IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Fox, of Deepcar, Sheffield, in the County -
of York, Umbrella Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS."
Sealed the 18th December 1857, and dated the 20th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Fox at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th June 1857.
I, SAMUEL Fox, of Deepcar, Sheffield, in the County of York, Umbrella
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
umbrellas and parasols, and consists, first, in an improved method of forming
the bit or piece fixed on the rib for attaching the stretcher. Heretofore, the
bit has usually been produced by placing on the rib a piece of brass, having
in it a V-form groove, in which the rib, previously flattened at the point, lays.
The sides of the V-form groove in the piece of brass are then squeezed down
till they tightly nip the rib. And, lastly, the bit is brought to form by placing
it between two shaping dies, and these by coming together compress the parts
of the rough bit, which overlap the engraved portions of the dies, and reduce
them to a thin burr, and this is afterwards removed by a file.

page_text: Now, acccording to this Invention, before the rough bit is put into the
forming dies it is struck on its end by an additional pair of dies, which bring
it to such a form that it lays well within the engraved portion of the forming
dies, and when these come together they expand it to the exact form without
producing a burr, and in this way a saving both of labour and metal is
obtained.
In drilling the hole in the bit it has heretofore been usual to employ a
horizontal drill, but I have found that it is much more convenient to employ
a vertical drill, so arranged as to be brought down to its work by a handle,
and when the handle is left free the drill is taken up again by a spring.
The Invention also has for its object improvements in the catches of
umbrellas and parasols, when the handles thereof are formed from metal tubes.
For this purpose, when spring wire catches are employed, in place of cutting
a slit in the tube it is only indented, to form a groove, into which the catch
may sink. At one end of the groove is a round hole, drilled right through
the two walls of the tube, and the tail of the spring is put through this hole,
and is rivetted beyond the other or loose end of the spring, passes through a
hole at the other end of the groove to the interior of the tube, where it is
turned up, to prevent it drawing out. In this way additional strength is
obtained both in the handle and spring. When using solid catches in place
of wire catches, I employ springs of bent wire to project such catches out
of the tube. The wire is bent into a U form, and curved in the direction of
its length. This spring is thrust into the tube, and its looped end drops
into a notch on the under side of the solid catch.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
.
by the said Samuel Fox in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
Fox, of Deepcar, near Sheffield, in the County of York, Umbrella Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Fox, Her special licence that. I; the said Samuel Fox, my.

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Fox, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that J, the said Samuel Fox, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Samuel Fox, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to, be per
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
umbrellas and parasols, and consists, first, in an improved method of forming
the bit or piece fixed on the rib for attaching the stretcher. Heretofore, the
bit has usually been produced by placing on the rib a piece of brass, having
in it a V-form groove, in which the rib, previously indented at the point, lays..
The sides of the V-form groove in the piece of brass are then squeezed down.
till they tightly nip the rib; and, lastly, the bit is brought to form by placing-
it between two shaping dies, and thus by coming together compress the parts
of the wrought bit which overlap the engraved portions of the dies, and reduce.
them to a thin burr, and this is afterwards removed by a file.
Now, according to this Invention, before the rough bit is put into the form--
ing dies it is struck on its end by an additional pair of dies, which bring it to..
such a form that it lays well within the engraved portion of the forming dies,
and when these come together they expand it to the exact form without pro-
ducing a burr, and in this way a saving both of labor and metal is obtained.
In drilling the hole in the bit, it has heretofore been usual to employ a
horizontal drill, but I have found that it is much more convenient, to employ
a vertical drill, so arranged as to be brought down to its work by a handle..
and when the handle is left free the drill is taken up again by a spring.
The Invention also has for its object improvements in the spring or catches.
of umbrellas and parasols, when the tubes thereof are formed from metal.,

