IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ambrose Frederick Boham, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE
USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 1st August 1879, and dated the 5th March 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ambrose Frederick Boham
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th March 1879.
66
AMBROSE FREDERICK BOHAM, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS,
AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
My Invention has reference to the manufacture of the joints by which the ribs
and stretchers of umbrellas and parasols are jointed together, and to the tools or
apparatus to be used in the manufacture of parts of the said joints.
I will describe my Invention in connection with an umbrella.
In the ordinary method of manufacturing the said joints the end of the stretcher
to be jointed to the rib is made into a fork, between the two branches of which a
piece of metal fixed on the rib and called the "middle bit" is introduced, the two
parts being connected by a rivetted pin, which constitues the axis of the joint.
In making, according to my Invention, a joint for connecting an umbrella rib and
stretcher I proceed as follows:-
At that part of the rib where the joint is to be made and on opposite sides of the
rib I make two grooves or depressions parallel with the axis of the rib. I take a
blank consisting of an oblong piece of brass, or other hard and ductile metal or
alloy, of a size suitable to make when folded the middle bit. This blank is placed
on the lower die of the pair of dies or tools hereinafter described, that part of the
rib having the grooves described being placed upon it, the said grooves being situated
in a horizontal plane. By means of a die or punch brought down upon the rib it
is forced through a slot in the lower die, carrying the blank with it, which is
thereby folded or doubled upon the rib. As the width of the said slot is somewhat

page_text: less than the diameter of the rib with the blank folded upon it the said blank is
subjected to a drawing process as it is forced through the slot.
The result of this drawing process is to bend the blank tightly against the outer
side of the rib, to force the metal of the blank into the grooves in the rib, and to
compress and contract the metal of the blank so far on the front of the rib as to
cause the said folded blank while its ends are parallel to clip the rib through con-
siderably more than half its circumference. By the clipping of the folded blank
upon the rib, combined with the forcing of the metal of the blank into the grooves on
the rib, the said blank is firmly connected to the rib and constitutes a fork, between
the two branches of which the flattened end of the stretcher is inserted. By
rivetting a pin through the said fork and the end of the stretcher the joint is
completed.
The tools or apparatus which I employ consit of a pair of tools or dies worked
in a press. The lower tool fixed on the bed of the press carries a pair of steel
blocks fixed parallel to each other and at a short distance apart by set screws.
Between the lower parts of these blocks a filling in or packing piece is placed.
A short distance below the top of these blocks and on each of the opposed faces a
horizontal groove or depression is made, so that the space or slot between the
blocks is narrowest at top and expands a short distanco below. On the top of
these blocks are guides for fixing the position of the blank, and a fixed stop
situated near the press determines the right position of the rib on the lower tool.
The upper tool affixed to the bolt of the press is flat, and is of a size and figure
suitable to pass freely into the slot of the lower tool.
In using these tools or apparatus a blank is placed in the guide on the lower tool,
that portion of the rib having the indentations being placed, as herein first described,
ou the blank, and the upper tool is brought down. The rib and blank are carried
down and drawn as heroinbefore described. When the rib and folded and attached
blank reach the expanded lower part of the slot, they are drawn out by a sliding
motion, when by the raising of the upper tool the apparatus is ready for operating
upon another rib and blank.
The holes for the joint pin are pierced in the blank prior to its being affixed to
the rib.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Ambrose Frederick Boham in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th August 1879.
AMBROSE FREDERICK BOḤAM, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS,
AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFActure."
My Invention has reference to the manufrcture of the joints by which the ribs
and stretchers of umbrellas and parasols are jointed together, and to the tools or
apparatus to be used in the manufacture of parts of the said joints.
I will describe my Invention in connection with an umbrella.
In the ordinary method of manufacturing the said joints the end of the stretcher
to be jointed to the rib is made into a fork, between the two branches of which a
piece of metal fixed on the rib and called the middle bit is introduced, the two parts
being connected by a rivetted pin, which constitutes the axis of the joint.
In making, according to my Invention, a joint for connecting an umbrella rib and
stretcher I proceed as follows:-
At that part of the rib where the joint is to be made, and on opposite sides of
the rib, I make two grooves or depressions parallel with the axis of the rib. I take
a blank consisting of an oblong piece of brass, or other hard and ductile metal or
alloy, of a size suitable to make when folded the middle bit. This blank is placed
on the lower die of the pair of dies or tools herein after described, that part of the
rib having the grooves described being placed upon it; the said grooves being
situated in a horizontal plane. By means of a die or punch brought down upon the
rib it is forced through a slot in the lower dic, carrying the blank with it, which
is thereby folded or doubled upon the rib. As the width of the said slot is some-
what less than the diameter of the rib with the blank folded upon it the said blank
is subjected to a drawing process as it is forced through the slot. The result of
this drawing process is to bend the blank tightly against the outer side of the rib
to force the metal of the blank into the grooves in the rib, and to compress and
contract the metal of the blank so far on the front of the rib as to cause the said
folded blank while its ends are parallel to clip the rib through considerably more
than one half its circumference. By the clipping of the folded blank upon the rib,
combined with the forcing of the metal of the blank into the grooves in the rib,
the said blank is firmly connected to the rib and constitutes a fork, between the
two brauches of which the flattened end of the stretcher is inserted; or a fork on
the stretcher is made to embrace. By rivetting a pin through the fork on the rib
and the end or fork of the stretcher the joint is completed.
