IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO UMBRELLA AND PARASOL STICKS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Montague Moses, of 23, Portsdown Road, Maida
Hill, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
132
AND PARASOL STICKS"
Scaled the 24th December 1858, and dated the 10th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Montague Moses at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th August 1858.
I, MONTAGUE MOSES, of Portsdown Road, Maida Hill, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS APPLICABLE TO UMBRELLA AND PARASOL STICKS," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention of improvements applicable to umbrella and
parasol sticks is to give to persons carrying an open umbrella or parasol a
greater command than they now have over the umbrella or parasol, particularly
during windy weather,.or when its weight is increased by being saturated with
rain. This may be effected by applying to the central stick a stop piece or
rest, against which the hand employed to grasp the stick will bear, and so
relieve the strain on the muscles of the arm or hand.
The form in which the. Invention may be applied may vary, but in all cases
the same principle will be retained. For example, I propose to attach to the
umbrella stick near the handle a strap or loop of leather or other suitable:

page_text: material through which the fingers may be passed, and it will thus afford a rest
to the hand when grasping the stick; or, in place of a strap I may use hinged
bars or stops forming a kind of hilt or rest when pressed out, but which may
be folded back, shut down, or sprung into the stick when not required to be
used. The stops or rests may be either fixed or moveable and made ornamental,
but their particular form or construction will depend upon the taste of the
manufacturer or the size of the article to which my improvements are to be
applied. If desired, a stop or rest may be provided for the thumb as well as for
the other parts of the hand.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Montague Moses in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MONTAGUE
MOSES, of 23, Portsdown Road, Maida Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patént, bearing date the Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Montague Moses, Her special license that I, the said Montague Moses,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Montague Moses, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
APPLICABLE TO UMBRELLA AND PARASOL STICKS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Montague Moses, by an instrument in writing under
-my-hand and seal, 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 Montague Moses, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to give to persons carrying an open umbrella
or parasol a greater command than they now have over the umbrella or parasol,
particularly during windy weather, or when its weight is increased by being
saturated with rain. This I effect by applying to the central stick a stop
piece or rest, against which the hand employed to grasp the stick will bear and
so relieve the strain on the muscles of the arm or hand.
The form in which the Invention may be applied may vary, but in all cases
the same principle will be retained.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn various modifications of the
principle of applying a hand rest to the central stick. Fig. 1 shews a strap of
leather applied. to an umbrella stick, the ends of the strap being securely
inserted into the stick. By passing the land between the stick and this strap
and gripping the stick so as to bring the strap at the back of the band, the
umbrella may be held more firmly than heretofore without an increase of
muscular exertion.
Figures 2 and 3 shew in side and front views a rigid stop or hand-rest
applied to a parasol stick. This rest consists of a plate a, with a hinged joint
let into the stick and secured thereto by a pin. The shoulder of the hinge
is squared and a metal spring b rivetted to the stick is caused to bear upon
the squared shoulder to maintain the rest either in an open or closed position.
Figures 4 and 5 shew in front and side views a similar arrangement applied
to an umbrella stick, but in this instance there is a rest both for the upper and
lower part of the hand. In both these examples the rests have to be brought
into position by inserting the nail under the edge of the plate a, and then
pressing back the plate into the raised position of Fig. 5, and in like manner
when the rests are not required to be used they have to be shut down by
pressure like the blade of a clasp knife. To avoid, however, the inconvenience
which would arise in attempting with a gloved hand to lift the rests into posi-
tion, I propose, in general, to apply thereto a vulcanized india-rubber or coiled
metallic spring, the tendency of which will be to keep the rests always open,
and to use a suitable fastening for holding them down until required to be
opened for use.
Figures 6 and 7 shew in front and side views, a simple mode of carrying
out this object. The hinged rest a, of which there is but one, in this example
is (as in the other arrangements) let into the stick and jointed thereto; and
secured to the heel of the rest is an india-rubber spring b, which is fastened at
its other end to the stick. On the face of the stick is a slotted metal slide c,

page_text: through the slots of which pins are passed for connecting it to the stick.
When the rest is depressed this slide c is pushed forward over the end of the
rest, as shewn, and thereby holds it down in the recess, but immediately it is
drawn back clear of the rest (to facilitate which movement a lip is formed on
the end of the slide) the rest will, by the contractile force of the spring b, be
thrown up into the raised position of Fig. 7.
.
Figures 8 and 9 shew a similar plan applied to lift a double rest into
position, the spring being in this instance connected at its opposite ends to
the two hinged rests a, a, but in place of a flat slotted plate I use a loose piece
of tube c as a slide to keep the rests in the depressed condition. When, how-
ever, an increased length of stick is no objection, as in the case of a carriage
umbrella, instead of the loose piece of tube I lengthen the runner, so that
when brought down, as in the act of closing the umbrella, it will pass over the
rests and hold them down within the recess in the stick; this arrangement is
shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 10, and in the side view Fig. 11, where d
shews an extra length of runner employed in place of the slides c, Figures
6 and 9.
The holding down of the rests against the contractile force of the spring may
also be effected by internal catches. One example of this is given at Fig. 12:
In this arrangement the rests a, which are connected together by the spring b,
are hinged to a narrow metal box c let into the stick, and properly secured
thereto at about the middle of its length, the face of the box is recessed to
receive a stud d, round the stem of which a metallic spring is coiled. This
stud is connected to a knuckle joint double catch e, which, as the stud is
depressed by the finger will draw back the catches, and when the stud is
released from that pressure will move the catches outwards. The rests are
notched at their outer ends, and when pressed down by hand will receive the
catches into their respective notches, and be held securely within the box c.
On pressing, however, with the finger upon the stud d, the catches will be
withdrawn and the rests will instantly take the position shewn in the Drawing.
:
Fig. 13 shews another example of the application of internal catches, the
mechanical construction being somewhat simplified. In this arrangement,
instead of using a coiled spring for sustaining the stud d in its normal position,
a bow spring f is employed. This spring, it will be seen, lies between the top
of the box and the rear end of the catches e, e, which are in this instance
hinged to the box c, but not connected together. On depressing the stud d,
the bowed spring f is caused to bear upon the catches and rock them free of
the rests a, the spring b will then come into action and throw the rests into
the raised position.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements ap-
plicable to Umbrella and Parasol Sticks," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent, I claim applying to the central sticks of umbrellas and
parasols stop pieces or rests for the hand employed in grasping the stick to
bear against, in the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Montague Moses, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
MONTAGUE MOSES. (L.s.)