IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th August 1873.-A communication. from abroad by Louis Eugène
Bertrand, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Louis Eugène Bertrand, of Paris, in the
Republic of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of securing or retaining
the extremities of the ribs of umbrellas and parasols when the umbrella
or parasol is closed, and to an improved covering for the notched end
of the runner, to which the stretchers are jointed, whereby greater
convenience in the using, a more efficient protection to the silk against
injury, and increased facility in fitting the stretchers are obtained.
According to this Invention it is proposed to employ an elastic cup or
socket piece consisting of a tube of moulded india-rubber, somewhat
resembling a mushroom in form, and having variations in its thickness,

page_text: which tube is secured to the stick of the umbrella or parasol by pins or
otherwise. The end of the tube nearest the handle is turned back so as
to form a socket to receive the extremities of the ribs and an annular
rim or flange, over which a copper or other metal ring of a U shaped
section is fitted and secured so as to impart rigidity thereto, and outside
the ring and the projecting portion of the tube a metal covering is
disposed, which takes on to the ring at one end and fits round the stick
at the other, thus concealing the projecting portion of the india-rubber
tube without affecting its flexibility, and at the same time facilitating its
manipulation in the operation of opening and closing the umbrella or
parasol. The metal coverings may however be dispensed with and the
india-rubber tube used alone.
When the umbrella or parasol is in its closed condition the extremities
of the ribs enter the socket formed by the annular rim or flange on the
tube and are held securely therein, but when it is desired to open the
same it is simply necessary to take hold of the tube and draw it back-
wards, when by reason of the variations in the thickness of the different
portions of the india-rubber the rim or flange will become inverted and
the extremities of the ribs released.
When it is required to close the umbrella or parasol the user draws
the ribs together with one hand and presses slightly the cup or socket
piece with the other, which causes it to regain its normal position and
secure or retain the ends of the ribs in their place. This india-rubber
cap or socket piece has the advantage over the metal slides hitherto
employed, that it is capable of yielding to any slight variations in the
diameter of the stick, and is not liable to injure the same as is frequently
the case when the latter are used.
The covering for the notched end of the runner consists of an india-
rubber cap, which fits round the cylindrical portion of the runner, being
maintained in its place and supported by a flange or otherwise), and is
continued of less thickness and of an expanded form so as to surround
that extremity of the runner to which the stretchers are jointed.
By reason of the variations in the form and thickness of different
parts of the cap the upper portion thereof will yield under the pressure
of the stretchers in the act of opening the umbrella or parasol, but it
regains its position so soon as the pressure is removed, when the umbrella
or parasol is closed, thus hermetically closing the periphery of the

page_text: notched end of the runner and surrounding the extremities of the
stretchers. This india-rubber cap not only forms a more efficient pro-
tection to the silk against injury from contact with the runner than the
leather coverings hitherto employed but it also affords increased facility
for fitting the stretchers in their place on the runner, it being simply
necessary to turn down the upper portion of the cap for this purpose,
when the stretchers may be readily inserted in their places, after which
by turning up the cap again it will immediately regain its former
position.