IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris,
France, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
TT
Sealed the 21st November 1854, and dated the 3rd June 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand le Comte
de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 3rd June 1854.
I, PETER ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, France, Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS" to be as follows:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in constructing umbrellas and
parasols that shall close within a small compass. Figure 1 of the annexed
Drawing is the vertical section of such an umbrella when distended; Figure 2,
the same when nearly closed and the cover removed. The handle K in the
latter Figure is composed of tubes sliding one within the other, shown at
A, A", A, where it is thus elongated. The extremity of the handle is

page_text: provided with a ring Q, to which are adapted the folling ribs P, each of which
is formed of four blades, connected at their extremnities by means of a slot and
pin i. c, c, arms, forked, similarly to those commonly employed in umbrellas, to
stretch the covering; the knobs b, b, serve to fasten on the cover. p, hinge, for
folding up the ribs P.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, med
by the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 2nd December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND le Comte DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street, Finsbury,
London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, France, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license,
that I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand le
Comte de Fontaine Moreau, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," communicated to me
by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
Figures of the Drawing hereto annexed, and to the letters marked thereon, that
is to say:-
The Invention consists in constructing umbrellas and parasols to close up
in a small volume. In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section,
drawn through the axis of an umbrella according to the new system; Figure 2,
plan of the branches extended, without the covering; Figure 3 represents the
said branches folded up and fixed to the handle; Figure 4 represents the
umbrella folded up into the form of a pocket-book; Figure 5 shews a modified
form of construction.
Figure 1 shews the handle of the umbrella. It is composed of four tubular
pieces A, A, A, A, sliding one within the other. At the lower extremity of
the tubes A', A", A, the guide n is fixed, which works in a slot made in the
said tubes. The guide n serves to direct the tubes when being drawn out to
their full length, and to fix them when drawn out by entering a notch O,
Figure 3, at the extremity of cach slot, and which is made at right angles to
it. By turning the handle from left to right, the guide n is disengaged from
the notches O, and the tubes composing the handle may be slid one within the
other, thereby reducing the length of the umbrella stick. The upper extremity
of the tube A is furnished with a ring q, to which the branches P are adjusted.
Each of the branches is composed of four iron or steel joints a, a, a¹, a¹¹,
which are joined together in the following mauner, as shewn by Figure 2:-
The joints a, a, are joined together by an ordinary hinge. The joints a¹, a¹¹, are
united by the following arrangement:-The extremity d of the joint a is
provided with a small slot i, open on one side, so as allow the pin x, which
is fixed to the extremity of the joint a', to enter and engage itself in the slot i.
The extremity d¹ of the joint a" has also a slot i, which serves to fix the
joint a to the joint a', by means of a pin and brass washer a³, which permits
the extremities of the joints a' and a" to move freely. To fold up one of the
branches P, it is necessary to pull it out until the pin a comes opposite the
slot i, when it is pushed from right to left, so as to disengage the pin x. In
this action the joints perform a semicircular movement, as shewn by the
branch 3, and become folded up. The reverse of this operation is performed
in order to open the branches, and the pins a entering into their respective
notches make the branches perfectly stiff. Figure 2 shews five of the branches
unfolded, and three folded up around the handle K, Figure 1. Figure 3
shews the umbrella folded up and divested of its covering, each part being

page_text: therein shewn in its proper position when folded, and the stick shortened, as
before explained. When the umbrella is to be folded up, the balls b, Figure 1,
sewn to the corners of the cover, are detached, the branches are folded as before
described, and the covering which is fixed to the top Q, Figure 1, is folded and
introduced into a case, having the form of a pocket-book or portfolio, as repre-
sented by Fig. 4. The handles & branches are afterwards introduced into the
back of the said pocket-book or portfolio, as shewn by dotted lines, so as to be
kept apart from the covering.
When the umbrella is to be opened, the covering is first unfolded, the
branches are then opened out and fixed. The corners of the covering are each
attached to their respective branches by means of the little balls b, Figure 1.
The handle K is pulled out to its full length, and the branches are distended
by means of the forks C, Figure 1, as in ordinary umbrellas.
A modification of the arrangement herein-before described, is represented
in Figure 5. The joints of the branches which support the covering are
composed of oval tubes, made to slide within each other. At the extremities
of cach tube there is a spring r, to which is adapted a pin S. On drawing out
the branches the pin S catches in a notch t, made at the extremity of each of
the tubes, and fixes the branches at their full length. When the umbrella is
to be folded up and placed in its envelope, the extremity i of each of the
springs is pressed with the finger to detach the pin S from the catch t, and
permit the tubes to be pushed one within the other, thus reducing the
length of the branches. The forks are composed of two parts, joined by a
hinge 7, which permits them to fold upon each other, and when unfolded to
distend the branches. When the forks are in position, the covering of the
umbrella is fixed, by pressing the screw cap q upon the socket W. The
guide n in the socket W enters the slot K in the upper end of the tube A¹¹¹
and serves to fix the position of the covering of the umbrella. When the top y'
of the umbrella, forming past with the washer W, is in position, the balls bare
attached to the hooks adapted to each extremity of the branches. It is now
only necessary to push up the slide M, to which the forks are adapted, which
permits the spring g₁ to fall into the notch r, by which the covering of the
umbrella becomes spread. To fold up the umbrella, I unfix the balls b and
unscrew the handle. The other operations are the same as herein-before
described.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details of construction herein laid down, as they may be

page_text: varied; but what I claim as new, and intended to be protected by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is the mode of constructing folding
umbrellas and parasols, as herein-before described, and referred to in the
Figures of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this First day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.s.)