Window-operating apparatus.

Application filed February 14,1913,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Albert K. Lovell, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven, State 5 ot Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Window - Operating Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to window operating 10 apparatus, and it has for its object to provide improved screw mechanism and gearing for actuating window sash either independently or jointly and holding them automatically locked in any position.

The invention consists in the novel combination, arrangement and construction of the parts of the mechanism as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming 20 a part of this specification: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a window frame and sashes fitted with my improved operating mechanism, shown as it would, appear from the interior of the apartment with the win25 dow casing removed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane 3, 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the universal joint of the sash supporting mechanism on plane 4, 4 30 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is part of a front elevation similar to Fig. 1 partly in section, showing the mechanism on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a view of the upper part of the inner face of the side of the frame, showing the guide35 ways of the sashes. Fig. 7 is a cross section through the universal joint of a screw shaft on plane 7, 7 of Fig. 5.

Beferryig to the drawings, 1 designates tbe name of an ordinary two sash window 40 having the upper and lower sashes 2 and 3 arranged to slide in suitable guideways on the sides or jambs in the ordinary and well known maimer. Mounted on the respective exterior sides of the upper part of the frame 45 m the plane of the upper sash is a pair of vertical operating screws 4 having their shanks extending down below to the bottom . the window sill 7 with their lower ends >;n l°^{Umaled or} stepped in bearings 5 in a hanger 6 here shown suspended from the lower side of the sill. Similarly stepped in Hie hanger 6 in the plane of the lower sash on the lower part of the frame is another pair of vertical operating screws 8, and both sets of screws are loosely journaled at their upper ends in bearings 9 attached to the

Patented Sept. 7,1915. Serial No. 748,501.

frame respectively at the upper and middle parts thereof. Upon the rear screws or those which stand in the plane of the upper sash are mounted the engaging nuts 10 carried 00 upon arms or bracket portions 11 which are inserted through and adapted to travel in vertical slots 12 in the corresponding guideways of the frame, and are engaged with holding plates 13 attached to the side of the 05 upper sash near its upper corner. Mounted on the front screws or those standing in the plane of the lower sash are similar engaging nuts 14 carried on the arms 15 inserted through and adapted to travel in vertical 70 slots 16 m the guideways of the lower sash and engaged with holding plates 17 attached to the side of the lower sash near its lower corner. On the lower ends of the screws are fixed the bevel gears 18 above the bearings 75 fastened by suitable means adapted to hold the gears from rotating on' the screws or sliding longitudinally thereon.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3 the nuts are integral parts of the brackets, 80 but m Figs. 4 and 5 is shown the generally preferred form of these parts, which comprise a nut 20 horizontally hinged to a swivel 21 which is nivoted to the bracket 22 on an axis in the same horizontal plane as that of 85 the axis of the hinge by the rivet 23 forming a universal joint therewith. The brackets 22 are provided with the dove-tailed parts 24 which are adapted to fit into corresponding dove-tailed grooves 25 in the holding plates 90 13 to enable the sashes to be slid into engagement with them in being placed in the frame.

lhe parts of the screws above the bevel gears 18 are separate from the lower parts and the two portions are connected by uni- 95 yersal joints, each comprising a fork 26 fastened to the lower end of the upper portion of the shaft and pivoted by means of screws 27 to a part 28 which is similarly Pivoted to ears 29 upon the upper sides of 100 the bevel gear. By means of this construction and that of the nuts and brackets the screws are enabled to assume positions of slight obliquity to the axes of the gears when the settling of the foundations of the 105 building or distortions of the walls throw the window frames and the sash Operating mechanism out of their original relation or alinement. The bevel gears 18 may be fastened upon their shafts by keys or any other HO spitable means, and the shafts may be held in their steps or bearings 5 by means of set1,152,420 sashes simultaneously. If it is desired to operate the upper sash alone, the withdrawal of the outer sliding part 45 from engagement with the recess of the sleeve will insure such action by rendering the part 45 70 inoperative in the rotation of the key. To operate the lower sash alone the reverse action of the parts, that is, the engagement of the outer sliding part 45 with the sleeve and withdrawal of the inner sliding part 46 75 from engagement with the tongue 43 of the shaft 40 will by rotation of the key actuate the rear gear 39 independently and accomplish this result.

