IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas Liley and Frederick Samuel Liley; both of
Noble Street, in the City of London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas Liley &
Frederick Samuel Liley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the
14th May 1880.
JOHN THOMAS LILEY and FREDERICK SAMUEL LILEY, both of Noble Street,
in the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES."
Our Invention relates to means for raising or opening umbrellas, parasols, or
sunshades, and it consists in the employment of lever arms and connecting rods in
combination with a spring, whereby the umbrella or parasol is automatically raised
when released from the catch or tip cup, by which it is retained in its closed
position.
According to our Invention, the lever arms are hinged or pivoted at one end to
the stick on opposite sides thereof, and their outer ends are loosely connected by
rods with the runner, and with a spring pressed cross piece or slide fitted to move.
freely up and down within the stick, and projecting through slits or guidès
therein.
The spring is also contained within the stick, which for a portion of its length
is made tubular for its reception. The connecting rods are arranged in pairs
above and below the levers, and are loosely jointed to the runner and to the
slide respectively.
On releasing the runner from its catch (or the ribs from the tip cup, as the case
may be), the spring forces the slide up in its guides, carrying therewith the connecting
rods and the levers which rock on their pivots, thereby expanding the rods between
the stretchers and raising the umbrella.
When the umbrella is closed, the rods and levers lie against the stick, the levers
being channelled to embrace the stick and enable the umbrella to be folded without
rendering its appearance bulky.
In a modification we connect the upper rods to arms which are pivoted to
the stick above the levers, the latter having slots in which slide studs on said
arms.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Thomas Liley & Frederick Samuel Liley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th November 1880.
JOHN THOMAS LILEY and FREDERICK SAMUEL LILEY, both of Noble Street, in
the City of London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES."
Our Invention has for its object.to render an umbrella, parasol, or sunshade self
expanding when released from the spring catch or tip cap which retains it in the
closed position. The means by which the umbrella is automatically expanded,
consist mainly of a spring acting on the runner through connections in combination
with toggle arms or levers pivoted to the stick, and acting in such a way on the
said connections that the stress of the spring is transmitted to the runner with
increasing efficacy as the umbrella is opening and its resistance to expansion is
increasing, and at same time the range of motion is multiplied, so that a
comparatively small extension of the spring will produce the greater extent of
motion of the runner required to distend the umbrella. The parts are so arranged
and operate in such manner that immediately the runner is released from its spring
catch, or the ribs from the tip cap, as the case may be, the spring will expand the
umbrella.
In order that our Invention may be better understood, we will describe it in
detail with reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which the frame of the
umbrella only is shown, the covering being omitted for the sake of clearness.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the umbrella frame closed, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal
section of the same open; Figure 3 is a cross-section taken just beneath the toggle
arms or levers, and looking upwards, the toggle levers being in this case pivoted on
separate pivots, as shown in elevation, in Figure 4, and on a larger scale in
Figure 3 Figures 5 and 6 show a modification drawn to a smaller scale than
Figures 1 and 2.
The upper part of the umbrella stick is made of a metal tube to contain the
spiral spring f which is compressed between the bottom end of the tube and
a sliding cross piece e, furnished with ears that project through longitudinal
slots e in the tubular part of the stick at opposite sides. a, a, are the toggle
levers, forked, at their inner ends to embrace the stick to which they are pivoted
at b.
In Figure 2 the part of the stick where the levers are jointed' is not shown in.
