Improvements in Umbrellas.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Oct., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th June, 1897-Accepted, 17th July, 1897
Improvements in Umbrellas.
I, RUFUS WAPLES JR. Banker of 505 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia in the
County of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates particularly to that class of umbrellas known as umbrella
canes in which the umbrella proper may be applied to and removed from the
handle or cane, but certain features of my present improvement are applicable to
the conventional form of umbrellas as will be understood from the following
description.
The handle may be an ordinary cane or may be specially made for the purpose,
in which event it may be made hollow to form a sheath for the umbrella proper
when removed from the handle and properly collapsed but one of the purposes of
my Invention is to provide an umbrella construction which can be applied to an
ordinary cane.
In carrying out this feature of my Invention, I provide an upper support for
holding the ribs and a lower support for holding the stretchers and also devices
by which said supports may be held detachably to the handle. These holding
devices are in the nature of clamps carried by said supports and operating to bind
the same firmly to the handle so that they will be held thereto and yet be easily
removed. The upper support which is so termed for convenience of reference,
comprises a frame composed of bars and struts which may be secured to a main bar
or the strip presently described. These bars are provided near their lower ends
with bosses forming a shoulder upon which the cover may bear. A textile or
other suitable connection extends around and joins the bars, being suitably
secured to said bars and a cord is usually secured within the upper edge of the con-
nection. The clamp of the upper support includes a set screw threaded through
the main bar and bearing preferably against a yielding strip secured at one end
to said bar so that the screw when turned will cause the 'strip to hear against the
handle and force the bar out, thus tightening the support upon and 'clamping it
to the handle, a turn or so of the screw being sufficient to either clamp or release
the support from the handle. The main bar is extended at its lower end as is also
the spring strip and the ribs are pivoted thereto. The lower support is made
preferably in the form of a divided sleeve having side strips or plates united by a
Hexible connection with a clamp bar swivelled to the plate and having a cam por-
tion operating through an eye on the strip so that when the cam portion is turned
down the holder will be expanded while the turning upwards of the clamp bar will
tighten and clamp the support upon the handle, the clamp bar being held in
clamped position by catching its free end over one of the stretchers which are
preferably pivoted to the upper end of the side strip.
In general structure and in the manner of supporting their inner ends the ribs
and stretchers are alike and the description of the construction of the ribs will
answer for both.

page_text: In this class of umbrella it is found that difficulties arise from the joints between
the ribs and stretchers and their supports, and one object of my Invention is to
reduce the number of such joints which I do by arranging the ribs in groups,
one of the ribs which may be termed the main rib being secured to the support
and the other ribs of such group being secured to the said first rib near the point
where the latter is secured to its support. This construction is desirable and
advantageous in that it avoids the multiplicity of joints with the rib support and
simplifies the connections therewith. In order that the ribs of the groups may
fold alongside each other, I prefer to form a slight bend in the side ribs adjacent
to the joint.
In practice I arrange the pivot joints of the ribs and stretchers in line and make
the angles of the corresponding stretchers and ribs coincide so that the umbrella
may be properly raised and lowered, it being desirable if not absolutely necessary
that such angles should agree in order to secure a smooth and easy operation of the
parts.
Dated this 13th day of October 1896.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
Improvements in Umbrellas.
I, RUFUS WAFLES JR. Banker of 505. Chestnut Street, Philadelphia in the
County of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
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 particularly to that class of umbrellas known as umbrella-
canes in which the umbrella proper may be applied to, and removed from, the
handle or cane but certain features of my present improvements are applicable
to the conventional form of umbrellas as will be understood from the following
description.
The Invention consists in certain constructions and combinations of parts as
will be hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure I is a perspective view, partly broken
away, of an umbrella embodying my improvements, the cover being partly broken
away to shew the top or upper support. Figure 2 is a detail side view, partly
broken away, shewing the upper and lower supports and parts of the handle, ribs,
and stretchers.
Figure 3 is a detail view of the lower support on a handle.
Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the upper support, and
Figure 6 is a detail sectional view on about line 6-6 of Figure 2.
The handle A may be an ordinary cane such as usually sold on the market or may
be specially made for the purpose, in which event it may be made hollow to form
a sheath for the umbrella proper when removed from the handle and properly
collapsed; but one of the purposes of my invention is to provide an umbrella
construction which can be applied to an ordinary cane or staff, as shown.
In carrying out this feature of any invention I provide an upper support B for
holding the ribs and a lower support C for holding the stretchers and also devices
by which said supports may be held detachably to the handle.
These holding devices are in the nature of clamps carried by said supports and
operating to bind the same firmly to the handle so that they will be held thereto

