IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC RIBS FOR UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS,..
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ferdinand Lehr, of Hoboken, in the State of New
Jersey, United States of America, for the Invention of." IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC RIBS FOR UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS,..
Sealed the 8th March 1859; and dated the 10th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ferdinand Lehr at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
January 1859.
I, FERDINAND. LEHB,. of Hoboken, in the State of New Jersey,, United States
of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said. Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC RIBS. FOR UMBRELLAS,
PARASOLS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to machinery for bending or coiling up wire into
small eyes or loops that answer in place of the ordinary holes or perforations
in the ribs of umbrellas and parasols and other articles.
I take straightened wire through a guide where a pincer seizes the same and
draws the necessary length of wire into the machine. Some clamps then hold
the wire near the middle, and one end a shear comes up and cuts off the wire,
the pincers turn down out of the way, travel back to the place of beginning,
turn up and again seize the wire as before; in the meantime a mandril, the
size of the eye or loop to be turned in the wire, is projected near one end. of

page_text: said wire, and another near the middle, and the wire is bent around the same by
a revolving shaft, at each point having an eccentric pin or stub that presses on
to and bends said wire. After the loop has been formed near the middle by
sweeping around the wire as aforesaid, a similar mandril and turning stub
come into action, and bend the third eye or loop of the rib at the end thereof.
Gear wheels, slides, cams, and similar devices are applied to actuate the
aforesaid parts in the proper manner and at the required time, and the rib,
when finished, drops out of the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ferdinand Lehr in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FERDINAND
LEHR, of Hoboken, in the State of New Jersey, United States of America,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Ferdinand Lehr, Her special license that I, the said Ferdinand
Lehr, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Ferdinand Lehr, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METALLIC RIBS FOR UMBRELLAS,
PARASOLS, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Ferdinand Lehr, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ferdinand Lehr, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
Fig. 1 is a plan of my machine complete; Fig. 2 is a side elevation; Fig. 3
is an end view; Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section, showing the apparatus
for bending the ribs; and Fig. 5 is a partial section showing the feeding
pincers and parts opposite to those in Fig. 4. Similar marks of reference
denote the same parts.
My said Invention relates to machinery for bending wire into loops or eyes for
forming the ribs or stretchers of umbrellas, parasols, or other articles, whereby
said loops serve like holes in the ribs for the joints and for receiving the
stretchers; it being distinclly understood that my Invention does not relate to
the rib itself when bent, the same being patented in the United States by
Henry Kurth, of Brooklyn, N. Y., April 29th, 1858.
The machinery which I make use of for accomplishing the above-mentioned
purpose of bending or coiling wire into loops for forming umbrella ribs may be
divided as follows:-
1st, a reciprocating jaw or pincer which feeds or draws the wire after it has
been straightened into the machine, and then opens and leaving the wire to
be operated on, turns down out of the way and is drawn back, then turned up;
and again seizes the wire.
.
2nd, a shear having a compound motion to come up and cut off the wire;
and then move back out of the way.
.
3rd, clamps holding the wire near the middle and towards one end, while
the loops or eyes are being formed.
4th, mandrels and turning stubs that bend or coil up the wire to form a
loop or eye near one end and in the middle part of the rib.
5th, à mandrel and turning stub which takes the end of the wire after it has
been bent at the middle to form the loop, and turns thereon a loop or eye for
the joint by which the end of the rib is attached; the parts then return to their
former positions and the rib drops.
The operation of bending the spokes or ribs being performed in the above
order by my machine, the description will correspond thereto in its plan,
although but one machine is used, and that for producing one article.
. 'In the Drawing, a is a shaft, sustained in boxes b, b, and rotated by com-
5 petent power through the crank c and handles or crank pin cl, or otherwise.
A is the side frame carrying the mandrels, and B is the other side frame
carrying the turning stubs and parts thereof.
i
1st. On the side frame A is, a V slide 9' carrying the sliding block g, on
which a short stud 2 is attached that carries the pincers (e, e',) and on this

page_text: stud 2 the pincers can turn down against the stop 7 in the position shewn in
Fig. 2 by dotted lines, or be 'turned up against the stud 6, as seen in Fig. 5.
