CA1294849C - Fully automatic single push button type umbrella - Google Patents
Fully automatic single push button type umbrellaInfo
- Publication number
- CA1294849C CA1294849C CA000537770A CA537770A CA1294849C CA 1294849 C CA1294849 C CA 1294849C CA 000537770 A CA000537770 A CA 000537770A CA 537770 A CA537770 A CA 537770A CA 1294849 C CA1294849 C CA 1294849C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- shaft
- push button
- opening
- inner shaft
- locking head
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
Links
Landscapes
- Walking Sticks, Umbrellas, And Fans (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Improvements in an automatic umbrella in which a single push button is resiliently and slidably mounted by a first return spring is an opening being defined on the wall of a sleeve member provided on the upper portion of a grip mounted to the lower end of a lower inner shaft and has at the bottom end thereof a flange and the upper end thereof protruding our from the opening. A locking pawl is further resiliently and pivotably mounted in the inside of the lower inner shaft by a shaft pin and by a second return spring and is formed at one end thereof with an enlarged locking head always projecting out from an elongated slot formed on the wall of the shaft and facing the bottom face of the push button. The bottom face of the push button having on the lower end edge a bevel face is located between the upper and the lower edges of a pair of engaging openings formed respectively on the lower end walls of an outer and an intermediate tubular shafts. Width of the engaging opening of the outer shaft is the width formed by the top portion of the opening edges at the two sides thereof on the outer circumference of the intermediate shaft located exactly therebeneath, whereas width of that of the intermediate shaft is the width formed by the top portion of the opening edges at the two sides thereof on the outer circumference of the lower inner shaft located exactly therebeneath. By the construction, the umbrella can be opened and closed automatically in sequence by operation of the single push button in a unidirection.
Improvements in an automatic umbrella in which a single push button is resiliently and slidably mounted by a first return spring is an opening being defined on the wall of a sleeve member provided on the upper portion of a grip mounted to the lower end of a lower inner shaft and has at the bottom end thereof a flange and the upper end thereof protruding our from the opening. A locking pawl is further resiliently and pivotably mounted in the inside of the lower inner shaft by a shaft pin and by a second return spring and is formed at one end thereof with an enlarged locking head always projecting out from an elongated slot formed on the wall of the shaft and facing the bottom face of the push button. The bottom face of the push button having on the lower end edge a bevel face is located between the upper and the lower edges of a pair of engaging openings formed respectively on the lower end walls of an outer and an intermediate tubular shafts. Width of the engaging opening of the outer shaft is the width formed by the top portion of the opening edges at the two sides thereof on the outer circumference of the intermediate shaft located exactly therebeneath, whereas width of that of the intermediate shaft is the width formed by the top portion of the opening edges at the two sides thereof on the outer circumference of the lower inner shaft located exactly therebeneath. By the construction, the umbrella can be opened and closed automatically in sequence by operation of the single push button in a unidirection.
Description
F~LLY AUTOMATIC SINGLE PUSH BUTTON TYPE UMBRELLA
. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIO~I .
The present invention relates to a single-push-button-controlled automatic umbrella and, more particularly, to an automatic umbrella, the opening and closing of which is controllable by a push button device being improved to the operation merely of a single push button in unidirection.
In the past, several types of automatic umbrella 10 have been disclosed, to cite for example,U.S. Pat. No.
3,856,030 to Sato. In the prior art) the umbrella employs two push button means for operation of opening and closing respectively. Such an umbrella is not only complicated in construction but is also difficult and troublesome in assembling, and hence of high cos-t. To obviate these shortcomings of the conventional automatic umbrel].a, the present inventor discloses in U.S. Pat.
Nos. 4,53~,374 and ~,548,222 a d.iEferent and improved type of fully au-tomatic umbrella. In operation, the umbre.lla may be opened by depressing the sinyle push button in the first stage. Whén the umbrella which has been opened is next to be closed, the push button now in its second stage is first slid downwardly and then depressed. Although the single push button opening and 2S closiny mechanism thus constructed simplifies the .
operation and construction in an umbrella, nevertheless, it is still a way from perfection in view of its :~ .
requlrellletll: tllat i.~l operatioll tlle user ' s L~ b ~las to perEorm -two diE~erent actions. :1l1 aiditl.ollr it may yet be a cause to blame tha-t a laryer area o~ space has to be provi.ded in -the grip for pullirlg up and down oE -the push ~UttOII, and also in the spring pawl formed integrally with the locking head, when used for some time the resiliency may be efEected as a result o~ res~riction by !; i ts shape and ma-terial .
The present invention overcomes -the problems associa-ted wit~l-tlle converltlonal automatic umbre:l.la by ~rov.lding a s.Lnglc puSh bu-tton type automa-tic umbrellas havlrlg push button system being more simplified, precise and most easy to operate with.
Thus the invention provides a sin~le push-button controllable, automatic umbrella in which the slngle push but-ton is capable of controlling the opening and closing of the umbrella in sequence in a two-stage manner in a uni-direction by directly pressing against a locking member in a similar press operation.
: The invention also provides a single-push-button controllable, automatic umbrella wherein push button means is mounted directly above the Iocking member thereby simplifying the construction and reducing khe cost of production, and being itself occupying relatively less space in the grip and thus adding tidiness to the external shape of the grip.
The irlvention also provides a single-push button controllable, automatic umbrella, whose locking member is moun-ted in the shaEt by a shaft pi.n and a spring means for simpliEying the construction thereof and for securement in po~ition, and through the spring means of this single member to ensure delivery ~U of an effective energy of recovery resiliency to the locking member.
Thus according to the present lnvention thére is provided an automatically actuated umbrella having a single push 3i ~: - 2 -~ , buttol-l to In:it:iclte e~}~and~ y all~l co~l,a~sill~ operations, colllprisinc~: outer shaft means i.ncludillcJ an outer tubular shart and a lower ring fi~eclly attaclled to sa,id outer tubular shaft, in-termediate shaft means includin~ an :intermediate -tubular shaEt slidabl~ telescoped with.in said outer tubular sllaft alld an :intermediate rinc3 aE.rixed to sai.d i,ntermediate tul~ul.ar sha~t at a locat:ioll above sai.~ outer tubu],ar shaEt, upper inner sha~t means including an uL~per .i,nller shaft sli.dably telescoped rel.ative to an uppe~ end of said intermediate tubular shaft and an upper ring affixed to said upper inner shaEt at a location above said i.ntermedia-te shaft means, a lower inner shaft slidably telescoped within a lower end of,said intermediate tubular shaft, and a rib arrangemen-t including dome ribs, stretcher ribs, and supporting ribs having i.nner ends thereoE pivotably connected to said upper ring, intermediate ring, and~said .l.ower ring, respec-tively, with outer ends of said stretcher ribs and supporting ribs being pivotably connected to said dome ribs and stre-tche ribs, respectively, to form an umbrella frame, said rib arrangement being movable between expanded and collapsed positions, first spring means arranged to act be-tween said .
.
