IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TOP-NOTCHES AND RUNNERS FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Johnson, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Tool Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF TOP-NOTCHES AND RUNNERS FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS."
Scaled the 2nd June 1865, and dated the 28th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
December 1864.
I, HENRY JOHNSON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Tool Maker,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF TOP-NOTCHES AND RUNNERS FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," to
be as follows:-
My Invention consists in making top-notches and the notches of runners
by raising the same from sheet metal by means of dies and pressure in the
manner herein-after described.
I take a circulen

page_text: raise the said disc into the form of a conical cup. By means of other raising
dies and tools I produce a shoulder on the said cup, that is, I make the
lower part of smaller diameter than the upper part, a shoulder being formed
at the junction of the two parts. 1 next make the open edge of the cup
smooth by turning in a lathe or otherwise, and then operate upon it in the
following manner :-I place it in the lower die or bed in which it was last
operated upon, and by means of a closing tool I cup in or partially close
the open part of the cup until the said open part is contracted to nearly the
diameter of the lower part of the cup, the upper part of the cup being thus
made of a conical figure, I next employ a tool, the face of which is flat,
and has a circular recess made in it of a size a little larger than the open
mouth of the cup. By bringing this tool down upon the cup in the die the
upper part of the cup is made cylindrical, and a flange formed at the plane
in which the before described shoulder is situated. By means of other
pressing dies and tools the mouth of the cup is opened, and turned out into
a plane parallel to that in which the flange is situated: "The cup has now
nearly the figure of a top-notch, and only requires the closed bottom to be
removed, and the notches made in it to constitute it a top-notch.
When a runner is to be manufactured I make the cup so deep that the
lower tubular part is sufficiently long for the tube of the runner; or, by soldering
a tube to a notch made in the manner described the said notch is con-
verted into a runner.
The dies and tools used in manufacturing top-notches and runners according
to my Invention differ in no essential respect from those used in shaping
metals for other purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOHNSON, of Birmingham, in the. County of Warwick, Tool Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent; bearing date, the Twenty-eighth, day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Johnson, Her special licence that I, the

page_text: said Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Johnson, 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 TOP-NOTCHES AND
RUNNERS FOR UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 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 Henry Johnson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in making top-notches and runners by raising the
same from sheet metal by means of dies and pressure in the manner herein-
after described.
.
In making one of the said notches I proceed as follows:-I take a circular
disc of sheet brass or other metal, and by means of raising dies and tools I
raise the said disc into the form of a conical cup. By means of other raising
dies and tools I produce a shoulder on the said cup, that is, I make the lower
part of smaller diameter than the upper part, a shoulder being formed at the
junction of the two parts. I next make the open edge of the cup smooth by
turning in a lathe or otherwise, and then operate upon it in the following
manner I place it in the lower die or bed in which it was last operated
upon, and by means of a closing tool I cup in or partially close the open part
of the cup until the said open part is contracted to nearly the diameter of the
lower part of the cup, the upper part of the cup being thus made of a conical
figure. I next employ a tool, the face of which is flat, and has a circular
recess made in it of a size a little larger than the open mouth of the cup. By
bringing this tool down upon the cup in the die the upper part of the cup is
made cylindrical, and a flange formed at the plane in which the before
described shoulder is situated. By means of other pressing dies and tools
the mouth of the cup is opened and turned out into a plane parallel to that
in which the flange is situated. The cup has now nearly the figure of a top

