IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, OR OTHER ANALO- GOUS ARTICLES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frank Hodges, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester,
Manufacturer, and George Alfred Healey, of the same Place, Mechanic, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, OR OTHER ANALO-
GOUS ARTICLES."
Scaled the 11th February 1879, and dated the 20th September 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frank Hodges and George
Alfred Healey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th
September 1878.
FRANK HODGES, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Manufacturer, and
GEORGE ALFRED HEALEY, of the same Place, Mechanic. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, OR OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."
The present Invention consists of improvements upon an Invention for which we
obtained Letters Patent, No. 2407, dated June 21st 1877.
The object of our present improvements (as was that of our former Invention.
above referred to) is to keep the ribs of the umbrella or other analogous article
close to the stick when the article is closed, and to retain them in that position
without the use of a tip-cap or india-rubber ring as heretofore. This object was
effected in our former Invention by adapting springs to the runner or other tube
surrounding and running on the stick, and causing the ends of such springs to bear
on the inner ends of the stretchers, or that part of the latter which is connected to
the runner or other tube, but in the present instance a separate spring is adapted to
or made to act on each of the ribs of the umbrella, at that part where they are
joined to the top notch or wheel. These springs, of which there is one to each rib,
are made to bear upon studs or their equivalent, adapted to that end of the rib
which is jointed to the top notch or wheel, and these springs act in the same
manner in which the springs in our former Invention act upon the stretchers, and
through them act on the ribs in the manner explained in the Specification of our
aforesaid other Invention.

page_text: In our present Invention, the ribs will (by means of these springs), be forced
towards the stick when the umbrella is closed, so that when in this condition, the
ribs and stretchers will be nearer together than heretofore, and will be held against
the stick.
These springs may be adapted to the ribs in various ways, that is to say, they 5
may be placed either below the wheel or top notch, and be thus surrounded by the
ribs, and thus made to act (as it were) from within the frame, or they may be
placed above the top notch and outside the frame. Moreover, instead of the
springs being made to bear direct upon the studs fixed in the ribs, they may be
made to act on short levers which will bear against the studs of the ribs. The 1
springs in this case will then simply consist of short straight pieces of steel, and
they may either be separate from each other, or they may be made in the form of
tongues stamped out of one piece of sheet steel which is then bent into the form of
a cylinder, so as to surround the stick.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Frank Hodges and George Alfred Healey in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th March 1879.
FRANK HODGES, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Manufacturer, and
GEORGE ALFRED HEALEY, of the same Place, Mechanic. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
UMBRELLAS, PARASOLS, OR OTHER ANALOGOUS ARTICLES."
The present Invention consists of improvements upon an Invention for which we
applied for Letters Patent, dated June Twenty-first, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-seven.
The object of our present improvements as was that of our former Invention
above referred to, is to keep the ribs of the umbrella or other analogous article close
to the stick when the article is closed, and to retain them in that position without
the use of a tip-cup or india-rubber ring as heretofore. This object was effected in
our former Invention by adapting springs to the runner or other tube surrounding
and running on the stick, and causing the ends of such springs to bear against studs
on the inner ends of the stretchers, or that part of the latter which is connected to
the runner or other tube, but in the present instance the springs are adapted to
bear against studs or their equivalents on the ribs of the umbrella, at or near that
part of the ribs where they are jointed to the top notch or wheel. These springs
act in the same manner in which the springs in our former Invention act upon the
stretchers, and through them act on the ribs in the manner explained in the
Specification of our aforesaid other Invention.
The ribs will, by means of these springs, be forced towards the stick when the
umbrella is closed, so that when in this condition, the ribs and stretchers will lie
nearer together than heretofore, and will be held against the stick.
These springs may be adapted to the ribs in various ways, that is to say, they may
be placed either below the wheel or top notch, and thus be within the frame surrounded
by the ribs, or they may be placed above the top notch and outside the frame.
Moreover, instead of causing the springs to bear direct upon the studs fixed in the
ribs, they may be made to act on short levers which will bear against the cross
studs of the ribs.
