AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION TO ROLLER BLINDS, MAPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Readman, of Leighton Buzzard, in the County
of Bedford, Chemist and Druggist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION TO ROLLER BLINDS, MAPS, AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 1st June 1860, and dated the 13th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Readman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th February 1860.
I, WILLIAM READMAN, of Leighton Buzzard, in the County of Bedford,
Chemist and Druggist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION TO ROLLER BLINDS,
MAPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
On one end of the ordinary blind roller is placed a grooved pulley, the
groove of which is roughened by cutting or otherwise. The usual endless
blind cord is laid over this pulley and kept in forcible contact therewith by a
brake acted upon by a spring or by a weighted lever attached to the bracket
which carries the pulley end of the roller. The lower portion of the cord may
be passed round a pulley or loosely through a ring: On pulling the cord the

page_text: ;
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Readman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
READMAN, of, Leighton Buzzard, in the County of Bedford, Chemist and
Druggist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Readman, Her special licence that I, the said William
Readman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Readman, 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 "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING MOTION TO ROLLER BLINDS,
MAPS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Readman, 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 months next and immediately after
. the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Readman, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
On one end of the ordinary blind or map roller is placed a grooved pulley,
the groove of which is roughened, by cutting or otherwise. The usual endless
blind cord is, laid over this pulley and kept in forcible contact therewith by a
brake,. acted upon by a spring or by a weighted lever attached to the bracket

page_text: which carries the pulley end of the roller. The lower portion of the cord may
be passed round a pulley or loosely through a ring. On pulling the cord,
the upper pulley will revolve and raise or lower the blind. At all other times
the roller will be held fast in the position in which it has been left.
And in order that the manner of performing my said Invention may be
more fully understood, reference is had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the following description thereof, that is to say :-
Figure 1, is a front view of a roller blind mounted agreeably to my im-
provement. Figure 2, is a section upon the line a, b, of Figure 1, and Figure
3 the spring detached therefrom. A is an ordinary blind roller; B, b', the
brackets by which it is supported; C is a pulley having a roughened groove;
D is a spring, carried by two pins or horns which project from the bracket B.
To the under side of the lower limb of the spring d is affixed a brake e, of
metal, wood, leather, gutta percha, or other suitable material. F is an endless
blind cord laid over the pulley C, its lower loop passing through the ring f.
In consequence of the pressure of the spring and brake e upon the blind cord,
it is kept in forcible contact with the pulley C, and they move together; so
that on pulling the cord F, the pulley is turned in whichever direction the
cord is moved, and raises or lowers the blind, map, or other article which is
attached to the roller A.
Figure 4 is a front view, and Figure 5 a section of another manner of per
forming my said Invention; A is an ordinary blind roller; B3, 6, the support-
ing brackets; C is a pulley, having a flat edge or edges; D2 is the spring,
and the brake of gutta percha or other suitable material; F2 is a cord
winding upon the pulley C² in the opposite direction to the blind. In this
case the blind may be drawn down by a cord and tassel attached to its lower
edge in the usual manner, or by a cord wound upon a pulley at the opposite
end of the roller in the same direction as the blind itself. The blind is raised
by pulling down the cord F2; the size of the apparatus, as well as the strength
and pressure of the spring, may be adapted to the dimensions and weight of
the blind to which it is to be applied; or the pressure may be made adjusta-
ble, in any of the various ways which will readily suggest themselves to the
mind of an intelligent workman. And although I prefer to use springs,
weighted levers may in some cases be advantageously employed to give the
required pressure.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing the same, I declare that I do not confine myself to the
precise details herein described and shown, as the same may be varied without

page_text: prejudice to the character of my Invention; neither do I claim any of the
parts separately. What I claim as my Invention is the improved apparatus for
communicating motion to roller blinds, maps, and other articles, substantially
as herein before described, and shewn in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
. In witness whereof, I, the said William Readman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of August in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM READMAN. (L.S.)