IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS. PART OF WHICH IMPROVE. MENTS IS APPLICABLE TO WALKING STICKS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Willis, of Little Britain, in the City of
London, Umbrolla Furniture Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS. PART OF WHICH IMPROVE.
MENTS IS APPLICABLE TO WALKING STICKS."
Seuled the 29th June 1860, and dated the 19th April 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Willis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
April 1860.
I, JAMES WILLIS, of Little Britain, in the City of London, Umbrella
Furniture Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS, PART OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO WALKING STICKS," to be as follows:—
This Invention relates to certain novel meaus of improving the appearance,
increasing the strength, reducing the weight and bulk,and otherwise improv-
ing the construction of umbrellas and parasols, whereby among other advan-
tages the rain falling upon an umbrella or parasol may be diverted from one
or more of the tips and allowed to fall from the remainder. With the view
of strengthening the frame, while reducing its diameter when closed, I pro.
pose when using that class of top notches and runners, which have their
respective notches cut through to the stick, to apply a solid annular shoulder
[Price 8d.1

page_text: under the ring of notches, which shoulder may be secured by brazing or
soldering. In place of constructing the rings employed in making top notches
and runners as heretofore, I propose to form them from solid steel, iron, or
other metal rods. To this end I groove the rod throughout its length to form
the radial notches. I then turn the annular grooves for the wire, borc out the
centre, and cut off the finished rings. By this means solid in place of welded
or soldered rings of wrought metal will be produced. The crossheads of the
stretchers and ribs which enter the annular grooves I propose to Sit loosely
into the ends of the stretchers àfd ribs, and to give them a segmental shape,
and make then of such length that the set of heads shall fill the groove of
the top notch or runner, and be in it like a ring. The ribs and stretchers
will then be free to turn on their cross heads.
To improve the curve of umbrellas and parasols when open, and also to
roduce their diameter when closed, I propose to flatten the ribs for a portion
of their length between the tip and the junction with the stretcher by sub-
mitting the ribs to the pressure of an excentric roll which will nip and flatten
them at the part that lies against the runner. To facilitate the manufacture
of the hooked springs used in the best class of umbrellas and parasols for
holding them open or closed, (which springs have a hook at each end, and
are so mounted as to allow of these hooks being rocked to throw them
out of action by pressing on the middle of the spring), I propose, instead of
forging them as heretof re, to construct them of sheet steel, cutting out first a
proper shaped blank, and then doubling up the ends along the middle of the
strip; Ithusobtain: great stiffness where the same is required, and such elasticity
in the middle of the spring as will enable it to answer to a slight pressure of
the finger when the umbrella or parasol is required to be opened or closed.
For the sake of lightness I propose when wood is used in place of cane,
or of metal tubing for the central stick or stem of umbrellas, to bore out the
stick from the point upwards to any given distance, the effect of which will be
to throw the weight towards the handle without materially reducing the
strength of the stick; and in place of japanning the tubular metallic stems
of umbrellas and parasols I propose to veneer them with wood or with vul-
canized rubber. To this end I form wood shavings with chamfered edges
of suitable breadth, and lay them by preference helically round the tubes
securing them thereto by a suitable adhesive composition. When dry I
finish them off and polish them, thereby producing elegant and strong sticks.
When using the vulcanized rubber, I coat the tube with the soft or uncured
material, and submit it to heat in the ordinary way to harden it. This part
of my Invention relates also to the manufacture of tubes for walking sticks.

