IMPROVE- MENTS IN UMBRELLAS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN UMBRELLAS."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th August 1855.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS," (communicated to me by a foreigner
residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction of folding umbrellas in such
manner that the parts shall have as great a degree of stiffness and strength
when expanded for use as can be obtained in the ordinary umbrella.
Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of an umbrella constructed accord-
ing to this Invention in an expanded state; Figure 2 is a representation of
the frame as folded; Figure 3 is a section of a part of the staff, showing it as
prepared for folding; Figure 4 is an elevation, full size, of one of the joints
of the ribs; and Figure 5 is a front view of the same; similar letters indicating
similar parts in all the Figures. The staff is-formed- of three pieces a, b, c,
the middle one 6 being hollow. This piece has a nut e within each end, to

page_text: receive a male screw on the end of each of the other pieces, and the opening
through these nuts is somewhat smaller than the bore of the tube. The
enlarged part is for the head of a rod to play in, which rod is connected by a
short link d to the end of the screw on the piece to be attached. The head
of the rod is thus confined beyond the nut, and it acts as an ordinary swivel
to keep the pieces together when unscrewed, as shewn in Figure 3. The
ribs are each in two pieces f and g, and are secured to the top of the staff in
the ordinary manner. They are also distended by braces of common con-
struction. The two parts of the rib are connected with each other by a rule
joint, so that the outer surface of the one part may be folded back upon that
of the other, as shewn at g', Figure 4. On the inner surface of one part of the
hinge of the rib is placed a flat spring i, of any suitable metal, which extends
over to the other part, where it is bent at a right angle, forming a catch, which
takes into a notch cut on that piece to receive it, as shewn at i', Figure 4.
The purpose of this spring is to give additional stiffness to the rib when
extended. The joint of the hinge is prevented from wearing through the
silk or other covering of the umbrella by a piece of leather k. The umbrella
when expanded has the general appearance of one of ordinary construction.
It is closed by drawing down the slide m in the usual manner, and has still all
the appearance of a common umbrella. If, however, it is required to be
folded for convenience of packing, it is held with the point of the staff upon
the ground, and the ends g of the ribs are thrown outward by the hand, when
they will readily fall over; the slide m is then pushed up to the end of the
staff inside, as shewn in Figure 2. This could not have been done before
the ribs were folded by reason of the tension of the cloth, but that is now
quite loose. The ribs are then gathered by a strap, the staff is unscrewed at
its joints, and the length of the links d permits the parts b and c to lie along
the outside of the folded frame, as clearly shown in Figure 2. To spread
the umbrella, the parts of the staff are first screwed together; the slide m is
then drawn down the staff toward the handle, and the point of the staff is
raised in the air, as in opening an ordinary umbrella. The parts g of the ribs
will now fall over to a hanging position, and the slide m is then pushed up on
the staff as far as permitted by the tension of the covering, at which point it
is caught by the usual locking spring. The umbrella is thus expanded for
use, the bent part of i having entered its notch when the rib was fully
drawn into place by the tightness of the cover, thereby giving stiffness and
firmness to the joint.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th February 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS," communicated
to me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 .Inven-
tion, and in what manner the samo 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the construction of folding umbrellas in such
manner that the parts shall have as great a degree of stiffness and strength
when expanded for use as can be obtained in the ordinary umbrella.
Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of an umbrella (constructed accord-
ing to this Invention) in an expanded state; Figure 2 is a representation of
the frame as folded; Figure 3 is a section of a part of the staff, shewing it
as prepared for folding; Figure 4 is an elevation, full size, of one of the joints
of the ribs; and Figure 5 is a front view of the same; similar letters indicating

page_text: It is
similar parts in all the Figures. The staff is formed of three pieces a, b, c, the
middle one 6 being hollow. This piece has a nut e within each end, to receive
a male screw on the end of each of the other pieces, and the opening through
these nuts is somewhat smaller than the bore of the tube. The enlarged part
'is for the head of a rod to play in, which rod is connected by a short link d
to the end of the screw on the piece to be attached. The head of the rod is
thus confined beyond the nut, and it acts as an ordinary swivel to keep the
pieces together when unscrewed, as shewn in Figure 3. The ribs are each in
two pieces f and g, and are secured to the top of the staff in the ordinary
manner. They are also distended by braces of common construction. The
two parts of the rib are connected with each other by a rule joint, so that the
outer surface of the one part may be folded back upon that of the other, as
shewn at g', Figure 4. On the inner surface of one part of the hinge of the
rib is placed a flat spring i, of any suitable metal, which extends over to
the other part, where it is bent at a right angle, forming a catch, which takes
into a notch cut on that piece to receive it, as shewn at 1, Figure 4. The
purpose of this spring is to give additional stiffness to the rib' when extended.
The joint of the hinge is prevented from wearing through the silk or other
covering of the umbrella by a piece of leather k. The umbrella when
expanded has the general appearance of one of ordinary construction.
closed by drawing down the slide m in the usual manner, and has still all the
appearance of a common umbrella. If, however, it is required to be folded
for convenience of packing, it is held with the point of the staff upon the
ground, and the ends g of the ribs are thrown outward by the hand, when
they will readily fall over; the slide m is then pushed up to the end of the
staff inside, as shewn in Figure 2. This could not have been done before the
ribs were folded by reason of the tension of the cloth, but that is now quite
loose. The ribs are then gathered by a strap, the staff is unscrewed at its
joints, and the length of the links d permits the parts b and c to lie along
the outside of the folded frame, as clearly shewn in Figure 2.
open the umbrella, the parts of the staff are first screwed
slide m is then drawn down the staff towards the handle, and
the staff is raised in the air as in opening an ordinary umbrella.
of the ribs will now fall over to a hanging position, and the slide m is then
pushed up on the staff as far as permitted by the tension of the covering, at
which point it is caught by the usual locking spring. The umbrella is thus
expanded for use, the bent part of i having entered its notch when the rib
was fully drawn into place by the tightness of the cover, thereby giving stiffness
'and firmness to the joint.
To spread or
together, the
the point of
The parts g

page_text: And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly, connecting the several parts of the staff of the umbrella by means
of the link and the swivel, as herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings annexed.
Secondly, the combination of the locking catch i with the two parts of the
rib, for the purposes and substantially in the manner herein-before described,
and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
DA DROOMAN
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.B.)