IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUNSHADES AND UMBRELLAS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Willis, of Stocksbridge Works, near
Sheffield, in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUNSHADES AND UMBRELLAS."
Sealed the 15th March 1870, and dated the 10th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Willis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th December 1869.
I, JAMES WILLIS, of Stocksbridge Works, near Sheffield, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUNSHADES AND UMBRELLAS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has, firstly, for its object an improved mode of
constructing umbrellas with a gutter running either entirely or partially
around the covering, and relates to an improved mode of opening and
holding open the gutter when the umbrella is opened. For this purpose
I affix to or form on the tip end of the ribs a strip of metal of any

page_text: suitable section leading backwards along the rib, and connected at its
end to the fabric of which the gutter is composed; by this means when
the umbrella is set up and the ribs have consequently a downward curve
given to them at their tip ends the strip of metal will tend to stand out
away from the rib and so hold open the gutter, whilst when the umbrella
is closed the springs may lie close to the ribs; and in order also that the
tip ends of the ribs may lie close up to the stick when the umbrella is
closed without their being held thereto by an elastic band slipped over
their ends or other appliance, which would be inconvenient when the
umbrella is formed with a gutter, I give a set or permanent bend to each
of the ribs near their tip ends, so as to cause their tip ends to lie close
to the stick. The set or permanent bend should be given to the ribs
near to where they lie over the runner. Umbrellas not provided with
gutters and also sunshades may similarly be formed with with ribs the
tip ends of which are bent inwards so that they shall lie close to the stick
when the umbrella is closed. To give the permanent set or bend to the
ribs near their tip ends I place the ribs, after they have been hardened
and tempered, into a curved mould, and bring down on to them a
corresponding punch or die. By this means an equal set can readily be
given to each rib.
Another part of my Invention has for its object to strengthen umbrella
runners along the side or along a portion of their longitudinal slot,
and also to strengthen them at the end of the slot next to the beading,
which is placed around their end. With runners as ordinarily con-
structed the metal of the tube of the runner is often torn by the side
of the slot in the runner being forced against the spring catch at the
time when the umbrella is being rolled up. According to my Invention
I strengthen the side of the slot which is thus liable to be torn open by
soldering or fixing to it a strengthening piece of metal; this piece of
metal may either be a strip of metal laid along the edge of the slot, or it
may be a short tube or segment of a tube with a slot cut in it to
correspond with a slot in the runner, the tube or segment of a tube
being only of such a length as shall ensure the end of the spring catch
coming against it. By this means the end of the slot will be likewise
strengthened. Or in place of these modes of strengthening the runner
the runner may be strengthened at the side of the slot by causing the
metal which has to be removed to be turned back to the side of the slot,
and so give additional strength thereto. In this case I prefer that the

page_text: beading applied to the end of the runner should overlap the end of the
strip of metal so turned back.
Another mode I also employ for strengthening the runner around the
slot or opening formed therein for the hand spring catch to pass through
is to place around the slot or opening a thin wire, by preference-a-steel
wire, bent to form and hardened and tempered, and in place of cutting
away a part of the tube to form the slot or opening therein I cut in the
tube a slit of such a form as to allow the metal around the slit to be
turned outwards and bent back over the strengthening piece of bent
wire before mentioned. By this means not only will the runner be
strengthened around the slot or opening, but in addition the edges of the
slot on the inner surface of the tube of the runner will be of a rounded
form, and will not be liable to scratch or injure the stick of the
umbrella, or sunshade, as is now frequently the case when the slot
in the runner is punched out, as in this case a burr or rough edge is
frequently left on the inner edge of the slot..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said James Willis in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th June 1870:
TO ALL TO WHOM, THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WILLIS, of Stockbridge Works, near Sheffield, in the County of York,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Willis, Her special licence,
that I, the said James Willis, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Willis, 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 terni 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUNSHADES.
AND UMBRELLAS," upon the condition (amongst others). that I, the said

