IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF UMBRELLAS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Porecky, of No. 7, York Street, North
Hackney Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF UMBRELLAS AND
Sealed the 30th September 1858, in pursuance of an Order of the Lord
Chanceller, and dated the 12th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Porecky at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th March 1858.
I, ALEXANDER PORECKY, of No. 7, York Street North, Hackney Road, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF UMBRELLAS AND
PARASOLS," to be as follows, that is to say:—
In order to carry out my said Invention I make the ribs and in certain
cases the stretchers of the frames of umbrellas and parasols after the plan
followed by nature in things similar thereto, as, for example, quills, the
branches of plants, etc., and in which the principles of economy and of
mechanics are manifest in addition to that of ease. In accordance there-
fore with this principle I make the ribs of umbrellas and parasols out of
thin strips of whalebone, or of lamina of other corneous matter, or of other
suitable materials of about and or th of an inch in thickness and from
th to ths of an inch in width, which matters or materials I bend by any
Prion 817

page_text: suitable process into round or eliptical tubes, or some longitudinal section
thereof, leaving the inner or concave part unfilled like a swan or goose quill,
or filling it with a light matter like a porcupine quill, according to the
strength required.
II. I also make the ribs of umbrellas and parasols, whatever their material
may be, stronger or less supple towards the top part or the end-to-be joined
to the notch than at the lower part, by making it from the top downwards
taper like a stŕaw or some longitudinal section thereof, or by making the top
of the rib of a given size (through a given portion of its length, say, from
ard to ths), so that such part shall be substantially or mechanically stronger
than the rest.
In some cases also I make the ribs each of three parts, which parts may,
if desirable, be of different materials, as, for example, cane and whalebone,
brass, iron, and steel, quills, and cane or whalebone, or other suitable
materials, the middle part, as a rule, to be of a stronger material than the
rest, and so made as to form a connecting piece for the upper and lower parts
of the rib and a joining part for the stretchers.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Alexander Porecky
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
PORECKY, of No. 7, York Street North, Hackney Road, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Porecky, Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Porecky,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Porecky, 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 THE
MANUFACTURE OF THE FRAMES OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Porecky, my executors or adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 seven calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Porecky, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings filed with and
which forms part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters
Harked thereon.
I make the ribs for the frames of umbrellas (by which I mean and intend
umbrellas) and parasols of whalebone, or of any suitable material of a cornuous
nature, whether natural or artificial, hollow instead of solid, in a circular or
semicircular, oval or semi-oval tube, or of any longitudinal section of such
tubes. And I do so as follows:- take strips of any of the above-named sub-
stances of the required length, and of such widths and thicknesses as may be
necessary for the strength, size, and form which the ribs are intended to have.
and the degree of tenacity and elasticity of the material of which they are
made, and which I find will generally vary from about three-sixteenths to
three-eighths of an inch in width, and from about one thirty-second to one-
eighth of an inch in thickness, and place such strips in the guides of a
concave or bottom dye of the desired size and form. Fig. 1., A, a, a, a, a,
which shews a dye for four of such strips; Fig. 1., B, is a dye having the
convex parts a', a, a, a, made of such size as may be required in order to
leave sufficient space between the convex and concave surfaces when the
faces of the dyes are pressed together in a parallel line for the thickness of
the strips inserted between them. I subject the dyes with the strips between
them to the action of a wet heat, namely, hot water or steam, but I prefer the
latter. If hot water be used, I immerse them in a bath of boiling or very hot
water; and if steam be employed, I allow the steam to enter by one or more
cocks or inlets, and to flow or pass between the dyes and materials, or along
the grooves of the concave dye, and as soon as the material has become
sufficiently tough, the top or convex dye is pressed or forced on or towards
the concave one, so as to give to the strips of material between them the
desired form and thickness.
:
The required pressure of the convex on or towards the concave one can be
thus effected:- introduce the dyes and the strips W. W. W, W, which are
placed between its guides, as represented in Fig. I., into a rectangular box C