page_text: and yet be easily removed. The upper support 3 which is so termed for con-
venience of reference comprises a frame composed of a main bar B', bars B2 and
struts which may be secured to the bar B or the strip e presently described.
These bars B B are provided near their lower 'ends with bosses 6 forming a
shoulder upon which the cover 1 may bear. A textile or other suitable con-
nection B extends around and joins the lars B B being suitably secured to said
bars and a cord b is usually secured within the upper edge of the connection B*
as shown in Figure 4. The clamp of this support B includes a set screw E
threaded through the har B and hearing preferably against a yielding strip e
secured at one end to the bar 13 so that the screw E when turned will cause the
strip e to bear against the handle and force the bar 1 out thus tightening the
support B upon and clamping it to the handle, a turn or so of the screw being
sufficient to either clamp or release the support from the handle.
The bar B is extended at its lower end as is also the spring stripe and the
ribs FF are pivoted thereto at f as shown most clearly in Figure 4
The lower support C is made preferably in the form of a divided sleeve having
side strips or plates C C united by a flexible connection C, and a clamp bar G
swivelled at g to the plate C and having a cam portion G operating through an
eye g' on the strip C so that when the portion G is turned down as shown in dotted
lines Figure 3 the holder will be expanded while the turning of the clamp bar to the
full line position Figures 2 and 3 will tighten and clamp the support upon the
handle the clamp bar G being held in clamped position by catching its free end
over one of the stretchers as shown in Figure 2.
The stretchers H H are pivoted to the support C, preferably to the strip Cath
as shown in Figure 2.
In general structure and in the manner of supporting their inner ends the ribs F
and stretchers H are alike and the description of the construction of the ribs as
shown in Figure 6 will answer for both.
In this class of umbrellas it is found that difficulties arise from the joints between
the ribs and stretchers and their supports and one object of my invention is to
reduce the number of such joints which I do as shown in Figure 6 by arranging the
ribs in groups, one of the ribs which may he termed the main rib being secured
at f to the support and the other ribs of such group being secured to the said first
rib at f' near the point where the latter is secured to its support.
This construction is desirable and advantageous in that it avoids the multiplicity
of joints with the rib support and simplifies the connections therewith.
In order that the ribs of the groups may fold alongside each other I prefer
to form a slight bend at f in the side riles adjacent to the joint f as shown in
Figure 6.
In practice I arrange the pivots f and 4 in line as shown in Figure 2 and make
the angles of the corresponding stretchers and ribs coincide so that the umbrella
may be properly raised and lowered, it being desirable if not absolutely necessary
that such angles should agree in order to secure a smooth and easy operation of
the parts.
It will be noticed that the ribs and the braces or stretchers are, in certain
respects, constructed and connected alike and both the ribs and the stretchers may
be included in the term frame rods.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An umbrella-cane, constructed in substantially the manner herein set
forth.
2. In an umbrella, the combination with a frame rod and a support to which
said rod is pivoted at its inner end, of a rod or rods secured at their inner ends
to the said first rod at a point adjacent to the point at which said first rod is
pivoted to the support, substantially as shown and described.

page_text: 3. An umbrella comprising a support and frame rods and having its frame rods
arranged in sets, each set being composed of a main rod pivoted at its inner end
to the support, and a rod or rods pivoted at their inner ends to said first rod
near the inner end of said first rod, substantially as shown and described.
4. The umbrella herein described comprising the central supports, the ribs and
stretchers pivoted at their inner ends to their respective supports, and ribs and
stretchers secured at their inner ends to said pivoted ribs and stretchers near the
inner ends of the latter, all substantially as shown and described.
5. An umbrella having its ribs arranged to expand in two opposite sets con-
nected together and its stretchers arranged in similar sets connected together,
the ribs and stretchers being related and means for securing the umbrella to the
stick, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
6. An umbrella comprising the ribs and stretchers, an upper flexible collapsible
support for holding the ribs, a lower flexible collapsible support for holding
the stretchers and devices by which said supports may be held firmly against the
handle or detached from the handle substantially as shown and described.
7. In an umbrella substantially as described the combination with the handle,
the ribs and the stretchers, of collapsible supports to which the said ribs and
stretchers are secured and collapsible clamping devices carried by said supports
and by which the same may be clamped directly in any chosen place on the handle
without any fixture or defacement of the handle, substantially as shown and
described.
8. In an umbrella substantially as described, the rib support, comprising the
frame having the bar, a yielding strip at the inner side of said bar, a clamp screw
turned through the bar and bearing against the strip and the connection secured
to said frame and adapted to encircle the handle, substantially as set forth.
9. In an umbrella, the rib support comprising the frame having the bars pro-
vided with bosses forming a shoulder upon which the cover may bear, the con-
nection secured to said frame, the strip arranged along the inner side of one of the
frame bars and the clamp screw bearing against said strip all substantially as
shown and described.
10. In an umbrella, the stretcher support comprising the divided sleeve having
side strips or plates united by a flexible connection and a clamp bar swivelled to
one of such side plates and having a cam portion and an eye on the other side plate
all substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
A. M. & WM. CLARA,
53 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.