IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, AND SUN- SHADES, AND MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Levy at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents on the 1st March 1876.
JAMES LEVY, of 5, Southampton Buildings, Holborn, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, AND SUN-
SHADES, AND MACHINERY FOR THAT PURPOSE."
The object of this Invention is to bring the tips of the ribs of an umbrella close
or nearly so to the stretchers thereof, and thus to dispense with the use of a cap or
india-rubber ring at present employed for that purpose. The means by which these
improvements may be effected are as follows:-Instead of connecting the stretchers
to the ribs by a pin passed through the forked end of the stretcher and the piece
that is on the rib as heretofore practised, I connect to such said piece by a pin a
piece of steel wire, the opposite end whereof is held loosely against the rib, and for
the purposes of this Invention I prefer to use the well-known "Paragon" ribs,
and I proceed to connect the forked ends of the stretchers to the ribs by passing a
pin through the fork and the space between the rib and the aforesaid steel wire, so
that this end of the stretcher shall be capable of sliding against the rib in the act of
opening and closing the umbrella. I further connect the forked end of each
stretcher to one end of a piece of clastic material, the other end whereof is connected
in any suitable manner to the end of the rib near the top notch of the umbrella
after the ribs have been connected to the top notch. I then connect the stretchers
to the runner in the usual way, and finally connect the aforesaid pieces of clastic to
the upper ends of the ribs. In connection with the foregoing arrangement I employ
a locking spring near the handle for keeping the umbrella closed when out of use.
I also propose to employ a double top notch or two separate top notches, the upper
one carrying the ends of the ribs in the usual way, and the lower one serving to
receive in its notches the ribs when the umbrella is closed, the object being to keep
the ribs steady and prevent the tips thereof collecting together instead of disposing
themselves uniformly around the stick of the umbrella when it is closed, and this
double top notch applies to umbrellas of the ordinary kind.
The action of an umbrella of the above construction is as follows:-Suppose the
umbrella to be closed. In order to open it by pressing on the spring of the runner
the elastic material will draw up the stretchers by their forked ends until they are
arrested by the fixed pieces on the ribs. The runner is then pushed up in the usual
way until the umbrella is completely opened. To close the umbrella, the spring
under the runner has to be pressed back as usual and the runner pulled down, the
effect of which is to slide the forked ends of the stretchers against the ribs and thus
[Price 2d1

page_text: •
bring this part of the stretchers nearer to the ends of the ribs, and this action
combined with the tension on the pieces of elastic causes the tips of the ribs to be
gathered closely around the stick of the umbrella, in which position they are held
by the spring that enters the notch in the runner.
Another improvement in the manufacture of umbrellas consists in manufacturing
the ribs of umbrellas in the form of the letter T in cross section, and forming the
mid-rib of the T undulating or somewhat like the teeth of a rack, to enable the
rib to bend when tempered. The stretchers which do not require to bend may be
made with the mid-rib of the T plain or straight instead of undulating. The
machinery I propose to employ in the manufacture of ribs of the above shape is as
follows: Between two metal rollers (the circumference of which is formed equal to
the length of the rib to be produced) I place a toothed or corrugated disc of metal,
which I fix excentrically to the ends of the two aforesaid rollers which embrace it.
By these means the mid-rib may be made deeper at the centre than at its ends; the
whole is mounted on axes capable of revolving in bearings in a suitable framing. I
also adapt a revolving roller to the periphery of the other two rollers, and leave a
space between the said rollers equal to the thickness and similar in shape to the rib
that is to be produced. The rollers may be fitted with suitable gearing for drawing
the metal between them into the desired shape for the rib or stretcher.
Another improvement in umbrellas consists in adapting to the stretchers thereof
(near to the ends that are connected to the " runner") small pieces of sheet metal,
serving as spring clips to hold the ribs and keep the umbrella closed when out of
use. To disengage the ribs when it is required to open the umbrella I propose to
use a cap which shall pass over the runner and come between the edges of the
several clips and the ribs, and by thus forcing them asunder enable the umbrella to
be opened in the usual way, but for the purposes of this part of my said Invention
the stretchers will require to be longer than usual, so as to bring the runner on a
line or nearly so with the tips of the ribs, or instead of using the clips before
mentioned, and for cheap umbrellas especially, only the cap may be used for keeping
the umbrella closed by passing it over the runner and the ends of the stretchers.