~L2~4~
o~lter alld in-t~:rmediate shaft mea1-ls for moVil-lg said rib arranyement to sai.d collapsed pOSitiOI1~ second spring means arranged to act between said lower inner shaft and said upper lnller shaft means for Moving said rib arranyement -to said expanded position, said outer tubular shaft, said intermediate tubular sllaf-t, and said lower inner shaft including lateral- openings which are laterally alignable, loclcing pawl means mourlted for movement in sai.d lower inner shaft, having a lockiny head, and beiny yieldably spri.ng-biased laterally ou-twardly to a Iocking position wherein said locking head projects in-to all of said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, to retain said rib arrangement in a collapsed positi.on witll said second spring -means being in an energy-storing state, a grip affixed to a lower end of said lower inner shaft and including a side wall - 3a -, ~,%~
~li.sposed oul.s.k:le oE s.a itl lower :i lulel- sl~ t, said ~Jri.p includillg a pUSIl bUttOII lllOUnted i.ll saicl si.de wal.l and yieldably spring-biased lateral]y outwardly, said push button i.l~ClUd:illy all abutment surface OppOSill(J said locking head and said aligned openi.ngs, said push button bein~ movable in a d:irec-tion of actuation -to di.splace said loclcing head inwardly arl~l out o~ said opening oL said outer tubular s}laft in respollse to a first inward depression of saicl pusll but-ton to a first stop posi-tion in engagcmellt wi.tll sai(l outcr tubular shaft to enable said upper inner shart means and said outer shaft means to be raised relative to said intermediate shaft means by said second spring means in a manner expanding said rib arrangement while causing said first spring means to store energy, with said locking head remaining within said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft and retaining said first spring means in such energy storing state, said push button being movable in said direction oE actua-tion to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said intermediate tubular sha~t in response to a second inward depression of said push botton to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vaca-ted by said outer tubular shaft upon the raising o~ the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate tubular shaft to enable said second spring means to ralse said upper inner sha~t means relative to said outer shaEt means and to enable sald ~irst spring means to raise said intermedia-te shaft mealls relative to sai.d upper inller shaEt means ~or collapsing said rib arrangement.
-~` ~ 3b _ ., ....
~` 129~
l'he present invention provi.des an automaticallyactua-ted umbrella havltly a sinyle push bu-tton to ini-tiate expanding and collapsing operatlons, compri.sing: a shaft assembly including a plurality of slidably telescoped shafts, a rib arrangement pivotably mounted -to said sha~t assembly such that said rib assembly is disposed in an expand~d state when said shafts are in a first position relative to one another and disposed in a collapsed state wherl said sha~ls are in a second posi-tion relatlve to one another, spring means operably connected to said shaft assembly for biasing said shaE-ts toward said first and second positions, said shaft assembly including: an inner shaft carrying a manual grip, an intermediate shaft slidably telescoped on said inner shaE-t, and an outer shaft slidably telescoped on said intermediate shaft, said intermediate, and outer shafts including alignable lateral openings, and actua-ting means comprising: locking pawl means mounted for movement in said inner haft, having a locking head and being yieldabl.y spring-biased laterally outwardly to a locklng position wherein said locking head pro~ects in-to said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, for resisting movement of said outer an intermediate sha~ts in order to retain said rlb arrangement in a collapsed state, a push button moun-ted in said yrip and yieldably - 3c -~ . ~
spring-biased laterally outwardly, said push button i.ncluding an abutment surface opposing said pawl and said outer shaft when said outer and intermediate shafts are re~ained by said lockiny head, said push button being movable in a direction of actuation to displace said pawl in a manner moving said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said outer shaft in response to a first inward depression of said push button to a f1rst stop position against said outer shaft to enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said first position by said spring means in a manner raising said outer shaft and expanding said rib arrangement, with said locking head remaining wlthin said opening ;Iu Of said intermediate shaft in response to a second inward depression of said push button to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vacated by said outer shaft upon the raising of the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate shaft to 1~ enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said second position by said spring means in a manner raisin~ said intermediate shaft and collapsing said rib arrangement.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention 2U will become apparent rom the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in con~unction with the accompanying .
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an umbrella o~ the present lnvention in partly sectional elevation in the closed and folded state;
FIG. 2 shows the umbrella of FIG. 1 in partly sectional elevation in the ~ully extended position;
3U FIG. 3 depicts the umbrella in partly sectional : elevation in a clbsing state from the position as shown in FIG.
. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIO~I .
The present invention relates to a single-push-button-controlled automatic umbrella and, more particularly, to an automatic umbrella, the opening and closing of which is controllable by a push button device being improved to the operation merely of a single push button in unidirection.
In the past, several types of automatic umbrella 10 have been disclosed, to cite for example,U.S. Pat. No.
3,856,030 to Sato. In the prior art) the umbrella employs two push button means for operation of opening and closing respectively. Such an umbrella is not only complicated in construction but is also difficult and troublesome in assembling, and hence of high cos-t. To obviate these shortcomings of the conventional automatic umbrel].a, the present inventor discloses in U.S. Pat.
Nos. 4,53~,374 and ~,548,222 a d.iEferent and improved type of fully au-tomatic umbrella. In operation, the umbre.lla may be opened by depressing the sinyle push button in the first stage. Whén the umbrella which has been opened is next to be closed, the push button now in its second stage is first slid downwardly and then depressed. Although the single push button opening and 2S closiny mechanism thus constructed simplifies the .
operation and construction in an umbrella, nevertheless, it is still a way from perfection in view of its :~ .
requlrellletll: tllat i.~l operatioll tlle user ' s L~ b ~las to perEorm -two diE~erent actions. :1l1 aiditl.ollr it may yet be a cause to blame tha-t a laryer area o~ space has to be provi.ded in -the grip for pullirlg up and down oE -the push ~UttOII, and also in the spring pawl formed integrally with the locking head, when used for some time the resiliency may be efEected as a result o~ res~riction by !; i ts shape and ma-terial .
The present invention overcomes -the problems associa-ted wit~l-tlle converltlonal automatic umbre:l.la by ~rov.lding a s.Lnglc puSh bu-tton type automa-tic umbrellas havlrlg push button system being more simplified, precise and most easy to operate with.
Thus the invention provides a sin~le push-button controllable, automatic umbrella in which the slngle push but-ton is capable of controlling the opening and closing of the umbrella in sequence in a two-stage manner in a uni-direction by directly pressing against a locking member in a similar press operation.
: The invention also provides a single-push-button controllable, automatic umbrella wherein push button means is mounted directly above the Iocking member thereby simplifying the construction and reducing khe cost of production, and being itself occupying relatively less space in the grip and thus adding tidiness to the external shape of the grip.
The irlvention also provides a single-push button controllable, automatic umbrella, whose locking member is moun-ted in the shaEt by a shaft pi.n and a spring means for simpliEying the construction thereof and for securement in po~ition, and through the spring means of this single member to ensure delivery ~U of an effective energy of recovery resiliency to the locking member.
