IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Weeks, of Marylebone, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Silk Mercer; for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS
AND PARASOLS:"
:
Sealed the 20th April 1860, and dated the 14th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Weeks at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th February
1860.
I, JOHN WEEKS, of Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, Silk Mercer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," to be as follows (that is to say):
My Invention, which has reference to improvements, in umbrellas and
parasols with the view to facilitate the opening and closing of the same, as
also to render them lighter of construction with equal strength and durability
than hitherto, consists in dispensing with the present slot fastening formed in:
the handle, and substituting in lieu thereof a double or single action surface.
runner or slide catch, to which the ordinary extending rods are secured, a;
releasing stud and spring in connection with stops or eyes affixed to the upper
and lower portions of the handle being employed for the said purpose.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Weeks in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WEEKS, of Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex, Silk Mercer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Weeks, Her special licence that I, the said John
Weeks, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Weeks, 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 AND PARASOLS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Weeks, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 John Weeks, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to say) :-
My Invention has reference to improvements in umbrellas and parasols with
the view to facilitate the opening and closing of the same, as also to render
them lighter of construction with equal strength and durability than hitherto,
and consists in dispening with the present slot fastening formed in the handle,
and substituting in lieu thereof a double or single action surface runner or
slide catch, to which the ordinary extending rods or stretchers are secured, a
releasing stud and spring in connection with stops or eyes affixed to the upper
and lower portions of the stick or handle, being employed for the said purpose.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the accom-

page_text: panying Drawings, reference being bad to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say) :-
:-
Fig. 1 represents a front view of an umbrella, partly in section, showing the
application of a double-action surface runner; Fig. 2, a full-sized view of the
stick and runner separately shown; Fig. 3, a side view of the surface runner
showing the spring secured by the stop or eye; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section
of the same; Fig. 5 a transverse section taken through the dotted line in
Fig. 3; Fig. 6, a top or plan view of one of the stops or eyes separately
shown; Fig. 7, a perspective view thereof; Fig. 8 a top view of a tubular
stop or eye; Fig. 9, an underneath view; Fig. 10, a front view; Fig. 11, a
back view of the same. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote
similar corresponding parts.
i
A, A, the covering or fabric of the umbrella or parasol; B, B, ribs or frame;
C, C, top notch; D, D, extending rods or stretchers; E; E, stick or handle
F, F, tubular surface runner sliding thereon; G, G, enclosed slot or bridge.
forming a channel upon the exterior thereof, in which the spring catch H, H,
is placed and secured; I, I, opening in the notched head of the runner-
through which the spring catch passes; J, J, thumb stud passing through the
bridge and screwed into or otherwise firmly secured to the spring in such
manner as to cause the same to be actuated by pressure, so as to release the
bends or angular portions K, K, of the spring catch from the stops or eyes
L, L, when required for opening or closing the umbrella, the said catch being:
caused to take into the fixed stops or eyes at either end of the stick or handle
by its own reaction, and thus retain the umbrella open or closed.
Fig. 12 represents a front view of a double-action surface runner, showing
a modification thereof; Fig. 13, a side view; Fig. 14, a top view; Fig. 15, an
underneath view of the same, in which Figures the spring catch is so formed.
as to admit of being retained by one of the bends being sprung into the staple
opening M, M, in the lower end of the runner, whilst the opposite bend is.
passed into and secured in the notched head of the runner by the same wire
N, N, which holds the extending rods or stretchers, by which arrangement the
bridge, thumb stud, and opening in the notched head are dispensed with, and
the spring firmly held in its position by the curved or angular shoulders O, O,
the action in other respects being precisely the same as before described.
Fig. 16, which is a side view of a double-action surface runner, shows,
another method of securing the spring catch and actuating the same; Fig. 17,
a front view thereof; Fig. 18, a top view; Fig. 19, an underneath view. In
these Figures the spring H is secured firmly to the tube or barrel of the
runner through the medium of a small screw or rivet P, P, whereby each end

page_text: of the spring is caused to act separately or independently of the other, a thumb
stud being secured to the upper and lower portions of the same for that pur-
pose, thus requiring the pressure of the thumb or finger upon the upper thumb
stud when necessary for closing the umbrella, whilst the lower one is in like
manner employed for opening the same.
Fig. 20 shows a side view of a parasol handle with a single-action surface
runner applied thereto; Fig. 21, a detached portion of the stick or handle
representing a side view of the runner, and Fig. 22, an end or underneath
view of the same. In the single-action runner thus referred to, the spring
having but one action, that of keeping the parasol open, may be attached to
the lower portion of the tube or barrel of the runner, as represented at Q, Q;
in which case increased length and elasticity of the spring is obtained and less
pressure required for actuating the same; the stop or eye employed for the
said purpose being placed at the upper portion of the stick or handle between
the cover and lining R, R, and thereby hidden from view.
In conclusion to the foregoing description it may be here necessary to note
that the stops or eyes are so formed as to be readily fitted and secured to
handles of different thicknesses by being closed and rivetted round the same
in the desired position, and that the spring catch may be somewhat modified
in form or placed in any other suitable manner on the runner, by which the
same may be conveniently released and secured in connection with the said
stops or eyes.
Having now described the nature of this my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly understood that I
do not claim as of my Invention the exclusive use of the several parts herein-
before mentioned, except when the same are employed in and for the purposes:
of my said Invention, which I hereby declare to consist in the employment of
the releasing spring catch in connection' with the surface runner and stops or
eyes, in the manner and for the purposes herein-before-set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Weeks, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.