page_text: of iron or other suitable metal, closed at its four sides and at one end, and
having the other end thereof open, as shown at A, B, in Fig. V., which is a
side elevation of the machine, and at A, in Fig. VI., which is an end view
thereof. The steam is admitted through the cock on the pipe at B, or at any
other convenient part or parts. When the steam has been turned on long
enough to render the strips of material between the dyes sufficiently tough,
the handle of the shaft S, Fig. V., is turned, and motion is thereby given to
the bevel wheels W, W, which are keyed on to the shaft and the teeth of those
wheels working into the teeth of the other bevil wheels W W W W a
rotary motion is communicated thereto, and to the screws r. r. which are
connected with W, W; those screws pass through the boss s, s, Fig. V.
and Fig. VI., into the interior of the box, and when thus caused to revolve,
their points e, e, are pressed on the back or top of the upper dye, as shewn at
b, b, b, dotted lines' Fig. V., and forced on or towards the bottom dye, and by
turning the handle in an opposite direction, the screws are wound back or
raised from the back of the top dye. Fig. IV. shows the dyes when taken out
of the box C, the dyes and their contents Fig. II. are then taken out of the
box, and put in a cold bath to cool the dyes and to make the ribs set, and
after a few minutes the strips or ribs, which are then corrugated or otherwise
shaped, are put in a wooden or metal frame, which may be made capable of
containing several dozens of such ribs, constructed with grooves or partitions,
in or between which such ribs are placed longitudinally to keep them straight,
and they may remain therein for some time until they get dry and firm or
nearly so. The top and end tips and the middle pieces are then fixed on the
ribs, and they are ready for joining and mounting on a parasol or umbrella.
When the ribs are to form or present more than half a longitudinal section
of a circular or whole tube, they must, after they have been cooled, be taken
out of the dye and be put in another set of dyes, of which both parts, top and
bottom, are concave, and each of them having half of the form intended to give
to the ribs the ribs must then be placed again in the box and passed through
the same process of heating, pressing, cooling, and drying as before.
The above mentioned process is to be followed in manufacturing hollow
ribs of any material of a cornuous nature, whether natural or artificial, care
being taken in each case to have the dyes suitable for the purpose.
Figs. I and II. are to full size, and the other Figures are to quarter size.
but of course the size may be varied. If it be desired, the ribs can, after they
have been corrugated or otherwise shaped by the means above described, be
filled with a cement or other suitable composition, which will sufficiently
harden and adhere so as to render them solid, or nearly so.

page_text: It is obvious that whalebone or other cornuous materials corrugated or
otherwise shaped as aforesaid may be applied to other purposes besides ribs
of umbrellas and parasols.
My improvements also consist in making ribs for the frames of parasols
and umbrellas, whether they be of whalebone, steel, or other suitable material.
strong and rigid at the upper part to the end which is intended to be connected
with the top notch, antl flexible at the lower part to the other end or tip; but
as such rigidity in the upper part and such flexibility in the lower part of the
ribs are only required in the direction of the curve which the ribs of the
umbrella or parasol will form when it is distended or opened, I give such
rigidity and flexibility only in that direction, and I do so by flattening, by
rollers, or press, or other convenient means, the lower part of the ribs in the
direction of such intended curve to the tip or nearly so; and, if necessary, I
also flatten the upper part of the ribs in a cross direction to such intended
curve such flattening may be commenced about half way between the two
ends of the ribs, or at other distance from the tip as may be desired, for the
purposes of more or less rigidity, or for the contour desired.
My improvements also consist in making ribs for the frames of umbrellas
and parasols of three different parts, properly united together; and for that
purpose I have the centre or middle piece of brass or other suitable metal with
a socket or recess at each end, or otherwise conveniently shaped, so as to
form a connecting piece between the upper and lower parts, which may be of
the same or of different material usually employed for ribs of umbrellas and
parasols. For instance, the upper or lower part may be of whalebone, and the
lower or upper part of cane, or both may be of cane or whalebone. Of course
the end of the upper and end of the lower part which is to be connected with
the centre or middle piece, must be properly rivetted or fastened thereto.
The upper end above referred to is shewn in Fig. VII. by a, and the lower
end or tip is shewn by b, and the flattening in the direction of the intended
curve is shewn by f in the same Figure.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same can or may be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
any part or parts of the machine or process for shaping strips of whalebone, or
cornuous or other material above described, taken separately.; but what I
claim as my Invention, is,-
First, the combination of means above described for shaping strips of
whalebone and cornuous materials, and also compositions used in substitution
thereof which are sufficiently rigid and flexible for the purposes aforesaid.
Second, the flattening of the lower parts of the ribs in the direction of the

page_text: intended curve, and also, when necessary, the flattening of the upper parts of
the ribs in a cross direction, as above described.
Third, the making of the ribs of three parts or pieces; as above described.
Fourth, the right to vary the details or arrangements of the machine or
process above described, without departing from the nature and principal of
my said Invention.
la witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Porecky, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
ALEX. PORECKY. (L.S.)