IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS and PARASOLS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Holland, of the Firm of Cox Brothers
and Holland, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manu-
facturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS and
PARASOLS."
Sealed the 20th March 1874, and dated the 25th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Holland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1873.
I, WILLIAM HOLLAND, of the Firm of Cox Brothers and Holland,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS
AND PARASOLS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to the stretcher joints of umbrellas and
parasols, and consists of the improvements herein-after described in
constructing and attaching the middle bit of the stretcher joint to the
rib. The said middle bit of the stretcher joint consists of a piece of

page_text: sheet metal bent into a trough form, the fork of the stretcher being
jointed to the sides of the middle bit beyond the rib to which it is
fixed.
In constructing and attaching the middle bit of the stretcher joint I
proceed as follows:-I cut the middle bit from sheet metal by means of
a press and press tools in the ordinary way, and I make in the said
middle bit while in the flat two parallel longitudinal incisions, the said
incisions occupying the middle of the bit and extending along about
one-third of the said bit. The portion thus partly separated from the
bit forms a central bar, which central bar is raised out of the plane of
the other part of the bit.
In connecting the middle bit to the rib of the umbrella or parasol the
said rib is passed under the raised cross bar of the middle bit, and by
means of raising tools worked in a press; the middle bit is bent into a
trough form and closed or compressed around the rib, that is to say,
the cross bar of the middle bit is compressed inside the hollow rib, and
the parts of the middle bit on either side the said cross bar are com-
pressed around the outside of the rib. The said middle bit is thereby
secured very firmly to the rib.
Instead of compressing the cross bar of the middle bit inside the
trough of the rib, it may be compressed on the outside of the rib, the
parts of the middle bit on either side of it being in this case compressed
inside the trough of the rib. In this modification the rib is passed over
the cross bar of the middle bit before the latter is bent into a trough
form instead of under it, as first described.
Instead of the cross bar described on the middle bit for connecting it
to the rib, the said middle bit may have on its inner sides ears or pro-
iecting pieces, which ears or projecting pieces, when the middle bit is
closed upon the outside of the rib, are compressed upon the inner side
of the rib, and thereby hold the middle bit firmly in its place.
The middle bits of stretcher joints constructed according to my
Invention may be applied to solid ribs as well as to hollow or trough´
ribs.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Holland in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLLAND, of the Firm of Cox Brothers and Holland, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Holland, Her special license that
I, the said William Holland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Holland, 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 UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Holland;
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 Scal
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 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 :-
My Invention has reference to the stretcher joints of umbrellas and
parasols, and consists of the improvements herein-after described in
constructing and attaching the middle bit of the stretcher joint to the
rib. The said middle bit of the stretcher joint consists of a piece of
sheet metal bent into a trough form, the fork of the stretcher being
jointed to the sides of the middle bit beyond the rib to which it is
fixed.

page_text: i
In constructing and attaching the middle bit of the stretcher joint I
proceed as follows:-I cut the middle bit from sheet metal by means of
a press and press tools in the ordinary way, and I make in the said
middle bit while in the flat two parallel longitudinal incisions; the said
incisions occupying the middle of the bit and extending along about
two-thirds of the said bit. The portion thus partly separated from the
bit forms a central bar, which central bar is raised out of the plane of
the other part of the bit.
In connecting the middle bit to the rib of the umbrella or parasol, the
said rib is passed under the raised cross bar of the middle bit, and by 1
means of raising or shaping tools worked in a press the middle bit is
bent into a trough form and closed or compressed around the rib, that
is to say, the cross bar of the middle bit is compressed inside the hollow.
rib, and the parts of the middle bit on either side the said cross bar are
compressed around the outside of the rib. The said middle bit is thereby 1
secured very firmly to the rib.
Instead of compressing the cross bar of the middle bit inside the
trough of the rib, it may be compressed on the outside of the rib, the
parts of the middle bit on either side of it being in this case compressed
inside the trough of the rib. In this modification the rib is passed over. 2
the cross bar of the middle bit before the latter is bent into a trough
form, the convex side of the rib being presented to the cross bar..
Instead of the cross bar described on the middle bit for connecting it
to the rib the said middle bit may have on its inner sides ears or pro-
jecting pieces, which ears or projecting pieces, when the middle bit is 2
closed upon the outside of the rib, are compressed upon the edge and
inner side of the rib, and thereby hold the middle bit firmly in its place
on the rib.
The middle bits of stretcher joints constructed according to my
Invention may be applied to solid ribs as well as to hollow or trough 3
ribs:
I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying
0

