IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Crook, of East Road, City Road, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS."
Sealed the 25th April 1871, and dated the 28th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Crook at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th October 1870.
I, HENRY. CROOK,. of East Road,. City Road, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
'IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS," to be as follows:-
68
This Invention consists in certain improvements.which are applicable
to the manufacture of umbrellas capable of being enclosed in a hollow
tube which forms the central stick or support, and which may be termed
"walking stick umbrellas," a portion of such improvements being also
applicable to the manufacture of umbrellas of the ordinary kind.
In the construction of "walking stick umbrellas" in accordance with
this Invention, ribs and stretchers and coverings of the ordinary kinds

page_text: are employed, and the wheel or ring to which the upper ends of the ribs
are connected is provided with a socket furnished either with a screw
thread or with a spring catch, by means of which the frame and body of
the umbrella which are separate and distinct from the stick may be
connected therewith. The "runner," or that portion of the umbrella
frame to which the inner extremities of the stretchers are connected,
instead of consisting of a metallic tube as is usually the case is formed
of a series of segments jointed together. To one of such segments a
sliding piece is attached at right angles thereto, and capable of being
passed into a slot or socket in the stick provided for that purpose, and
by which the body of the umbrella is retained in an extended state, the
same being closed by withdrawing the sliding piece from the slot or
socket before mentioned. Another slot or socket is formed in the stick
into which the sliding piece may be passed for the purpose of retaining
the umbrella in a closed state. In this arrangement of the " runner"
the several pieces or segments of which the same is composed are
held and bound together by means of a ring of india-rubber or other
elastic material.
"
Instead of using the arrangements before described in connection with
the "runner for holding and retaining the umbrella in an extended
position, a split or forked piece of steel or steel wire is attached to the wheel
or ring with which the upper ends of the ribs are connected. The lower
ends of such split. or forked piece are curved so as to form hooks which
are respectively capable of being passed over and holding two of the
stretchers,, a slide being placed over the two arms of the split or forked
piece, by means of which they can be tightly held together as long as it
is desired to retain the umbrella in an extended state.
When the arrangement last described is employed it is not essential
that the segments of the " runner "should be held together by an elastic
band.
This portion of the improvements forming the subject of this Invention
is capable of being applied to umbrellas of the ordinary construction
instead of the wire spring hitherto used for the same purpose. The
stick is hollow and may be made of any suitable material, and is
capable of containing the body of the umbrella when the same is
compressed and rolled.up.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Crook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CROOK, of East Road, City Road, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Crook, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Crook, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Crook, 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 UMBRELLAS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Crook, my executors, or administrators, 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 six
calendar months. next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Crook, 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, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists in certain improvements which are
applicable to the manufacture of umbrellas capable of being enclosed
in a hollow tube which when the umbrella is open forms the central
stick or support, and which may be termed "walking stick umbrellas," a
portion of such improvements being also applicable to the manu-
facture of umbrellas of the ordinary kind.

page_text: .
In the construction of “walking stick umbrellas" in accordance with
my Invention, ribs and stretchers and coverings of the ordinary kinds
are employed, and the wheel or ring to which the upper ends of the ribs
are connected is provided with a socket furnished either with a screw
thread or with a. spring catch by means of which the frame and body
of the umbrella, which are separate and distinct from the stick, may be
connected therewith. The "runner," or that portion of the umbrella
frame to which the inner extremities of the stretchers are connected,
instead of consisting of a metallic tube as is usually the case is formed of
a series of segments jointed together.. To one of such segments a sliding
piece is attached at right angles thereto, and capable of being passed
into a slot or socket formed in the stick for that purpose, and by which
the body of the umbrella is retained in an extended state, the same being
closed by withdrawing the sliding piece from the slot or socket before
mentioned. Another slot or socket is formed in the stick, into which the
sliding piece may be passed for the purpose of retaining the umbrella
in a closed state. In this arrangement of the "runner "the several
pieces or segments of which the same is composed are held and bound
together by means of a ring of india-rubber or other elastic material.
Instead of using the arrangements before described in connection with
the "runner for holding and retaining the umbrella in an extended
position, a split or forked piece of metal or metal wire is attached to
the wheel or ring with which the upper ends of the ribs are connected.
The lower ends of such split or forked piece are curved so as to form
hooks which are respectively capable of being passed over and holding
two of the stretchers, or they may take into sockets formed in two of
the segments of which the " runner "is composed, a slide being placed
over the two arms of the split or forked piece by means of which they
can be tightly held together as long as it is desired to retain the umbrella
in an extended state.
"
When the arrangement last described is employed it is not essential
that the segments of the "runner" should be held together by an elastic
band.
This portion of the improvements forming the subject of this
Invention is capable of being applied to umbrellas of the ordinary
construction instead of the wire spring hitherto used for the same
purpose. The stick is hollow and may be made of any suitable material,

page_text: and is capable of containing the body of the umbrella when the same is
compressed and rolled up.
Having thus declared and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in
conclusion that what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim
as constituting the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of umbrellas substan-
tially as herein-before set forth and described, or any mere modifications
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Crook, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.