US943433A - Window clothes-line support. - Google Patents

Description

T. A. MACDONALD. WINDOW CLOTHES LINE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.15,1909.

943,433. Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

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T. A. MACDONALD.

WINDOW CLOTHES LINE SUPPORT.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAR.15,1909.

Patented Dec. 14, 1909.

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THOMAS A. MACDONALD, OF CLIFTON, NEW/V JERSEY.

WINDOW CLOTHES-LINE SUPPORT.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. lvlacnon- ALD, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Clifton, in the county of Passaic, State of New J ersey, have invented an Improvement in \Vindow ClothesLine Supports, of which the following is a specification.

The use of clothes-line attachments for windows of tenement and apartment houses and the like, is attended by a great number of serious and often fatal accidents by reason of the fact that in placing clothes on, or removing them from, the line, the washerwoman often leans too far out of the window or is pulled out by the sudden parting of the line under the weight imposed on it.

I have devised an improved clothes-line "support adapted for attachment to a window frame by means of a universal joint whereby it is adapted to be swung into different positions as required to enable clothes to be easily placed on or removed from the line, and also to be swung into horizontal position when not required for use.

A special object of the invention is to provide a clothes-line support of this character which shall be further distinguished by simplicity, strength, cheapness, and ease of operation.

The details of construction, combination, and operation of the invention are as hereinafter described and illustrated in'the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a perspective view showing my invention applied to a window and in the position in which it is adjusted for use.

I Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the window frame with the pivoted bar, to which the clothes-line is attached, adjusted in the position required when clothes are to be placed on or removed from the line. Fig. 3 is a face or front view of a portion of the window frame with the clothes support or hanger in the vertical position shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 4:, 5, 6 (of Sheet 2) and Fig. 7 (of Sheet 1) are detail sectional and perspective views which will be hereinafter duly described.

The clothes-line support or hanger proper A is in the nature of a composite bar, the same being formed of iron tubes 1, the outer ones being screwed into a tee 2 which forms the pivot and is for that purpose secured to the outer side of the window frame 00 by Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 15, 1909.

Patented Dec. 14, 1909. Serial No. 483,521.

means so constructed as to form a universal joint, as will be further described. A pulley 3 is swiveled to each end of the bar A, and an endless rope B runs on the same and also over pulleys 4 that are attached to a pole or to an opposite house, or other building. A part of the swivel attachn'ient consists of a hook 5 (see Fig. having an eye or band 5 that embraces the bar sections 1 adjacent to their ends, to which a screw-cap (i is applied. The hook 5 is thus free to rotate on the bar section or tube 1, but is held from accidental detachment as will be readily understood. By this swiveled attachment, the pulleys 3 are adapted to turn and assume any angle, so that the rope B will run easily whatever be the angle of the rope to the window or the side of the house in which the window is placed. In other words, it is sometimes necessary that the rope shall be attached to a pole or house placed laterally or at the right or left from the window where the hanger proper A is attached, instead of being attached to a pole or opposite house at a point directly opposite the window. The

pulleys A are also swiveled in order to insure that they will easily assume any angle so that the rope will run on them with great ease.

The details of construction of the universal joint by which the hanger or clothesline support A is attached to the windowframe w,-are illustrated in Figs. l and 7. The nipple of the tee 2 is screwed 011 a pivot tube 7 which rotates in the horizontal portion of another tee 8 whose lateral projection 9 is provided with an enlarged disk-like base; see particularly Fig. 7. A screw-cap 10 is applied to the outer end of the tube 7 so that the hanger proper is held detachably in the bearing. A keeper 11, formed of two parts adapted to embrace and receive the foot or base of the tee 8, is screwed to the window-frame a. Thus the tee 8 is adapted to be readily connected with, or detached from, the keeper 11; but, as will be seen, itis free to rotate therein. The tube 7, connected with the tee 2 being also adapt ed to rotate in the tee 8, it is obvious that a universal oint is formed. In other words, the bar constituting the hanger or clothes-line support A is adapted to swing in a vertical plane and also in a horizontal plane. It is necessary to provide a stop and holder for the bar A in each of its two positions. To

this end, I employ open spring hooks 12 and 13, one (12) being attached to the outer side of the window frame, near the sill and the other to the inner side of the frame near the edge of the upper sash. As shown in Fig. 6, the spring hooks are so constructed as to embrace more than one-half of the diameter of the top 1 constituting part of the bar A and hence when the tube enters the spring catch, the latter being slightly smaller it grips the tube elastically and with suflicient force to hold the bar or hanger A quite firmly, so that it will retain the vertical or horizontal position required.

The general operation and manner of using the clothes-line support will now be apparent. When it is desired to hang clothes on the line B or to remove them therefrom, the bar A is swung into horizontal position and secured by the spring hook 13 as shown by full lines in Fig. 2, the clothes being applied to the lower run of the line, piece by piece; then the bar A is swung on its pivot into vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, whereby the lower run or strand of the rope B is lowered as there shown. The clothes are left in this position until dried, when the hanger or bar A is swung back to the horizontal position and the clothes may be conveniently removed from the line as the lower strand or portion is drawn in.

As will be observed, particularly in Fig. 2, the pulleys 3 turn to any position required to accommodate the rope B in either of the two positions, and, as before intimated, they will also assume any position required to accommodate a laterally oblique or inclined position of the rope.

The pivotally mounted tee 8 allows the arm 1 to be swung from the vertical position shown in Fig. 1, and vice versa, without undesirable engagement between the line B and hook 12.

It will be seen that my improved apparatus combines maximum simplicity, lightness, and cheapness, and may be very easily operated; further, that its parts may be easily and quickly detached from each other, so that they are adapted to be packed compactly for storage or transportation. The weight of the entire apparatus enables it to be shipped with small expense.

What I claim is:

1. In a clothes-line support of the type indicated, the hanger comprising alined tubular sections and a connecting tee, means for pivotally mounting said tee, hooks applied rotatably to the ends of the sections, and screw-caps for holding the hooks in place in the manner described.

2. In a clothes-line support of the type indicated, the improved hanger comprising alined tubular sections and a tee connecting them and having a laterally extended pivot, and a keeper in which such pivot is journaled and adapted to rotate, and means for securing the pivot and thereby the hanger proper, detachably, as shown and described.

3. The combination, with a clothes-line support, comprising a bar pivoted and adapted to swing vertically and provided with pulleys for carrying a line, of combined stops and holders consisting of open spring hooks secured to the window-frame and constructed to embrace the bar and grip the same elastically, substantially as described.

THOMAS A. MACDONALD.

\Vitnesses:

SoLoN C. KEMoN, Amos W. HART.

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