page_text: The last part of my Invention relates to a means of preventing the rain
from dripping from one or more tips when the umbrella is in use, it being
often the case that the rain falling from the forward tip or tips is drifted by
the wind on to the person carrying the umbrella. To avoid this I propose to
give to one or more of the tips a tendency to turn: upwards as the umbrella is
opened, and thus form a kind of gutter in the covering which will divert the
water laterally, and cause it to fall from the adjoining tips. This automatic
motion may
be effected in various ways, viz., by jointing the rib near the tip,
and connecting the jointed piece with the stretcher, to which the rib is
attached by a cord, and also to the cover of the umbrella in such a manner
that the strain produced by the act of opening the umbrella will suffice to
rock the jointed piece, and pull it upwards out of line with the rio. In
such case the drag or pressure of a spring is required to return the jointed
piece into line on the closing of the umbrella.
But the arrangement which I prefer to produce this automatic action is
the following:
Any rib which is intende tod turn up as the umbrella opens I form with
an elastic termination, say a coiled spring, and this spring I so form
that it will terminate in a tip corresponding with the other tips of the
umbrella. Certain of the coils I throw out to form a series of loops which
act as guides for a cord or wire. This wire is attached to the outermost loop,
and runs up the outside of the rib to a loose ring slipped over the rib; a cord
or wire from this ring passes up the inner side of the rib to the stretcher
attached to that rib, and is secured to a stud which is carried by the fork
of the stretcher, but is clear of the joint pin. As now the opening of the
umbrella will cause the rib and stud to move from cach other; the cord or
wire will be drawn to tension, and the elastic end of the rib will thus be
drawn upwards, carrying with it that portion of the cover which is secured
to the tip. This arrangement I propose to apply to all the ribs of parasols
to improve their shape.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent,
filed by the said James Willis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th October 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WILLIS, of Little Britain, in the City of London, Umbrella Furniture
Maker, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Willis, Her special license that I, the said James Willis, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as J, the said James
Willis, 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, usc, 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 MANU.
FACTURE OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS. PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLI
CABLE TO WALKING STICKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Willis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 James Willis, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to certain novel means of improving the appearance,
increasing the strength, reducing the weight, and otherwise improving the
construction of umbrellas and parasols, whereby, among other advantages,
the rain falling upon an umbrella or parasol may be diverted from one or
more of the tips, and allowed to fall from the remainder.
The first part of my Invention relates to the strengthening of the frame
without increasing the diameter of the closed umbrella. To this end I apply
to that class of top notches and runners which have their respective notches
cut through to the stick, aud which are manufactured under my Patent of
September Eighteenth, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, or under
the Patent obtained by me, in conjunction with William Fox, and dated
Twenty-second October, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine (wherein
wrought metal is employed in the construction of the top notch and runner
rings) a solid annular shoulder under or adjacent to the ring of notches,
which shoulder may be secured by brazing or soldering.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn, at Figures 1, a runner (in

page_text: elevation and plan view), and at Figures 2 a top notch (in side elevation and
plan view) constructed according to this part of my Invention. a, a, (Figs. 1)
is the tube which surrounds the stick of the umbrella or parasol, and carries
at its upper end a wrought metal notched ring b, which is secured thereto by
solder or brazing after the manner of attaching the common cast rings.
When the ring b is thus secured to the tube a, the notches are continued
through the tube, which is thereby to a certain extent weakened and rendered
the less able to resist the strain to which umbrellas are liable when caught
by the wind. To provide against this, and give a good support to the
stretchers c, c, which are secured to the notched ring by a wire as usual, the
solid annular shoulder d, shewn in several views at Figs. 3, is applied to the
tube a immediately below the notched ring, and soldered to the tube, and to
the under side of the ring b. The like arrangement is employed in the for-
mation of the top notch, as will be seen at Figures 2. By this means the
reduction in the strength, whether of the top notch or runner caused by the
carrying of the notches through the tube is more than compensated for, and
compact and inexpensive furniture is thus produced.
The second part of my Invention relates to the forming of the rings
employed in making top notches and runners from solid steel, iron, or other
metal rods instead of constructing them as heretofore. To this end I groove
the rod throughout its length to form the radial notches; I then turn the
annular grooves for the wire. bore out the centre, and cut off the finished
rings. By this means solid in place of welded or soldering rings of wrought
metal will be produced.
Fig. 4 shews the progress of a solid rod towards conversion into notched
rings, Figures 5 and 6 being views of the opposite end thereof. I first, by
preference,cut the longitudinal radial grooves by the aid of a planing machine,
or by traversing the rod under a circular saw, giving the rod the proper axial
motion at the completion of the several grooves. I then mount the rod in a
latbe fitted with a hollow mandril,and pass it through the mandril until about
an inch of the rod projects beyond it; I then drill out the centre of that
portion to give it a tubular form, as shewn at Fig. 5, and afterwards turn
the annular grooves, and cut the tube into rings by grooving and cutting
tools fixed in an ordinary slide rest.
The third part of my Invention relates to the fitting of the cross heads of the
stretchers and ribs (which enter the annular grooves of the top notches and
runners respectively) loosely into the ends of the stretchers and ribs, and to
giving them a segmental shape, and making them of such length that the set
of heads shall fill the groove of the top notch or runner, and lie in it like a

