IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, SUNSHADES, AND PARASOLS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James McSkimming, of Kirkcudbright, in the
County of Kirkcudbright, North Britain, Watchmaker and Jeweller,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, SUNSHADES, AND
PARASOLS."
Sealed the 24th October 1873, and dated the 30th April 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James McSkimming
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th April 1873.
I, JAMES MOSKIMMING, of Kirkcudbright, in the County of Kirkcud-
bright, North Britain, Watchmaker and Jeweller, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, SUNSHADES,
AND PARASOLS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its objects the fitting of umbrellas, sunshades,
and parasols with. devices for holding the parts in the closed or open
positions, which whilst avoiding the great weakening of the sticks caused
by the common devices for that purpose are more certain, although

page_text: equally convenient in action and capable of being applied in an orna-
mental manner.
The Invention consists in jointing on the outside of the runner a
small spring catch lever, formed with a hook or loop at each end. The
inner end of the catch lever engages with a holding projection or hook
fixed on the stick in a position suitable for holding the umbrella, sun-
shade, or parasol open; and the outer end of the catch lever, which is
by preference formed with a loop, engages with a holding hook or catch
fixed on the stick near the handle end.
The holding parts on the stick are by preference formed upon short
tubes or ferrules, which can be fixed to the stick by small pins, avoiding
any appreciable weakening of the stick.
The catch lever may have combined with it an annular cap to cover
the ends of the ribs when the umbrella, sunshade, or parasol is closed;
such cap having a spring in connection with it to give it a tendency to
move outwards and uncover the ends of the ribs whenever it is released
by compressing the catch lever.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said James M'Skimming in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
McSKIMMING, of Kirkcudbright, in the County of Kirkcudbright, North
Britain, Watchmaker and Jeweller, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James McSkimming, Her special licence
that I, the said James M'Skimming, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James McSkimming, 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,

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, SUNSHADES, AND PARASOLS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said James McSkimming, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 James McSkimming, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object the fitting of umbrellas, sun
shades, and parasols with devices for holding the parts in the closed or
open positions, which whilst avoiding the great weakening of the sticks
caused by the common devices for that purpose are more certain
although equally convenient in action, and are capable of being applied:
in an ornamental manner.
i
The improvements are specially designed for application to sticks of
wood, cane, or other suitable non-metallic substance.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to, and representing
various modifications of my improved arrangements. In these Drawings
the same reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts
wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 shows a part of the framing of an umbrella in an open or
distended state; and Figure 2 shows the manner in which the runner 1
is held when the umbrella is closed.
In carrying out my Invention I have a small spring catch lever 2, 3,
jointed upon the runner 1 in such a manner that the lower or outer part 3
can be easily pressed inwards by the thumb; the upper or inner end 2
of the lever is formed with a hook 4 turned inwards, and which' engages

page_text: on a projecting rim formed on a ring or short tube 5 which is fixed on
the stick 6 in a position suitable for holding the umbrella open, as shown
in Figure 1. This ring 5 is shown enlarged and in section in Figure 3;
and the runner 1 with its catch lever 2, 3, is shown enlarged and in
section in Figure 4; whilst Figure 5 is a view as at right angles to
Figure 4. The lower end 3 of the catch lever is made with a loop 7 which
engages with a holding hook or catch 8, formed or fixed on a ring or
short tube 9 which is fixed on the stick 6 near the handle. This tube 9
with its hook 8 is shown enlarged in Figures 6 and 7, which are views
as at right angles to each other. The holding parts being thus in
the form of tubes or ferrules 5, 9, can be firmly fixed on the stick 6
by means of small pins and without any appreciable weakening of the
stick.
Figure 9 is a view of the catch lever 2, 3, as it may be easily stamped
out of sheet metal, to be afterwards bended into shape.
The tubular holding parts 5, 9, may be made so as to accommodate
themselves easily to sticks of different sizes, as shown in Figures. 10 to
13, being for that purpose made in the form of open bands with over-
lapping parts, through which overlapping parts the pin is passed for
fixing them on the stick.
Figure 14 shows a mode of arranging the lower or outer holder tube 9
in an ornamental form.
The catch lever 2, 3, may have combined with it an annular cap 10,
as shown in Figures 15, 16, 17, 18, to cover the ends of the ribs when
the umbrella is closed. This cap 10 is mounted on the runner 1, and a
spiral spring 11 is applied between it and the runner to give it a tendency
to move outwards and uncover the ends of the ribs whenever it is released
by depressing the lower end 3 of the catch lever. The said lower end of
the catch lever projects through a slot in one side of the cap and holds it
in the position for enclosing the rib ends by a shoulder which catches
against the top of the slot.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but that
what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―