page_text: James Willis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 James Willis, 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 statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has, firstly, for its object an improved mode of con-
structing umbrellas with a gutter running either entirely or partially
around the covering, and relates to an improved mode of opening and
holding open the gutter when the umbrella is opened. For this purpose
I affix to or form on the ribs a strip of metal of any suitable section
leading backwards along the rib and connected at its end to the fabric
of which the gutter is composed. By this means when the umbrella is
set up and the ribs have consequently a downward curve given to them
at their tip ends the strip of metal will tend to stand out away from the
rib, and so hold open the gutter whilst when the umbrella is closed
the springs or strips of metal may lie close to the ribs and in order also
that the tip ends of the ribs may lie close up to the stick when the
umbrella is closed (without their being held thereto by an elastic band
slipped over their ends or other appliance which would be inconvenient
when the umbrella is formed with a gutter) I give a set or permanent
bend to each of the ribs near their tip ends so as to cause their tip
ends to lie close to the stick. The set or permanent bend should be
given to the ribs near to where they lie over the runner. Umbrellas not
provided with gutters and also sunshades may similarly be formed with
ribs, the tip ends of which are bent inwards so that they shall lie close
to the stick when the umbrella is closed. To give the permanent set or
bend to the ribs near their tip ends I place the ribs by preference, after
they have been hardened and tempered into a carved mould, and bring
down on to them a corresponding punch or die. By this means an equal
set can readily be given to each rib.
Figure 1 shows a side view of an umbrella fitted with a gutter in the
manner above described. The gutter is shown to pass round one-half of
the circumference of the umbrella and to be higher in the centre than at

page_text: its two ends, where any rain collecting in the gutter is run off. This,
however, may be varied, and the gutter, if desired, may be made to pass
all around the circumference of the umbrella at a uniform level, and
any rain collecting in the gutter may be emptied therefrom by slightly
inclining the umbrella. The gutter I prefer to form of a narrow ribbon,
say, about of an inch or one inch wide. One edge of this ribbon I
double over and attach by stitching and cement to the fabric which
forms the covering of the umbrella, and in order to open and hold open
the gutter when the umbrella is open I attach to the ribs as above stated
strips of metal marked a, by preference leading backwards along the ribs,
and connected at their ends to the strip of fabric which forms the gutter.
By this means when a curvature is given to the ribs by the opening of
the umbrella the ends of the strips of metal a stand out away from the
ribs and hold the gutter open.
Various ways of so attaching strips of metal to the ribs of an umbrella
for the purpose of holding open a gutter when the umbrella is opened
are shown full size at Figures 2 and 3. The end portions only of the ribs
are shown in these Figures, and they are shown bent to the form they
would assume when the umbrella of which they form a part is opened
as to show the ends of the strips of metal a standing out from the ribs and
holding the gutter open. The fabric forming the covering of the umbrella
and the gutter are shown by red lines. In the arrangement shown at
Figure 2 the end of the rib has affixed to it a strip of sheet metal b, one
end of such strip being bent around and closed over on to the end of
the rib whilst the other end has rivetted to it a strip a leading backwards
along the rib; c, c, are holes at the end of the strip to enable the
covering of the umbrella to be attached to it.
In the arrangement shown at Figure 3, the end of the strip a is lapped
over and closed on to the rib near its tip end. Strips of metal a to lead
backwards along the rib of an umbrella may thus be fixed to the rib at
any desired distance from its tip end. I prefer that the strips a should
be covered over with fabric similar to that composing the covering of
the umbrella, but they might be left uncovered if desired.
I have in the Drawings shown the strips a applied to solid ribs, they
might however be applied to ribs known as the paragon ribs or to ribs
of other section:
At Figure 4 is shown how, according to my Invention, the tips ends
of the ribs of umbrellas and sunshades are set inwards so as to cause

