IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLA AND PARASOL FURNITURE
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Graham Denham, of Tabard Street, Southwark,
Umbrella Furniture Manufacturer, and Frederick Arthur Ellis, of South
Street, Walworth, Tool Maker, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN
UMBRELLA AND PARASOL FURNITURE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Graham Denham
and Frederick Arthur Ellis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 20th May 1881.
WILLIAM GRAHAM DENHAM, of Tabard Street, Southwark, Umbrella Furniture
Manufacturer, and FREDERICK ARTHUR ELLIS, of South Street, Walworth, Tool
Maker. IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLA AND PARASOL FURNITURE,"
"1
This Invention relates, firstly, to the manufacture of what are called stretchers
of umbrellas and parasols. These stretchers are the pieces of metal which extend
from the runners to the ribs of the umbrellas and parasols, and it is necessary
these stretchers should be of a strong and tough material. Up to the present time
these stretchers have been made of wire; the following series of operations,
namely, first cutting the wire into the required lengths; then slitting one end
of each wire forming the blank for the stretcher to prepare it for its junction to
the rib; the ends of the slit are then knocked down by special tools for that
purpose. The same ends of the slits so prepared are flattened out so that they can
be pierced for attachment to the ribs, and the other end of the piece of wire
intended to form the stretcher is flattened so as to enable it to be fitted into the
runner; the end of this flattened part is then cropped, that is to say, the end cut
off and thereby rounded, and is finally pierced before it is ready for use. The
whole of these operations require great power and great nicety of manipulation,
whilst the effect of these various operations upon the wire is to render the fibre
weaker and the whole stretcher of inferior strength. Now our present Invention
consists in making the stretchers at one operation by first forming a mould of the
exact shape of the stretcher intended to be formed (that is to say), the core being
formed with one extremity divided by a slit so as to be readily attached to the
rib, and the other extremity flattened and rounded for attachment to the runner,
Price Bd1

page_text: and then casting from this mould in malleable iron the stretchers of the precise
shape required, whereby very great labor is saved and the stretchers so made are
made of uniform size and shape, and are perfectly rigid and of great strength.
The completion of the stretcher is effected by piercing the extremities for the
reception of pins forming the attachments to the ribs and runner.
The git or middle bit is the piece of metal usually employed for the purpose of
effectually fastening the stretchers to the ribs, and is usually made from sheet iron
or brass, which is formed into the shape necessary for the purpose to which it is
applied. A further part of our Invention consists in making these gits by first
forming a mould of the precise shape of the git, and then casting from this mould
in malleable iron the gits, which will be of uniform size and of the shape required,
and only requiring piercing for use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Graham Denham and Frederick Arthur Ellis in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 19th November 1881.
WILLIAM GRAHAM DENHAM, of Tabard Street, Southwark, Umbrella Furniture
Manufacturer, and FREDERICK ARTHUR ELLIS, of South Street, Walworth, Tool
Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLA AND PARASOL FURNITURE."
Our said Invention relating to improvements in umbrella and parasol furniture
has reference to the manufacture of the "stretchers" (which extend from the
"runners" to the "ribs" of umbrellas and parasols), and of the "gets" or "middle
bits" (which are usually employed for fastening the "stretchers" to the "ribs."
In order that the nature and object of our Invention may be rendered perfectly
intelligible, we shall first describe by the aid of the Figures on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings the series of operations necessary to produce these articles
according to the systems of manufacture at present in use, and shall then describe
the manner in which our said Invention is carried into effect.
In preparing the stretchers (which it is necessary should be of a strong and
tough material), they have hitherto been made of wire by the following series of
operations, videlicet:-
The wire is first cut into the required lengths, one of which is shewn in Figure 1
and forms the blank for the stretcher; one end of the wire is then slit, as indicated
at a, Figure 2, to prepare it for its junction to the rib; the end of the slit is then
knocked down by special tools for that purpose so as to open it out, as represented
in Figure 3, and this bifurcated end is flattened out, as shewn in Figure 4 (which
is a view at right angles to Figure 3) and pierced for attachment to the rib. The
other end b of the wire is also flattened out and is then cropped, that is to say, its
extremity is cut round or rounded, and it is finally, as shewn in Figure 3, pierced,
as indicated in Figure 4, so as to enable it to be fitted into the runner.
The stretcher A thus finished is connected, as shewn in Figure 5, to the rib B
by means of a get C (the manufacture of which will be hereinafter described) and
a pin, and to the runner D by means of a wire encircling the runner.
The whole of the operations herein before described with reference to Figures 1
to 4 require great power and great nicety of manipulation, whilst the effect of
these various operations upon the wire is to render the fibre weaker and the whole
stretcher of inferior strength.
Now our Invention consists in producing the stretcher at one operation by
making it of malleable cast iron by forming a mould (say, for example, in sand, by
means of the pattern indicated in Figure 6), of the exact shape of the stretcher
intended to be produced, and then casting from the mould thus formed the
stretchers in iron of a suitable well known mixture, and afterwards rendering the
castings malleable by annealing them in the usual manner. The stretchers so
made present the form shewn in Figure 6, and only require to be pierced at both
ends, as represented in Figure 4, to render them ready for use.
The "get" or "middle bit" employed for effectually fastening the stretchers to
the ribs is usually made either of sheet iron or brass or of iron or brass wire.
When made of sheet iron or brass a strip (Figure 7) of the metal is first produced,
which is next cut up into lengths, one of which is shewn in Figure S suitable for
the formation of the get. Each length is next indented in the centre, as shewn
at c in Figure 9, and also pierced (so as to enable the stretcher to be attached to
it), and is then bent, as indicated in Figure 10, and swaged on to the rib when it
will present the form shewn in Figure 11.

page_text: When the gets are made of iron or brass wire, a length of wire is first rolled or
drawn of suitable section, as indicated at Figure 12, and this length is cut up
into pieces, one of which is shewn in Figure 13, after which each piece is swaged
to the finished shape, as indicated at Figure 14, and is then swaged on to the rib,
as shewn at C in Figure 5.
Both these methods of manufacture are exceedingly expensive owing to the
number of successive operations to which the metal has to be subjected in order
to produce the get or middle bit ready for use.
According to another part of our said Invention, we make these gets at one
operation of malleable cast iron by first forming a mould of the precise shape of
the get, as indicated in Figure 15, and then casting the gets from this mould in
iron of a suitable well known mixture, and afterwards rendering the castings
malleable by annealing in the usual manner. The gets so made will be of uniform
size and of the requisite shape, as represented in Figure 15, and only require
piercing for use.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the hereinbefore in
part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Making "stretchers" of malleable cast iron, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second. Making "gets" or "middle bits" of malleable cast iron, substantially as
herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Arthur Ellis, on behalf of William
Graham Denham and myself, have to this our Specification set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of November, One thousand eight hundred
and eighty one.
FREDERICK A. ELLIS. (L.S.)