Thus according to the present lnvention thére is provided an automatically actuated umbrella having a single push 3i ~: - 2 -~ , buttol-l to In:it:iclte e~}~and~ y all~l co~l,a~sill~ operations, colllprisinc~: outer shaft means i.ncludillcJ an outer tubular shart and a lower ring fi~eclly attaclled to sa,id outer tubular shaft, in-termediate shaft means includin~ an :intermediate -tubular shaEt slidabl~ telescoped with.in said outer tubular sllaft alld an :intermediate rinc3 aE.rixed to sai.d i,ntermediate tul~ul.ar sha~t at a locat:ioll above sai.~ outer tubu],ar shaEt, upper inner sha~t means including an uL~per .i,nller shaft sli.dably telescoped rel.ative to an uppe~ end of said intermediate tubular shaft and an upper ring affixed to said upper inner shaEt at a location above said i.ntermedia-te shaft means, a lower inner shaft slidably telescoped within a lower end of,said intermediate tubular shaft, and a rib arrangemen-t including dome ribs, stretcher ribs, and supporting ribs having i.nner ends thereoE pivotably connected to said upper ring, intermediate ring, and~said .l.ower ring, respec-tively, with outer ends of said stretcher ribs and supporting ribs being pivotably connected to said dome ribs and stre-tche ribs, respectively, to form an umbrella frame, said rib arrangement being movable between expanded and collapsed positions, first spring means arranged to act be-tween said .
.
~L2~4~
o~lter alld in-t~:rmediate shaft mea1-ls for moVil-lg said rib arranyement to sai.d collapsed pOSitiOI1~ second spring means arranged to act between said lower inner shaft and said upper lnller shaft means for Moving said rib arranyement -to said expanded position, said outer tubular shaft, said intermediate tubular sllaf-t, and said lower inner shaft including lateral- openings which are laterally alignable, loclcing pawl means mourlted for movement in sai.d lower inner shaft, having a lockiny head, and beiny yieldably spri.ng-biased laterally ou-twardly to a Iocking position wherein said locking head projects in-to all of said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, to retain said rib arrangement in a collapsed positi.on witll said second spring -means being in an energy-storing state, a grip affixed to a lower end of said lower inner shaft and including a side wall - 3a -, ~,%~
~li.sposed oul.s.k:le oE s.a itl lower :i lulel- sl~ t, said ~Jri.p includillg a pUSIl bUttOII lllOUnted i.ll saicl si.de wal.l and yieldably spring-biased lateral]y outwardly, said push button i.l~ClUd:illy all abutment surface OppOSill(J said locking head and said aligned openi.ngs, said push button bein~ movable in a d:irec-tion of actuation -to di.splace said loclcing head inwardly arl~l out o~ said opening oL said outer tubular s}laft in respollse to a first inward depression of saicl pusll but-ton to a first stop posi-tion in engagcmellt wi.tll sai(l outcr tubular shaft to enable said upper inner shart means and said outer shaft means to be raised relative to said intermediate shaft means by said second spring means in a manner expanding said rib arrangement while causing said first spring means to store energy, with said locking head remaining within said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft and retaining said first spring means in such energy storing state, said push button being movable in said direction oE actua-tion to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said intermediate tubular sha~t in response to a second inward depression of said push botton to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vaca-ted by said outer tubular shaft upon the raising o~ the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate tubular shaft to enable said second spring means to ralse said upper inner sha~t means relative to said outer shaEt means and to enable sald ~irst spring means to raise said intermedia-te shaft mealls relative to sai.d upper inller shaEt means ~or collapsing said rib arrangement.
-~` ~ 3b _ ., ....
~` 129~
l'he present invention provi.des an automaticallyactua-ted umbrella havltly a sinyle push bu-tton to ini-tiate expanding and collapsing operatlons, compri.sing: a shaft assembly including a plurality of slidably telescoped shafts, a rib arrangement pivotably mounted -to said sha~t assembly such that said rib assembly is disposed in an expand~d state when said shafts are in a first position relative to one another and disposed in a collapsed state wherl said sha~ls are in a second posi-tion relatlve to one another, spring means operably connected to said shaft assembly for biasing said shaE-ts toward said first and second positions, said shaft assembly including: an inner shaft carrying a manual grip, an intermediate shaft slidably telescoped on said inner shaE-t, and an outer shaft slidably telescoped on said intermediate shaft, said intermediate, and outer shafts including alignable lateral openings, and actua-ting means comprising: locking pawl means mounted for movement in said inner haft, having a locking head and being yieldabl.y spring-biased laterally outwardly to a locklng position wherein said locking head pro~ects in-to said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, for resisting movement of said outer an intermediate sha~ts in order to retain said rlb arrangement in a collapsed state, a push button moun-ted in said yrip and yieldably - 3c -~ . ~
spring-biased laterally outwardly, said push button i.ncluding an abutment surface opposing said pawl and said outer shaft when said outer and intermediate shafts are re~ained by said lockiny head, said push button being movable in a direction of actuation to displace said pawl in a manner moving said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said outer shaft in response to a first inward depression of said push button to a f1rst stop position against said outer shaft to enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said first position by said spring means in a manner raising said outer shaft and expanding said rib arrangement, with said locking head remaining wlthin said opening ;Iu Of said intermediate shaft in response to a second inward depression of said push button to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vacated by said outer shaft upon the raising of the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate shaft to 1~ enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said second position by said spring means in a manner raisin~ said intermediate shaft and collapsing said rib arrangement.
Other aspects and advantages of the present invention 2U will become apparent rom the following description of the preferred embodiment, taken in con~unction with the accompanying .
drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an umbrella o~ the present lnvention in partly sectional elevation in the closed and folded state;
FIG. 2 shows the umbrella of FIG. 1 in partly sectional elevation in the ~ully extended position;
3U FIG. 3 depicts the umbrella in partly sectional : elevation in a clbsing state from the position as shown in FIG.
2;
. FIG. 4(A) is a sectional view of the portion of the 3~ .
~ 3d -.
. .
,,, umbrella taken along the line A-A ln FIG. 3;
FIG. 4(B) is a longitudinal sectional view of portion of the members shown in FIG. 4(~;
FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of the lower inner shaft wherein axial slot and opening are shown;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail ~ .
3~
- 3e -. . . ~ .
. FIG. 4(A) is a sectional view of the portion of the 3~ .
~ 3d -.
. .
,,, umbrella taken along the line A-A ln FIG. 3;
FIG. 4(B) is a longitudinal sectional view of portion of the members shown in FIG. 4(~;
FIG. 5 illustrates a portion of the lower inner shaft wherein axial slot and opening are shown;
FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a detail ~ .
3~
- 3e -. . . ~ .
4~ ~
of oueration of the push button mechanism shown in FIG.l;
FIG. 7 is an enlaryed sectional view showing the operating condition in the push button mechanism; and FIG. 8 is an illustra-tion depicting the operating condition in the push button mechanism taken along the line B-B of FIG~ 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
.