page_text: ring. This part of my Invention I have shewn at Figs 7, where e is the rib
or stretcher, and the segment-shaped crosshead lying loose in the eye
thereof. When a set of ribs or stretchers thus provided is placed in the
notched ring the crossheads will fill the annular groove completely, and the
ribs or stretchers will be free to turn on their crossheads as upon the ordinary
wire. To prevent the crossheads getting out of place, I close the notch by
pressure according to my Patent of September Eighteenth, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five, before referred to, and as shown at Figures 8, or
I apply a covering tube or guard, as shewn at Fig. 9, and protected under the
Patent of October Twenty-second,One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine,
also before referred to. The advantage of this segment-shaped crosshead is, that
it enables me to use steel or brass wire for the ribs and stretchers to work on
in place of the soft iron wire at present employed, the brass wire not being
liable to rust, and the steel wire, from its superior strength, permitting of wire
of a finer gauge being employed, whereby the diameter of the top notch or
runner may be reduced. For the convenience of the trade, I propose to apply
my loose crossheads to ribs and stretchers, by fitting them to tips or tubular
pieces capable of being readily attached to metal ribs and stretchers of what-
ever construction. This modification of my Invention I have shewn at
Figures 10, as applied to a stretcher, and at Fig. 11, as applied to a rib of
somewhat novel form, which I prefer to use for the best work, as it allows
of a material reduction in the diameter of the closed frame.
The fourth part of my Invention relates to a mode of facilitating the
manufacture of the hooked springs sometimes used in the best class of
umbrellas and parasols for holding them open or closed, which springs have
a hook at each end, and are so mounted as to allow of these hooks being
rocked to throw them out of action by pressing on the middle of the spring.
Instead of forging them as heretofore, I construct them of sheet steel, cutting
out first a proper shaped blank and then doubling up the ends along the
middle of the strip; I thus obtain great stiffness where the same is required,
and such elasticity in the middle of the spring as will enable it to answer
to a slight pressure of the finger when the umbrella or parasol is required
to be opened or closed. This part of iny Invention is shewn at Figures 12,
where A represents a blank in edge view, and B a blank in plan view, the
form of which may vary as thought desirable. The ends of the blank are
doubled up in the direction and for the distance of the dotted lines in Fig.
B, whereby the spring shewn in side view at C, and in plan view at D is
produced. Holes are made through the spring, as shewn at C, for the
insertion of the fulcrum pins which connect the spring as usual to the runner.

