US1026286A - Curtain-fixture. - Google Patents

Description

C. A. STERLING.

CURTAIN FIXTURE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1911.

S/ gwuevgoz t 35, album,

Patented May 14. 1912.

CHARLES A. STERLING, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

CURTAIN-FIXTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 141, 1912.

Application filed April 29, 1911. Serial No. 624,204.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Cnannns A. S'rnnuse, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East'Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have made a new and useful Invention in Curtain-Fixtures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is directed to fixtures designed for use with spring controlled roller curtains, such as are ordinarily found in railway cars, cabs, and public conveyances generally, where it becomes necessary to remove the curtains entirely from the window, either to clean the windows, the curtains themselves, or to effect repairs upon the curtains or the fixtures; and to this end it relates particularly to the holding and controlling means by which such curtains are raised or lowered and left locked or held in any desired position, and it has for its objects, first, to provide cheap, simple, and efficient means'of the nature referred to which will always act to positively hold the curtain in any desired position and will enable the person manipulating the curtain to do so with the'least possible effort, such effort being practically the same in each direction. Second,,to' provide a fixtureof this nature which will always. operate when the user attempts to either raise or lower the curtain, no particular-care being required to either raise or lower the same, the

nature of the fixture being such that no matter how the user may grasp the curtain rod or stick and apply the necessary force to raise or lower the same it will never stick or bind. Third, to provide a fixture of the nature referred to which will permit of quick and easy removal of the curtain when it is desired to detach it from the window. Fourth, to provide a fixture of this nature which will prevent any possibility of breaking or damaging the parts thereof, either when in use in raising or lowering the curtain, or when attempting to detach the curtain and the fixture from the window. Fifth, to provide a fixture of the nature referred to which shall be prac tically self righting under all conditions of usage. Sixth, to provide afixture of the nature referred to which will adapt it for'use in any window, at all times, no mat-,

ter what the temperature or climatic condltions may be, the nnproved fixture being of such a nature as to make it always practical and with the same degree of nicety of action when properly adjusted. 'Scventh, to provide a fixture of the nature referred to which embraces a minimum number of parts, all so constructed as to adapt all of the parts to he placed in position within the casings of the window and in the lower end of the curtain aithe least possible expense and withtho parts insuci definite relation to each other that a certaintyof operation is always assured, when the fixture has been properly adjusted and applied, the adjustable features being of such a nature as to adapt the use of my novel invention in windows of vuriable size, or windows in which the angular relations of the casings may vary materially from right angles with the top and sill thereof and still permitp the use of my novel fixture with the best possible practical results.

Prior to my invention there have been devices put into practical use of a number of types of fixtures for performing the functions for which my invention was devised, but so far as I am aware none as yet have been devised which will comply fully with all of the requirements hcreinbcfore mentioned. .Among these types may be enumerated-first. a fixture in which re are provided spring pressed pawls i1, op-

posite ends of a hollow curtain rod or stick adapted to have frictionalrclations respectively either with the backs of grooves in the window casings in which they move; or with pawls acting in a rack in such grooves, these locking parts being removed by the agency of duplex finger and thumb clasps located about the middleof the rod. Second, a type in which the curtain rod or stick is of tubular form and in which there are located at the outer ends spring pressed locking devices which are frictionally held in corrugations or grooves of a strip sccurcd in the casings grooves. the curtain being raised and lowered by grasping pinch handles secured to the middle of the rod. Third, a fixture has also been devised in which each of the spring pressed locking devices is provided with a friction pad adapted to bear frictionally against the 'back of the grooves. It has also been proposed to utilize pairs of spring pressed rollers located at the opposite ends of the curtain rod andadapted to move in corruthese flattened 'portionsfor the gations or grooves in metal strips in the casings of the window and provided with a finger clip located at the middleof the rod for lifting and lowering the curtain, but none of these types in their perfected forms, as before stated, will accomplish all the resu ts attributable to my improvement which i will now describe, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a car window provided with a springcontrolled curtain havmg my. improved fixture at tached thereto, the lower corners of the curtain being broken away to better illustrate left 'upon the supposition that the parts shown arealetached from the window.

