GB2036123A - A Dual Purpose Beach Umbrella and Tent - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dual purpose beach umbrella supported by a tripod, and employing a sliding fastener to join the periphery of the umbrella to a curtain 4 whose upper peripheral length 12 is shorter than its lower one. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A Dual Purpose Beach Umbrella Background of the Invention The present invention is to provide a kind of umbrella, particularly a type of parasol that can be used for a camping tent by enclosing the four sides of the umbrella with a curtain to make a simple fast-forming tent for open country or beach camping.

The known parasol often has a long handle sharpened at the lower extremity and a surface larger than ordinary umbrella. When using the parasol, a soft sand ground has to be chosen and the sharpened parasol handle forcibly inserted into the ground. As the sun moves with time, the handle has to be pulled up and inserted again at an angle and in a direction to shade the sunshine.

Occasionally, there are parasol handle that has articulate structure installed at suitable portion of the handle to eliminate the trouble of pull up and push down, requiring only the adjustment of the inclination angle and the direction of the upper portion of the handle, but these types of beach umbrella, because of their usage, have long handles and are inconvenient to carry.

Whenever summertime comes, people flock to the beach, if they desire a longer period of stay, they have to have a long range planning under present conditions: make reservation for lodging around the beach area 2 to 3 months in advance.

But frequently to make plans for a vacation 2 to 3 months afterwards they encounter limitations and difficulties, so, when vacation comes, because of their persistent interest, they are usually forced to use ordinary camping tent. However, the structure and usage of camping tents are generally fixed, if used in a beach, the tents are all sealed, staying in such tents under the blazing sun is no joy but suffering; besides, the parts of a tent such as ropes, pins, frame and many others make the baggage big and heavy and inconvenient to carry.

Because of the reasons mentioned above, ordinary people has either to spend a lot of money for vacation in a beach or stay away from it all the time.

The inventor apprehended the abovementioned defects, spent many years in thinking and design work and eventually came up with the novel dual purpose beach umbrella which eliminates the above-mentioned defects. It is expected to provide a kind of camping tent that can be used either in a beach or in an open country to promote camping activities and thus to enhance the health of the citizenry.

Summary of the Invention The main object of the present invention is to eliminate the defects of the known beach umbrella and tent, to combine the two objects into one, capable of carrying out the functions of both, and to provide a kind of dual purpose beach umbrella that can be used either as a beach umbrella or a camping tent.

The second object of the present invention is to improve the structure of the beach umbrella, to provide a beach umbrella that can be dismantled using simple method, folded into a small object that can be accommodated in a small baggage convenient to carry.

A further object of the present invention is to reduce the accessories that are needed in building a tent, in addition, to provide a simple method in joining the curtain to the umbrella when the beach umbrella is to be converted into a camping tent. It saves materials and lowers the cost.

Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is an exploded view of the structure of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an embodiment of the present invention used as a beach umbrella; and Fig. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention used as a camping tent.

Detailed Description of the Invention An embodiment of the present invention together with other characteristic is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1 which is an exploded view of the structure of the present invention, wherein the numeral 1 stands for the umbrella, 2 for the main pole, 3 for the tripod and 4 for the curtain. The said umbrella has a polygonal covering surface 10, its periphery is embroidered with a zipper (ZIP is a registered trade mark) side 12, the lower extremity of the umbrella handle has male threads for engagement with the main pole 2.The main pole 2 comprises an articulated rod piece 20, a pole rod 22 that can be divided into a plurality of sections, a sharp pole 23 with one end acutely sharpened (the above three members has male and female threads 14, 24 at the two ends, these parts can be screwed to form the main body of the main pole), and a fixing sleeve 21 which has on its side a horizontal screw hole and that fixes the articulated rod piece by means of a flat top bolt 32, disposed in the screw hole. Tripod 3 comprises a movable supporting stand 30 with three legs and two fixing sleeves 31, each has on its side two flat top bolts 32 that are perpendicular to each other on a horizontal plane.

Curtain 4 is formed by sewing a number of trapezoidal sections equal in number to the sides of the umbrella polygon with one or two openings reserved for entrance which are fastened by buttons, and is embroidered with a zipper side 12 on the upper periphery that zips with the zipper side 11 embroidered around the periphery of the umbrella surface. Generally, the umbrella surface fabric 10 and curtain 4 are preferably made of pliable, thin and water-proof fabric made from chemical fibre.

When used as a beach umbrella as shown in Fig. 2, the umbrella of the present invention is opened and screwed to the main pole 2 which is inserted into the fixing sleeve 31 of the tripod 3 and pushed hardly into the sand or earth, then move the fixing sleeves 31 along main pole 2 to open up the supporting legs, which comes into close contact with the earth surface and finally fasten the flat top bolt 32. Because of the effect of pairing the sharpened rod 23 and the tripod 3, the umbrella can stand firmly on soft sand ground, cement or asphalt surfaces (in the last two cases the main pole does not penetrate the surface), this is a superior characteristic of the present invention.The usage of the articulate rod piece is to make the umbrella inclined at a suitable angle with respect to the vertical axis so the surface facing the sun can attain the maximum sun shading effect, as the sun moves with time, to attain the same effect, simply unscrew the bolts 32 on the tripod 3 and turn the umbrella to the direction facing the sun and screw the bolts 32.

When used as a camping tent as shown in Fig.

3, the umbrella of the present invention is straightened in a vertical direction and used as the top of the tent. Move the fixing sleeve 21 upward along the main rod until it is raised to the articulation of the articulated rod piece 20, screw tightly the flat top bolt 32 to fix the umbrella in an erect position and then zip the zipper side on the upper periphery of the curtain and the other zipper side on the periphery of the umbrella surface and finally, pull out the corners of the curtain and pin them on the ground. The method is easy, both the old and the young can easily assemble or dismantle the device, when used as a beach umbrella, the members and the accessories of the present invention can be dismembered and placed in a hand baggage, and because the device is light and its volume small, it is convenient to carry.

To sum up the above description, the structure of the present invention is simple, the members are few, so a small and light package can be formed after dismantling the members and folding the fabric and gathering them together, and because of the simplicity of the structure the device's cost of production is low, it can be called "low prices and fine wares", everybody can afford it. Its merits include simplicity in using, suitableness for both the young and the old and unlimitedness in location of use, indeed, it is an advanced invention of high industrial value.

Claims (3)

Claims

1. A dual purpose beach umbrella, which can be used also for a tent, comprising mainly an umbrella, a main pole, a tripod and a curtain, wherein the combination of the umbrella and the curtain is achieved by zipping the zipper sides embroidered on the peripheries of both objects.

2. A dual purpose beach umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the main pole is formed by screwing a plurality of sections longitudinally, on one end of which is an articulated rod piece and on the other end is a sharpened end, particularly, the said articulated rod piece is fixed by a fixing sleeve.

3. A beach umbrella substantially as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.