IMPROVEMENTS IN WALKING STICKS AND STICKS FOR UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Dangerfield, of Chalford, in the County
of Gloucester, Umbrella Stick Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WALKING STICKS AND STICKS FOR UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS,
AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."
i
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Dangerfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th May 1870.
I, WILLIAM DANGERFIELD, of Chalford, in the County of Gloucester,
Umbrella Stick Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WALKING STICKS AND STICKS FOR UMBRELLAS,
PARASOLS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," to be as follows :—
The object of my Invention is to produce a more convenient and
stronger handle than- heretofore for the sticks of umbrellas and other
analogous articles. "The handles of a large proportion of umbrellas and
walking sticks, have heretofore been produced simply by bending the end
of the stick either into a curve or as near a right angle as possible, and

page_text: this is done in a bending machine after the wood has been prepared by
steaming or otherwise, as is well known. It has been found that bent
handles so produced have a tendency to come back to the original form
of the wood, and, moreover, the bending process weakens the handle at
the bend. To obviate these objections I propose to adapt to the back or
outer part of the curve a block either of wood, wire, or other suitable
substance, which when secured in place by pins, studs, screws, or other
convenient devices will hold and strengthen the handle and support it in
the desired position. This block may be trimmed up to correspond to
the outline of the handle, and in this way may be made to produce a
straight horizontal handle, which it is difficult, if not impossible, to
produce in the bending process alone. The block may be made of wood
or other material of similar or different colour, as may be preferred, and
of course may be made ornamental.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Dangerfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DANGERFIELD, of Chalford, in the County of Gloucester, Umbrella Stick
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Dangerfield, Her special licence that I,
the said William Dangerfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Dangerfield, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 WALKING STICKS AND STICKS
FOR UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, AND OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Dangerfield, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
.

page_text: 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 William Dangerfield, 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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
The object of my Invention is to produce a more convenient and
stronger handle than heretofore for the sticks of umbrellas and other
analogous articles. The handles of a large proportion of umbrellas and
walking sticks have heretofore been produced simply by bending the end
of the stick either into a curve or as near a right angle as possible, and
this is done in a bending machine after the wood has been prepared or
softened by steaming or otherwise, as is well known. It has been found
that bent handles so produced have a tendency to come back to the
original form of the wood, and, moreover, the bending process weakens
the handle at the bend. To obviate these objections I propose to adapt
to the back or outer part of the curve a block either of wood, ivory, or
other suitable substance, which, when secured in place by cement, pins, -
studs, screws, or other convenient devices, will hold and strengthen the
handle, and support it in the desired position. This block may be
trimmed up to correspond to the outline of the handle, and in this way
may be made to produce a straight horizontal handle, which it is difficult
if not impossible to produce by the bending process alone. The block
may be made of wood, ivory, or other material of similar or different
colour to the stick, as may be preferred, and of course may be made
ornamental.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn the way in which I
propose to carry out my Invention.
Fig. 1 represents a stick with a handle bent in the ordinary manner
after being steamed and softened. In order to prevent the handle from
bending back again I form a recess at the back of the bend as repre-
sented in Fig. 1, and I let into this recess a piece or block a of wood,
ivory, or other suitable substance, as shewn at Fig. 2; this block may

page_text: be secured in place by glue or cement, as shewn at Fig. 2, or by means
of a pin, stud, or screw b, as shewn at Fig. 3.. When the block of wood,
ivory, or other material has been secured in place by any of the plans
above mentioned it will act as a strut to prevent the handle from
returning towards the vertical position, and upon being shaped and
finished, as shewn at Fig. 3, it will complete the horizontal handle of
the stick.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent a modification of the plan just described.
In this instance the block a to complete the handle is not let into a
recess, as shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3, but is simply glued and pinned
on to the bend of the stick, a portion of the bend having been cut away,
as shewn by dots at Fig. 4, and the block a when fitted to the bend is
glued thereon and further secured by wooden pins c, c, as seen at Fig. 5.
The handle is then finished by staining and polishing, and will present
the appearance shown at Fig. 6.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Walking
Sticks and Sticks for Umbrellas, Parasols, and other analogous Articles,"
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,
forming, completing, or strengthening the handles of the above-named
articles by the adaptation thereto of blocks of wood, ivory, or other
suitable material, as herein set forth.
In witness whicrcof, I, the said William Dangerfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy
W. DANGERFIELD. (L.S.)