OR IMPROVED METHODS OF MANUFACTURING THE FURNITURE FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1802

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABNER
COWELL LEA, of the Parish of Aston, near Birmingham; in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Second day of January,
in the forty-second year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Abner
Cowell Lea, His especial licence, that I, the said Abner Cowell Lea, during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED METHODS OF MANUFACTURING THE FURNITURE
FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso, obliging me, the said Abner Cowell Lea, under my hand and seal,
to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto bad).
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Abner Cowell Lea, do hereby describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention as follows, that is to say:-
I substitute, use, and apply rods or bars of iron or steel in various parts of

page_text: the construction of umbrellas, parasols, or other instruments or utensils of the
like nature, instead of brass or other less strong, light, and durable' metals
heretofore used, and I do fabricate or manufacture many of the said parts by
the application and use of machinery herein-after described out of iron, steel,
or any other metal suitable to the object and purpose, by which means I
produce a better, and in many respects more valuable article than can be
made by the methods now used and commonly applied; and in order that my
said new and improved methods of manufacturing the said furniture or parts
of umbrellas and parasols may be more fully and clearly apprehended and
understood, I have hereunto annexed certain designs or Drawings of ma-
chinery used in producing the said furniture, in the employ or application of
which said machinery my said method consists. Figure 1 is a perspective
view of the rolling shears for slitting sheet or plate iron or other metal into
rods or bars. A, A, A, A, is an iron frame fastened on the plank B; D, D, are
two spindles whereon the cutters E, E, are fixed; F, F, are two pinions
fixed on the spindles D, D, whose teeth work in each other; G is a handle
or winch which turns the lower spindle D; H is a small back screw
which keeps the top spindle D in its place of work; I, I, I, I, are the
brasses or gudgeons wherein the spindles D, D, work; K, K, are screws
which set or screw the upper spindle D in its proper position; L, L, L, L, are
four stretchers which support or connect the frame A, A, A, A. The metal is
cut or slit in the engine here described, and then drawn through a draw-plate
to the size and form required. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the drawing
machine used for this purpose.. A, A, A, A, is the frame; B, the wheel; C,
the small pinion whose teeth are adapted to fit into B; D, D, D, D, D, D,
the brasses or gudgeon; E, E, E, E, the spindles which work in the gudgeons;
F, F, the handles or winches which turn the spindle E, E, and move the wheel
which turns the roller G; H, the chain which winds round the roller G, and
draws the plyers I; K, K, K, K, are four uprights, made of iron, which are
fixed to the plank or platforin L by screw nuts, or otherwise, and are used to
keep the draw plate M in its place. The metal when drawn is cut-into-
Lengths and afterwards slit, notched, or opened by the rolling shears, Figure 1,.
at one or both ends to any required depth, or by cutters or dies, or otherwise;
it is sawed by circular saws or cutters running in a lathe made for that pur-
pose. Figure 3 is a perspective view of the last-mentioned lathe. A, A, is the
frame; B, the puppet head, bearing a collar on which a mandrel or arbor is
moved; C, the said mandrel, arbor, or spindle; D, D, two circular saws or
cutters. fixed on the spindle C. E, the center-piece block or top wherein one
end of the spindle runs; F, the handle or winch which turns the spindle

page_text: C; G, G, are two supporters or rests, in which raise or fall the guides H, F.
I, I, I, I, are four screws whereon the plates K, K, may be moved or
tilted on either side of the guides, as required; L, L, L, L, are four cheeks
or straight side pieces fixed on the plates K, K, and adjustable thereon, so as
in effect to render the groove or excavation between the same of different
sizes, according to the dimensions of the wires intended to be noticed or slit by
the circular saws or cutters, and the said adjustment is produced by means of
the screws M, M, M, M; M, M, M, M; after the ends of the wire are by this
means slit, notched, or opened, it is then by die and punch formed in a
vice, or under a press; the holes at the end or ends are pierced by a bed and
punch. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the bed and punch. A is the bed,
which fits into the bolster B; C, the punch, which is screwed into a press, or
otherwise used. Figure 5 is a perspective view of an iron stretcher of an
umbrella thus fashioned and made. The stretcher is pickled on the scale,
eaten off by spirits of salt diluted in water, or by being put into grains
or wheaten bran, after which the same is japanned or lacquered of a brass
colour, or of any colour required to prevent the rust penetrating the iron,
or it may be tinned and lacquered of a brass colour, or plated with brass
or any other metal. The above umbrella and parasol furniture may be
made of cast steel, cast iron, or steel prepared by my new methods herein-
before described. The runner may be made from half an inch to any
length required. The iron or tinned iron when rolled to the size and cut
into certain widths is drawn through a draw-plate (vide Figure 2) with round
holes to the diameter required, or hammered round a mandrell; and I also
make brass runners in the same manner, after which, the said runners are
cut off in lengths required, and then soldered up. The bead at the bottom of
the runner may be made of sheet iron, or cast iron, or brass, or any other
metal, and the runner may be ornamented, as required, with the beads; the
notched part of the runner may be made of sheet iron, cast iron, or brass, and
soldered upon the tube. The notches to admit the stretches may be filed or
pierced out under a press, or cut in a lathe by circular saws or cutters, as
herein-before directed, and then japanned, lacquered, or coloured, as aforesaid.
The top-notch or top-piece may be made of wrought iron or steel, pierced under
a press by a suitable pair of tools, or stamped by a pair of tools, and then
japanned, lacquered, or coloured, as aforesaid. The top tips may be made of sheet
iron, or iron tinned, or from a rod of steel or cast iron drilled in a lathe, and
they may be japanned, lacquered, or coloured, as aforesaid. The caps and rings
may be made of cast iron, or stamped out of sheet iron, or sheet iron tinned,
or raised by collars and punches out of sheet iron, or iron tinned, and then

page_text: japanned, lacquered, or coloured, as before. And, lastly, I think it almost
unnecessary to mention that the machinery used in my said: new or improved
methods of manufacturing the furniture for unbrellas and parasols may be driven
or kept in motion by the agency of men, animals, wind, water, steam, or any
other first mover, and that the arrangements,, use, and application of the same
may be, raised according to situations and convenience, and which every com-
petent workman, can sufficiently judge,, and which. it. is therefore altogether
needless to describe.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abner Cowell Lea, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and two.