Tent – canopy – umbrella – or cane – Umbrella – Cover or lining feature
Patent
1991-07-24
1994-11-29
Raduazo, Henry E.
Tent, canopy, umbrella, or cane
Umbrella
Cover or lining feature
135 3341, A45B 2522
Patent
active
053680553
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to umbrellas, and more particularly, is directed to an umbrella that is resistant to inversion from the wind.
Quite frequently, a wind will catch an umbrella user unaware and exert a force against the inner surface of the canopy which will cause the canopy to invert from its normal operable position to an upwardly convex or bowed position.
Accordingly, specially designed umbrellas for rainy, windy weather, have been proposed, as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,047 to Wendorf. This patent discloses a storm umbrella with a canopy draped over the ribs and secured thereto and in which the canopy has a plurality of holes circumferentially arranged near the center thereof. A circular piece of fabric is disposed over the holes and is secured at spaced points to the ribs by stitching or the like. Accordingly, free passages for air exist underneath the unattached portions of the circular piece of fabric and through the holes in the fabric cover. However, this umbrella provides little resistance to inversion due to high winds. This is because the openings are provided at a radially inward position which is extremely close to the hub and therefore have a very small diameter. Furthermore, because the circular piece of fabric is stitched to the ribs, there is little flexibility thereof. Accordingly, the space between the canopy and the circular piece of fabric is very small and therefore provides a high resistance to wind exiting through the holes in the canopy. Still further, in extremely adverse weather conditions, a heavy rain may enter the space between the canopy and the circular piece of fabric and fall through the holes in the canopy onto the user. This is particularly the case where only a small circular piece of fabric is used to cover the canopy, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,032,047. An umbrella which is similar in construction and therefore suffers from the same disadvantages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,031,974 to Thomas.
A windproof umbrella is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,661 to Farley in which the main umbrella cover has a relatively large circular central opening concentric with the center pole and which may extend radially outwardly for a distance up to one-half of the dimensions of the radially oriented ribs. An upper umbrella covering comprised of a plurality of tapered, generally triangular gores 12 is positioned above the main umbrella covering and extends to a distance beyond the perimeter of the central hole thereof. Each gore is secured at its radial edges to the umbrella along the lines defined by two radially oriented ribs and has dimensions wider than the width between those ribs, the gores being secured either to the ribs or to the material of the main umbrella covering itself. Accordingly, a plurality of generally arcuate flying vents are formed which are adapted to fill with air rising from below through the central hole and expel the air horizontally when the radial ribs are rigidly held in position. When the air pressure above and below the umbrella is equalized, the flying vents are adapted to collapse and form a loose covering over the central hole of the main umbrella covering to thereby shed rain in the normal fashion. It is clear from this patent that, when the arcuate flying vents are filled with air, such as shown in the figures of the patent, inversion of the umbrella is prevented. However, this patent provides the disadvantage that rain can easily enter the central opening of the main umbrella covering when the flying vents are filled with air, and to this end, the windproof umbrella of this patent would not be practical.
Umbrellas of a similar nature are disclosed in French Patent Nos. 817,056 and 1,284,022. In addition to the remarks above, with these patents, the circular piece of fabric appears to be held in an arcuate position by rigid piping or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,960,162 to Noel discloses a vented umbrella. With this umbrella, openings are formed in the covering material over each rib and a
REFERENCES:
patent: 617415 (1899-01-01), Eatman
patent: 1031974 (1912-07-01), Thomas
patent: 1145768 (1915-07-01), Hartfiel
patent: 1581843 (1926-04-01), Little
patent: 1785561 (1930-12-01), Riley
patent: 2746469 (1956-05-01), D'Andrea
patent: 3032047 (1962-05-01), Wendorf
patent: 3456661 (1969-07-01), Farley
patent: 3557809 (1971-01-01), Vazquez
patent: 3863660 (1975-02-01), Glaeser
patent: 3892169 (1975-07-01), Jarnot
patent: 3960162 (1976-06-01), Noel
patent: 4804008 (1989-02-01), Ryder et al.
patent: 4979534 (1990-12-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5065779 (1991-11-01), Johnson et al.
Hochfeld Stanley
Johnson Gary D.
Holtz Leonard
Raduazo Henry E.
LandOfFree
Windproof umbrella does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Windproof umbrella, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Windproof umbrella will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-68271