provements in or relating to Curtain or Window Blind Holding Devices.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in or relating to Curtain or Window Blind Holding
Devices.
A communication by EDWARD EVERETT PIPER, of No. 53, Cross Street,
Portland, in the County of Cumberland and State of Maine, United States of
America, Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to a curtain or window blind holding device of that class
wherein the spring actuated curtain is provided with a hollow curtain stick having
rods or spindles extending from the centre to the ends, the outer ends of said rods
being provided with friction tips which are pressed normally against the window
casing to hold the curtain in place.
The inner ends of these rods have heretofore been retracted by means of thumb
pieces or pendants acting directly on the rods or by pivoted levers or cams.
has been
In using a cam for the purpose described it has been found that when
provided with a knob or handle for turning it, the turning of the knob had a
tendency to lift one end of the curtain stick and to throw it out of its groove in the
window casing.
It has also been found in operating the device by means of cams that the cams
should be allowed to turn in but.one direction for the reason that when reversed it
is liable to bend the spindle.
One portion of the invention therefore, is directed to an improvement in the form
of cam to be used so that it can turn but one way and in providing means for
operating said cams which will be free from the objections noted, and another
portion of this invention is directed to so forming the end of the hollow flat tube
which is used that it will make a suitable bearing for a sleeve, rod or other
cylindrical member which may be inserted in the end.
The invention is illustrated by means of the accompanying drawing in which
Fig. 1 is a section on the line y y of Fig. 3 as to a portion of the curtain stick
and a front elevation of the balance.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the central portion,
Fig. 3 is a section on the line of Fig. 2 and
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the end of the tube showing the manner of
forming the end to make a bearing for the rod or cylinder which enters it.
Extending from
A represents the flat tube which serves as the curtain stick.
each end to the centre is the rod or spindle B, on the outer end of which is the
brake e pressed normally against the truck D by means of the coiled spring d.
The truck D is journalled between the ears C C which are secured to the outer
end of a sleeve c entering the end of the tube A.
In order to hold this sleeve in place in the end of the tube and to form a bearing
for it, the sides of the tube are compressed at and near the end to close around the
sleeve so that the latter is held firmly in place.
In this way, the expense of fitting a plug in the end of the tube and boring it

page_text: out is avoided, it being only necessary by the present method, to insert a mandril in
the end of the tube and compress the sides by means of a die.
The tube A has a portion of its front side cut away on each side of the centre to
give access to the interior and a portion b is turned inward to form a bearing for
the rod or spindle B and a rest against which the spring d may press.
The inner end of each rod B is pivoted to a cam F having a journal f which
extends through the tube and which has formed on its outer end a handle lever h.
A nut o holds the journal fin place and a stationary handle g is secured to the face
of the tube and it extends downward to form a rest for the hand while operating
the handle lever h. It will be understood that the tube A is to be inserted in a
fold in the lower end of a spring actuated curtain in the same manner as an ordinary
curtain stick, although the curtain has not been represented in the drawing except
in Fig. 3 where it is shown in section and lettered I.
The form of the cam F is such that it can be turned only in one direction. To
accomplish this result that portion of the cam adjacent to the point where the
spindle B is pivoted (marked in the drawing f') is cut away so that it will be free
to turn without striking the inside surface of the tube A. Projections ƒ³ƒ³ are
formed on the cam in such a position that when it is turned backward they will
strike the inside of the tube and so check the motion in that direction.
The cam as thus constructed will allow the journal f to be turned in one direction
but not in the other and the inner surface of the tube A is utilized as a stop.
It will be seen that the handles h and g by which the cam is operated extend
down below the end of the curtain where they may be readily grasped and where
the pull will be directly downward.
Another advantage of this construction is that with the stiff springs which it is
necessary to use, it is possible to get a much greater leverage with the handle levers
than could be obtained with a knob or handle, and the pressure on the handles
being equal in both directions there is no tendency to tilt up the curtain and throw
it out of the grooves of the casing.
It is evident that if the sleeve c is dispensed with as it is in some forms of curtain
holding devices, the ends of the tube can be bent in the same manner as described
to form a bearing for the spindle.
It will be understood without further description that the friction devices at the
ends of the curtain stick or tube run in grooves in the window casing as in all
curtains of this class and that the friction caused by the spring holds the curtain in
place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a curtain or window blind holding device the combination of a hollow tube,
a spring actuated spindle extending longitudinally through said tube from the end
to the centre, a friction tip on the outer end of said spindle, a cam journalled within
said tube for retracting said spindle, the journal of said cam being provided at its
outer end with a handle lever and a stationary handle opposed to said handle lever
and secured to said tube, substantially as described.
2. In a curtain or window blind holding device the combination of a hollow tube,
a spring actuated spindle extending longitudinally through said tube from each end
thereof to the centre, a friction tip on the outer end of each of said spindles, a cam
journalled within said tube for retracting said spindles, said cam having two
opposite pivoting points to which said spindles are pivoted, the edges of said cam
being cut away adjacent to said points so that they will clear the inner surface of
said tube when the cam is rotated to retract said spindles and two opposite
projections on said cam so located as to strike the inside of said tube when the
same is rotated in the opposite direction, substantially as described.

page_text: 3. A curtain stick composed of a hollow tube of oblong cross section bent or
compressed at the ends thereof to form a bearing for a rod or cylinder, substantially
as described.
Dated this 27th day of November 1893
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.