In the accompanying Drawing,-
Fig. 1 is an elevation of the upper part of an umbrella frame with our improve-
ments adapted thereto, and shewing the ribs closed against the stick.
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the umbrella frame open, that is to say, with the ribs
expanded or extended in a horizontal direction. Only two ribs are shewn in Fig. 2,
in order to avoid an unnecessary complication of parts in the Drawing.
In these Figures a is the stick, b the top notch or wheel to which the ribs c, c,
are connected at one end in the ordinary manner by means of a joint. The ribs c, c,
are provided near their joints or connections with the top notch or wheel b with
cross pins or studs c', c¹, against which the ends of the springs d, d, are made to
bear, and thereby press the ribs inwards against the stick a, as shewn in Fig. 1.
The springs d, d, may be made separate, as shewn in the Figure, and secured in
any convenient manner to a ring e which is capable of slight vertical motion on the
stick a, or they may be pressed out of one piece of sheet steel, which is afterwards
bent round in the form of a cylinder so as to surround the stick, or the springs d, d,
may be fixed directly on to the stick a, in which case they would have no vertical
movement, and the studs c', cl, would then slide on the inner faces of the springs d, d.
One mode of securing the springs d, d, to the ring e is shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4, that is to say, by means of a ring, or band g' which is held in its place by
the elasticity of the springs. When the umbrella is opened by pushing up the
runner (not shewn in the Drawing), the ribs c will be extended in a horizontal.
direction, as shewn at Fig. 2, and the cross studs c' will force back the ends of the
springs d. When the umbrella is closed by pulling down the runner in the usual

page_text: way, the springs d, d, by bearing against the cross studs c', c¹, of the ribs will force
the latter against the stick, and will hold them there.
As a modification of the arrangement shewn in Figures 1 and 2, the springs d
may be placed above the top notch or wheel b, and therefore outside the frame.
This arrangement is shewn in elevation at Figures 3 and 4.
Fig. 5'is a sectional elevation of another modification in which a different form of
spring is used. In this instance, the springs d, d, are made longer than in the other
cases, and are surrounded near their upper extremities by an encircling wire e²;
another wire e¹ encircles the lower ends of the springs d, some part of the springs
about midway between the two ends being made to bear against the cross studs c
of the ribs c.
The upper encircling wire e² is made to bind the springs tightly to the stick, so
that that part of the springs cannot move on the stick, the lower encircling wire e
is looser, so as to merely hold the springs together, and yet allow the lower ends of
the latter to have a slight vertical movement. In this Figure, the full lines
represent the several parts in the position they would assume when the frame is
closed, while the dotted lines represent the same parts in the open position.
Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of another modification in which the springs and
parts connected therewith are shown placed above the wheel or top notch, and
outside the frame. In this Figure, the ribs of the frame are shewn as closed
against the stick, the springs & no not however bear directly on the cross stud of
the ribs, but act thereon through the medium of detached levers f, f, which are
forked at their lower ends, so as to bear equally on both ends of the cross studs c¹, c¹.
The lower ends of the spring d are provided with a short hook which takes into a
hole or notch made in the lever f, and thereby prevents the several parts from
shifting or changing their relative positions.
The springs & may either be made separate and secured in any convenient
manner to a ring or short cylinder which encircles and is fixed to the stick, or they
may be stamped out of a sheet of steel which may then be bent into the form of a
tube or cylinder, as shewn at Fig. 7, in which the frame of the umbrella is repre-
sented as open.
The arrangement above described in reference to Figures 6 and 7 may be applied
below the wheel or stop notch.
Having now described the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in
Umbrellas, Parasols, or other Analogous Articles," and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, we wish it to be understood that under the above in
part recited Letters Patent we claim the mode or modes, substantially as herein
described of adapting to the ribs of umbrellas, parasols, or other analogous articles,
springs or spring levers, for the purpose of pressing the ribs inwards, the tips of
which will be thereby pressed towards the stick, as and for the purpose herein set
forth..
In witness whereof, we, the said Frank Hodges and George Alfred Healey,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Seventh day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.