IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Wardroper, B.A., Graduate of Cambridge,
of Farnley Tyas Parsonage, Huddersfield, in the County of York,
T
ቦ
for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND SUNSHADES.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Wardroper at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th November 1872.
I, ALFRED WARDROPER, B.A., Graduate of Cambridge, of Farnley
Tyas Parsonage, Huddersfield, in the County of York, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND.
BUNSHADES," to be as follows :-
'
This Invention has for its object improvements in umbrellas and
sunshades. I construct the ribs in two parts; the upper part of each
rib is jointed as is usual to the top notch and the lower part is able to
slide upon the upper. Thus I form compound ribs which can be elon-
gated or contracted by the sliding of the one part upon the other.
When the umbrella or sunshade is opened for use the ribs are elongated
and the covering which they support (and which is made in two separate

page_text: parts) is then distended to its full extent. When the umbrella is closed the
ribs are contracted so as to occupy less space than they otherwise would.
To effect this the stretchers which at one end are jointed to the runner
as is usual, are at their other ends jointed to the lower or sliding portions
of the ribs, and each rib at a point intermediate of its length is jointed
to a link which passes up from it to the top notch in which its other
end is received and jointed. These links serve as fulcra for the
stretchers, and by turning about the joints connecting them to the links,
the stretchers in opening and closing the umbrella or sunshade com-
municate to the lower portions of the ribs their longitudinal motion upon
the upper parts.
The covering of the umbrella or sunshade is as before mentioned in
two parts, the upper parts of the ribs or those parts which are held in
the top notch are covered like an ordinary umbrella or sunshade, and
the lower or sliding parts of the ribs are covered with a ring of silk
or fabric, which when the umbrella or sunshade is opened extends
beyond the ordinary covering, and when it is closed is drawn back
within it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Wardroper in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
WARDROPER, B.A., Graduate of Cambridge, of Farnley Tyas Parsonage,
Huddersfield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Wardroper, Her special
license that I, the said Alfred Wardroper, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Wardroper, 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 -

page_text: AND SUNSHADES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Wardroper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Alfred Wardroper, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in umbrellas and sun-
shades. I construct the ribs in two parts; the upper part of each rib is
jointed as is usual to the top notch and the lower part is able to slide
upon the upper. Thus I form compound ribs which can be elongated or
contracted by the sliding of the one part upon the other.
When the
umbrella or sunshade is opened for use the ribs are elongated, and the
covering which they support (and which is made in two separate parts)
is then distended to its full extent. When the umbrella is closed the
ribs are contracted so as to occupy less space than they otherwise would..
To effect this, the stretchers which at one end are jointed to the runner
as is usual are at their other ends jointed to the lower or sliding portions
of the ribs, and each stretcher at a point intermediate of its length is
jointed to a link which passes up from it to the top notch, in which its
other end is received and jointed. These links serve as fulcra for the
stretchers, and by turning about the joints connecting them to the links,
the stretchers in opening and closing the umbrella or sunshade com-.
municate to the lower portions of the ribs their longitudinal motion
upon the upper parts.
The covering of the umbrella or sunshade is, as before mentioned, in
two parts, the upper parts of the ribs or those parts which are held in the
top notch are covered like an ordinary umbrella or sunshade, and the
lower or sliding parts of the ribs are covered with a ring of silk or fabric
which, when the umbrella or sunshade is open, extends beyond the
ordinary covering, and when it is closed is drawn back within it.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a portion of an umbrella or sunshade constructed
according to my Invention. In this Figure, two only of the ribs are
shewn; that on the right-hand side is raised and in the position it
occupies when the umbrella'or sunshade is open, whilst that on the left-
hand side is in the position it assumes when the umbrella or sunshade is
closed. a is the stick of the umbrella or sunshade; b, the top notch to
which, the upper parts c, c, of the ribs are jointed; d, d, are the lower
parts of the ribs. They are able to slide on the upper parts c, c, with
which they are connected by the pieces d', d³, which are fixed upon the
parts d and have eyes in them through which the parts c, c, pass; e, e,
are the stretchers. They are jointed to the runner f upon the stick a
and also to the pieces d³, d, upon the lower ribs d.
9, 9, are links
jointed to the top notch and also to pieces e', e¹, fixed upon the
stretchers e, e.
The colored line / shews in section the covering fabric
which is fixed upon the upper parts c of the ribs, and the similar line i
shews the covering fabric which the lower parts d, d, of the ribs carry.
Elongating ribs, such as those shewn, may be applied all around an
umbrella or sunshade, but they may also very advantageously be applied
to enlarge an umbrella or sunshade on one side only. Thus Figure 2 is
a plan shewing an umbrella or sunshade with four such ribs, and the
remaining ribs are single. A surface of a given area arranged in this
manner will afford a much more effectual protection than an ordinary
umbrella of the same area.
What I claim is the construction of umbrellas and sunshades with
compound ribs which can be elongated an contracted substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Wardroper, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
ALFRED WARDROPER. (L.S.)'