The pincers (e, e¹,) are attached together by the screw 5 and formed with
horizontal jaws partially to the side which takes the wire, as shown by red
lines in Figs. 1 & 5. The side e of the pincers is longer than the side e', and
extends downwards through a guide slot 4, and has a pin or stub, 3 projecting
therefrom towards the outside of the machine, where it receives one end of
the link f, the other end of which is provided with a slot 1 that receives the
crank pin c. 9 is a spring tending to open the jaws, the same being attached
to the part e and acting on a pin 8 on the part e', said pin 8 also preventing
the jaws opening too far. d is a guide, through which the wire to form the.
rib or spoke is led after it has been straightened.
The operation of these pincers is as follows:-The crank pin c¹ being
revolved in the direction of the arrow, the link f draws the slide g-along from
the position in Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 5, the pincers being out of the way of
the other parts by the pull on the stud 3 acting to turn the pincers down
against the stop 7. So soon as the crank c passes its centre, the slide 9 has
arrived at its extreme forward movement; as the link fis lifted, the pincers
(e, e¹,) are turned up vertically above the shaft 2, as seen in Fig. 5, the spring
9 keeping the jaws open; they pass over the wire as the same projects from
the guide d, and as soon as the pin c takes against the end of the slot 1, the
pressure first closes the jaws, grasping the wire, and then the further move-
ment causes the link f to force the slide g along to the other end of the
machine, drawing the necessary length of wire through the guide d. Other
parts, hereafter described, then come up and hold the wire, at which moment
the crank c¹ passes its centre, the pressure is released, the spring 9 opens the
jaws, dropping the wire; the spring ftaking the stud 3, throws that forward,
inclining the pincers (as in Fig. 2), and the pin c¹ taking the end of the slot 1,
draws the slide 9 back as before. The spring f¹ might be dispensed with, but
it makes the pincers throw backwards and downwards more quickly, instead
of their being a pause while the pin c¹ travels the length of the slot 1. A
similar spring (to f') might be used at the other end to throw up the pincers,
but the same is not always required.
2nd. is a shoar attached by a screw 11 to the bed piece h²; h¹ is the
other half of the shear jointed to i by the screw 12, and carrying the cutter 2¹.
The end of the shear h¹ projects as a lever towards the shaft a, where a cam h
acts on the same, and gives a compound motion thereto, as follows:-The
part 10 of the cam h, acting on the shear lever h¹, moves said shear out of the
way of the wire and pincers (e, e¹), see Figs. 1 & 5, said shear turning

page_text: horizontally on the screw 11. When the wire has been drawn through as
aforesaid, the end of h¹ being no longer acted on by cam 10, the spring,
which serves to open the shears as well as to draw the end of h¹ against the
cam, on account of its diagonal position, moves the shear laterally, so that
the jaws pass above and below the wire; and the cam h, now acting, throws
down cutter i and separates the wire, after which the cam 10 again operating
moves the shears laterally out of the way..
3rd. The wire is laid along by the pincers (e, e¹,) above the ledges 13, 14,
Fig. 5, the turning stubs and mandrels p, p, are brought up as hereafter
shewn, which prevent the wire escaping; the clamping levers k, k¹, are then
brought down to hold said wire firmly by the following means, while the
turning operations (Fig. 4) are performed. The levers k, k³, are on fulcrums
in the blocks 2, 3, their outer ends are connected by links 15, 15, to bent
levers 16, 16, the ends of which are connected to the sliding bar in guide .
is a spring acting to slide said bar 7 lengthways, and force up the outer ends
of the levers k, l, and cause the inner ones to clamp the wire; is a cam oir
the main shaft, which acting against the end of the bar 1, and being properly
shaped and timed, raises the inner ends of the levers k, k¹, while the finished
spoke drops out, and the wire is laid by the pincers on the ledges 13 & 14
and beneath the ends of said lever k, k', as aforesaid.
