GB726369A - Umbrella runner locking device - Google Patents

Abstract

726,369. Umbrellas. WUSTER, A. June 12, 1953 [June 16, 1952], No. 16256/53. Class 134. An umbrella runner locking device of the type in which locking balls 7 and 8 mounted in apertures 5 and 6 in the periphery of the runner 1 are caused by a control sleeve 11 slidably mounted on the runner to engage with sockets 9 and 10 in the umbrella stick 2, is characterized in that the apertures 5 and 6 are axially extending slots, the mutually opposite ends of which are spaced apart by a distance substantially corresponding to the spacing of the sockets 13 and 14 in the control sleeve 11. Fig. I shows the runner in the upper locking position with the umbrella open. Ball 7 has entered socket 9 and is held there by the control sleeve 11 which is in its upper position as determined by ball 8 striking the upper end of slot 6. To release the runner, the control sleeve is moved downwardly in the direction of the arrow p, Fig. 3, until ball 8 strikes the lower end of slot 6, whereupon ball 7 can enter socket 13 and the the runner can then be moved down to close the umbrella. In the lower locking position, Fig. 4, ball 8 has entered socket 10 and is held there by the control sleeve 11 which is in its lower position as determined by ball 7 striking the lower end of slot 5. In a modified arrangement, the sockets 13 and 14 instead of being formed in the control sleeve 11 are formed in a separate control member in the form of a curved strip of sheet steel which is mounted inside the control sleeve so that the bulges at the backs of the sockets enter two holes provided in the control sleeve to prevent relative displacement between the two parts. This additional control member acts as a friction brake between the control sleeve and the runner, the strength of the braking action being adjustable by varying the radius of curvature of the strip or by curving the strip slightly in the longitudinal direction.