Very clever and handy, back in the days when houses were built with hung sash windows. Because the sliding sash had to necessarily be loose in its track, it had a tendency to rattle in the wind when open and hanging from its sash weights. Consequently, this device was actually patented as an "anti-rattling device and lock for windows" by Charles Pearson, of Ingersoll, Ontario in 1938, who assigned half of the patent to George W. Mallory.
George W. Mallory was a prolific inventor in his own right out of Blenheim, Ontario (although, to be fair, his family appears to have emigrated from the U.S.) His first invention, in 1891, was a device to keep the screen door closed at the family farmhouse. In 1892, he received a patent for a gate latch. Over the following years, he patented door springs, door catches, door "checks", as well as a lamp wick adjusting device and a harness bit, and a harness terret. He founded his business in 1900 and in 1914 moved it to nearby Blenheim to take advantage of the electrical power available there. His company was incorporated as Mallory Hardware Products Ltd. in 1950 but expanded beyond this, becoming Mallory Industries Incorporated in 1986. Happily, it is still a family-owned and going concern in Blenheim, although its product line now consists primarily of automotive squeegees and snowbrushes.
Below, a door check that is virtually identical to the Mallory one above. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Somehow, I don't think HP stands for Hewlett-Packard.
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The HP stands for Hardware Products. It is surrounded by the large M, for Mallory. This was an earlier version of the Mallory logo, apparently.
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