Referring now to the drawings in detail,

WV represents a car window and C a roller curtain of the spring controlled type, such as are ordinarily used in windows of this nature.

R represents the curtain rod or stick which in this instance is of tubular form and is secured in the lower end of the curtain C in the manner illustrated'in Fig-1. This curtain rod or stick is screw-threaded at its opposite ends for a definite distance for effecting an adjustment of the parts, as will be described more particularly later on, and is provided with a thumb and tinger-clip K secured to the rod by a screw, as shown.

S, S represent two sleevesscrewthreaded interiorly so as to adapt them to be secured directly to the opposite screw-threaded ends of the rod R. These sleeves are made preferably ,of brass'and are flattened at their outer ends until theinterior surfaces come into good mechanical contact with each other. manner shown and a hole isdrilledthrough purpose of receiving pivot pins. 7), 79.

T is a pivoted arm which is constructed of a single folded piece of metal of theconformation shown and having two lateral or side faccsand a curvilinear hackpicce I), together with a short raurvilincar bottom piece t, the space between the adjacent parts I) and i being sufficient to admit of the insertion of the flattened end of the sleeve S and to also admit of the desired amount of movement of the arm when the fixture is in operation, will be described later on.

' P, P are holding or looking devices of They are then rounded off in the mum angular resistance, and g the curta n 1s moved 1n the other direction the conformation shown each pivoted by a pin in the upper end of the pivoted arm f or part T. a

s, in this instance, is a leaf spring which is secured at its lower end' in a slot in the flat-tened part of the sleeveS andv rests at its upperend, when the parts are assembled, against the long curvilinear side 'of' the second locking devices P. \Vhen theseparts are assembled in, the mannershown' 5. the leaf ,springs are first secured in the grooves in the flattened ends of the sleeves S and the parts T are then pivotally secured in position bythe pins p, p. The long ends of the springs s are then forced backward by theinsertion'of the looking or holding devices P until the pivot pins a can beinserted so as to thus lock the two parts at' each end of the rod or stick .R into operative relation and so that thelong ends of 5' the leaf springs a shall have such a fill crumed relation around the rounded ends of the flattened portions of the sleeves S as to give proper pressure to the locking devices P, P, when the fixture is ready for use. 9Q

N, N represent metal racks having curvilinear teeth the upper faces of which have relatively widely different angular relation for a purpose to be hereinafter described, said racks being adapted to be held against the casings of the window between two grooved wooden strips G, G by screws or nails, as such devices are usually held. It will be noticed that these metal racks have not the conformation of regular corruga- 00 tions, but that the faces ofv the long inclined portions tend to oppose the downwardmovement of the fixture and bear a. definite relation to the corresponding lower longer bear-v ing faces of the pivoted holding or locking devices P; while the other or shorter hearing surfaces of these metal racks are faced downward and bear a corresponding relation-to the shorter curvilinear toe-like con formations of the bearing faces of-thc upper 1 1-0 ends of thelocking devices P. This difference in angular relation of the upper surfaces of" the racks N and the corresponding surfaces of the pivoted or holding devices P constitutes a very essential feature of my in-' vent-ion, in that it is important in the movement of acurtain that when it is drawn downward by grasping the clip K, the resistance which is offered to such downward draft shouldbe a minimum, owing to the-120,

fact that when one is moving the curtain?- downv 'a rd the'resistance of the spiral spring I which lifts the curtain upward, whcn.re-'

leased, is encountered, so that by the combined effect of the long inclinedbearing sur;

faces of the locking devices P andof the metal racks N, I am enabled )toofier a mini-- also that'when by lifting against't-he clip K the abrupt am: 1.30