4th. To coil or bend up the wire at the
middle and one end to form the
aforesaid to project and retract
eyes or loops, I cause the motion of the bar
the mandrels, 21, that are fixed to the slides m, m³, and determine the size of
the loop or eye formed in the wire rib. 18, 18, are levers, on the fulcrums
19, 19, attached at their upper ends to said slides m, m¹, in the blocks k², k³;
the lower ends of these levers 18, 18, set in diagonal jaws or slots 20, 20, on
the bar l, so that as the bar is moved by the spring to clamp the wire
by the levers.k, ; the mandrels,, are projected out of the blocks k², 1³, so
as to be ready to have the wire bent around the same by the means next
described.
.
23 is a cam on the shaft a, which acts on the slide bar n', from which
links 22, 22, connect to cranks 23, 23, on the lower ends of vertical shafts
n', '; 24, 24, are arms on the upper ends of these shafts n', connected by
links 25, 25, to the stocks o, o, that move in V slides o', o¹, and carry the
turning shafts p, p, and stubs x, x; and 21 is a spring acting to slide the
bar towards the cam n³. The operation of this part is that the cam n³,
being properly shaped and timed, moves from and releases the slide n' imme=
diately after the pincers (e, e¹,) have passed along, carrying the wire as
aforesaid, so that the spring 21, acting through said bar n²; cranks 23 and

page_text: SO
24, links 22 & 25, and the shafts n', projects the stocks o, o, so that the
ends of the shafts p, p, come up and hold said wire, the turning stubs & being
above the wire, as seen in Fig. 4, and the ends of the shafts p, p, being pro-
vided with holes, into which the mandrels z, z, pass when projected as before
set forth. The shafts p, p¹, are revolved while pressed against the wire by
means of the gears 1, 3, there being three gears and two gears
that one movement of the rack r will turn said shafts p, p, in opposite
directions, which causes the stubs x, x, to turn or twist the wire around in
the manner represented by the red lines and arrows, Fig. 4, the inner faces
of the blocks k², k, being formed as an incline from the ledges 13 and 14,
so that the. wire when turned into an eye is coiled or laid double at the back
of the eye, the spring 21 allowing the shafts p, p, to move slightly back as
the turning progresses. It will be seen that the shaft p acts near the end to
form the eye to which the edge of the umbrella cover is attached, and that
the shaft p¹ and its stub sweeps the wire around, as shewn in Fig. 4, to form
the eye near the middle, and causes the moving end of the wire to pass down
between the jaws 32, beneath an offset and over a mandrel, on which the
wire has an eye bent up at the end thereof, as hereafter described.
The rack receives its motion from a crank q, at the end of the shaft a,
with its pin acting in a slot 27 of the connecting rod q', that is attached at
26 to the said slide r, the object of the slot 27 being to allow a pause after
the turning operation before described, for the end to have an eye turned
therein, and for the cam n³ to force along the slide bar n', and slide the
stocks o, o, and shafts p, p, away from the finished rib when the crank pin
taking the other end of the slot 27, slides the rack to its former position,
turning back the shafts p, p¹, ready to be again projected, and act upon
another wire, as before specified.
5th, the rack u, similar to the rack r, also moves in a V recess in the
side. B of the bed, and acts to rotate the shaft på, and its stub a¹, through the
gears and said stub a¹, bend the end of the wire into an eye, see red lines,
Fig. 4, in the same manner as before detailed relative to the shaft p, p¹. The
endways motion is given to the shaft p2 and stocks s₁ in the slides s³, by
means of the link 31, arm 30, shaft s, crank 29, and link 28, to the sliding
bar and spring 41, the cam n² being so formed and positioned that the
stocks and turning shaft på come up and take the end of the wire as it.
sweeps around and arrives at the jaws 32, see Fig. 4, and simultaneously the
mandrel z¹ is projected by a link s³ from the arm 30 to a lever 34, taking the
slides m² in the block k*, at the end of which slide m² is the said mandril z².