The automatic umbrella according to the present invention comprises, as shown in FIG. l, an outer tubular shaft l having a lower ring ll ~ixed to the upper portion thereof, an intermediate tubular shaft 2 having the outer tubular shaft l slidably housed thereto and an intermediate ring 21 fixed to the upper portion thereof, a lower inner shaft 3 slidably insertible in the lower end portion of intermediate ~ubular shaft 2 and a grip 31 mounted to the lower end thereof, an ~: upper inner shaft 4 slidably insertible in the upper . end portion of intermediate tubular shat.2 and provided;... ...,~... ..
with an upper ring 41 fixed at the middle portion : 20 thereof, a rib assembly 5 having ends of the ribs pivotably connected to each of the rings 11, ~l and 41, an operating push button mounted between the upper portion of the grip 31 and the lower inner shaft 3, a first spring means 7 for closing the umbrella and 25: provided on the upper end portion of intermediate tubular shaft 2 and between the intermediate and- the low~r rings 21 and ll, and a second spring means 8 :' .. , ~ . . .. .
adapted for opening the umbrella being provided in the intermediate tubular shaft 2 and between -the upper and ?
the lower inner shafts, 4 and 3. .' While on the upper end of the abovementioned outer tubular shaft 1 there is formed a side wall of lower ring 11, on one side wall of the lower end thereof is defined a rectangular locking opening 12 to allow the engagement therein of a locking head to be described hereinafter. The intermediate tubular shaft 2 which is slidably inserted in the outer tubular shaft 1 is longer in length than the latter and is provided at the upper end thereof with an intermediate ring 21 fixed thereto. The inner sides of the upper and the lower end portions of the shaft 2 are further f,ormed with at least one, preferably two,'according to the present embodiment, symmetrically and inwardly guide convex portions 22, 22 as shown in FIGS~ 4(A) ancl 4(B).
.... .... ..
In operation', said ~wo convex portions 22, 22 preven-t' " '''":'""' '' the upper and the lower inner shafts 3, 4 Erom ro-taking inside the intermediate shaft 2 and also act as guide-projection when the two inner shafts 3, 4 are sli~ing up and down therein. Furthermore, an opening 23 is defined on one side wall o~ the intermediate shaf-t 2 at the lower end thereof and located between the two convex portions 22, 22 to allow the enlarged head 92 of the locking pawl 9, whlch will be described herein-after, to be engaged therein. Both the lower and the ': ' ~%~ 9 upper inner shafts, 3, and 4, are defined with at least one, but preferably, two symmetrically arranged guide-grooves 32, 42 as illustrated in EIGS. 4(~) and 4(B).
The upper portion of the lower inner shaft 3 is glidably inserted in the lower portion.of intermediate shaft 2 and prevents the intermediate shaft 2 from escaping out upwardly from the lower lnner shaft 3. This guide-groove 32 of lower inner shaft 3 is formed at the upper end with a check shoulder 321 (that is, a guide-groove 32 is not defined therein). The lower end of upper inner shaft 4 is slidably inserted in the upper end pvrtion of intermediate tubular shaft 2, while the convex portions 22, 22 formed respectively at the upper and the lower end:portions of intermediate shaft .2 ~re engaged respectively. in the guide-grooves 42, 32 ~;~ of the upper and the lower inner shafts 4~ 3 in order ~ to impede rotation inside the intermediate shaft 2 by ; the two inner shaEts 4, 3. The grip 31 is fixedly mounted to the lower end portion of lower inner shaft 3 by a fixed pin 33 provided therewith, and on the upper end of said grip 31 is formed a sleeve member 35 having an oblong opening 34 being deflned on one side face thereof. This opening 34 of the sleeve member receives therein an operating push button 6 having its upper end protruding out of the opening. The push button 6 is resiliently and slidably re-tained in the ~ opening 34 by a return spring 64 mounted in the buttom ,~ ~
,, ., ,,, ~ .. .. . . .
34~
chereof and having the top portion abutting against - : the inner waL1 o~ sleeve member 35 and by a bottom flanye 65, and at the lower edge of the huttom of which is further provided a bevel face 6.7 for use in release.
A locking pawl 9 is pivotably mounted in the inside of lower inner shaft 3 by a shaft pin 93~ The enlarged head 92 formed at the upper end of said locking pawl projects out from the front end outer portion of an elongated slot 38 being formed on the inner shaft 3 and on one side of said upper end is disposed a return spring 97 engaginy the inner circumference of inner shaf~ 3 in order to enable the locking pawl 9 to be returned and sprung out of the slot 3~ and openings 23 and 12. At the upper end of lower inner shaft 3 there is provided a smalL spring pawl 95, the lockiny head 96 oE which projects out from an opening 30 being defined in said inner shaft 3 and is capable of moviny . . . ., . . . . ,, .. , ., ~; .. .....
into the openings 23 and 12 in the inner sha~t 2 and outer tubular shaft 1 and being engaged therein as shown in E'IG. 3. In additionr an upper ring 41 is mounted in slightly the middle portion of the upper inner shaEt 4, the upper end of which is screwed with a cap 43.
As illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 8, inside the oblong opening 34 of grip 31, the bottom face 66 of push button 6 is located just above the locking head 92 and between the upper and lower édges of the two :i .
-- 8 ~
openlngs, 12 and 13. During operation of the push ,blltton in opening of the umbrella, when the locking !~ ',$~ ;' head 92 has been pressed down by the push button 6, the bottom face of said push button 6, which just lies across the edge tops 121 at the two sides of the opening 12, will upon reaching the outer circumference of intermediate shaft 2 press against the locking head 92 and force the latter to be disengaged from the opening 12, and ~can not be depressed any more. Again, in operation of the push button for closing the umbrella,when the locking head 92 is being pressed down by the push button 6, this push button 6, being located now at the place of the opening 23 in the : intermediate shaft, will upon reaching the outer circumference of inner shaf-t 3 by its bottom face 66 force the lock.ing head 92 to be completely disengaged from the opening 23.
...... .. .... . . . . . . . . . . ... ... ......... ...
The rib assembly 5 includes usually 8 to 10 dome ; ribs 51, a same number of stretcher ribs 52 and a same number oE supporting ribs 530 One end of each dome r.ib 51 is pivokably mounted to the upper ring 41 while the other end thereof remains Eree and the middle portion thereof is, on the other hand, provided with a pivot member 54 adapted to connect pivotably with one end of the stretcher rib 52, the other end of which is again pivotably mounted to the intermediate ring 21. The m~iddle portion of the stretcher rib 52 is ~ . . - .
~z~
likewise provided with a pivot member 55 ad~pted to . connec-t pivotably with one end of the suppor-ting rib 5 while the other end thereof being pivotabLy mounted to the lower ring ll. When the umbrella is in a,closed position, the coil spring 7 disposed between the intermediate ring 21 and the lower ring ll is in its freely extended condition as shown in FIG. 1. Under the same condition when the umbrella is in the closed position, the coil spring 8 disposed in the intermediate shaft 2 between the upper and the lower inner shafts 4, ~ is, on the other hand, in its compressed condition and tends to urge the upper and the lower inner shafts 4, 3 upward and downward respectively. However, since the intermediate shaft 2 and outer sha~-t 1 are all locked by the enlarged head 92 of locking pawl 9 at this time, the coil springs 7, 8 are thus unable to pull apart the intermediate shaft 2 and the outer ~,,,, , ,,,, ,, ,, , , , .... , .. :
shat l, and the upper inner shaft 4 and lower inner shaft 3.
