IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RUNNER NOTCHES AND TOP NOTCHES FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Cox, the younger, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and Robert Harrington, of Birming-
ham, aforesaid, Machinist, and William Holland, of King's Norton, in
the County of Worcester, Tool Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RUNNER NOTCHES AND TOP NOTCHES FOR
UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Cox, Robert
Harrington, and William Holland at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 30th June 1860.
We, THOMAS Cox, the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, and ROBERT HARRINGTON, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Machinist,
and WILLIAM HOLLAND, of King's Norton, in the County of Worcester,
Tool Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RUNNER NOTCHES AND TOP NOTCHES FOR UMBRELLAS
AND PARASOLS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in manufacturing runner notches and top notches
for umbrellas and parasols from sheet metal by the methods herein-after
described.
According to our first improvement we cut, from sheet iron or brass or other
suitable metal or alloy, blanks having the form of flat rings, the said rings being

page_text: larger in diameter than the notches to be manufactured. The breadth of the
rings, that is the admeasurement from the internal to the external edge of the
ring, at any part is equal to that of the notches to be manufactured. A series
of radial slits are cut in the rings, the said slits extending from the outer
edge about half way to the inner edge of the ring. The number of these slits
is double that of the ribs or stretchers to be jointed to the finished notches.
The distances of these slits from one another is such that when the notch
is finished the wire which forms the joint lies in the said slits. The blanks
described are operated upon by dies, which are so formed as to press a
series of radial depressions or corrugations in the said blanks. The diameter
of the ring is thereby much diminished, more than one-half the netal being
taken to form the deep undulations or corrugations. The said undulations or
corrugations are formed in such positions on the ring, that the before men-
tioned slits are situated on the sides of the undulations or corrugations and
form a continuous groove round the notch.
In runner and top notches constructed according to our Invention the
ends of the ribs and stretchers are supported by the bottoms of the undulations
or corrugations as well as by the wire of which the joint is made.
In manufacturing runner and top notches according to our second improve
ment, we make the said notches of short pieces of tubing in which we make
corrugations parallel with the axis of the tube. A groove is cut round the
projecting part of the corrugations for the wire forming the joint. The
said groove may be made either before or after the corrugations are made.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Cox, Robert Harrington, and William Holland in 2
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
Cox, the younger, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
and ROBERT HARRINGTON, of Birmingham, aforesaid, Machinist, and WILLIAM
HOLLAND, of King's Norton, in the County of Worcester, Tool Maker, send 8
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said 3
Thomas Cox, Robert IIarrington, and William Holland, Her special licence

page_text: that we, the said Thomas Cox, Robert Harrington, and William Holland, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas
Cox, Robert Harrington, and William Holland, our 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF RUNNER NOTCHES AND TOP
NOTCHES FOF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," upon the condition (amongst others}
that we, the said Thomas Cox, Robert Harrington, and William Holland, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, or them, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Cox, on behalf of myself and
the said Robert Harrington, and William Holland, 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 :-
Our Invention consists, firstly, in manufacturing runner notches and top
notches for umbrellas and parasols from sheet metal in the manner herein-
after particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In carrying this part of our Invention into effect we cut from sheet iron,
brass, or other suitable metal or alloy, by means of ordinary cutting tools
worked in a press or stamp, blanks having the form of flat rings, the said rings
being larger in diameter than the notches to be manufactured.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents in plan and edge view
a ring or blank of the kind used in carrying out this part of our Invention.
The breadth of the said ring, Figure 1, that is, the admeasurement from the
internal to the external edge of the ring at any part, is equal to that of the
notch to be made. We take the said ring, Figure 1, and placing it in any
ordinary piercing press or machine, pierce or make in its external edge a series
of nearly radial piercings or slits a, as represented in the plan and edge view
of a pierced ring, Figure 2. The piercings or slits a in the ring, Figure 2,
extend about one half across the breadth of the said ring, as represented. The
number of the said piercings or slits a is double that of the ribs or stretchers
to be jointed to the finished notch, the wire forming the joint of the said notch