From the pin of the crank q is a second crank t, set at such an angle to the

page_text: former, that the pin t¹, taking the ends of the slot 35 in the connecting rod t*,
gives the sliding motion to the rack u, and rotates the shaft på and its stub as
soon as the shaft p² is pressed against the wire as aforesaid, and when the eye
has been bent on the end, as before described, the cam n³ forces the shaft p²
back, draws out the mandrel 2, and the spoke or rib falls away completed, and
the pin t, taking the other end of the slot 35, turns the shaft pe back to its
former position. It will be evident, that by the arrangement of the cranks q
and t, in connection with the slots 27 and 35 in the connecting rods q¹and t¹,
the operation of turning the shafts p' and p² are performed successively, so
as to act on the wire first to form the middle eye, and then the end eye
or loop.
Having thus described the construction and operation of the successive
parts, I will briefly recapitulate the various operations:-The pincers seize
and draw through the wire; the shafts p, p, come up; the levers k, k¹³, clamp
the wire; the pincers open, turn down, and are drawn back out of the way;
the centre and end eyes are turned by the stubs a, a, around the mandrils,,
as they are projected; the shaft p³ comes up, the mandril ¹ is projected, and
the end eye or loop is turned, the shafts p, p, and p², move back successively,
and the mandrils z, z, and are withdrawn, and the finished rib or stretcher
drops away completed; the pincers (e, e',) by this time have been turned up
vertically, and again seize the wire, the other parts have resumed their formier
positions, and the motions are performed as before.
I do not claim a mandrel, around which the wire is bent by a revolving
stub, as such mandrel has been affixed to the shaft carrying the revolving stub;
in that case, however, difficulty existed in removing the spoke or rib, when
bent, from off the said mandrel, but by my machine the mandrels and turning
stubs withdrawing from each other, and the mandrels pulling out of the holes
or eyes, this difficulty is avoided. What I claim as my Invention, and desire
to secure by Letters Patent, is,-
First, a reciprocating pincer, taking the wire from a fixed guide and
drawing the same through the machine, dropping from said wire, and then
returning below to its previous position, so as to be out of the way of the
bending or coiling of the wire, as set forth.
Second, I claim attaching said pincers on a travelling carriage by one side
thereof, while the power for sliding said pincers lengthways of the machine
is applied to the other jaw, whereby the clamping and releasing of the
wire is effected by the act of moving said pincers, as set forth.
Third, I claim attaching one end of said pincers on a stud or shaft in
combination with the stops 6 and 7, spring 9, and slotted connecting link f

page_text: whereby the sliding, clamping, depressing, and elevating motions. are given
to the pincers by the reciprocations of said rod f, as set forth.
Fourth, I claim the shear i, i', receiving the compound motion set forth
from the cam (h & 10) in the manner and for the purposes specified..
Fifth, I claim the clamping levers k, l, in combination. with the ledges
13 & 14, and shafts p, p, that press against and hold the wire while the
loops are being formed, as set forth.
Sixth, I claim the mandrel or mandrels, in combination with the turning
shaft or shafts and stubs, when the said mandrels are projected from tho
blocks or their equivalents, for the wire to be bent around the same, to form
the loops or eyes in the ribs or stretchers, and withdrawn from said eyes after
the same has been bent, substantially as set forth..
Seventh, I claim the arrangement of the sliding bar 1, and the connections
therefrom to the clamping levers k, k¹, and slides m, m', whereby the clamps
and mandrels are simultaneously actuated, as set forth.
Eighth, I claim the sliding stocks o, o, carrying the shafts p, and turning
stubs for allowing the withdrawal of said stubs out of the way of the travelling
pincers, substantially as set forth, and in combination therewith I claim the
bar n', and connections therefrom to said stocks 0, 0, for communicating
endways motion to said stocks, for the purposes and as specified.
Ninth, I claim the sliding mandrel 2, and turning shaft p², connected, as
set forth, in combination with the jaws 32, or their equivalents, for turning
the eye or loop in the end of the spoke or rib, as described and shewn.
Tenth, I claim the arrangement of the cranks q and t, and slotted con-
necting rods q', t³, for communicating motion successively to the slides
and u, and from the same to the turning stubs or loop formers, as set
forth.
In witnesses whereof, I, the said Ferdinand Lehr, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
LEMUEL W. SERRELL, 289, Broadway, N. Y.
F. LEHR. (L.S.)
THOMAS G. HAROLD,
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