Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 16th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 24th Aug.. 1883
I FREDRICK ARTHUR ELLIS of 77 Glengarry Road East Dulwich in the county of
Surrey Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Its object is to provide Runners for umbrella frames which shall be stronger more
durable and cheaper in manufacture than those at present in use.
My improvement consists in the method of forming the bead at the end of the sleeve
or runner.
By the ordinary method the metal is flanged outwards & turned over, during which
process very many runners are split and rendered useless, and a good maleable metal
is necessary.
My improved method is applicable to runners or barrels made from either flat plate
or drawn tube which may be of brass copper iron or other suitable material. When
a tube is employed I turn or flange the end inwards and when a flat plate is used
I flange it first and afterwards bend it to the tubular form with the flange on the
inside and braze the edges.
The internally flanged or beaded end of the tube which is secured upon a mandril
so that the end shall be free is then turned or pressed by means of a special tool to
form a hollow bead.
By this method I produce a barrel or runner having a bead recessed on the inside
with an internally flanged double thickness of metal of any size desired. I am also
able to employ a much cheaper kind of metal without danger of splitting and I can
produce the beading more quickly.
My method of forming a hollow bead is also applicable to runners having the flange
turned outwards in the ordinary way.
As the bead is hollow the slot for the hand spring is arranged to end in the recess,
thus avoiding the possibility of a burr or edge being formed where it strikes the barrel
in ordinary use, and thus the stick is preserved from being scratched which is at
present a common source of trouble.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
improvements in the Manufacture of Runners for Umbrellas.
I, FREDERICK ARTHUR ELLIS, of 77, Glengarry Road, East Dulwich, in the
County of Surrey, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of umbrella runners from sheet metal or
solid drawn tube; and has for its object to reduce the cost of manufacture and at
same time strengthen the bead at the lower end of the barrel of the runner and prevent
scratching of the stick.
In the ordinary way of making the bead, the end of the barrel is spun over outwards
to form a hollow roll or bead during which process very many runners are split owing
to the increased diameter to which the metal is expanded in spinning. On this
account, it is necessary to employ a malleable metal of good quality. By my invention
the liability to split is wholly avoided by the edge of the metal being folded inwards
instead of outwards it being easier to compress the metal to a smaller diameter than
to expand it to a larger one, and I am therefore enabled to use a much thinner metal
without danger of splitting and I can produce the beading more quickly.
In applying the invention to runners "knocked up" from a blank of sheet metal,
that is to say, which are bent of cylindrical form and brazed along a longitudinal seam,
the folding over of the edge of the metal is preferably done before the blank is bent
to its circular form, the remainder of the operation of completing the bead being
postponed until after the runner "notch" is fixed in the ordinary way to the opposite
end of the runner barrel. In the case of barrels made from solid drawn tube the end
of the barrel is folded inwards by spinning in a lathe. The subsequent operation of
completing the bead is in either case performed by rolling as hereafter described, the
bead when finished being concave internally with the inwardly folded edge expanded
into the hollow of the bead, so as to be quite clear of the stick.
The several operations, and the tools by which they are performed, are represented
in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification wherein figure 1 is
a face view of the blank for a knocked up runner. Figures 2 and 3 shew the two
operations of folding over the edge of the blank. Figures 4, 5, and 6 shew side and
end views of the tools for rolling up the hollow bead of the runner which is represented
in section in figures 4 and 6. Figure 7 shows the mode of turning in the end of a
solid drawn tube.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
I will first describe the application of the invention to a knocked up runner.
a (figure 1) is the blank from which the runner barrel is made. It is first bent up at
right angles along one edge, as in figure 2, and the flange b thus formed is then
doubled down on the blank a by a second operation, as in figure 3.
The blank is then rolled to cylindrical form in the usual manner, the folded edge
being inwards at the end opposite that at which the notch will be fixed. The seam is

page_text: then brazed and the notch brazed or spun on in the usual way. The runner is then
placed on a mandrel c (figure 4) in a lathe, the mandrel having a half-round circum-
ferential bead d formed upon it over which the folded end of the runner passes loosely
as in figure 4, and abuts against a shoulder e on the mandrel.
A roller f having a
circumferential groove 9 corresponding to the bead on the mandrel and mounted in
a forked bracket pivoted on the lathe bed is then brought up against the runner barrel
which is by the rotation of the mandrel rolled between the mandrel and roller until
its folded edge is expanded to the finished form of hollow bead shewn in section in
figure 6.
During this operation, an arm / carried by the bracket abuts against the end of the
runner and holds it up against the shoulder on the mandrel.
In applying the invention to a solid drawn runner, the runner barrel is placed on
a lathe mandrel which it fits so as to revolve therewith and the end of the tube is
spun over inwards, as shewn in figure 7 the mandrel for this purpose having a hollowed
end with sharp edges over which the metal is spun. The runner is then rolled, as
shewn in figure 4, to form the hollow bead, shewn in figure 6, in the same way as the
knocked up runner. In either case, I am enabled by my invention to form a broader
and stronger bead than by spinning the metal outwards.
The hand spring slot in the runner barrel is made to intersect the hollow bead for
about one-third the width of the latter so that the end of said slot shall be in a part of
the barrel which will not come in contact with the stick, in order that the burr thrown
up at the end of the slot by the repeated contact of the hand spring therewith will not
reach to, and scratch, the stick.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The manufacture of an umbrella runner with a hollow bead formed of a double
thickness of metal by folding or doubling the edge of the metal on itself and expanding
the internally folded end of the barrel to the desired shape of the bead, by rolling,
as specified.
F. A. ELLIS.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.