page_text: notch, and only requires the closed bottom to be removed, and the notches
made in it to constitute it a top-notch.
'
When a runner is to be manufactured I make the cup so deep that the
lower tubular part is sufficiently long for the tube of the runner. Or by
soldering a tube to a notch made in the manner described, the said notch is
converted into a runner.
The dies and tools used in manufacturing top-notches and runners according
to my Invention differ in no essential respect from those used in shaping metals
for other purposes.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
In manufacturing a top-notch for umbrellas and parasols according to
my Invention I take a circular disc of sheet brass or other metal, and by
means of raising dies of the ordinary construction I first bring it to the form
represented in section in Figure 1, and afterwards to that represented in
section in Figure 2 of the Drawing. I take this conical cup, Figure 2, thus
produced, and place it in the lower die a of the pair of raising dies or tools a, b,
Figure 3, the lower die being represented in section, and the upper die or tool
in elevation. By the descent of the upper die or punch ba shoulder is made
on the said cup, Figure 2, by contracting the diameter of the lower part of
the said cup, the said shoulder being formed at the junction of the two parts
which are made of a cylindrical figure. The cup after it has been operated
upon by the pair of dies, Figure 3, has the form represented in section and
plan in Figure 4, in which Figure 4, the shoulder at the junction of the two
parts c, d, of different diameters is marked e. The shape of the parts, both of
the lower die and punch, or upper die by which the shoulder e is formed, and
the sides of the cup made parallel, will readily be seen by an examination of
the Drawing. The open edge of the cup, Figure 4, is next made smooth by
turning in a lathe or otherwise. I next take the cup, Figure 4, and place it in
the lower dief of the pair of raising dies f, g, represented in section in
Figure 5, the said lower die f having a shape proper to receive the lower part d
and shoulder e of the cup. The punch or upper die g constitutes a closing tool,
the closing being effected by the conical opening & in its axis. By the descent of
the said closing tool g upon the cup, Figure 4, in the lower die f, Figure 5, the
open end of the cup is cupped in or partially closed, the said cupping in con-
tracting the open mouth of the cup to the diameter of the lower part d, and
giving the upper part ca conical figure. The cup after it has been operated
upon by the dies, Figure 5, has the figure respresented in section and plan in

page_text: Figure 6. I next operate upon the cup, Figure 6, so as to produce at the
part where the shoulder e is situated a flange, and at the same time make the
upper part of the cup of a cylindrical figure. I effect the last described
operation by means of the pair of raising dies i, k, represented in section in
Figure 8. The lower die k is similar to that represented in Figure 5. The
punch or upper tool i has a.central peg 7. and a circular recess m, of a size a
a little larger than the open mouth of the cup, Figure 6. By bringing the
tool or punch i, Figure 8, down upon the cup, Figure 6, in the lower die k,
the central pegl'enters the upper part of the cup, and the inner sides of the
circular recess m contract and give a cylindrical figure to the said upper part
of the cup and form the flange n between the upper and lower parts, as repre-
sented in Figure 7. I next operate upon the cup, Figure 7, so as to open
and turn back the open end of the cup so as to produce a second flange. I
effect this by means of the upper die or punch represented in section in
Figure 9, used in conjunction with the lower or fixed die k, represented in
Figure 8, excepting that the said lower die k is made more concave at the
parts marked o, and indicated in dotted lines. By placing the cup, Figure 7,
in the lower die k, Figure 8, altered in the manner indicated, and bringing
the punch, Figure 9, down thereon, the flange n of the cup is slightly
inclined to the cup and the open end of the cup is opened and turned back
into a plane parallel with the inclined flange n. The cup now assumes the
form represented in section in Figure 10 and elevation in Figure 11. The
cup, Figures 10 and 11, is converted into a top notch by punching out the
closed bottom of the cup, and cutting a series of notches across the double
flange n, p, as represented in plan in Figure 12.
In making a runner according to my Invention I make the cup, Figure 2,
so deep that the lower tubular part 2 of the cup, Figures 10 and 11, is
sufficiently long for the tube of the runner, the several dies, both upper and
lower, being made of the length and depth necessary to form and receive
the said long tubular part of the cup; or I make a runner from the notch
Figure 12 by soldering to the said notch a tube of the proper length.
The dies or tools described and represented which I employ in carrying my
Invention into effect are worked in presses of the ordinary construction.
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 represented in the Drawing
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Inven-
tion; but I claim as my Invention the improvements in the manufacture
of top-notches and ruuners for umbrellas and parasols hereiu-before described

page_text: and represented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, raising the said
top-notches and runners from sheet metal by dies and pressure, essentially in
the manner described and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Johnson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year. of.our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)