IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND ARASU
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George William Friend, of 22, High Holborn, in
the County of Middlesex, Umbrella and Parasol Manufacturer, for the
"
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND ARASU
Sealed the 22nd June 1855, and dated the 2nd April 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George William Friend
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1855.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM FRIEND, of 22, High Holborn, in the County of
Middlesex, Umbrella & Parasol Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS & PARASOLS" to be
as follows:
'
My improvements in umbrellas and parasols consist in the application of a
metallic coating to the ribs of those articles in the form of a tube or covering
of gold, silver, copper, brass, zinc, or other metal not subject to corrosion from
wet, drawn or otherwise secured upon the steel or whalebone forming the body
of the rib; or the metallic covering may be applied in the form of a solution,
as in lackering, having first tinned the steel rib; or it may be applied by the
agency of electricity when the substance or surface of the rib to be coated is of

page_text: metal. My improvements also consist in covering the stretchers of umbrellas
and parasols by drawing metal tubes thereon. By thus covering the steel ribs
and stretchers the corrosion thereof is prevented, which in the ordinary
manufacture is prejudicial to the covering of the umbrella or parasol, while
the metallic covering, being impervious to wet, protects the whalebone from the
weather. I also apply a coating of gutta percha to the ribs and stretchers of
umbrellas and parasols to afford a like protection.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George William Friend in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 2nd October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WILLIAM FRIEND, of 22, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Umbrella
and Parasol Manufacturer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George William Friend, Her special licence that I, the said George
William Friend, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George William Friend, 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 UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George William Friend, 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 George William Friend, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-

page_text: My Invention of improvements in umbrellas and parasols consists in the
application of a metallic coating to the ribs of those articles of gold, silver,
copper, zinc, or other metal not or but little subject to corrosion from the action
of the atmosphere and wet. I find that in umbrellas of the ordinary kind
having steel ribs that the frequent flexure of the steel ribs has the effect of
cracking and chipping off the japan or covering of paint with which they are
usually coated, and that the steel so exposed corrodes, producing an oxide,
which with the wet is prejudicial to the silk covering of the umbrella or
parasol. Now, my Invention consists in the application of a metal to the
surface of the steel, whereby the prejudicial effects of corrision will not only
be prevented, but the appearance of the umbrella will be enhanced. The steel
ribs may be coated by drawing a thin tube of metal over the steel by the
ordinary process of tube drawing, but I prefer to apply it by electrical
deposition.
When the coating is to be applied by means of the process of drawing, it
must be effected previously to the formation or attachment of the joints to the
ribs. The coating in this case must be extremely thin, and the steel at the
same time rather stouter than usual, in order to overcome the tendency to
rigidity, which will be produced in some slight degree by the tube covering.
When the metal coatings to be used are of silver or gold, I prefer the use
of the galvanic battery for the purpose, as by that means the precious metals
can be deposited as a very thin coating, which is comparatively inexpensive,
and without interfering with the elasticity of the ribs. In this case the ribs
are in a comparatively finished state before applying the coating; and in
order to give sufficient substance to the coating to prevent corrosion without
entailing much expence, I first apply a coating of copper to the ribs, and upon
that I deposit a coating of silver or gold.
In order still further to chcapen the production, I sometimes apply a
coating of tin to the ribs by the ordinary process of tinning, and subsequently
apply coatings of copper and silver by electrical deposit. When the ribs are
to be first tinned I take them in their prepared and tempered state, and first
immerse them in a bath of dilute muriatic acid to clean and prepare the
surface to receive the tin, as well understood in the process of tinning. They
are next immersed in a solution of zinc and muriatic acid, and then plunged
into the bath of tin, when they become coated. On removal from the tin, the
ribs are immediately plunged into cold water to give the temper to the rib,
which, if allowed to cool gradually, would become soft and inelastic. The ribs
are now submitted to the process of coating by means of, the galvanic battery.

page_text: For this purpose they are suspended in a bath of the cyanide solution of copper
obtained by dissolving sulphate of copper in water, which is then precipitated
by means of prussiate of potass, taking care to use just so much of the prussiate
of potass as will be sufficient to throw down the.copper. The precipitate is
then well washed with water, and afterwards re-dissolved by means of cyanide
of potassium, and diluted, as all well understood in electro-plating or coating
with metal as ordinarily practised. The ribs are suspended in this bath o
cyanide solution in metallic connection with the positive pole of the galvanic
battery, the electric circuit of the battery being formed by means of a plate o
copper plunged in the cyanide solution, and placed in metallic connection with
the negative pole of the battery. The action of the battery will now deposit
copper on the ribs immersed in the cyanide solution, the coating increasing in
thickness according to the length of time the action is allowed to continue,
as all well understood, instead of previously coating the ribs with tin; and
where expense is not so much an object, the coating of copper may be
deposited on the ribs without previously tinning, taking care to allow the copper
to acquire sufficient substance to exclude the action of the atmosphere. or
moisture from the steel. In this case the ribs must be previously scoured to
get a pure surface of metal on which to deposit the copper.
In order to improve the appearance of the ribs, I next deposit a coating of
silver from a cyanide solution of that metal. To prepare this solution, I dis-
solve the silver in nitric acid, then dilute and wash away the acid, allowing
the silver to precipitate. Having carefully removed all trace of the acid, the
precipate is re-dissolved in cyanide of potassium, and diluted as usual. The
ribs are suspended in this solution as before in metallic connection with
the positive pole of the battery, the circuit of which is formed by means of a
plate of silver immersed in the cyanide solution, and placed in connection with
the negative pole of the battery; a slight coating of silver may be thus applied,
giving the ribs all the appearance of silver, and, with the copper and tin first
applied, affording the necessary protection for the steel. In this way coatings
of gold, silver, copper, zinc, or other suitable metals may be applied to steel
ribs, to afford the requisite protection from. the wet, and prevent oxidation.
After the application of a baser metal for that purpose a facing of gold may
be applied to the ribs, in order to add to the appearance of the umbrella or
parasol, which, being well understood in the ordinary process of electro-plating
or coating, will not require further explanation. After the ribs have been
electro-plated, I then burnish them by means of a wire brush or burnisher,
in order to produce a bright sinooth surface. I may remark that alkaline

page_text: solutions only should be used in the process of electrical deposition of the
metals on the steel ribs, as acid solutions decompose the steel ribs, and will
altogether mar the process.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is performed, I would have it understood that what I claim is, coating
steel ribs of umbrellas and parasols with other metals, for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George William Friend, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
GEORGE WILLIAM FRIEND. (L.S.)
Witness,
W. CLARK, Patent Agent,
58, Chancery Lane, London.