Tent – canopy – umbrella – or cane – Umbrella – Self-opening and closing
Patent
1997-11-07
1999-06-22
Kent, Christopher
Tent, canopy, umbrella, or cane
Umbrella
Self-opening and closing
135 203, 135 31, A45B 2514, A45B 1904
Patent
active
059133210
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an umbrella, particularly to a stick umbrella which can both be opened and closed by one hand and, more particularly, to an umbrella which has a stem, a crown, a runner, main ribs, and stretchers and makes use of an operating principal described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,226 to constitute a stick umbrella which can both be opened and closed by one hand.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
When opening a stick umbrella which has a one-handed operating mechanism at the bottom of a stem including those operating mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,226, the movement by the swing of the fingers or by the squeeze of the palm is much shorter than the movement of the runner towards the crown required for the opening of a conventional stick umbrella, so that the stretchers must be pivoted to the main ribs sufficiently near to the crown in order to correspondingly reduce the movement of the runner towards the crown required for opening the umbrella.
If the pivot points are very near to the crown the umbrella would easily be overtilt by strong wind, or the construction of the umbrella frame must be more complicated to guarantee that the umbrella is wind-proof but a more complicated umbrella frame would increase the cost of the umbrella.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A main object of the invention Is to provide a one-handed control stick umbrella of simple construction which is economical to manufacture and is wind-proof.
Another object of the invention is to provide a one-handed control stick umbrella which is more easily and less strenuously to open.
An umbrella according to the present invention comprises a stem which is connected at its top end to a crown pivotally supporting the ribs. A runner is slidable along the stem and pivotally supports the stretchers. The outer ends of the stretchers are pivoted to the main ribs intermediate the ends of the main ribs. A slide is slidable along the stem and carries at its upper end a notch member which pivotally supports the struts and is movable between the crown and the runner. The outer ends of the struts are pivoted to the stretchers near to their pivot points with the main ribs. A provided one-handed control mechanism fixed at the bottom of the stem.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a collar is attatched to the lower end of the slide. A link is pivoted to the collar at one end and at the other end to the outer end of a radius rod. The other end of the radius rod is pivoted to a handle fixed at the bottom of the stem.
The present invention can make use of the operating principal described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,226.
For operation by one hand, the thumb of the hand holding the umbrella is placed on the outer end of the radius rod while other fingers are gripping the stem and the handle, the radius rod is squeezed to open the umbrella, to close the umbrella, all fingers transfer to grip the radius rod and pull it away from the stem, the umbrella will be closed by a compression spring arranged between the crown and the notch member, the compression spring may be obviated and the umbrella can be opened and closed by its own weight, when the umbrella is held tip downward it will be opened under the influence of gravity, when the umbrella is held tip upward it will be closed under the influence of gravity, and the umbrella is operated as previously described.
Since the outer ends of the stretchers are pivoted to the main ribs intermediate the ends thereof but not near to the crown and the outer ends of the struts are pivoted to the stretchers near to their outer ends, the rigidity of the umbrella is increased to guarantee that the umbrella is wind-proof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of umbrella in the closed position.
FIG.2 shows the umbrella in an open position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the Invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings.
Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2, the umbrella shown comprises a crown (3
REFERENCES:
patent: 2405044 (1946-07-01), Montalvo
patent: 3746025 (1973-07-01), Murata
patent: 3756258 (1973-09-01), Yoshihara
patent: 3796226 (1974-03-01), Yuen
patent: 4685482 (1987-08-01), Yung
patent: 4977913 (1990-12-01), Meyman
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