US639556A - Folding umbrella. - Google Patents

Description

No. 639,556. Patented Dec. I9, |899. F. G. GROVE & F. E. STOVER.

FOLDING UMBRELLA.

(Application filed Jan. 25, 1899.)

(Nn Model.)

A TTOHNEYS.

Tv.: mams niks co. Pnorammo.. WASHINGTON. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT GEETCE.

FRANK G. GROVE AND FRANK E. STO-VER, OF LURAY, VIRGINIA.

FOLDING UIVIBRELLA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,556, dated December 19, 1899. Application iiled January/'25, 1899. Serial No. 703,351. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK G. GROVE and FRANK E. STOVER, of Luray, in the county of Page and State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Folding Umbrellas, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of our invention is to provide an improvement in the locking connection between the telescopic or sliding members of a rib employed in folding umbrellas and to so construct the lookin g device for the members of a'rib that the said locking device may bel cheaply and simply madeand securely and expeditiously applied to one of the sections of a rib.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the locking device that it will serve to materially strengthen the rib to which it belongs where the two members of a rib connect, especially when the umbrella is opened, it being impossible at such time to move the members of the rib upon one another, but permit the said rib members or sections to be freely operated when au umbrella is closed.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the locking device that the cover of the umbrella, when stretched by the opening of the umbrella, will serve, by iiexing the ribs, to so bind the locking device as to prevent its accidentally moving from its fastening position, rendering sectional ribs in an umbrella, when the same is opened, as rigid as and practically stronger than the usual continuous ribs.

The invention consists inv the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an umbrella frame and stick, an improved rib being shown as a portion of the frame and the frame being also shown in open position. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the rib being shown in closed position. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the improved rib at the point where its members con-neet, the locking device being-in side elevation and the two sections of the ribs being shown in the position they occupy during the initial bearing of the keeper on the locking device. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, illustrating the position of the members of the rib and the locking device when the keeper is brought close toits point of locking engagement with the said locking device. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 3 and 4, the keeper being shown in :locking engagement with the locking device. Fig. 6 is a longitudina'l section through the rib, showing the locking device in side elevation and the manner in which it bears upon its keeper when the rib is Hexed by the cover upon opening the umbrella. Fig. 7 is a bottom plan View of that portion of a section of the telescopic or sliding rib to which the locking device is applied, showing the manner in which the locking device is secured to the said ribsec tion; and Fig. Sis atransverse section taken substantially on the line 8 8 in Fig. 1.

A represents a stick, which in the folding umbrella, and as illustrated, is madein sections, one section being adapted to fold upon the other.

B represents the ordinary runner adapted to travel on the stick, D a rib of the umbrella, and E a stretcher connecting the rib with the runner. 'lhe rib D comprises two sections-an inner section 10, pivotally attached to the crown O, and an outer section 11, adapted to telescope with or slideupon the inner section 10.

The cover of the umbrella is not shown, but is of the usual construction and may be attached to the ribs and to the stick in the customary manner.

Where the two sections of the rilov connect, the ordinary lap 12 isv secured to the outer or lower section 11 of the rib, and the stretcher E is attached to the ears of the lap 12 by the customary pivot 13. Under the improved construction,however,the pivot-pin 13 forthe stretcherE is adapted as a keeper for an approximately rigid latch or locking-shoe F,that is employed in connection with the sections of a rib. The latch F consists of a bar 111, the sides whereof are preferably iiat, and said bar at its lower end is provided with an eX- tension 15 of less width than the body portion of the bar. The outer longitudinal edge a of the latch-bar 14 is concaved, the con cavity extending from a point at or near the junction of the body of thelatch-bar with the extension 15 to the upper end of the said latch-bar, while the inner or opposing longitudinal edge a is either correspondingly convexed or con vexed to a greater or a less degree than the curvature of the concaved surface a.

The latch-bar 14 of the locking device is located within the inner section 10 of a rib, the extension 15 of the latch-bar being usually carried to the lower extremity of the said upper section of a rib, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 'lhelatch-bar maybe attached to the upper section 10 of a rib at its extension 15 in any suitable or approved manner; but usually the attachment is effected by bending inwardly the under edges of the ribsection 10 to a contact with each other and around a lug 17, formed on said extension 15, as shown in Fig. 7.

