NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED PARAGON RIBS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Warwick, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for an Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS OF
THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED PARAGON RIBS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Warwick at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th November 1880. -
THOMAS WARWICK, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer. "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED PARAGON
RIBS."
The said paragon umbrella and parasol ribs are nearly semi-tubular or trough
shaped in cross section, and my Invention consists of the machinery hereinafter
described, by the use of which the manufacture of the said ribs is much
facilitated.
The machinery constituting my Invention consists essentially of a stationary die
fixed on the bed of the machine, and of a moveable die situated over the fixed die,
and capable of rising and falling vertically. The lower or fixed die consists of two
strong parallel bars or plates capable of being adjusted at the required distance
apart by means of set screws, the distance between them equalling the breadth of
the trough shaped rib to be manufactured.
The said lower die is of somewhat greater length than the rib to be manufactured.
The upper moveable die consists of a plate of a thickness equal to the width of the
interior of the trough shaped rib to be made, and having its lower edge rounded to
the figure to be given to the bottom of the trough. The said moveable die is sup-
ported at its ends upon connecting rods jointed to cranks on a rotating shaft, the
rotation of the said shaft giving a rising and falling motion to the said die. When

page_text: in its depressed position its acting part is situated within the lower die. When in
its raised position it is clear of the lower die. In using the machine strips of sheet
metal are fed-sideways into the machine, the strips being placed by the attendant
on the machine in a position parallel to the lower die; a feeder advances and pushes
the strips over the lower die, its parallelism with and exact position on the lower die
being determined by stops. On the descent of the upper or moveable die the strip of
steel is forced into the lower die, the said strip as it is carried down between the
parallel sides of the lower die being folded into the required trough form by the
sides of the lower die.
The folded strip is carried down below the acting part of the lower die, and falls
from the machine. The paragon rib thus made is finished in the ordinary way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Thomas Warwick in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th
May 1881.
THOMAS WARWICK, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer. "NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED PARAGON
RIBS."
The said paragon umbrella and parasol ribs are nearly semi-tubular or trough
shaped in cross section, and my Invention consists of the machinery hereinafter
described, by the use of which the manufacture of the said ribs is much
facilitated.
The machinery constituting my Invention consists essentially of a stationary die
fixed on the bed of the machine, and of a moveable die situated over the fixed die,
and capable of rising and falling vertically. The lower or fixed die consists of two
strong parallel bars or plates capable of being adjusted at the required distance
apart by means of set screws, the distance between them equalling the breadth of
the trough shaped rib to be manufactured. The said lower die is of somewhat
greater length than the rib to be manufactured.
The upper moveable die consists of a plate of a thickness equal to the width of
the interior of the trough shaped rib to be made, and having its lower edge rounded
to the figure to be given to the bottom of the trough. The said moveable die is
supported at its ends upon connecting rods jointed to cranks on a rotating shaft,
the rotation of the said shaft giving a rising and falling motion to the said die.
When in its depressed position its acting part is situated within the lower die.
When in its raised position it clear of the lower die. In using the machine strips
of sheet metal are fed sideways into the machine; the strips being placed by the
attendant on the machine in a position parallel to the lower die, a feeder advances
and pushes the strip over the lower die, its parallelism with and exact position on
the lower die being determined by stops. On the descent of the upper or moveable
die the strip of steel is forced into the lower die, the said strip as it is carried down
between the parallel sides of the lower die being folded into the required trough
form by the sides of the lower die.
The folded strip is carried down below the acting part of the lower die, and falls
from the machine. The paragon rib thus made is finished in the ordinary way.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation machinery constructed according to my
Invention for the manufacture of paragon ribs for umbrellas and parasols; Figure 2
represents a transverse vertical section of the same; Figure 3 represents a plan of
the bed and feeder of the machinery, and Figure 4 represents an end elevation of
the said machinery, the said Figure 4 exhibiting the mechanism by which the
feeder is actuated; Figures 5 and 6 represent transverse vertical sections of
portions of the machinery drawn to a larger scale, Figure 5 representing the
upper die just before it commences to force the blank through the lower die, and
Figure 6 representing the parts after the rib has been troughed by the action of the
dies, the said Figures 5 and 6 also show the feeder in different positions.
