IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTS OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wenzel Hähnel, of the City of Manchester,
Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
PARTS OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS."-A communication from abroad by
Lonia Drone of Boston in the Limited States of America
Sealed the 18th January 1861, and dated the 20th July 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wenzel Hähnel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th July 1860.
I, CHARLES WENZEL HÄNEL, of the City of Manchester, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF PARTS OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS," a communication to me
from abroad by Louis Prang, of Boston, in the United States of America,
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that part of umbrellas and parasols called the
runner, and to the apparatus in connection therewith for holding the umbrella
or parasol either open or closed. The runner is made with a hole, through
which passes the end of a catch or trigger hinged to the runner by the wires
that hold the ribs, or otherwise. The umbrella or parasol is held open by the
end of the catch or trigger entering a hole in the stick, and when the
umbrella or parasol is to be closed, the end of the catch or trigger is drawn
out of the hole in the stick and through the hole in the runner, which is theu

page_text: at liberty to slide down the stick, where another hole is made to receive the
end of the catch or trigger, and thereby to hold the umbrella or parasol
closed. A spring is applied to the catch or trigger to hold the end in the holes
in the stick.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Wenzel Hähnel in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WENZEL HAHNEL, of the City of Manchester, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Wenzel Hähnel, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Wenzel Hähnel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Wenzel Hähnel, 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 CONSTRUCTION OF PARTS OF UMBRELLAS AND PARASOLS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Louis Prang, of Boston, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Wenzel Hähnel, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Wenzel Hähnel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to that part of umbrellas and parasols called the
runner, and to the apparatus in connection therewith for holding the umbrella
or parasol either open or closed. The runner is made with a hole, through

page_text: which passes the end of a catch or trigger hinged to the runner by the wire
that holds the stretchers or otherwise. The umbrella or parasol is held open
by the end of the catch or trigger entering a hole in the stick, and when the,
umbrella or parasol is to be closed, the end of the catch or trigger is drawn
out of the hole in the stick, thereby liberating the runner, which is then at
liberty to slide down the stick, where another hole is made to receive the end
of the catch or trigger for the purpose of holding the umbrella or parasol
closed. A spring is applied to the catch or trigger to hold the end in the holes
in the stick.
And in order that this Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation of an umbrella to which one mode of constructing
these improvements is applied, and Figure 2 is part of an umbrella repre-
senting a modification of the Invention. In Figure 1, a is the stick of the
umbrella; b, the runner; c, the stretchers hinged to the runner; and d, the
ribs, which are made in the usual manner. The catch or trigger e is hinged
to the runner by the same wire that connects the stretchers to it, and the end
of the catch or trigger passes through a hole in the runner into a hole in the
stick, being held in position by the spring f made of india-rubber or any pre-
paration of india-rubber or other suitable elastic substance; a similar hole i
is made in the stick near the handle. When the umbrella is to be closed, the
longer end of the catch or trigger e is pressed towards the runner, thereby
raising the shorter end out of the hole in the stick; the umbrella is then at
liberty to be closed, and when the end of the catch or trigger arrives over the
hole i, it is drawn into it by the spring f
The arrangement shewn in Figure 2 is precisely similar to the foregoing,
with this exception, that the catch or trigger e is binged to a projecting eye h.
In both arrangements the umbrella can be opened and closed with the
greatest facility, as very little force is required to overcome the resistance of
the spring for liberating the runner, and when either open or closed, the spring
effectually retains the catch or trigger in its place. It is evident that the
above described improvements are applicable to parasols or sun shades, as well
as to umbrellas.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the Invention as com-
municated to me, I wish to observe, that I have, since filing my Provisional
Specification, and only recently ascertained that catches & triggers hinged as
herein-before described have been used before the date of this Patent for
holding umbrellas and parasols open and closed; I therefore limit my claim

page_text: to the use of springs made of: india-rubber, or vulcanized or any other pre-
paration of india-rubber, or other suitable elastic material for acting on the
catches or triggers applied to umbrellas and parasols, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Wenzel Hähnel, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.