page_text: lying in the said piercings or slits, as herein-after explained. The blank or ring,
Figure 2, is next successively operated upon by a series of pairs of dies or tools,
in the manner represented in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6 of the Drawing, so as to
press or form two radial depressions or corrugations at opposite sides of the ring
at the operation of each pair of dies or tools; that is to say, the ring, Figure 2, is
first operated upon by a pair of dies so as to form the two depressions or corru-
gations b, b, Figure 3, which said Figure 8 represents a plan and edge views,
the latter being taken in its longer and shorter directions respectively of a ring
treated in this way. The partially formed notch, Figure 3, is next operated
upon in another pair of dies, so as to form two additional depressions or corru-
gations c, c, therein, as represented in the plan and edge view, Figure 4, and
the partially formed notch; Figure 4 is again operated upon by another pair
of dies, and the additional depressions or corrugations d, d, made as repre-
sented in Figure 5, and the partially formed notch, Figure 5, is finished by the
two additional depressions or corrugations c, c, being made therein, as repre-
sented in Figure 6, which represents plans of the upper and lower sides, and
an edge view of a finished notch made according to our Invention. There is
thereby produced a series of nearly radial depressions or corrugations b, c, d, e,
at equidistant points on the ring, each of the said depressions or corrugations
being formed from the metal situated between two of the slits or piercings a, a,
in the ring. The said slits or piercings are situated on the sides of the depres-
sions or corrugations, as represented in the several Figures of the notches.
thereby producing in the finished notch, Figure 6, a continuous groove f
round the notch, in which said groove f the wire lies, forming the joint of the
notch. By the formation of the said depressions or corrugations b, c, d, and e,
the diameter of the ring is much diminished, more than one half of the metal
being taken to form the said depressions or corrugations b, c, d, and e;
Figure 6 represents a notch made according to our Invention, and by soldering
or attaching a tube thereto, as illustrated in section in Figure 7, a runner is
produced. By soldering or attaching a shorter tube to the said notch a top
notch is produced. In runner and top notches, constructed according to this
part of our Invention, the ends of the ribs or stretchers are supported by the
bottoms of the deep depressions or corrugations b, c, d, and e, Figure 6, as
well as by the wire lying in the groove f, upon which the ribs or stretchers
turn. The pressing or shaping dies or tools which we employ for forming or
pressing the depressions or corrugations b, c, d, and e, in the notch are of the
kind ordinarily used for shaping metals for other purposes, and we therefore
do not think it necessary either to describe or represent the said dies or tools.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in manufacturing runner notches and top

page_text: notches for umbrellas and parasols from short pieces of tubing, as herein-after
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
:
In carrying this part of our Invention into effect we take a piece of tubing
of the required diameter and thickness of metal, and we make in the said tube.
by drawing or otherwise, a series of radial corrugations, the said corrugations
running parallel to the axis of the tube and equidistant from each other, and
of a number equal to the number of the notches required in the finished
runner notch or top notch. We next make across the projections formed
between the corrugations grooves at suitable intervals for the wire to lie in
forming the joint, and afterwards cut the said tube transversely into pieces of
the required length for the notch. The grooves in the tube for the wire of the
joint may be made in the tube before or after the corrugations are made
therein.
Figure 8 of the Drawing represents in side elevation, and Figure 9 in end
elevation, a piece of tubing, from which we manufacture notches according to
our Invention; 9, 9, are the corrugations in the said tube running parallel
with the axis of the tube; the said corrugations having the depth best seen
in the end view, Figure 9. Across the projections h, h, formed between the
said corrugations 9, 9, grooves at suitable intervals are cut, in which grooves
the wires forming the joint of the runner or top notch lie, as is well under-
stood. By means of a circular saw or other cutting instrument the said tube,
Figure 8, is cut or sliced at the dotted lines i, i, thereby forming notches, one
of which is shown in front elevation in Figure 9, and edge view in Figure 10.
The groove in the notch is marked k in Figure 10. By attaching or soldering
a tube to the notch, Figures 9 and 10, a runner or top notch is produced. We
sometimes modify this part of our Invention by cutting short pieces or lengths
from a plain or cylindrical tube, each of the said pieces or lengths being long
enough for a notch. We afterwards corrugate and groove the said pieces or
lengths into the shape represented in Figures 9 and 10, and make runners and
top notches therefrom by attaching or soldering thereto tubes of the required
length.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of our Invention; but we
claim as our Invention,―
Firstly, the improvement in the manufacture of runner notches and top
notches for umbrellas and parasols, herein before described and illustrated in
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,

page_text: making tho said notches from rings of metal pierced and bent, or shaped in
the manner herein-before described with reference to the accompanying
Drawing, which said notches are made into runners or top notches by
attaching or soldering a tube to the said notches.
Secondly, the improvement in the manufacture of runner notches and top
notches for umbrellas and parasols herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 8, 9, and 10 of the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, making the
said notches from tubes having radial corrugations by cutting the said tubes
transversely into suitable lengths, or by cutting suitable lengths from plain
tubing, and afterwards corrugating and grooving the same, which said notches
are made into runners or top notches by attaching or soldering à tube to the
said notches.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Cox, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS COX, JN. (L.S.)