AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING VARIOUS KINDS OF WINDOW BLINDS, AND IN OPENING AND CLOSING WINDOW AND OTHER CURTAINS; APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OR WINDING AND UNWINDING OF MAPS AND OTHER SHEETS OR ARTICLES, AND TO THE CLOSING OF DOORS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Kimberley, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Wholesale Ironmonger and Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING
AND LOWERING VARIOUS KINDS OF WINDOW BLINDS, AND IN OPENING
AND CLOSING WINDOW AND OTHER CURTAINS; APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE
RAISING AND LOWERING OR WINDING AND UNWINDING OF MAPS AND
OTHER SHEETS OR ARTICLES, AND TO THE CLOSING OF DOORS."
Sealed the 20th February 1854, and dated the 20th August 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Kimberley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th August 1853.
I, JAMES KIMBERLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
5 Wholesale Ironmonger and Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAISING AND LOWERING VARIOUS KINDS OF WINDOW BLINDS, AND IN
OPENING AND CLOSING WINDOW AND OTHER CURTAINS; APPLICABLE ALSO
TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OR WINDING AND UNWINDING OF MAPS AND
S

page_text: OTHER SHEETS OR ARTICLES, AND TO THE CLOSING OF DOORS," to be as
follows:-
Fig. 1, represents in elevation my Invention as applied to a roller
blind; and Fig. 2, represents the same in plan. a, is the roller, sup-
ported by its ends in the brackets b, b, as usual. A line c, of vulcanised
caoutchouc or other clastic material is attached at one end c', to the
board d; and the other end, after passing over the pulley e, is attached
to the axis of the drum f. By pulling down the blind wound on the
roller a, the line of vulcanised caoutchouc c, is wound on the drum f,
as shown in Fig. 1, the said line being elongated thereby. When the
cord g, is pulled, the pall h, is disengaged from the ratchet wheel k;
and the line c, contracting, unwinds itself from the drum f, thereby
drawing up the blind on the roller a. The line c, may be of any
desired strength, or two or more lines may be used to give greater
power.
My Invention is applicable to various kinds of window shutters and
blinds, and to opening and closing curtains, as well as to the raising
and lowering of maps, drawings, and such other bodies as are or may
be raised and lowered or opened and closed after the manner of blinds
and curtains. The principle of my Invention is the same in the several
applications of it enumerated, and I do not consider it necessary here
to describe the details of the several applications of my Invention.
By placing the cord c, in a tube on the top of a door frame, and
connecting its loose end with the door, it acts as a door spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Kimberley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES KIMBERLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Whole-
sale Ironmonger and Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-

page_text: teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give s
and grant unto me, the said James Kimberley, Her special licence that
I, the said James Kimberley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Kimberley, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 IMPROVEMENT OR IM-
PROVEMENTS IN RAISING AND LOWERING VARIOUS KINDS OF WINDOW BLINDS,
AND IN OPENING AND CLOSING WINDOW AND OTHER CURTAINS; APPLICABLE
ALSO TO THE RAISING AND LOWERING OR WINDING AND UNWINDING OF MAPS
AND OTHER SHEETS OR ARTICLES, AND TO THE CLOSING OF DOORS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Kimberley, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Kimberley, 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):
My Invention consists in applying cords or lines of vulcanized
caoutchouc or other elastic substance in the manner herein-after
explained for raising and lowering various kinds of window blinds,
and opening and closing window and other curtains, and raising and
lowering or winding and unwinding maps or other sheets or articles,
and closing doors.
Figure 1, represents my Invention in elevation applied to a window
roller blind. Figure 2, represents a portion of the same in elevation,
and of full size; and Figures 3, and 4, represent elevations of the ends
of the blind, Figure 2, near which they are respectively situated.
A line d, of
a, is the roller, supported by its ends in the brackets b, c.
vulcanized caoutchouc or other elastic material is attached at one

page_text: end d', to the board e, or to the window frame; and the other end of
the said cord, after passing over the pulley f, is attached to the axis
of the drum g, indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2. By pulling down
the blind wound on the roller a, the line of vulcanized caoutchouc d, is
coiled on the drum g, as shewn in Figures 1, and 2, the said line
being elongated thereby. By pulling the cord h, the pall i, see
Figure 4, is disengaged from the ratchet wheel k, on the axis of the
roller a; and the line d, contracting, unwinds itself from the drum
9.
and, communicating a rotatory motion to the roller a, winds up the
blind thereon. The strength of the line d, must be varied to suit the
different weights of different blinds, and instead of a single line d
two or more lines may be used to give greater power. The end of the
line which coils on the drum g, may be made of a flexible but inelastic
substance, instead of caoutchouc or other elastic material.
My Invention may be used as an ascending blind by inverting the
whole, and placing it at the bottom of the window; the cord 1, being
passed over a pulley at the top, and its end being provided with a
weight sufficient to counterbalance the blind.
My Invention may be applied, in the form represented in the
Drawing, to the raising and lowering of maps, drawings, and such
other articles as are or may be raised and lowered after the manner
of blinds.
In applying my Invention to the closing and unclosing of curtains
I take a line of caoutchoue or other elastic substance, and attaching it
at one end to the cornice or cornice pole, I pass the other end over a
pulley, as shewn at f, in the Drawing, and allow the said end to hang
vertically. I attach the outer ring of the curtain at a suitable point to
the line d; by pulling down the vertical end of the cord which hangs
over the pulley f, the line expands; and the expansion of that portion
of the said line between the end d', and the point at which the curtain
ring is attached, the curtain is spread or closed. By loosing the cord
it contracts, and the curtain collapses or is withdrawn. All that
portion of the cord not included between the end d¹, and the point at
which the curtain ring is attached, may be made of a flexible but
inelastic material. Although I have only described a single curtain, a

page_text: second elastic line may be used in the manner already described, but
acting in an opposite direction, and made to close a second curtain.
In applying my Invention to the closing of doors I place the elastic
cord d, in a tube running along the top of the door frame. The loose
end of the cord passing over the pulley f, is connected with the door,
and the contraction of the said elastic cord tends to close the door
when it is open. By making the said cord work between two pullies,
both in the same plane, (that is to say, a second pulley being applied
opposite to the pulley f, Figure 2, both the said pullies being in a
horizontal plane,) the said elastic cord may be made to close a door
opening in both directions.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be
understood that I claim as my Invention the application of one or
more cords or lines of vulcanized caoutchouc or other elastic substance
to the raising and lowering of window blinds, maps, and similar
articles, the opening and closing of curtains, and the closing of doors,
as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Kimberley, have hereunto
hand and seal, this Tenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
set my
JAMES KIMBERLEY. (L.S.)
Witness,
HENRY RICHARD ELLIS.