tion of the toes of the devices P against the corresponding abrupt surfaces of the metal racks N will offer sutlicient resistance tosuch upward movement to prevent the curtain from rising too rapidly, under the joint forces. Inother words, by this combined relation of'pivoted and spring pressed parts having peculiarly designed friction surfaces. together with friction racks having surfaces of a similar nature and interrelated as de scribed, I am enabled to move the curtain in either direction with practically the same amountof applied force. a result which, so far as I am aware. has never before been effected with curtain fixtures of this nature. As a matter of-factythfl correlation of op erative parts is'of such a delicate nature that it is not absolutely necessary that one should grasp the clip K to move the curtain in either direction, as l find it may be elevated by applying the hand at any point under the rod or stick It, and may in like manner be drawn down so that when either elevating or lowering the curtain there is not the slightest possibility that one side orthe other shall travel the faster, and thereby lock or clamp the same, as so frequentlyoccurs with curtains rovided with fixtures of the nature hereinbe ore referred to. In fact my novel curtain fixture is, as I have ascertained by practical construction and use, absolutely selfrighting under all conditions of usage and can never be left in such a position in loweringforma'ising but-that it will right itself and assume, its, correct relation to the window with which it is designedto be used. When it is required to remove the curtain it is only necessary to take hold of the rod or stick at any point and rotate it from left to right a sufficient distance torem'ove the parts from the slots, and when this occurs the springs c acting upon the locking devices P, P cause the arms or parts T, T to rotate until the bottom pieces t, "t bear against the under surfaces of the flattened portions of the sleeves '5 when the rod or stick may be rotated laterally and the roller part of the curtain detached as desired.

In the event of the casings of the window swelling as they often do, it only becomes necessary to detach the fixture and rotate the sleeves S either in opposite directions or toward each. other until the desired adjustment is effected. I have also ascertained, in view of my widely extendedknowledge of the use of curtains of this nature in railway cars, that oftentimes the windows are notsquare or rectangular; that is to say, the casings are not absolutely vertical, so that with existing types or curtain fixtures much annoyance is foundto result, owing to the fact that no provision has been made for this gype of dissymmetry. My improved curtain xture absolutely overcomes the sticking or ehokingof the fixture, no matter what may be therelatiion of the casings to the sill; nor to what extent the casings may swell or shrink during ditl'erent climatic conditions.

I do not limit my invention to the specific details of construction diz closml in the drawings and hcreinlwfore described, as obviously the structural features thereof might be materially departed from and still come within the scope of my improvement which is directed broadly to the provision of means for effecting the adjustment of a spring controlled curtain as to its position in a window in such manner that by no possibility can it stick; nor can it be broken by careless mauimtlation; the parts may also be adjusted relatively to each other for effecting all of the results hereinbefore referred to.

Obviously instead of providing adjustable sleei'cs S with flattened ends constructed as shown for securing the pivoted parts in the m anner illustrated and described,such sleeves might be absolutely dispensed with and the ends of the tubular curtain rod or stick R themselves flattened amt constructed in the same manner, thereby materially cheapeiiing the structure and minimizing,

in so far as possible. the number of parts used, a feature of utility which is very'important as to the cost of manufacturing such devices, and my claims are to be con'stt -ued as of such scope as to include thisfeatlu'e.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is- 1. A curtain fixture for a spring actuated curtain, embracing stationary holding means having curvilinear locking faces, the inclinations of the lower faces which incline in opposite directions being more abrupt than the inclinations of the upper faces; togethci with locking devices and springs for holding said devices against the stationary locking faces of the holding means with sufficient stress to prevent the curtain from being rolled up by its spring, substantially as described.

2. A window curtain fixture having curvilinear holding racks located in the casin s thereof. the two bearing faces of the said locking devices (airrespcnding in angular relation with the like hearing faces of the racks, whereby when the curtain is being raised a maximum braking effect is bad between the locking devices and the abrupt braking surfaces, and when the curtain is being lowered a minimum braking effect is bad between the locking devices and the less abrupt braking faces of the racks, substantially as described.