In operation, when the automatic umbrella of the invention is in the fully closed position as shown in FIG. 1, the rib assembly 5 is completely collapsed, the coil spring 7 is in the released and fully extended : condition and the coil spring 8 is being compressed 25 thereby accumulating elastic energy. In this positionr both the immediate and the outer shafts 2, l and the : : lower inner shaft 3 are locked in engagement by the ~Z9~
enlarged head 92 thereby maintaining the umbrella in the closed condition. Again, the push button 6 is located above the opening 34 in a position as depicted`
in FIG. 6, whereas the bottom face 66 of which ia placed slightly above the enlarged head 92 In the process of opening the umhrella from its presently closed position, the push button 6 is first depressed whereby said push button 6 in against the resilient force of the springs, 64 and 97, will immedia-tely press upon the enlarged head 92 such that the latter will come down. In this way, the enlarged head 92 is released from the opening 12 of outer shaft 1 and falls into the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2 thereby releasing the outer shaft 1 and by which thus permits lS said outer shaft 1 to be slid out. Thereafter, when push but-ton 6 is released, said push but~n will immediately r^-turn to its original position by the return spring 64 and alfio by the bevel-faced portion 67 at the bottom thereof, being slid out of the edges of opening 12 and urged toward3 the above.
In -the meantime, because the push button 6 has been arranged in such a way that when it reaches the outer circumference of intermediaté shaft 2, the botton will be blocked instantly by the edye tips at -the two sides of the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2 and thus can not be pressed downward any further, that is, the enlarged head 92 will still be engaging in the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2, thereby forming a two-stage .,,, ~, , control ~eans and maintainlny the intermediat0 sha~-t 2 an.~ the lower i~ner shaf-t 3 in the original engaginy position. Owing to the upward extension force of the coil spring 8, the outer shaft 1 being released from the engaging position now will force the upper inner shaft 4 to move upward wi-th respect to the intermediate shaft 2 and consequently, the.upper ring 41 will also be moving upward along with the upper inner shaft 4.
Although the dome ribs 51 which are pivotably mounted at one end to the ring 41 will now tend to ~ove upward along with the latter, however because of the mid portions of ribs 51 being pivotably connected to the stretcher ribs 52 having one ends thereof pivotabLy mounted to the immediate ring 21 and said intermediate ring 21 being, in turn, held immovabLy in position in the intermediate shaft 2, consequently these dome ribs 51 wiLl spread out gradually through the ascending of : the upper ring 41 and the upward movement of the stretcher ribs 52-with the pivot joint oE the inter-mediate ring 21 a~ the center. Simultaneously, ollowing the upward movement oE the stretcher .ribs 52 by the supporting ribs 53 pivo-tably connected thereto and throuyh -the intermediary oE lower ring ll, these stretcher ribs 52 in against the sprlng force of coil spriny 7 pull the outer shaft l upward with respect ~: to -the intermediate shaft 2. Following the ascending of this outer shaft 2, the coil spring 7 disposed , .
~ , : ' ~
, .. .. ..
between the intermediate and the lower rings 21, 11 is also compressed thereby accumulating elastic ~nergy - - -for use next in the closing of the umbrella. The coil spring 7 is now fully compressed and a~ain the inter-S mediate ring 21 remains un-moving, thereby permit~ing the ribs, 52 and 53, respectively of the intermediate and the lower rings 21, 11 to form irltc an un-moving rigid body, which even if the ribs 51 are under the upward pulling force of the upper ring 41, is unable to move upwardly. The coil spring 8 is, however, in a partially extended position now when there i5 still maintained some extension forces and therefore prevent the upper ring 42 from moving downwardly, while the same strength thus keeps the ribs Sl, 52 and 53 to be an un-moving framework and which can hardly be down-wardl~ pivotable. In this way, the urnbrella is now opened completely in a ~ully extended.state as shown .. . . . .. ~ ..
in FIG. 2 to be ready or use.
When the umbrella which has been opened is next to be clo~ed, all khat is required to do is to depress the push button, as illustrated in FIG. 6, ln against the spring ~orce of the springs 64, g7, which in turn presses upon the enlarged head 92, and sald enlaryed head 92 is immediately dlsengaged from the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2. Although the coil spring 8 still has a kendency of urging the lower inner shaft 3 to move downward, thak is, to push said lower inner shaft outward, nevertheless, since the grip 31 is firmly held in the UQer~s hand, this lower inner shaft 3 will not move~ The extension force of the ,' coil spring 8 acts instead on the upper inner shaft 4 which is made to slide upward with relation to the intermediate shaft 2 and tends to bring the ribs 51 to be closed thereby. Meanwhile, as the intermediate shaft 2 is now in a freely slidable state, the coil spring 7 by its extension force and through the inter-mediary of the intermedia-te shaft 21 urges the inter-; mediate shaft ~ to move upward and the outer shaft 1 downward. When the intermediate shaft 2 is ascending, the outer shaft 1 relative to said intermediate shaft 2 moves downwardly till the projection of intermediate shaft 2 has been engaged ln the,guide-channel check ' shoulder 321. Now, since both the oute:r and the intermdiate shafts 1, 2 have the openings 12, 23 thereof '" . : ''' ' being engaged to'the locking head 96 and are thus no,t upwardly movable, the movement of these sha~ts 2, 1 .
causes the rib assembly 5 to be turned down to the closiny position. As a result, the down rib~ 51 are collapsqd and folded together through the linked movement of the stretcher and the' supporting ribs 52, ; : 53 and the respective rings 11, 21 and 41 and, until both coil springs, 7 and 8, are in their fully extended :
and substantially unstressed condition and the rib assembly 5 is completly ~olded to the,condition as shown ,, ~, . .. .
in FIG. 3. As a next and final step of the seria~ of operakion, the shaft is contracted by holding -the umbrella down against the ground or any hard,surfaces and applying compression force ak the oppos1`te end of the shaft, i.e., at the upper inner shaft 4 and the grip 31, in opposing thé extension force o~ the coil spring 8. As the co~pression force is being applied, khe lower inner shaft 3 will be inserted deeply into the in-termediate shaft and the coil spring 8 wil] also be compressed causing now the outer and the intermediate shaft l, 2 to be engaged therein by the 'ocking head 96 of spring pawl 95 when, both the shafts 2, l will be held together with the lower inner shaft 3 as a single body. By now, the compression force of the first coil spring 1 has weakened and is in a free and released state whereas the second coil spring 8 is in a - - compressed position, whereby energy to be consume~ ~or ; automaticaLly closing umbrella after it has been opened -~- - -. is accumulated.
As described above, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an umbrella the operation of openiny and closing of which can be controlled in sequence merely by a single push bukkon in a uni-directional manner. Again, owing to the two~stage :
type actu;ating construction in the umbrella, such conventional drawbacks, as pressing of a wrong push button, can be avoided since a user will not in any way .
.
perform an actuating action for closing the umbrella béEore it has been opened. Furthermore, because oE the simple actuating control in a unidirectional fashion, the umbrella of the invention can be used with yreater convenience and since construction of khe single push button control according to the present invention is even simpler than those of the conventional ones and the -type previously disclosed by the presen-t inventor and also the push button control occupies less space on the umbrella grip, this will not only render the manufacture and assembly work easler and reduce the cost of production, but can also make possible a neat and esthetic design of the grip.
, The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and it should be understood that changes and variations may be made there-to without departing from the true spirit of the invention as defined in,the appended claims.
- .. , . . - . . . . . . .. .. ..
