IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rubery, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS."
Scaled the 23rd June 1857, and dated the 14th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rubery at the
Office of the Commissioners of, Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th April 1857.
I, JOHN RUBERY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS," to be as follows:-
Heretofore in the manufacture of umbrella and parasol ribs it has been
usual first to cut the wire into lengths, and by means of one pair of dies to
raise the knob or ball at the tip end; then by another pair to flatten a part.
near the knob, which is afterwards pierced to form the eye; and, lastly, by
means of a third pair of dies to flatten the upper or top notch end of the rib,
the piece of wire being carried from die to die to effect the operations above
mentioned. Now this Invention consists in manufacturing umbrella and
parasol ribs by means of dies, which form at one time the knob and flat part
near the knob at the end of one rib, and also the flat part at the top notch
end of another rib... The wire is fed between these dies in a continuous length,

page_text: and the ribs as formed by the dies are so far separated from one another that
they can easily be broken apart by hand, or even they break apart by their
own weight working together with the first dies. I use other dies, which at
the same time make an indentation in the middle of the rib, to receive the
middle bit to which the stretcher is jointed. This indentation is usually made
at a separate operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Rubery in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, JoHN
RUBERT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date tho Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Rubery, Her special licence that I, the said John Rubery, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Rubery, 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 UMBRELLA AND PARASOL RIBS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Rubery, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 John Rubery, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:―
Heretofore in the manufacture of umbrella and parasol ribs it has been
usual first to cut the wire into lengths, and by means of one pair of dies to.

page_text: raiso the knob or ball at the tip end; then by another pair to flatten a part
near the knob, which is afterwards pierced to form the eye; and, lastly, by.
means of a third pair of dies to flatten the upper or top notch end of the rib;
the piece of wire being carried from die to die to effect the operations above
mentioned. Now, this Invention consists in manufacturing umbrella and
parasol ribs by means of dies which form at one time the knob and flat part
near the knob at the end of one rib, and also the flat part at the top notch
end of another rib. The wire is fed between these dies in a continuous length,
and the ribs as formed by the dies are so far separated from one another that
they can easily be broken apart by hand, or even they broak apart by their
own weight. Working together with the first dies I use other dies, which, at
the same time, make an indentation in the middle of the rib to receive the
middle bit to which the stretcher is jointed; this indentation is usually mado
at a separate operation.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 of the Drawing shows a side view of a fly press furnished with
dies suitable for forming at one time the knob and flat part near the knob at
the end of one rib, and also the flat part at the top notch end of another rib;
and placed at a suitable distance from this fly press is a stamp for making the
indentation in the middle of the rib to receive the middle bit to which the
stretcher is jointed. The fly press and the stamp are both of the ordinary
construction, and therefore these machines are merely indicated in the
Drawing; but the dies with which they work are shown of the size generally
used for umbrella ribs when 18 guage wiro is employed. The length of wire
from which the ribs are to be made is fed by hand, or otherwise under the dies,
ns is shown by the Drawing, so that its end abutts against the stop a, and then
the workman at the same time brings the upper die of the fly press down on
to the under one, so as to strike the wire to the form required, and also raises
his foot with the stirrup of the stamp, so as to let the upper die fall to produce
the indentation near the middle of the rib. The lower dies of the fly press
and of the stamp are shown in plan at Figure 2, and the upper dies are in all
respects similar to the lower ones; as the ribs are formed they are broken off*
from the length of wire. The dies being so formed as to render the metal
very thin at the point where the division is to take place. It will be seen,

page_text: that the dies are formed with several indentations, so that, if it is desired,
several lengths of wire may be made into ribs at the same time.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rubery, havo hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
HENRY NEWEY,
17, Upper Gough Street,
Birmingham.
JOHN RUBERY. (L.S.)