O cured tothe outer'end of each "sleeve, and a locking device pivotally secured to the free- 3. In a curtain fixture two racks having curvilinear teeth the ,faces of which have relatively widely different angular relation to each other; 1n combination with a cur tain rod' or stick and a spring pressed looking device at eachv end thereof, the frictional faces of they locking devices having'a definite angular relation to each other and to the corresponding angular faces" of the racks, substantially as described.

4. A curtain fixture embracing racks having curvilinear teeth the frictionalfaces of which are more abrupt upon the lowerside than upon the upper side; in combination with a curtain stick having a holding looking device pivot-ally secured at each end thereof; ea'chlocking device being provided with a spring for forcing it outward into frictional bearing withthe teeth of the rack, as the curtain is raised or lowered; the cur-'' vilinear faces of the locking devices being respectively angularly related the same as i are the frictional faces of the racks, substan tially as described.

5. A curtain fixture having a curtain stick secured to the lower end thereof; apivot'ed arm or part T at eachend; a holding device provided at the free end of each pivoted part, and a spring secured at one end'to each pivoted partavith its free end resting behind the corresponding holding device; togetherwith two racks having each; curvilinear teeth the faces of which differ in angular relation to each other and t0 the inclined faces of the holding devices, substan-' tially as described. I 4

6. A curtain fixture'embracing a curtain rod and pivot-all sustained holding devices,

one at each en together with two racks having curvilinear teeth, thefrictionaf faces of which offerrelatively widely different resistance, to the movement of the curtain rod, dependent upon which direction it is being moved; said holding devices and rod being provided with means ;for adjusting their operative relations with the" racks, s'ubstan tia'll'y. as described,

' vilinear teeth, the frictional faces of which 7. Awind'ow curtain fixture" embracing a tubular curtain' rod' and tubular" sleeves,

screw-threaded thereon; a'pivoted part se-" end of each pivoted part; 111 combination with a spring secured to each sleeve and acting each against'its corresponding locking dev-ice; together with two racks one in each window casing, said racks having ourhave relatively Widely difierent angular re-' lation, substantially as described. 8. A curtain fixture embracing a curtain rod and a pivoted lockingdevice secured to each end of said rod and having movement 1n a vertical plane in the direction of the length thereof; together with yielding means for holding each locking device in fr ctional relation with the window casing, substantially as described.

9. A curtain fixture provided with a curpivoted parts secured at the lateral edges of the curtain and provided with springs for holding one part of each pair in fixed relation to the window casings, substantlally as described- 11. A curtain fixture embracing pairs of locking parts pivotally secured to the opposite ends of a curtain stick and to each other together with leaf springsfor holding the parts in definite relation to-cach other and to the casings of-the window, the structural relation being such that practically the same force is required to either raise 0'1 lcwerthe curtain, substantially as described.

12. A window curtain fixture embracinga curtain rod or stick; pairs of locking parts pivotally secured to each other and to theopposite ends of the stick; together with.

racks having curvilinear teeth and located in the casings of the window; the lower faces of the rack teeth offering more re sistance to the holding parts thandofthe upper faces thereof to thecorresponding Parts O such holding parts, substantially as described.

13. A window curtain fixture embracing a plurality "of frictional locking faces of relatively abrupt curvilinear form, and addi tional locking'faces of relatively lessabru t curvature, all located in the casings oi-t e ried by the curtain and having yielding means for holding them. in frictional rela tion with the aforesaid locking faces, the angular relation of said locking devices and the frictional faces being such that practwo subscribing witnesses.

-window; together with locking' ,deviees car-1' CHARLES AJsTERLINGQ-j Witnesses: Y

C. J. KIN'rNEn, M. F. KEATING.

Images