IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Avery at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th March
1870.
I, WILLIAM AVERY, of the Firm of William Avery and Son, of
Redditch, in the County of Worcester, Needle Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS
AND PARASOLS," to be as follows:-
―:
My Invention has for its object principally to give greater room for
the head under the open or expanded umbrella or parasol, for which
purpose I adopt the combinations or arrangements of parts herein-after
described.
I will describe my Invention as applied to an umbrella :-According
to one of my improvements the umbrella stick passes through a tube and
is furnished at top with a screw. The ribs are jointed to the said tube.
The said screw takes into a screw box to which the ferrule of the of the
umbrella is attached, and by turning the handle of the umbrella with
one hand, the tube being held by the other, the said screw box may be
made to move in one or other direction upon the screw. To the said

page_text: screw box a series of stretcher wires are jointed at one end, the other
ends of the said wires being jointed on the outside of the umbrella to the
ribs of the umbrella. When the handle of the umbrella is turned so as
to make the screw box recede on its screw the said screw box gives
motion to the wires jointed to the ribs and the said wires to the ribs,
thereby opening the umbrella. The umbrella when opened has the
usual hemispherical form, the covering fabric giving the required cur-
vature to the ribs. By turning the handle of the umbrella so as to
make the screw box advance on the screw the jointed wires are brought
into a position close to the ribs and the umbrella closes. The said ribs
and jointed stretcher wires on closing the umbrella resume their rec-
tilinear figure. The opening and closing may be effected by means of a
slide instead of a screw. I cover the top joints to protect them and to
prevent the wire which binds the ribs to tho ring or joint box escaping
from the groove in which it lics.
According to another of my improvements I use stretchers jointed at
or near their middle so that they can slide longitudinally upon one
another, the inner end of each stretcher being jointed to the stick at a
short distance from the place where the ribs are jointed. An ordinary
runner on the stick has stretchers jointed to the inner half of each of
the first-mentioned or sliding stretchers. By the motion of the runner
the umbrella is opened or closed, the outer end of each of the sliding
stretchers sliding outwards on the opening of the umbrella, and inwards
on the closing of the umbrella.
According to another of my improvements the opening mechanism
consists of a series of stretchers jointed so as to form frames having the
figure of a parallelogram, to which the stick is a diagonal. By the
sliding of the runner the sides of the frames may be made to open out
or collapse, and in opening out to open the umbrella, and in collapsing
to close it. The frames are jointed to the ribs by sliding junctions.
According to another of my improvements I connect stretchers of the
ordinary kind between the runner and the ribs, but I joint the said
stretchers to the said ribs very near to the stick of the umbrella. To
these stretchers I joint supplementary stretchers nearly at right angles
thereto, their other ends being jointed to the ribs by sliding joints.
According to another of my improvements I joint a series of short
stretchers to the runner, the said stretchers being capable of opening into
a plane at right angles to the axis of the runner. Slides jointed to tho

page_text: ends of the ribs work on the said stretchers.
By raising the runner the
ribs take a position at right angles to the axis of the runner, the slides
passing up the stretchers, thereby raising them and distending the
umbrella. The joints of the slides enable them to accommodate them-
selves to the changing position of the ribs. All the arrangements
herein-before described give great head room under the umbrella.
According to another of my improvements I make the umbrella very
portable by jointing the ribs at the middle, thus enabling them to fold
back, and making the stick telescopic, so that it can be drawn out to its
full length or closed up to about one-third its length. The jointed ribs
may be provided with slides which when passed over the joints make the
ribs rigid; or the ribs may be made telescopic and lengthen or shorten
by sliding instead of folding. I secure the runner in its place by a
spring tongue working in a plane at right angles to the axis of the
runner, the tongue passing through a slot in the runner and taking into
a recess made in the umbrella stick. In order to connect the ribs to the
fabric I form small plates of metal having tubular caps or sockets at onc
end. These plates are attached to the fabric, and the ends of the ribs are
sprung into the tubular caps or sockets described. In some cases I form
the joint on the ribs by means of a small metallic plate attached thereto.
In attaching the ribs to the fabric I sew a small sheet metal picce to the
said fabric, two small wings on the said metal piece being closed upon
the rib.
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My Invention consists further of the following arrangement or com-
bination of parts for fixing umbrellas in their open and closed positions
respectively, and for preventing the rotation of the runner upon the
stick I make a longitudinal groove in the stick of the umbrella, the
said groove running along nearly the whole length of the stick. The
said groove is terminated at top and bottom by cross grooves. By means
of these cross grooves and a rotary collar on the runner of the umbrella
the said umbrella may be fixed in its open and closed positions respec-
tively. The said rotary collar is provided with a stud on its under side,
which stud passes through a cross slot in the runner. This stud can at
pleasure be made to occupy the longitudinal groove or one or other of
the cross grooves in the stick. The said rotary collar works between a
flange on the end of the runner and the notch part of the runner. The
flange described of the runner has a stud on its under side which works in
the longitudinal groove in the stick, the said stud never leaving the said

page_text: groove. By means of this stud working in the longitudinal groove the
runner is prevented from turning on the stick and straining or injuring
the joints of the umbrella. When the rotary collar is so turned that its
stud is situated in the longitudinal groove in the stick the runner may
be moved up or down the stick. When the umbrella is open the stud
of the rotary collar is brought opposite the top cross groove in the stick,
and by turning the rotary collar its stud enters the said cross groove and
fixes the umbrella in its open position. To close the umbrella the rotary
collar is turned so as to bring its stud into the longitudinal groove. The
runner is then depressed and the rotary collar turned so as to engage its
stud in the bottom cross groove when the umbrella is fixed in its closed
position.
My several improvements are applicable to parasols as well as to