IMPROVEMENTS IN SELF OPENING AND CLOSING UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES to be as follows:
Year: 1884

page_text: I ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm Clark of
53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SELF OPENING AND CLOSING UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES to be as follows:—
"
This Invention relates to a self opening and self closing umbrella or sunshade
and consists 1st in disposing within the stick or handle a spiral main spring
whereby the umbrella & is opened in the same way as in ordinary self opening
umbrellas 2nd in combining therewith a detent which renders this spring independent
of the umbrella frame in order to permit of the latter closing by its own weight
and the tension of the covering. 3rd in disposing within the active runner a
movable socket actuated by a small spring and acting on a prolongation of the
stretchers in such manner as to gather these closely against the stick and so retain
the umbrella closed without the aid of a catch spring or other device for arresting
the runner.
The mechanical combination of the parts for the automatic opening and closing
of the umbrella may be carried out in practice in various ways.
For instance the stick may be fitted in the handle portion or vice versâ so that
these two parts have a telescopic motion.
The main spring is imprisoned within this telescopic motion and its function is
to force the stick outwards from the handle and thus move the top notch to which
the ribs are jointed away from the active runner which is retained by an internal
rod connected to a detent or catch which is released for closing the umbrella.
Or the telescopic motion may be located at the upper end of the stick that is to
say a rod or tube carrying the top notch may slide within the upper part of the
stick which would be in one with the handle. In this case the main spring forces
the top end outwards thereby moving the top notch away from the active runner
which is retained by an internal rod and catch as before. With this arrangement
when the said catch is released the active runner is free to rise towards the top
notch by the natural closing motion of the umbrella.

page_text: By active runner is here meant the upper runner which in ordinary self opening
umbrellas rises towards the top notch in closing the umbrella whilst the second
lower runner which at same time descends towards the handle is here distinguished
as the neutral runner.
In order to render the main spring operative for opening the umbrella it is
necessary to compress or cock it and this is done by pressing the point of the
umbrella stick on the ground and bearing on it as on a walking stick whereby the
telescopic action is caused to slide inwards and the main spring is compressed and
held cocked or in readiness to act until it is desired to open the umbrella by means
of a trigger catch situated on the handle which engages with the stick when the
telescopic motion is situated in the handle, or with the neutral or lower runner
when the telescopic motion is at the upper end of the stick. The umbrella opens
automatically when this retaining catch or trigger is pressed upon by the thumb of
the hand which holds the umbrella handle.
When the umbrella has been once opened and closed the main spring is uncocked
and it is necessary to compress or cock it again as above described whereby the
motive force of the spring is stored up for use at the required moment and as this
operation can be performed with one hand it follows that the umbrella may be
opened and closed indefinitely without shifting the hand from the handle, the
operations being performed in the following order (a) compression of the main
spring by pressing the point of the stick on the ground; (b) automatic opening of
the umbrella by pressing on the retaining or trigger catch which holds the spring
cocked; (c) closing of the umbrella by pressing on the detent which retains the
active runner.

page_text: I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN SELF-OPENING AND CLOSING UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES," and in what manner.
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
This Invention relates to an umbrella or sunshade which can be opened and
closed an indefinite number of times by one and the same hand in which it is held,
and without shifting the hand, the operations being performed in the following
order (1) compression of the main spring (2) opening of the umbrella by pressure
of the finger upon a detent (3) closing of the umbrella by pressure of the finger
upon another detent,
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I will proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings which show two
arrangements of umbrella capable of being opened and closed indefinitely by one,
and the same hand in which the handle is held which is the object of this
invention.
Figure 1 represents a vertical section of the umbrella closed and in operative
condition or "cocked." Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the parts detached. Figure 5
shows the umbrella open and figure 6 shows it closed and inoperative or
uncocked.
In this arrangement of umbrella, opening and closing by the one hand, the stick
is formed of a metal tube c sheathed in wood C. The tube projects at the upper
end as seen in figure 4, and contains a main spring R which bears against an
internal abutment. The spring is compressed by the hollow rod c¹ introduced in
tube c, which rod is slotted at c³ to receive a pin c³ screwed in a ferrule c³, soldered
on tube c; the pin c³ thus imprisons the rod c¹ in tube c and allows it a limited
motion equal to the length of the slot c². c is another slot extending to the end
of the hollow rod c¹, and co is a corresponding slot made in the tube c. This
arrangement permits, as will be hereinafter seen, of the hollow rod c' being placed
in position, and of regulating beforehand the compression of the spring R, which
facilitates the mounting and dismounting of all the other parts of the umbrella.
A metal rod T passes up through the centre of the hollow rod c¹, spring, R and
tube c, said rod being provided at the upper end with a feathert working in the
slots c, c, and at its lower end with a slot through which a cotter a' is inserted.
This latter also traverses the stick C c, both of which are slotted for the purpose;
it also traverses a short length of tube a fitted to slide freely upon the stick C.
The feather t is inserted from one side through an opening made in the top
runner D which carries the notch of the stretchers F. In this manner, as will also
be seen in figure 2, the runner D, rod T, and tube a, form so to speak one and
the same piece of invariable length by which the action of the umbrella is
controlled.
The tube a carries a spring catch with push piece H by which the umbrella is
held closed by engaging with one or other of two of the internal lips formed on the
enlarged end d of the bottom runner D¹.
On the opposite side is a second spring catch t¹ fixed to the stick O and recessed
therein which engages with the top edge of the tube a. The two catches H, t
form detents or triggers upon which the finger is pressed to open or close the