page_text: their tips to lie close up to the stick of the umbrella. As before stated I
prefer to give this permanent set or bend to the ribs by pressing them
between dies after they have been hardened and tempered, but the set
or bend may be otherwise given to the ribs. This permanent set or bend
given to the ribs near their tip ends does not materially affect the shape
of the umbrella when opened, and is in fact quite imperceptible. When,
however, the umbrella is closed the tip ends of the ribs lie close up to
the stick and so render it unnecessary to employ elastic rings or sliding
caps or such appliances as are now commonly used to retain the tip
ends of the ribs of umbrellas close up to the stick. As before stated the
above described improvement is applicable not only to umbrellas made
with gutters, but also to umbrellas and sunshades generally.
What I claim as regards these parts of my Invention are, 1, the con-
structing an umbrella with a gutter which is opened and held open (at
the time when the umbrella is opened) by means of strips of metal or
springs connected at one end to the ribs and at the other end to the
fabric forming the gutter as herein described; 2, the giving a permanent
set or bend to the ribs of umbrellas and sunshades near their tip ends to
cause their tip ends to lie close up to the stick.
Another part of my Invention has for its object to strengthen
umbrella runners along the side or along a portion of the side of their
longitudinal slot, and also to strengthen them at the end of the slot
next to the beading which is placed around their end. With runners as
ordinarily constructed the metal of the tube of the runner is often torn
by the side of the slot in the runner being forced against the spring catch
at the time when the umbrella is being rolled up. According to my
Invention I strengthen the side of the slot which is thus liable to be
torn open by soldering or fixing to it a strengthening piece of metal.
This piece of metal may either be a strip of metal laid along the edge of
the slot or it may be a short tube or segment of a tube with a slot cut in
it to correspond with the slot in the runner, the tube or segment of a
tube being only of such a length as shall ensure the end of the spring
catch coming against it; by this means the end of the slot will be
likewise strengthened; or in place of these modes of strengthening the
runner the runner may be strengthened at the side of the slot by causing
the metal which has to be removed to be turned back to the side of the
slot and so give additional strength thereto. In this case I prefer that

page_text: the beading applied to the end of the runner should a little overlap the
end of the strip of metal so turned back.
Another mode I also employ for strengthening the runner around the
slot or opening formed therein for the hand spring catch to pass through
is to place around the slot or opening a thin wire, by preference a steel
wire bent to form and hardened and tempered, and in place of cutting
away a part of the tube to form the slot or opening therein I cut in the
tube a slit of such a form as to allow the metal around the slit to be
turned outwards and bent back over the strengthening piece of bent
wire before mentioned. By this means not only will the runner be
strengthened around the slot or opening but in addition to the edges of
the slot on the inner surface of the tube of the runner will be of a rounded
form and will not be liable to scratch or injure the stick of the umbrella
or sunshade as is now frequently the case when the slot in the runner is
punched out, as in this latter case a burr or rough edge is frequently left
on the inner edge of the slot.
Figures 5 and 6 show how the side of the slot a in the runner of an
umbrella may be strengthened by additional pieces of metal b, b,
soldered to it. Figures 7, 8, and 8* show how both the sides and end of
the slot may be thus strengthened; Figure 9 shows how the side of the
slot may be strengthened by turning back the metal which has to be
removed to the side of the slot. As before stated I prefer that in this
case the beading c should be made to overlap the end of the strip of
metal which is so turned back; Figure 10 shows how the slot may be
strengthened around all its sides by applying additional metal marked
b, b, to it. A short tube of metal 6 is first formed with a flange all
around one of its ends, as shown at Figure 11, the tube is then passed
through the slot and is turned or rivetted over to cause it to embrace the
sides of the slot.
At Figures 16 is shown how a wire may be applied to strengthen the
sides of the slot as herein-before described. A runner which has no slot
cut in it is first brought by means of suitable dies to the form shown at
Figures 12, the upper part of the bulge a is then with one or two strokes
of a file slightly reduced in thickness, and a slit is made along it by the
point of a knife; the runner is thus brought to the shape shown at
Figures 13; afterwards the slit is opened out by a flat chisel or like
instrument to bring it to the shape shown at Figures 14, a bent strip of
steel wire, such as shown at Figure 15, previously hardened and tem-

page_text: pered is then placed around the slot and the picces of metal a, a, standing
up along the longer sides of the slot are by a light hammer turned over
roughly to overlap the wire. Afterwards the pieces of metal a are closed
neatly over the wire by bringing a die to bear upon them, whilst the
runner is supported upon a mandril.
I claim the strengthening, substantially as herein described the sides
or the sides and ends of the slot which are formed in the runners
of umbrellas.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Willis, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.