page_text: For this purpose, when spring wire catches are employed, in place of cutting
a slit in the tube it is only indented, to form a groove into which the catch
may sink. At one end of the groove is a round hole drilled right through the
two walls of the tube, and the tail of the spring is put through this hole and
is rivetted beyond the other or loose end of the spring, passing through a hole
at the other end of the groove to the interior of the tube, where it is turned
up to prevent it drawing out. In this way additional strength is obtained
both in the tube and spring. When using solid catches in place of wire
catches, I employ springs of bent wire to project such catches out of the tube.
The wire is bent into a form, and curved in the direction of its length. This
spring is thrust into the tube, and its looped end drops into a notch on the
under side of the solid catch.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view of part of the rib of an umbrella or parasol a, with
the piece of metal 6 which is to form the bit placed on it. Figure 2 is a
section, taken through this piece of metal b. The rib a and the piece bare
as heretofore fixed together by indenting the rib, placing it in the notch of the
piece b, and squeezing the sides of the notch down upon it, but afterwards
in place of putting it at once into the finishing dies, as formerly done, and
which would bring it to the form shewn at Figure 3, from which the burr has
afterwards to be removed, it is struck between the pressing dies shewn at
Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a front view, partly in section; Figure 5 is a
side view, also partly in section, of this pair of dies; c being the bed die, shewn
also in plan at Figure 6, and d, the upper die. These dies bring the piece
of metal b, Figures 1 and 2, to the form shewn in side view and section by
Figures 7. Lastly, the bit is finished by the ordinary finishing dies, of which
Figures 8 and 8* shew vertical sections, and by these it is at once and with-
out burr brought to the form shewn at Figures 9. Figure 10 is a plan of
the lower pressing die, with a rib and bit in it.
I will now proceed to describe the apparatus which I employ to drill the
hole in the bit to receive the pin of the stretcher.
Figure 11 is a side view, and Figure 12 is a front view of this apparatus.
a is a spindle, which carries the drill b at its lower end. This spindle is capable
of sliding up and down in bearings c and c, and it receives rotatory motion

page_text: from a band passing round the pulley d. The spindle a has near its upper
end an enlargement or shoulder a', under which the projectors e' from the
slide e pass, and this slide also carries a cap f, which drops over the top of the
spindle a, and has a screw pin f¹ passing through it at the top, so as to form
a centre for the spindle a to turn upon. g is a set screw; by which the cap fis
locked in the slide e; h is another spindle, attached by the arm to the
slide e, and which carries the stop h¹, which limits the descent of the drill
spindle when it is forced down by the lever i; j is a locking piece, which fits
on to the spindle a at a part where it is squared to receive it, and thus this
spindle may be locked and prevented from turning when required. In order
to cause the descent of the drill spindle a treadle may be connected to the
lever i. h is a spring, which raises the drill up again when the foot of the
workman is removed from the treadle. In place of employing the spring k
to lift the drill, it may be applied to press it up to its work, and then the
pressure on the treadle would lift the drill up when its work was done, and
this latter way of arranging the machine is the one which on the whole I
prefer, whether the apparatus be arranged in one way or the other; what
I claim in reference to this part of my Invention is, the use of a drill
mounted in a vertical position for drilling the hole in the bit to receive the
pin of the stretcher.
I will now proceed to describe the ways in which I construct the catches
of umbrellas. and parasols when the tubes thereof are formed from metal.
Figure 13 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 14 is a front view of
part of the tube of an umbrella or parasol, with a catch constructed according
to my Invention, as will be seen from the Drawing. The tube has no slit cut
in it, as usual heretofore, but is indented so as to form a depression for re-
ceiving the catch a, when pressed down. The catch a is fixed by passing
one end of it through a hole drilled through the tube at one end of the inden-
tation, and it is rivetted from the outside; the other or loose end of the catch
is passed into the interior of the tube by a hole drilled at the other end of the
indentation, and it is turned down inside to prevent it springing back. Figure
15 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 16 is a front view of part of the tube
of an umbrella or parasol, with a solid catch, constructed according to my
Invention, applied to it. a is the tube of the umbrella or parasol; b is the
solid catch, shewn separately by the Figures 17. It is centred to the tube a
at a', and is projected outwards through a slot formed for it in the tube by the
spring of bent wire c, shewn separately by the Figures 18. At Figures 15
and 17 the catch bis shewn with a notch in it to receive the spring, but I

page_text: sometimes make it with a hole through it, into which the spring is threaded
before the catch is placed in the tube, and this latter arrangement, which is
shewn at Figure 19, is perhaps the more convenient arrangement of the two.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Fox, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEORGE WOOD, of Deepcar.
SAMUEL FOX. (L.S.)