The tools or apparatus which I employ consist of a pair of tools or dies worked
in a press. The lower, tool fixed on the bed of the press carries a pair of steel
blocks fixed parallel to each other and at a short distance apart by set screws.
Between the lower parts of these blocks a filling in or packing piece is placed. A
short distance below the top of these blocks, and on each of the opposed faces, a
horizontal groove or depression is made so that the space or slot between the blocks
is narrowest at top and expands a short distance below. On the top of these blocks
are guides for fixing the position of the blank, and a fixed stop situated near the
press determines the right position of the rib on the lower tool. The upper tool
affixed to the bolt of the press is flat, and is of a size and figuro suitable to pass
freely into the slot of the lower tool.
In using these tools or apparatus a blank is placed in the guide on the lower
tool, that portion of the rib having the indentations being placed, as herein first
described, on the blank, and the upper tool is brought down. The rib and blank
are carried down and drawn, as herein before described. When the rib and folded
and attached blank reach the expanded lower part of the slot they are drawn out

page_text: by a sliding motion, when by the raising of the upper tool the apparatus is ready
for operating upon another rib and blank.
The holes for the joint pin are pierced in the blank prior to its being affixed to
the rib.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings
the manner in which my Invention is to be perforined.
Figure 1 represents in elevation and section a portion of the rib of an umbrella
prepared to receive the middle bit, drawn double the full size; Figure 2 represents
the pierced blank from which the middle bit is to be made, also drawn double the
full size. The grooves or depressions made on opposite sides of the rib bare marked
d, d, and the blank from which the middle bit is made is marked a. The said
middle bit blank has the form represented in Figure 2, and those parts at the edges
of its shorter diameter, which are closed on the rib, are bevilled or reduced in thick-
ness, as seen in the section of Figure 2. Figure 3 represents in elevation and
Figure 4 in cross section the rib b after the middle bit a has been folded or doubled
úpon and fastened to the rib by the action of the pair of dies or tools represented
in Figures 9, 10, and 11, the said dies or tools being drawn of the real size; Figure 9
represents a side elevation and Figure 10 an end elevation of the pair of dies or
tools; and Figure-11 represents a plan of the lower tool.
The lower tool, which is fixed on the bed of the press, consists of a pair of steel
blocks f,f, carried by the holder h. The said steel blocks f, f, are situated parallel
to one another, and are adjusted at the required distance apart by the set screws
i, i, acting upon one of them.
The horizontal space or slot g left between the tops of the opposed faces of the
blocks ƒ, ƒ, is slightly inclined, that is, it is narrowest at top and expands down-
wards (see Figure 9). k, k, are horizontal guides on the blocks f, f, for fixing the
position of the blank a from which the middle bit is to be formed, the ends of the
said blank taking into cut away parts in the said guides k, k; these guides are
adjusted by the set screws at L, 1. m, m, are stops, which in conjunction with a
stop near the press, not represented, fix the right position of the rib on the lower
die or tool.
The acting part of the upper tool or punch which is affixed to the bolt of the
press, consists of a flat portion or plate n of a size proper to pass readily through
the slot g in the lower die, the said part n having a concave bottom edge for taking
upon the cylindrical surface of the rib. The middle of the flat acting part n has
depressions on either side at p, into which the parallel sides or ears of the folded
blank of the middle bit take. In using the tools or apparatus, Figures 9, 10, and
11, the blank a, Figure 2, is placed in the guides at k, k, on the lower tool, and the
rib b is placed against the stops m, m, and that near the press in the position
indicated in dotted lines in Figures 9 and 10, that part of the rib containing the
indentations d, d, being placed upon the middle bit blank a as seen in the plan,
Figure 11. The upper tool or punch n being brought down upon the rib 6, the
said rib is forced by the said tool through the inclined slot g between the upper
parts of the blocks f, f, into the enlarged space below the said slot g. As the rib is
forced through the slot at g, it carries the blank a before it, which blank is folded
or doubled upon and fastened to the said rib as represented in Figures 3 and 4.
In consequence of the narrow end of the slot g being somewhat less than the
width of the combined rib band the blank a when folded upon it, the said blank α,
as it is forced through the said slot g, is subjected to a drawing process, and the
blank at the same time being bent tightly around the outer side of the rib, and the
metal of the blank forced into the grooves or depressions d, d, in the rib, as best
seen in the cross section, Figure 4. It will also be seen by an examination of the
said section, Figure 4, that by the drawing and folding process referred to, the
metal of the blank is so far compressed and contracted on the front of the rib as to
cause the middle part of the folded blank, while its ends or ears a, a, are preserved
parallel, to clip the rib through considerably more than one half of the circumference
of the said rib. The ribs with the middle bits upon them are removed from the

page_text: recess below the acting parts f. f. g, of the lower tool, by drawing them from the
said recess by a sliding motion. By the process described, the middle bit is forined
and very firmly connected to the rib.