~: ~25 . , .
of oueration of the push button mechanism shown in FIG.l;
FIG. 7 is an enlaryed sectional view showing the operating condition in the push button mechanism; and FIG. 8 is an illustra-tion depicting the operating condition in the push button mechanism taken along the line B-B of FIG~ 7.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
.
The automatic umbrella according to the present invention comprises, as shown in FIG. l, an outer tubular shaft l having a lower ring ll ~ixed to the upper portion thereof, an intermediate tubular shaft 2 having the outer tubular shaft l slidably housed thereto and an intermediate ring 21 fixed to the upper portion thereof, a lower inner shaft 3 slidably insertible in the lower end portion of intermediate ~ubular shaft 2 and a grip 31 mounted to the lower end thereof, an ~: upper inner shaft 4 slidably insertible in the upper . end portion of intermediate tubular shat.2 and provided;... ...,~... ..
with an upper ring 41 fixed at the middle portion : 20 thereof, a rib assembly 5 having ends of the ribs pivotably connected to each of the rings 11, ~l and 41, an operating push button mounted between the upper portion of the grip 31 and the lower inner shaft 3, a first spring means 7 for closing the umbrella and 25: provided on the upper end portion of intermediate tubular shaft 2 and between the intermediate and- the low~r rings 21 and ll, and a second spring means 8 :' .. , ~ . . .. .
adapted for opening the umbrella being provided in the intermediate tubular shaft 2 and between -the upper and ?
the lower inner shafts, 4 and 3. .' While on the upper end of the abovementioned outer tubular shaft 1 there is formed a side wall of lower ring 11, on one side wall of the lower end thereof is defined a rectangular locking opening 12 to allow the engagement therein of a locking head to be described hereinafter. The intermediate tubular shaft 2 which is slidably inserted in the outer tubular shaft 1 is longer in length than the latter and is provided at the upper end thereof with an intermediate ring 21 fixed thereto. The inner sides of the upper and the lower end portions of the shaft 2 are further f,ormed with at least one, preferably two,'according to the present embodiment, symmetrically and inwardly guide convex portions 22, 22 as shown in FIGS~ 4(A) ancl 4(B).
.... .... ..
In operation', said ~wo convex portions 22, 22 preven-t' " '''":'""' '' the upper and the lower inner shafts 3, 4 Erom ro-taking inside the intermediate shaft 2 and also act as guide-projection when the two inner shafts 3, 4 are sli~ing up and down therein. Furthermore, an opening 23 is defined on one side wall o~ the intermediate shaf-t 2 at the lower end thereof and located between the two convex portions 22, 22 to allow the enlarged head 92 of the locking pawl 9, whlch will be described herein-after, to be engaged therein. Both the lower and the ': ' ~%~ 9 upper inner shafts, 3, and 4, are defined with at least one, but preferably, two symmetrically arranged guide-grooves 32, 42 as illustrated in EIGS. 4(~) and 4(B).
The upper portion of the lower inner shaft 3 is glidably inserted in the lower portion.of intermediate shaft 2 and prevents the intermediate shaft 2 from escaping out upwardly from the lower lnner shaft 3. This guide-groove 32 of lower inner shaft 3 is formed at the upper end with a check shoulder 321 (that is, a guide-groove 32 is not defined therein). The lower end of upper inner shaft 4 is slidably inserted in the upper end pvrtion of intermediate tubular shaft 2, while the convex portions 22, 22 formed respectively at the upper and the lower end:portions of intermediate shaft .2 ~re engaged respectively. in the guide-grooves 42, 32 ~;~ of the upper and the lower inner shafts 4~ 3 in order ~ to impede rotation inside the intermediate shaft 2 by ; the two inner shaEts 4, 3. The grip 31 is fixedly mounted to the lower end portion of lower inner shaft 3 by a fixed pin 33 provided therewith, and on the upper end of said grip 31 is formed a sleeve member 35 having an oblong opening 34 being deflned on one side face thereof. This opening 34 of the sleeve member receives therein an operating push button 6 having its upper end protruding out of the opening. The push button 6 is resiliently and slidably re-tained in the ~ opening 34 by a return spring 64 mounted in the buttom ,~ ~
,, ., ,,, ~ .. .. . . .
34~
chereof and having the top portion abutting against - : the inner waL1 o~ sleeve member 35 and by a bottom flanye 65, and at the lower edge of the huttom of which is further provided a bevel face 6.7 for use in release.
A locking pawl 9 is pivotably mounted in the inside of lower inner shaft 3 by a shaft pin 93~ The enlarged head 92 formed at the upper end of said locking pawl projects out from the front end outer portion of an elongated slot 38 being formed on the inner shaft 3 and on one side of said upper end is disposed a return spring 97 engaginy the inner circumference of inner shaf~ 3 in order to enable the locking pawl 9 to be returned and sprung out of the slot 3~ and openings 23 and 12. At the upper end of lower inner shaft 3 there is provided a smalL spring pawl 95, the lockiny head 96 oE which projects out from an opening 30 being defined in said inner shaft 3 and is capable of moviny . . . ., . . . . ,, .. , ., ~; .. .....
into the openings 23 and 12 in the inner sha~t 2 and outer tubular shaft 1 and being engaged therein as shown in E'IG. 3. In additionr an upper ring 41 is mounted in slightly the middle portion of the upper inner shaEt 4, the upper end of which is screwed with a cap 43.
As illustrated in FIGS. 6 through 8, inside the oblong opening 34 of grip 31, the bottom face 66 of push button 6 is located just above the locking head 92 and between the upper and lower édges of the two :i .
-- 8 ~
openlngs, 12 and 13. During operation of the push ,blltton in opening of the umbrella, when the locking !~ ',$~ ;' head 92 has been pressed down by the push button 6, the bottom face of said push button 6, which just lies across the edge tops 121 at the two sides of the opening 12, will upon reaching the outer circumference of intermediate shaft 2 press against the locking head 92 and force the latter to be disengaged from the opening 12, and ~can not be depressed any more. Again, in operation of the push button for closing the umbrella,when the locking head 92 is being pressed down by the push button 6, this push button 6, being located now at the place of the opening 23 in the : intermediate shaft, will upon reaching the outer circumference of inner shaf-t 3 by its bottom face 66 force the lock.ing head 92 to be completely disengaged from the opening 23.
...... .. .... . . . . . . . . . . ... ... ......... ...
The rib assembly 5 includes usually 8 to 10 dome ; ribs 51, a same number of stretcher ribs 52 and a same number oE supporting ribs 530 One end of each dome r.ib 51 is pivokably mounted to the upper ring 41 while the other end thereof remains Eree and the middle portion thereof is, on the other hand, provided with a pivot member 54 adapted to connect pivotably with one end of the stretcher rib 52, the other end of which is again pivotably mounted to the intermediate ring 21. The m~iddle portion of the stretcher rib 52 is ~ . . - .