A longitudinal recess 1G is made in the inner or convexed edge of the body-bar 14 of the locking device at a point about centrally between the ends ot the said body, and preferably the upper wall of the recess 1G, or that wall that is nearest the ferrule end of the stick, is of less depth than the depth of the opposing wall, and when the members of the ribs are drawn out so that the rib will be extended the keeper-pin 13, forming the pivotal connection between the rib and its stretcher, will enter the recess 16, as shown in Fig. 5, and have bearingagainst the upper or shallower wall of said recess 1G when the umbrella is raised.

When the telescopic rib having the improved locking device is extended to such an extent as to cause the free end of the locking device to engage with the pivot-pin 13, connec'ting the rib with its stretcher, the parts of the rib and the position of the locking device relative to the pivot-pin 13 will be as indicated in Fig. 3. As the two sections of the rib are drawn farther apart the pivot-pin 13 will ride farther on the convexed edge of the bar 14, and by reason of the rigidity of the main portion of said bar the free end of the latter will force the adjacent portion of the inner section of the rib outward, as shown in Fig. 4.

It is to be understood that the rib-sections are of spring material and that we utilize this quality of the material to lock the sections in extended position. Therefore when the sections of the ribs are farther separated the pivot-stud 13 of each will spring into its recess 16 and will be securely held in said recess for the reason that when the bar 14 is relieved from the excessive pressure of 'the pivot-stud the inner section 10 of the rib, which has been sprung outward by the pressure of the end of the bar, as shown in Fig. 4, will assume its normal or straight position and will force thc bar 14 inward securely against the stud.

When the two sections of a rib are locked together,as above described, and the umbrella is closed and the sections of the ribs locked, as above described, the rib may be readily shortened by sliding one section upon the other, as the keeper or pivotpin 13 may be readily passed by the upper or shallower wall of the recess 1G, and when a rib has been lengthened out and locked in its extended position the cover of the umbrella will flex the rib in the usual manner, bringing it to the position shown in Figs. 1 and G, at which time the bar 14 will have such bearing ou the keeper, the keeper being in the recess 16, that it will be impossible to move the lower section of the rib upon the upper section.

The wider or lower wall of the recess 1G effectually prevents the keeper-pin 13 being drawn outwardly from the recess 16, and the said wall likewise serves to limit the outer movement ot' one section upon the other section of the rib.

It will be noted that the bar 14, which is constructed so that it will not straighten out, diffuses the strain or thrust that occurs when the umbrella is in open position and the rib is flexed by the cover quite a distance on each side ot the joint between the sections of the rib, so that while without our bar the inner end of the outer section would have a tendency to separate from the meeting end of the other section when the rib is ilexed. In our device no such tendency occurs because the meeting ends of the sections are held straight by the bar no matter how much the rib is flexed and the fulcrums are thrown on the stud 13 and the two ends of the bar instead of on the point of meeting of the edge of the inner section and the other section. It will thus be seen that the bar 14 acts as a reinforce for the joint of the rib, making it practically stronger than if it were a continuous rib, and the bar 14 may be said to be a locking-shoe for the reason that it not only acts as .a lock to secure the two sections of the rib in extended position, but as a shoe to diiuse the thrust of the stretcher. Further, by forming the recess 1G at about the middle of the shoe or latch the latter will lie on each side of the stud about equal distances. Therefore it is evident that the strain on such bar is so evenly divided and diffused that it serves to hold the stud tightly in the recess, and as the strain upon the stud is increased by iiexing the rib the more secure will be the position of the stud in the recess.

Having thus described our invention, we-

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tended position and raised will be diffused on both sides of the joint between the sections, as set forth.

2. In an umbrella or the like, a rib constructed in slidable sections, one of Which carries a pivot-stud, a stretcher connected to said stud and an approximately-rigid lockingshoe having one end secured to the other section and its other end free and being provided With a convex surface on which the stud rides when the sections are extended and a concave opposite edge, as set forth.

3. In an umbrella or the like, a rib constructed in slidable sections one of which carries a pivot-stud, a stretcher connected to purpose set forth.

FRANK G. GROVE.

FRANK E. STOVER.

Witnesses to signature of Frank G. Grove:

J. W. BLACK,

J. F. DUNLAP. Witnesses to signature of Frank E. Stover:

J. FRED. AGKER,

JNO. M. RITTER.

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