page_text: "
umbrella. The steel frame of the umbrella is the same as that ordinarily in use in
self-opening umbrellas and is composed of the ribs B jointed to the notch E fixed
to rod c¹, the stretchers F connected to the runner D and the stretchers F¹
connected to the runner D¹.
In addition to the above and to accelerate the automatic closure of the umbrella
there is placed upon the upper part of tube c a spiral spring which bears
against the metal ferrule c and presses the runner D upwards; the spring is
concealed in a tube C¹ forming a prolongation of the stick C and screwing upon
ferrule c.
The action of the umbrella thus constructed is as follows:-Suppose the
umbrella to be in the closed and "cocked" or operative position shown in figure 1.
In order to open it it is only necessary to press the pushpiece of detent H thereby
releasing runner D¹; the spring R then comes into action and expands the frame
as in self opening umbrellas, by sliding the rod c¹ out, of tube c and moving the
notch E away from runner D. To close the umbrella, the end of detent t¹ is
pressed, thus liberating tube a, rod T and runner D; the latter thereupon rises
towards the notch E under the combined action of the tension of the fabric of the
spring rand of the weight of the frame. The runner D¹ which is drawn down by
this closing movement, then engages itself with the detent H by the first of the
two internal lips of d¹ taking on to H, so as to leave the steel framework slightly
open as shown in figure 6. To close the ribs B against the stick, as in figure 1,
the runner D must be drawn down so as to engage the catch H in the second
lip of d¹.
"
After these two operations of opening and closing the umbrella have been
performed, the umbrella is then "uncocked or. inoperative, as shown in figure 6
and may then again be cocked or rendered operative by pressing the point of the
stick on the ground, so as to bring it to the position shown in figure 1 or it may
be opened with both hands like an ordinary umbrella. In the latter case, the head
of detent H is pressed on by the thumb of the hand which holds the umbrella
handle A while with the other hand the runner D¹ is slid upwards to open the
umbrella. During this opening motion the runner D descends and with it the
tube a which latter is then seized by two fingers of the hand which holds
the umbrella to draw it towards the handle while with the other hand the
runner D¹ is pushed upwards. This action exerted in opposite directions by the
two hands brings tube a to the position shewn in figure 5 where the spring
catch t¹ is shewn as engaging with the rim of said tube so as to hold it in place
and thus retain the umbrella in the opened. position.
The umbrella may now be closed either with one hand by depressing the
detent or with both hands by drawing down the runner D¹ so as to cause it to
engage with the detent H. By thus closing the umbrella with two hands, the
umbrella is cocked or rendered self-opening by bringing it to the position shown in
figure 1.
It should be remarked that when the umbrella is closed and cocked (figure 1)
the detent t¹ is enclosed in the enlargement d¹, so that when desiring to open it,
it is impossible to press by mistake upon the said detent which would have no
other effect than that of uncocking the umbrella. The detent H alone is thus
exposed and all mistakes are rendered impossible. The combination of the part d¹
and detent t' may be modified as shewn in figures 7 and 8 by providing a single
lip on the runner and two catches on the detent t¹ which gives the same power of
closing the ribs B at will against the stick C. Figure 9 shows the second arrange-
ment of the umbrella closed the parts being in the cocked or self opening position.
Figure 10 shows the umbrella open and figure 11 the same closed and uncocked or
inoperative. In this arrangement the stick C is hollow and made of cane &c and
terminated at its upper end in a metal tube C¹ firmly fixed therein. At the end of
this tube C¹ is screwed or pinned a tubular notch E, an annular space being left
between it and the tube to receive the upper end of a main spring R, the upper
runner D is also made tubular like the notch E and receives within it the lower