~z~
likewise provided with a pivot member 55 ad~pted to . connec-t pivotably with one end of the suppor-ting rib 5 while the other end thereof being pivotabLy mounted to the lower ring ll. When the umbrella is in a,closed position, the coil spring 7 disposed between the intermediate ring 21 and the lower ring ll is in its freely extended condition as shown in FIG. 1. Under the same condition when the umbrella is in the closed position, the coil spring 8 disposed in the intermediate shaft 2 between the upper and the lower inner shafts 4, ~ is, on the other hand, in its compressed condition and tends to urge the upper and the lower inner shafts 4, 3 upward and downward respectively. However, since the intermediate shaft 2 and outer sha~-t 1 are all locked by the enlarged head 92 of locking pawl 9 at this time, the coil springs 7, 8 are thus unable to pull apart the intermediate shaft 2 and the outer ~,,,, , ,,,, ,, ,, , , , .... , .. :
shat l, and the upper inner shaft 4 and lower inner shaft 3.
In operation, when the automatic umbrella of the invention is in the fully closed position as shown in FIG. 1, the rib assembly 5 is completely collapsed, the coil spring 7 is in the released and fully extended : condition and the coil spring 8 is being compressed 25 thereby accumulating elastic energy. In this positionr both the immediate and the outer shafts 2, l and the : : lower inner shaft 3 are locked in engagement by the ~Z9~
enlarged head 92 thereby maintaining the umbrella in the closed condition. Again, the push button 6 is located above the opening 34 in a position as depicted`
in FIG. 6, whereas the bottom face 66 of which ia placed slightly above the enlarged head 92 In the process of opening the umhrella from its presently closed position, the push button 6 is first depressed whereby said push button 6 in against the resilient force of the springs, 64 and 97, will immedia-tely press upon the enlarged head 92 such that the latter will come down. In this way, the enlarged head 92 is released from the opening 12 of outer shaft 1 and falls into the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2 thereby releasing the outer shaft 1 and by which thus permits lS said outer shaft 1 to be slid out. Thereafter, when push but-ton 6 is released, said push but~n will immediately r^-turn to its original position by the return spring 64 and alfio by the bevel-faced portion 67 at the bottom thereof, being slid out of the edges of opening 12 and urged toward3 the above.
In -the meantime, because the push button 6 has been arranged in such a way that when it reaches the outer circumference of intermediaté shaft 2, the botton will be blocked instantly by the edye tips at -the two sides of the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2 and thus can not be pressed downward any further, that is, the enlarged head 92 will still be engaging in the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2, thereby forming a two-stage .,,, ~, , control ~eans and maintainlny the intermediat0 sha~-t 2 an.~ the lower i~ner shaf-t 3 in the original engaginy position. Owing to the upward extension force of the coil spring 8, the outer shaft 1 being released from the engaging position now will force the upper inner shaft 4 to move upward wi-th respect to the intermediate shaft 2 and consequently, the.upper ring 41 will also be moving upward along with the upper inner shaft 4.
Although the dome ribs 51 which are pivotably mounted at one end to the ring 41 will now tend to ~ove upward along with the latter, however because of the mid portions of ribs 51 being pivotably connected to the stretcher ribs 52 having one ends thereof pivotabLy mounted to the immediate ring 21 and said intermediate ring 21 being, in turn, held immovabLy in position in the intermediate shaft 2, consequently these dome ribs 51 wiLl spread out gradually through the ascending of : the upper ring 41 and the upward movement of the stretcher ribs 52-with the pivot joint oE the inter-mediate ring 21 a~ the center. Simultaneously, ollowing the upward movement oE the stretcher .ribs 52 by the supporting ribs 53 pivo-tably connected thereto and throuyh -the intermediary oE lower ring ll, these stretcher ribs 52 in against the sprlng force of coil spriny 7 pull the outer shaft l upward with respect ~: to -the intermediate shaft 2. Following the ascending of this outer shaft 2, the coil spring 7 disposed , .
~ , : ' ~
, .. .. ..
between the intermediate and the lower rings 21, 11 is also compressed thereby accumulating elastic ~nergy - - -for use next in the closing of the umbrella. The coil spring 7 is now fully compressed and a~ain the inter-S mediate ring 21 remains un-moving, thereby permit~ing the ribs, 52 and 53, respectively of the intermediate and the lower rings 21, 11 to form irltc an un-moving rigid body, which even if the ribs 51 are under the upward pulling force of the upper ring 41, is unable to move upwardly. The coil spring 8 is, however, in a partially extended position now when there i5 still maintained some extension forces and therefore prevent the upper ring 42 from moving downwardly, while the same strength thus keeps the ribs Sl, 52 and 53 to be an un-moving framework and which can hardly be down-wardl~ pivotable. In this way, the urnbrella is now opened completely in a ~ully extended.state as shown .. . . . .. ~ ..
in FIG. 2 to be ready or use.
When the umbrella which has been opened is next to be clo~ed, all khat is required to do is to depress the push button, as illustrated in FIG. 6, ln against the spring ~orce of the springs 64, g7, which in turn presses upon the enlarged head 92, and sald enlaryed head 92 is immediately dlsengaged from the opening 23 of intermediate shaft 2. Although the coil spring 8 still has a kendency of urging the lower inner shaft 3 to move downward, thak is, to push said lower inner shaft outward, nevertheless, since the grip 31 is firmly held in the UQer~s hand, this lower inner shaft 3 will not move~ The extension force of the ,' coil spring 8 acts instead on the upper inner shaft 4 which is made to slide upward with relation to the intermediate shaft 2 and tends to bring the ribs 51 to be closed thereby. Meanwhile, as the intermediate shaft 2 is now in a freely slidable state, the coil spring 7 by its extension force and through the inter-mediary of the intermedia-te shaft 21 urges the inter-; mediate shaft ~ to move upward and the outer shaft 1 downward. When the intermediate shaft 2 is ascending, the outer shaft 1 relative to said intermediate shaft 2 moves downwardly till the projection of intermediate shaft 2 has been engaged ln the,guide-channel check ' shoulder 321. Now, since both the oute:r and the intermdiate shafts 1, 2 have the openings 12, 23 thereof '" . : ''' ' being engaged to'the locking head 96 and are thus no,t upwardly movable, the movement of these sha~ts 2, 1 .
causes the rib assembly 5 to be turned down to the closiny position. As a result, the down rib~ 51 are collapsqd and folded together through the linked movement of the stretcher and the' supporting ribs 52, ; : 53 and the respective rings 11, 21 and 41 and, until both coil springs, 7 and 8, are in their fully extended :
and substantially unstressed condition and the rib assembly 5 is completly ~olded to the,condition as shown ,, ~, . .. .
in FIG. 3. As a next and final step of the seria~ of operakion, the shaft is contracted by holding -the umbrella down against the ground or any hard,surfaces and applying compression force ak the oppos1`te end of the shaft, i.e., at the upper inner shaft 4 and the grip 31, in opposing thé extension force o~ the coil spring 8. As the co~pression force is being applied, khe lower inner shaft 3 will be inserted deeply into the in-termediate shaft and the coil spring 8 wil] also be compressed causing now the outer and the intermediate shaft l, 2 to be engaged therein by the 'ocking head 96 of spring pawl 95 when, both the shafts 2, l will be held together with the lower inner shaft 3 as a single body. By now, the compression force of the first coil spring 1 has weakened and is in a free and released state whereas the second coil spring 8 is in a - - compressed position, whereby energy to be consume~ ~or ; automaticaLly closing umbrella after it has been opened -~- - -. is accumulated.