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
The stationary die of the machine is marked a, b, and the moveable die
situated over the said stationary die is marked c. The stationary die a, b, consists
of two strong parallel bars or plates situated on the bed d of the machine, the said
bars being capable of adjustment at the required distance apart by the screws at e, e,.

page_text: and ff. The distance between the two bars a, b, constituting the stationary die
equals the breadth of the trough shaped or paragon rib to be made. The upper
moveable die c consists of a plate made in one or more pieces of a thickness equal
to the width of the interior of the trough shaped rib to be made, and having its
lower edge rounded as represented. The moveable die c is connected to the lower
edge of the slide g by the bolts and packing pieces at h, the ends of the said slide
working in grooves in the uprights i, i, of the machine.
The rising and falling motion is given to the slide g carrying the moveable die c
by means of the crank rods k, k, worked by the cranks (one of which is marked k²)
on the driving shaft k³, the said shaft being provided with the usual fast and loose
pulleys and fly wheel. The lower ends of the crank rods k, k, are connected to the
upper edge of the slide 9 by the trunnion joints (see Figure 1).
When the moveable die c is in its acting position it is situated within the lower
die a, b, (see Figure 6), and when the said moveable die is in its raised position it
is clear of the lower die a, b, (see Figure 2). A strip or blank of sheet metal (shown
in Figure 7) having been fed over the opening in the lower die a, b, in the manner
herein after particularly explained, and as seen in Figure 5, the upper or moveable
die c descends and forces the strip into and through the lower die a, b, the said
strip as it is carried down between the parallel sides of the said lower die being
folded into the required trough form by the sides of the said lower die. The folded
strip is carried down below the acting part of the said lower die and falls from the
machine as illustrated in Figure 6.
Figure 8 represents in plan, Figure 9 in side elevation, and Figure 10 in cross
section, a paragon rib drawn to a large scale made by the machine in the manner
described:
I will now describe the feeder and parts connected with it by which the strips are
brought at the proper times over the lower die a, b.
The feeder has a reciprocating sliding motion on the bed of the machine, the said
feeder having a period of rest at the end of each stroke. The said feeder is also
double acting, that is, a strip or blank is fed to the lower die by the advance motion
of the feeder and by its back or retiring motion.
The said feeder consists of three plates l, m, n, connected and moving together.
The side plates l, m, are of the same thickness, but the middle plate n is thicker
than the side plates. The middle thick plate n is separated from the sides
plates l, m, by a distance equal to the breadth of the blanks to be fed. I will call
the spaces between the side and middle plates the feed slots, the said feed slots
being marked ², m², and are alternately brought over the opening in the lower
die a, b. The thick middle plate n constitutes a stop, against the projecting edges
of which the strips are fed by the attendants as herein after explained. The three
plates l, m, n, of the feeder are connected together by the cross bars p, p, (see
Figure 3), and the latter are connected to dovetail slides p², p², at each end of the
machine, which slides work in the dovetail seats p³, ps, on the bed of the machine
(see Figure 1). The two end bars p, p, and slides p², p², are connected together
by the longitudinal stay bar p* (see Figure 3). Through this stay bar p* the
reciprocating sliding motion of the feeder is effected as herein after explained. Pairs
of screw stops p³, p³, and p, p, at opposite sides of the feeder limit its motion in
either direction. When the feeder moves in one direction so as to bring its feed
slot over the opening in the lower die a, b, it strikes against the pair of stops p, p,
and when the said feeder moves in the opposite direction and brings its feed slot m²
over the opening in the lower die the said feeder strikes against the pair of
stops p³, p.
On opposite sides of the slide g carrying the moveable die care sets of pressing
fingers g² and g³, which operate alternately upon the strips or blanks fed by the
attendants to the feed slots 13, m². These fingers are for the purpose of pressing
the strips or blanks fed over the feed slots 12, m², into the said slots and on to the
upper face of the lower die. As one set only of the pressing fingers 9² or g³ operates

page_text: at a time corresponding sets of openings 1³, m³, are made in the plates l, m, of the
feeder for the pressing fingers to enter.