It will be understood that, inasmuch as 80 the ordinary incasement of the window conceals the operating apparatus from view and accessibility, it will be necessary to provide a suitable aperture in such casing for the insertion of the key in order to operate 85 the sashes. It will also be necessary, for the purpose of inserting the brackets which support the engaging nuts of the operating screws through the slots of the frame, to cut out a small section of the frame at the 90 side of the slot, as at 47 in Fig. 6, to provide sufficient opening for the passage of the nut or of the dovetailed part at the opposite end of the bracket. Said section, by being sawed of greater length on the face of the 95 frame than on the opposite side, as indi^Leated, respectively, by the full and dotted lines in said figure, may be made removable and held in place by a pair of screws 48.

In the construction shown the operating 10( screws are provided with right hand threads and the driving shafts which operate them are duplicates of each other, insuring uniform construction throughout the mechanism. The use of two separate shafts and 10! doubled sets of gears are necessitated in the case of the inner screws by the requirement that the transverse axis of . the main bevel gear that is provided for driving them must be coincident with the axis of the shafts 1H that are at right angles with it, which prohibits the use of a continuous shaft from one screw to the other. While this necessity does not exist in the case of the outer screws, thus rendering it possible to employ one con- 11 tinuous shaft between the screws, it is preferable to duplicate the mechanism of the inner screws therefor, whereby uniformity of construction throughout the mechanism is insured. ¹²

The proportions of the screws enable both the sashes to be operated throughout their entire movement, which brings the operating nuts to the position shown by the dotted linos in Fig. 1. It is obvious that in win- ¹²dows where only a single sash is to be operated only a single set of operating screws will be necessary, and in such case the use of two shafts for connecting the screws of the set will be unnecessary, as a single shaft ¹² screws 30 screwed through the bearings and engaging suitable slots 31 in the shafts, as shown in Fig. 5.

Each pair of screws is driven to rotate 5 in unison by a pair of horizontal shafts 32 arranged underneath the window sill in alinement provided with bevel gears 33 at their outer ends gearing with those of the screws, and bevel gears 34 at their inner 10 ends gearing with a larger bevel gear hav-. ing its axis at right angles to that of the shafts and intermediate of the gears on their inner ends. The shafts 32 are journaled at their outer ends in suitable bear15 ings in the hangers 6 and at their inner ends in a hanger 35 supported from the sill as shown. The bevel gear 36 that drives the screws of the lower sash is mounted upon a sleeve 37 journaled in a bearing 38 in 20 the hanger 35, and the bevel gear 39 for operating the screws of the upper sash is carried upon a shaft 40 which is journaled in the sleeve 37 concentric therewith, whereby bolts of said gears are adapted to rotate 25 upon a common axis. The shaft of the rear gear 39 projects rearwardly as shown and is journaled in a bearing 41 which is attached to the hanger 35 by screws after the gear 36 is placed in its bearing and the 80 rear gear journaled within it. The assembling of the shafts 32 may be easily accomplished before their gears are placed upon them, after which the gears may be put in place and secured by the set-screws 42 or 35 other suitable means.

The front end of the shaft of the rear gear journaled, within the sleeve 37 is provided with a flatted tongue or part of square cross section 43 or otherwise shaped 40 to be engaged by a suitable key by means of which it may be rotated, and the end of the sleeve is also suitably shaped to provide shoulders by which it may be engaged by a key for being rotated, in the present in45 stance being formed with an internal rectangular recess or seat 44, as shown in Fig. 5. A corresponding rectangular part 45 adapted for entrance into and engagement with said recess is provided in combination 50 with a part 46 which is fitted centrally within it, and upon which the part 45 is adapted to slide, but prevented from rotation upon by rectangular or other suitable configuration, as shown. The said parts 45 55 and 46 comprise a two part key, by means of which, with the concentric arrangement of the driving gears, either or both of the gears may be operated, that is, singly or independently of each other to singly raise or 00 lower the sashes, or jointly to actuate the sashes in unison, as follows: If both' the parts 45 and 46 be inserted into operative engagement with the sleeve and the shaft which is journaled within it, the rotation ®^B of the said two part key will actuate both

1,102,425 correspondingly arranged, whereby vertical parts of the construction shown will be disposed horizontally, and horizontal parts arranged vertically similarly as when the drawings are viewed as turned at right 10 angles to^ their correct position, the principles of the invention remaining the same