section, but it will be understood the spring extends freely through the whole
length of the tube to the cross piece e. The pivot does not pass across the tube,
as it would interfere with the movement of the spring, but separate pins or rivets
are used which extend only through the ears of the toggle bars a, a, and the side
of the tube. A single pin passing across the tube might be used, but in this case
the spring could not rise beyond it, but would transmit its pressure to the cross
piece e by a rod sliding within the tube, and slotted longitudinally to clear the pin,
but the arrangement we prefer is that shown in Figures 3 and 4, in which the
toggle levers a, a, are pivoted by separate rivets b, b, to small 1-shaped pieces of
metal soldered to the outside of the tube, the advantage of which is that the rivets
are more easily inserted, and as the toggle levers do not require extra width at the
ends to form the ears, they can be cut from straight strips of uniform width, and
as their forked ends do not overlap one another, the joint is neater.. The levers a, a¹,
are pivoted to the stick at a point about an inch and a quarter above the highest
position of the runner when the umbrella is opened, at which time the levers stand
at about right angles to the stick, and the cross piece e works in the slotted portion

page_text: of the stick comprised between the joint b and the top notch to which the ribs are
jointed. The cross piece e should not however approach nearer than about half an
inch to the top notch, otherwise the spring might not have power to start opening
the umbrella. The outer ends of the levers a, a, are attached by wire or other
connections c, c, c¹, c¹, respectively to the cross piece e and to the runner d; g and h
are the ordinary runner catch and tip cap.
The levers a, a¹, are preferably made of semi-tubular form in cross section to
combine strength with lightness, and to enable them to embrace the stick snugly
when the umbrella is closed and folded so that it shall not present a more bulky
appearance than an ordinary umbrella. On releasing the runner or ribs from the
catch or tip cap h, the spring expands and forces the cross piece e upwards, thus
by means of the connections c, c, turning the levers a, a, on their pivots so as by
means of the connections c³, cl, to draw the runner upwards along the stick and
thereby distend the umbrella. In this position the umbrella is firmly held without
any fastening, the levers a, a', projecting outwards between the stretchers at right
angles or nearly so with the stick.
It will be seen that the range of motion of the runner d is about 5 times (more
or less) greater than that of the cross piece e, this increased range being obtained
by the action of the lovers a, a¹, virtually shortening the connections c, c¹, by causing
them to form an acute angle with one another.
It will also be seen that when the umbrella is closed, the wires c', c', make with
the toggle bars a, a, much greater angles than those made by the wires c with the
samo toggle bars, but as the umbrella opens, the former angles decrease, and the
latter increase in size, and finally, the angles made by the wires c¹ with the toggle
bars become, just before the umbrella is quite expanded, greater than the angles
made by the wires c¹ with the toggle bars, and consequently the power of the spring
(although lessened by its expansion) is exerted much more effectively at the end of
the movement (when the resistance of the umbrella covering to distension is greatest)
than at the commencement. It is not necessary that the spring should be so long
as represented in Figure 2. We find a spring extending down to about the point
answers well. For ordinary umbrellas, the spring when compressed should exert a
power equal to raising a weight of about 25lbs., more or less, according to the kind
and quality of the silk or other covering.
In the modification shown in Figures 5 and 6, the cross piece e is not connected
directly to the levers a, a¹, but to the ends of a second pair of shorter levers a²
pivoted to the stick above levers a, a¹, and connected to levers a, a, by studs at
their ends sliding in slots in said levers a, a', but this is a less advantageous
arrangement than that previously described.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of performing the
the same, we declare that what we claim as our Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. In an umbrella or sunshade, the combination with the stick and runner
of toggle arms or levers and connections, and of a spring acting thereon, the
whole arranged to operate substantially in the manner and for the purpose set
fortb.
2nd. In a self opening umbrella or sunshade, the particular arrangement and
operation of the toggle levers and connections, whereby the power of the spring is
exerted more effectively when the umbrella is nearly expanded than when it is
closed or only partly open as described.
3rd. In a self opening umbrella or sunshade, the toggle arms or levers pivoted to
the stick, and acting on the connections by which the power of the spring is trans-
mitted to the runner, substantially as shown and described.
4th. In a self opening umbrella or sunshade, the toggle levers pivoted to the
stick, and made of semi-tubular section, so as to close upon and embrace the
stick when the umbrella is closed and folded, substantially as shown in Figure 1.
5th. In an umbrella or sunshade, the combination of the tubular and slotted

page_text: stick, the spring contained in the stick, the cross piece sliding in the slots of the
stick, the pair of toggle levers pivoted to the stick and connected to the sliding cross.
piece and to the runner, the whole arranged and operating, substantially as shown
and described in Figures 1 and 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Liley, for myself and on behalf
of the said Frederick Samuel Liley, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Twelfth day of November, A.D. 1880.
JOHN THOMAS LILEY. (LS.)