page_text: The fifth part of my Invention relates to a mode of reducing the weight
of umbrella sticks thus for the sake of lightness when wood is used in place
of cane, or of metal tubing, for the central stick or stem of umbrellas I bore
out the stick from the point upwards to any given distance, the effect of
which is to throw the weight towards the handle without materially re-
ducing the strength of the stick. The mode of attaining this object is
shewn in the partial sectional view of an umbrella stick at Fig. 13.
The last part of my Invention relates to a means of preventing the rain
from dripping from one or more tips when the umbrella is in use, it being
often the case that the rain falling from the forward tip or tips is drifted by
the wind on to the person carrying the umbrella. To avoid this I give to one
or more of the tipsa tendency to turn upwards as the umbrella is opened, and
thus form a kind of gutter in the covering which will divert the water
laterally, and cause it to fall from the adjacent tips. This automatic motion
may be effected in various ways, vizt., by jointing the rib near the tip and
connecting the jointed piece with the stretcher to which the rib is attached by
a cord, and also to the cover in such a manner that the strain produced by
the act of opening the umbrella will suffice to rock the jointed piece and pull
it upwards out of line with the rib. In such case the drag or pressure of a
spring is required to return the jointed piece into line on the closing of the
umbrella. Fig. 14 shews in side view one form of jointed or compound
rib; Fig. 15 is a plan view of the upper side. Fig 16 is a plan of the under-
side thereof, and Figures 17 shew the parts composing the compound rib
detached. The extremity of the rib is formed of a strip of sheet steel g bent
up to a trough shape at its inner end to form a hinge joint with the main part
h of the rib. To the outer end of the piece 7 a tip i is fitted, and to the
outer end of the part a spring is attached. This spring bears upon the
piece g and thus gives it a tendency to retain a position in a line with the
part of the rib. Jointed to the piece g is a shackle 1, to which cords m, m,
are attached; these cords run back (one on either side of the rib) to a cross
pin in the fork of the stretcher n, and are securely attached thereto. When
therefore an umbrella having in its frame one or more jointed ribs of
this construction is opened the stretcher attached to such rib in moving
on its fulcrum will put a strain on the cords m and cause them to
pull at the shackle and lift the piece into the dotted position of Fig. 14,
and by the reason of the covering of the umbrella being properly attached
to the rib at and between the points o, o, the cover will take the curve
of the rib ends and forming a gutter will divert the rain that may be

page_text: descending on the open umbrella from the tips of the jointed ribs to the
adjacent tips.
A modification of this construction of compound rib is shewn in side view
at Figure 18, and in plan view at Fig 19. In this instance the elastic piece
g is jointed to a coupling piece h, which is attached by compression to the
end of the rib h and a short spring k clipped firmly in the coupling picce
bears upon the end of the piece to keep it in position. Instead of cords I
secure a steel band in to the outer end of the piece g and carry it back along
the upper side of the rib to a shackle which surrounds the rib, and to the
under side of this shackle I attach a second strip m¹ which I connect to the
fork of the stretcher as before explained with respect to the cords. The
action of this arrangement will be precisely the same as that first described.
But the arrangement which I prefer to employ to produce the automatic
action on the ends of ribs of umbrellas is that shewn at Figs. 20, which
represent in side and plan view a rib with an elastic termination formed by a
coiled spring, into one end of which the rib is inserted, while a tip corre-
sponding with the other tips of the umbrella is applied to the other end. In
these Figures, q is the spring made of steel wire coiled to a cylindrical form
and hardened and tempered. When coiling this spring, I spin out certain of
the coils to form a series of loops, which act as guides fer the cord or wire m
which is attached to the outermost loop and runs up the outside of the rib to
a loose ring or shackle slipped over the rib. A cord or wire from this ring
passes up the inner side of the rib to the stretcher attached to that rib, and
is sceured to a pin carried by the fork of the stretcher, but clear of the
joint pin, as before explained. Figures 21 show a somewhat similar
arrangement, the spring being flattened, and a steel strip inserted therein
to increase the strength of the spring.
It will now be understood that as the opening of the umbrella will cause
the rib and the cross pin in the fork of the stretcher to move from each other
the cord or wire will be drawn to tension, and the elastic end of the rib will
thus be drawn upwards, carrying with it that portion of the cover which is
secured to the tip. This part of my Invention 1 propose also to apply to all
the ribs of parasols to improve their shape, and when thus applying it, I prefer
to carry out the Invention as shewn in side and plan views at Figures 22
and 23, wherein the elasticity is obtained at the end of the ribs by reducing
their thickness at that part by rolling them between excentric rolls, and thus
reducing them sufficiently to convert them into elastic springs. The attach-
ment of the metal band m to the rib 1 effect by securing the band to a

page_text: shackle laud attaching this shackle by a steel pin to the rib by slitting up the
ends of therfb,as shewn by dots at E, Figs. 23,and curling the side strips round,
through which the shackle pin passes while the middle strip is bent back upon
itself to render it stiff enough to carry a tip. In other respects this arrange-
ment is similar to that last described, or the elastic termination may be
obtained by attaching a piece of spring steel to the rib as shewn at Fig. 24.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Willis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATIT,
66, Chancery Lane.
JAMES WILLIS. (L.S.)