IMPROVEMENTS IN THE FITTINGS OF WINDOW SASHES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Abraham, of Taunton, in the County of
Somerset, Ironmonger, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
FITTINGS OF WINDOW SASHES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Abraham at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th January 1872.
I, GEORGE ABRAHAM, of Taunton, in the County of Somerset, Iron-
monger, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE FITTINGS OF WINDOW SASHES," to he as follows:-
My Invention relates to fittings to be applied to window sashes for .
the purpose of holding them up when they are raised without the need
for counterweights, and also for the purpose of fastening them.
The fittings which I apply for these purposes are of the following
kind: I fix in the frame of the window, in the groove in which the

page_text: sash slides, a box containing a spring and a ball or roller which is made
by the pressure of the spring to project a little beyond the face of the
groove. I fix on the edge of the sash which slides in the groove a plate
having a number of holes with countersunk or rounded edges, into any
one of which holes the projecting portion of the ball or roller can enter.
The spring is made of such strength that when the ball or roller is
engaged in one of those holes it holds up the sash, supporting its weight;
but when additional force is applied by hand to the sash the spring
yields so as to allow the edge of the hole to glide past the ball or roller,
and so permits the sash to be moved.
This apparatus may be applied for light or long sashes at only one
side, or when the sash is heavy or so short as to be liable to jam by
angling itself, an apparatus such as is described above may be applied at
both sides, the holes in the two side plates being made to correspond
so that both springs act together for the support of the sash.
For the purpose of fastening the sash I fit the spring box described
above with a bolt sliding therein transversely in such a manner that
when the ball or roller projects into one of the holes of the sash plate,
this bolt can be pushed in behind the ball or roller, and so prevent it
from coming back out from the hole, thus holding the sash fast; or I
construct the spring apparatus, when it is required to be employed for
fastening the sash, in the following manner :-I employ a roller the
periphery of which is a portion of a sphere, and I mount this roller in a
frame fitted in the spring box in such a manner that it can turn as well
as slide therein. From this roller frame a lever or arm is made to
project through a slot in the window frame towards the interior of the
apartment. This slot is of such length as to allow the lever to be moved
through an arc of 90° or nearly so. When, the lever is moved to one
extremity of the slot, the roller is presented to the sash with its axis
horizontal and then acts as above described, allowing the sash to be
moved up or down; but when the lever is moved to the other extremity
of the slot the roller is presented to the sash with its axis,vertical, and
in that case, as pressure applied to the sash cannot make the roller
revolve, the roller projecting into the hole of the sash plate acts as a bolt
to hold the sash fast.

page_text: filed by the said George Abraham in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th July 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ABRAHAM, of Taunton, in the County of Somerset, Ironmonger, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Abraham, Her special licence
that I, the said George Abraham, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Abraham, 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
THE FITTINGS OF WINDOW SASHES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Abraham, my exccutors 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 George Abraham, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My Invention relates to fittings to be applied to window sashes for
the purpose of holding them up where they are raised without the need

page_text: pressed outwards by the spring engages in the fresh hole, and holds the
sash in the new position..
Fig. 3 represents a section, and Fig. 4 a sectional plan of the apparatus
modified so as to serve for fastening the sash in any desired position. In
this case instead of employing a simple pin like F in Figs. 1 and 2, and
a slot of uniform width for it to work in, I use a spindle H flattened on
two sides, where it passes through the sliding piece D, and I form the
slotted hole with a round part at one end large enough for the spindle H
to. turn in, and a narrower part in front the width of the flatted part
of the spindle, as shewn in Fig. 3. When the spindle H is turned into
the position shewn in that Figure the sliding piece D is obstructed by it
so that it cannot be pushed back; but if the spindle H be turned one-
quarter of a revolution round so as to present its narrowed width to the
slot, the sliding piece D can then be moved back, and the apparatus acts
as described above in reference to Figs. 1 and 2. The spindle H is
turned by the finger and thumb acting on the flatted head K, which is
most conveniently sunk in a recessed plate on the face of the window
frame, so as to avoid any projection which might interfere with shutters
or other fittings to the window. In order that the spindle H when
turned shall remain in the one attitude or the other, I make on the
inner face of the head K a small rounded stud or projection L, and
provide in the boss of the recessed plate two notches 1, 1, one at right
angles to the other, as shewn in the front view of this plate, Fig. 5. I
also provide on the spindle H a fixed collar and a helical spring N
which tends to draw the head K close to the boss of the recessed plate,
and so to keep the stud L in one or other of the notches 7, 1. On
applying the finger and thumb to K so as to turn the spindle H, the
spring N yields sufficiently to permit the spindle H to move a little
longitudinally so as to let the stud L.be withdrawn from the notch.
The spindle being then turned one-quarter of a revolution and let
go, the spring N draws the stud L into the other notch, whereby the
spindle is held. By this arrangement it will be seen that when the
head K stands in one attitude, for example vertical, the sash can be
moved up or down, the roller E being free to slide. But when the
head K is turned round to the horizontal position, the roller, E being
no longer free to slide back remains projecting into a hole in the sash
plate and so fastens the sash.
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page_text: manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that
I do not claim the use of a roller pressed forward by a spring as a means
of fastening generally, but I claim,-
First. The combination, substantially as described with reference to
Figs. 1 and 2, of a roller; pressed forward by a spring and mounted in 5
a window frame with countersunk holes at intervals on the edge of
a window sash, in such manner that the sash is held by the projection
of the roller into one or other of the holes.
.
Second. The combination, substantially as described in reference to
Figs. 3, 4, and 5, of the said apparatus with a spindle with can be 1
turned so as to prevent the roller from yielding back, the whole com-
bination thus constituting a fastening for the sash.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Abraham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
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