The modified tools or apparatus herein after described may be used for connecting
the middle bit to the rib, instead of the dies or tools represented in Figures 9, 10,
and 11.
Figure 6 represents in front elevation and side elevation, a stretcher q jointed to
the rib b by inserting the flattened end of the stretcher between the branches or
ears of the middle bit a, a, and rivetting the said parts together.
2"
Or instead of inserting the flattened end of the stretcher 9 between the ears or
branches of the middle bit a, a, on the rib, the stretcher may have a fork s on its
end, as represented in front elevation in Figure 7, and side elevation in Figure 8,
and the branches of the said fork on the stretcher be made to embrace the outer
sides of the branches or ears a, a, of the middle bit, the engaged parts being
jointed together by a rivet as represented.
Figure 12 represents in end elevation a pair of tools or apparatus constructed
according to my Invention for making and fixing the middle bit on the rib;
Figure 13 represents a side elevation of the upper tool; Figure 14 represents in
cross section, and Figures 15 and 16 in plan the lower tool, the horizontal guides
being removed in Figure 16; Figure 17 represents the bolt or cotter used for
adjusting the acting parts of the lower tool.
The same letters indicate the same parts in Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
In these tools the adjustinent of the acting parts is much simplified, and the
proper position of the rib on the lower tool is ensured by the descent of the upper
tool.
The acting parts of the lower tool consist of two nearly semi-ring like blocks or
plates t, t, situated in nearly circular slots in the pair of holders u, u, u², u². Both
the upper and lower opposed ends of the blocks or plates t, t, are inclined, the
inclined space v between the upper ends of the said blocks constituting the acting
parts of the lower tool as before described with respect to the tools, Figures 9, 10,
and 11. In the space w between the lower inclined ends of the plates or blocks t, t,
a conical collar or boss a² on the middle of the adjusting cotter x works, the said
cotter passing through holes in the pair of holders u, u³. One end of the adjusting
cotter is screwed for receiving the screw nut 3. By sliding or removing the
cotter x, x, in the half bolders u, u, in the direction of the arrow, Figure 16, by
means of the screw nut ³, the conical collar or boss ² is made to push open or
separate the lower ends at w of the semi-ring like blocks t, t; the upper ends at v
of the said blocks are consequently made to approach one another. By sliding or
moving the cotter x, x², in a direction contrary to that indicated by the arrow,
Figure 16, the lower ends w of the blocks t, t, are permitted to approach one
another, and the acting upper parts at v to separate from one another.
By this construction, the adjustment of the acting parts at v of the lower tool is
effected with great ease and with the greatest nicety.
The upper tool ย is provided on either side the acting part 2 with a wing or
guide y, having the shape best seen in Figure 12. When the upper tool y
descends, the wing pieces or guides y², y², before the acting part 2 enters the slot v
in the lower tool, pass on either side the nearly semi-ring like blocks or plates t, t;
and should the rib placed on the lower tool not be situated over the middle of the
slot v, and parallel with the acting faces of the blocks at v, the said rib is pushed
by the said wing pieces or guides y², y, into its proper position over the slot v, and
is held in that position before the acting part at 2 commences to carry down the
rib into the slot v for the formation and fixing of the middle bit on the rib.
The halves of the holder u, u², between which the blocks or plates t, t, are
situated and work, are held together by the screw bolts u³, u³. The horizontal
guides k, k, between the cut away parts in which the middle bit blank is held, are
adjusted as explained with respect to the first described pair of tools.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which

page_text: the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Inven-
tion of improvements in the manufacture of umbrellas and parasols, and in tools or
apparatus to be used in the said manufacture,―
First. The improvements in the manufacture of those parts of the rib and
stretcher joints of umbrellas and parasols, which are fixed on the ribs and called the
middle bits herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
that is to say, forming and connecting the middle bit to the rib of the umbrella or
parasol, by subjecting the middle bit blank to the action of a pair of tools of the
construction described and illustrated, which tools, besides folding or doubling the
blank upon the rib, also subject the said blank during the folding operation to a
drawing process, so as to force the metal of the blank into the grooves or depres-
sions in the rib, and at the same time compress and contract the metal of the blank
on the front or inner side of the rib, and cause it to clip the rib through considerably
more than one half of its circumference, whereby the middle bit is fixed very
firmly on the rib, substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The construction and combination of the parts of the tools or apparatus
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and
17 of the accompanying Drawings used in effecting the improvements claimed in
the preceding claim.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ambrose Frederick Boham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty sixth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
AMBROSE FREDERICK BOHAM. (L.S.)