arranged as to leave a cleft or opening between it and the arm c, c, tapering
inwards, through which opening the cord or band e, e, passes. It will be seen
on referring to the Drawing that the form and position of this cleft or opening
are such that when the cord is held outwards at an angle (as shewn at

page_text: Figure 12) it runs loosely in the widest part of the opening, and by pulling
down the cord the blind will be wound up, whilst upon letting the cord slip
through the hand the blind will run down by its own weight, coiling the cord
on to the barrel; but in whatever position the blind may be, upon letting the
cord fall from the hand into a perpendicular position, as shown by dotted lines
in Figure 12), it falls into the narrow part of the opening, and instantly
wedges itself tight, holding the blind in that position. The wire d, d, is made
to spring slightly, so as to allow it to give way in the event of any one
attempting to pull down the blind by force without releasing the cord.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
improved apparatus for winding, holding, and letting-go cords, bands, or
chains," particularly applicable to window blinds, 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 novel and
peculiar arrangements of mechanism for winding, holding, and letting-go cords,
bands, or chains, as above described, and illustrated in the Drawings annexed,
or any mere modification thereof operating in substantially the same manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Haslam, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN HASLAM. (L.S.)