page_text: end of the main spring R which presses down said runner D in the opening motion
of the umbrella. T is a rod inserted in the tube C' and stick C aud t is a cotter
passed through the said rod near its upper end to form an abutment for the main
spring R, slots being provided in the tube C to allow of the cotters sliding up and
down with the rod T. The rod T is slotted at its lower end to receive the tail
end h of the spring detent H which holds the umbrella closed and it is notched at
its extreme end to engage the spring detent t¹ which holds the umbrella in the
open position. If necessary a cord may be attached to the end of the rod T
terminating in a ring t³ by means of which rod T may be pulled by the finger to
engage it with the detent when opening the umbrella with both hands. Upon
the extreme top end of the rod T is fitted the ferrule C' which forms a sheath for
the tubular notch E to which the ribs B are jointed.
The action of the umbrella is the same as in the preceding arrangement it is
opened (when cocked or self operating as in figure 9) by pressing on the detent H
which releases the lower runner D¹ to which the stretchers F1 are connected and
allows the framing to expand. To then close the umbrella the detent t¹ is pressed
so as to release the rod T and allow of its rising with the main spring R to permit
the upper runner D to return to its former position close up to notch E. At the
same time the lower runner D¹ reengages itself with the detent H, so that the
umbrella is automatically secured in the closed position. The umbrella is then in
the position seen in figure 11 and in order to recock it, it is necessary either to
press the point upon the ground so as to compress the main spring and reengage
the rod T with the catch t¹ or to open it with both hands and engage said rod T
with t by pulling on the cord 2 with one finger of the hand which holds the
umbrella. The cocking by opening with two hands may also be effected in another
manner, for example the rod T may be provided with a second cotter similar to
that projecting beneath the upper runner D and the latter be formed with an
extension projecting downwards sufficiently far to enable the runner D¹ to slide up
thereon and allow it to appear beneath it; the hand which pushes up the runner D'
can in this case seize the runner D at the moment the opening of the umbrella is
nearly completed and draw it downwards and with (through the second cotter) the
rod T until it engages with the detent t'. In this case the cord t² and ring t³
would be dispensed with.
'
Figures 12 and 13 show a method of cocking without compressing the spring.
This consists in prolonging the rod T into the handle A and screw threading the
extension TV. A tubular nut a is also inserted in the handle, which is split
longitudinally so as to open when necessary for releasing the screwed stem T".
This nut a is turned by the knob A' which terminates the handle A but is
imprisoned within said handle. a is a tubular closing socket fitted to slide
longitudinally upon nut a by acting on the lugs a projecting through slots in the
handle. If then the closing socket a' upon nut a be moved into the position
shown in figure 12, the nut will close upon the screw T' which will engage with the
nut a on turning knob A¹. If on the other hand the closing socket a¹ be brought
to the position seen in figure 13, the split nut a will expand and rod T T will
move up or down freely in the nut. It will thus be seen that when the umbrella
is uncocked it suffices in order to cock it, to bring the closing socket a¹ into the
position shown in figure 12, to turn the knob A¹ so as to screw the rod T in the
nut until rod T engages with the detent t¹ and to then return the closing socket a¹
to the position shown in figure 13. By releasing detent t¹ the rod T is then free
to move for the purpose of closing the umbrella.
The winding up mechanism in the handle, for cocking the main spring may be
operated by one hand if the umbrella be placed under the arm; it is applicable to
both of the arrangements shown and may be employed or not in combination with
the arrangement for cocking by compression By its sole use in the umbrella
represented in figure 8, it enables the employment of a fixed end C independent of
rod T which in that case would terminate immediately above the cotter t. Thus

page_text: a self opening and closing umbrella is obtained which does not lengthen either by
the handle or the point.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I would observe that
I make no claim to the main spring R ribs F top runner D and detent H as these
parts have before been used in self opening umbrellas and I declare that what
I claim is:-
The combination of these known parts with the central rod T held by the
detent in the manner herein before described, so as to form an umbrella or
sunshade, capable of being opened and closed indefinitely with one hand, for
example by a one armed person or one having but one hand at liberty for carrying,
cocking and opening and closing it..