Into the openings 13 the set of fingers ³ descends when the other set of fingers g³
is operating upon the blank placed over the slot n³, and similarly the set of
fingers g² descends into the openings m³ when the other set of fingers g³ is operating
upon the blank placed over the slot 12.
The action of the feeder is as follows:- The attendants feeding the blanks to the
machine are stationed on opposite sides A, B, of the machine. When the feeder is
in the position, Figure 5, the attendant at the side A feeds a blank > sideways
against the middle plate n of the feeder, which constitutes a stop, and over the
feed slot . As the moveable die c descends to fashion the strip or blank q, which
has been fed over the lower die a, b, by the last motion of the feeder, the set of
pressing fingers g³ under which the feed slot 12 has been brought forces the strip or
blank r over the said slots to the bottom thereof and onto the face of the lower
die, the set of pressing fingers 92 on the opposite side of the moveable die c entering
the openings m³ in the feeder. After a period of rest, during which the blank has
been shaped and the moveable die raised from the lower die, the feeder makes its
back or return stroke, and carries the blank which has been pressed to the
bottom of the feed slot 12 over the opening in the lower die a, b, into the position
of the blank q. When the blank fed to the slot 2 has been brought over the lower
die the feeder has the position represented in Figure 6, and the attendant at the
side B of the machine feeds a blank to the feed slot m², which last blank on the
descent of the moveable die c is carried to the bottom of the said slot m² by
the set of pressing fingers g², the other set of pressing fingers g³ entering the
openings in the feeder (see Figure 6). In this way a blank or strip is fed over
the lower die a, b, at each forward stroke and at each back stroke of the feeder, as
will be understood by an examination of the Drawings.
The reciprocating motion of the feeder l, m, n, the said feeder coming to rest
after each stroke, is effected by the following combination of parts, situated at each
end of the machine:-The said mechanism is best seen in the end elevation
Figure 4. 8 is a ratchet wheel fixed to the axis t. Fixed on the same axis as the
ratchet wheel s is a three rise cam u.
8
Around the cam u is a circular strap or
hoop v, the arm v² on which is bolted to the end of the stay bar p' of the feeder.
The opposite slotted arm ³ on the hoop works on and is guided by the pin v
The said strap or hoop v carries at opposite points anti-friction rollers v³, v³, against
which the rises of the cam u act.
An intermittent rotary motion is given to the ratchet wheel 8, and through the
said ratchet wheel to the cam u by the pawl lever 82 carrying the pawl 8³. The
pawl lever is worked by the cam on the end of the driving shaft k³, the upper
arm of the said pawl lever being maintained in contact with the cam * by a spring,
not shown in the Drawing. On the advance motion of the pawl lever 82.its
pawl engaging with one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel advances the said
ratchet wheel and the cam u through the required angle. When the pawl
lever makes its back motion its pawl 83 slips over the teeth of the ratchet wheel,
the said ratchet wheel and cam, and consequently the feeder, remaining at rest.
By the operation of the rises of the cam u at the proper times upon opposite sides
of the hoop v, acting through the anti-friction rollers v³, v, the required reciprocating
motion is given to the feeder l, m, n, the said feeder having a period of rest after
each stroke, while the blank is being troughed by the operation of the dies a, b,
and c, and the moveable upper die raised from the lower die. .
Feeding mechanism of the kind represented in Figure 4 is situated at each end
of the machine.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish to be understood that I claim as my Invention of
"New or Improved Machinery for the Manufacture of Umbrella and Parasol Ribs
of the kind commonly called Paragon Ribs,”-
First. The construction of the upper moveable die c and stationary lower die a, b,

page_text: for giving a trough figure to the strip or blank, the said dies a, b, and c being.
combined, and the moveable die c being worked substantially as hereinbefore.
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of the parts of the double acting
feeder, herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, for
feeding the strips or blanks to the lower stationary die of the machinery.
Thirdly. The construction and combination of parts, herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, for actuating the said feeder from the.
shaft by which the moveable die is worked.
Lastly. The general arrangement or combination of the parts of the machinery,,
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, for the
manufacture of paragon ribs for umbrellas and parasols.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Warwick, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
+
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
THOMAS WARWICK. (L.S.)