page_text: by means of cutting tools worked in a press a blank of the form repre-
sented in Figure 1, the holes for the joint pin of the stretcher fork being
pierced in the sheet metal from which the blank is cut or pierced in the
blank after it has been cut out. In the pierced blank, Figure 1, two
parallel incisions marked a, a, are cut, as represented in Figure 2. The
part between the said incisions a, a, forms a central bar marked b, which
said bar 6 is raised out of the plane of the blank in the manner repre-
sented in side elevation, longitudinal section, and cross section in
Figure 3. The partly made middle bit Figure 3, consisting of a central
raised bar 6 and two side bars c, c, in the same plane, is now ready to be
attached to the rib. To effect this the rib d, with its hollow or trough
side upwards, is passed under the raised cross bar 6 in the manner
represented in plan and cross section in Figure 4. The parts being thus
arranged, the middle bit is operated upon by means of shaping tools
worked in a press so as to bend it into a trough form around the outside
of the rib, and at the same time compress the side bars c, c, upon the
outside of the rib and compress the middle bar 6 inside the hollow of
the rib, and thereby securely fix the middle bit to the rib, as illustrated
in cross section, side elevation, and plan in Figure 5. In the said
Figure 5 a stretcher fork e is shown jointed to the middle bit thus fixed
on the rib, the joint pin ƒ of the fork being passed through the piercings
in the sides of the middle bit, and rivetted as usual.
Figure 6 represents in plan, side elevation, and cross section a middle
bit of the construction described secured to a solid rib. In this case the
raised cross bar 6 is compressed around one-half of the rib, and the side
bars c, c, around the other half of the rib.
1
. Figure 7 represents in plan, cross section, and side elevation the said.
middle bit secured to a hollow rib by compressing the central cross bar.
b outside the rib and compressing the side bars c, c, inside the rib.. In
securing the middle bit to the rib in the last described manner the rib.
trough sidė upwards is passed under the raised bar of the blank, so as
to present the convex side of the rib to the said bar b, as illustrated in
Figure 8. The parts being thus arranged the blank is operated upon by.
shaping tools, and raised into a trough form around the rib d, the side
bars c, c, being at the same time compressed within the hollow of.the.
rib and the middle bar 6 around the outside of the said rib, as repre-
sented in the said Figure 7.

page_text: Figure represents in cross section this modiùcation appòed to a solid
rib. In this case the side bars c, c, are compressed around the inner
half of the solid rib d and the central bar around the outer half of the
said solid rib d.
Figure 13 represents another middle bit constructed according to my
Invention, and Figures 10, 11, and 12 represent the blank before it is
raised into a trough form and fixed to the rib. The blank Figure 10
having been cut out and pierced with holes for the joint pin of the
stretcher fork, ears or projecting pieces h, h, are next made on the inner
side of the said blank, or that side which is presented to the rib. The
blank thus prepared is represented in Figure 11. The rib d is now
placed across the blank Figure 11, with its trough side upwards, as
illustrated in Figure 12, when it is operated upon by shaping tools
worked in a press, and the said blank raised into a middle bit, and the
said middle bit closed upon and fixed to the outside of the rib. During
the closing operation the ears or projecting pieces h, h, of the middle
bit are compressed inwards upon the edge and inner side of the rib 6, as
illustrated in section, plan, and side elevation in Figure 13, and the said
middle bit, thereby securely fixed in its place on the rib. The stretcher
fork i is jointed to the middle bit on the rib in the ordinary way. This
construction of middle bit may be applied to solid ribs as well as to
hollow or trough ribs.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention, but I claim as my Invention, the improvements in con-
structing and attaching the middle bits of the stretcher joints of
umbrellas and parasols herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing, that is to say, forming a raised cross bar in the
middle of the blank from which the middle bit is made, and shaping the
said blank into trough form around the rib, and at the same time
compressing the central bar and the parts on either side of it around.or
within and without the rib, as herein-before described and illustrated in
Figures 1 to 9, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawing, also fixing
the middle bit to the rib by means of ears or projecting pieces on the
inner side of the blank, which ears or projecting pieces are closed upon

page_text: or around the rib, substantially as berein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 10 to 13, both inclusive, of the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Holland, have hereunto set
4
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM HOLLAND. (L.S.)