As described above, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an umbrella the operation of openiny and closing of which can be controlled in sequence merely by a single push bukkon in a uni-directional manner. Again, owing to the two~stage :
type actu;ating construction in the umbrella, such conventional drawbacks, as pressing of a wrong push button, can be avoided since a user will not in any way .
.
perform an actuating action for closing the umbrella béEore it has been opened. Furthermore, because oE the simple actuating control in a unidirectional fashion, the umbrella of the invention can be used with yreater convenience and since construction of khe single push button control according to the present invention is even simpler than those of the conventional ones and the -type previously disclosed by the presen-t inventor and also the push button control occupies less space on the umbrella grip, this will not only render the manufacture and assembly work easler and reduce the cost of production, but can also make possible a neat and esthetic design of the grip.
, The foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and it should be understood that changes and variations may be made there-to without departing from the true spirit of the invention as defined in,the appended claims.
- .. , . . - . . . . . . .. .. ..
~: ~25 . , .
Claims (5)
1. An automatically actuated umbrella having a single push button to initiate expanding and collapsing operations, comprising: outer shaft means including an outer tubular shaft and a lower ring fixedly attached to said outer tubular shaft, intermediate shaft means including an intermediate tubular shaft slidably telescoped within said outer tubular shaft and an intermediate ring affixed to said intermediate tubular shaft at a location above said outer tubular shaft, upper inner shaft means including an upper inner shaft slidably telescoped relative to an upper end of said intermediate tubular shaft and an upper ring affixed to said upper inner shaft at a location above said intermediate shaft means, a lower inner shaft slidably telescoped within a lower end of said intermediate tubular shaft, and a rib arrangement including dome ribs, stretcher ribs, and supporting ribs having inner ends thereof pivotably connected to said upper ring, intermediate ring, and said lower ring, respectively, with outer ends of said stretcher ribs and supporting ribs being pivotably connected to said dome ribs and stretcher ribs, respectively, to form an umbrella frame, said rib arrangement being movable between expanded and collapsed positions, first spring means arranged to act between said outer and intermediate shaft means for moving said rib arrangement to said collapsed position, second spring means arranged to act between said lower inner shaft and said upper inner shaft means for moving said rib arrangement to said expanded position, said outer tubular shaft, said intermediate tubular shaft, and said lower inner shaft including lateral openings which are laterally alignable, locking pawl means mounted for movement in said lower inner shaft, having a locking head, and being yieldably spring-biased laterally outwardly to a locking position wherein said locking head projects into all of said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, to retain said rib arrangement in a collapsed position with said second spring means being in an energy-storing state, a grip affixed to a lower end of said lower inner shaft and including a side wall 16 .
disposed outside of said lower inner shaft, said grip including a push button mounted in said side wall and yieldably spring-biased laterally outwardly, said push button including an abutment surface opposing said locking head and said aligned openings, said push button being movable in a direction of actuation to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said outer tubular shaft in response to a first inward depression of said push button to a first stop position in engagement with said outer tubular shaft to enable said upper inner shaft means and said outer shaft means to be raised relative to said intermediate shaft means by said second spring means in a manner expanding said rib arrangement while causing said first spring means to store energy, with said locking head remaining within said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft and retaining said first spring means in such energy storing state, said push button being movable in said direction of actuation to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft in response to a second inward depression of said push button to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vacated by said outer tubular shaft upon the raising of the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate tubular shaft to enable said second spring means to raise said upper inner shaft means relative to said outer shaft means and to enable said first spring means to raise said intermediate shaft means relative to said upper inner shaft means for collapsing said rib arrangement.
disposed outside of said lower inner shaft, said grip including a push button mounted in said side wall and yieldably spring-biased laterally outwardly, said push button including an abutment surface opposing said locking head and said aligned openings, said push button being movable in a direction of actuation to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said outer tubular shaft in response to a first inward depression of said push button to a first stop position in engagement with said outer tubular shaft to enable said upper inner shaft means and said outer shaft means to be raised relative to said intermediate shaft means by said second spring means in a manner expanding said rib arrangement while causing said first spring means to store energy, with said locking head remaining within said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft and retaining said first spring means in such energy storing state, said push button being movable in said direction of actuation to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said intermediate tubular shaft in response to a second inward depression of said push button to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vacated by said outer tubular shaft upon the raising of the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate tubular shaft to enable said second spring means to raise said upper inner shaft means relative to said outer shaft means and to enable said first spring means to raise said intermediate shaft means relative to said upper inner shaft means for collapsing said rib arrangement.
2. An umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said push button is linearly movable with respect to the direction of actuation when depressed.
3. An umbrella according to claim 1, including third spring means for biasing said pawl means laterally outwardly, and fourth spring means separate from said third spring means for biasing said push button laterally outwardly.
4. An umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said first stop position is defined by edges of said opening of said outer tubular shaft, and said second stop means is defined by edges of said intermediate tubular shaft.
5. An automatically actuated umbrella having a single push button to initiate expanding and collapsing operations, comprising: a shaft assembly including a plurality of slidably telescoped shafts, a rib arrangement pivotably mounted to said shaft assembly such that said rib assembly is disposed in an expanded state when said shafts are in a first position relative to one another and disposed in a collapsed state when said shafts are in a second position relative to one another, spring means operably connected to said shaft assembly for biasing said shafts toward said first and second positions, said shaft assembly including: an inner shaft carrying a manual grip, an intermediate shaft slidably telescoped on said inner shaft, and an outer shaft slidably telescoped on said intermediate shaft, said intermediate, and outer shafts including alignable lateral openings, and actuating means comprising: locking pawl means mounted for movement in said inner shaft, having a locking head and being yieldably spring-biased laterally outwardly to a locking position wherein said locking head projects into said openings when said openings are laterally aligned, for resisting movement of said outer and intermediate shafts in order to retain said rib arrangement in a collapsed state, a push button mounted in said grip and yieldably spring-biased laterally outwardly, said push button including an abutment surface opposing said pawl and said outer shaft when said outer and intermediate shafts are retained by said locking head, said push button being movable in a direction of actuation to displace said pawl in a manner moving said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said outer shaft in response to a first inward depression of said push button to a first stop position against said outer shaft to enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said first position by said spring means in a manner raising said outer shaft and expanding said rib arrangement, with said locking head remaining within said opening of said intermediate shaft, said push button being movable in said direction of actuation to displace said locking head inwardly and out of said opening of said intermediate shaft in response to a second inward depression of said push button to a second stop position beyond said first stop position vacated by said outer shaft upon the raising of the latter, said second stop position defined by engagement of said push button with said intermediate shaft to enable said shaft assembly to be moved to said second position by said spring means in a manner raising said intermediate shaft and collapsing said rib arrangement.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000537770A CA1294849C (en) | 1987-05-22 | 1987-05-22 | Fully automatic single push button type umbrella |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000537770A CA1294849C (en) | 1987-05-22 | 1987-05-22 | Fully automatic single push button type umbrella |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1294849C true CA1294849C (en) | 1992-01-28 |
Family
ID=4135727
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000537770A Expired - Lifetime CA1294849C (en) | 1987-05-22 | 1987-05-22 | Fully automatic single push button type umbrella |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1294849C (en) |
-
1987
- 1987-05-22 CA CA000537770A patent/CA1294849C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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