US20020139405A1

US20020139405A1 - Sunshade frame

Info

Publication number: US20020139405A1
Application number: US09/824,029
Authority: US
Inventors: Chorng-Cheng Lee
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-03
Filing date: 2001-04-03
Publication date: 2002-10-03

Abstract

A sunshade frame has an upper support member secured to a top end of a shank; the ribs of the frame are each pivoted to a corresponding one of longitudinal trenches of the upper support member from an inner end. The frame has a lower support member movably connected to the shank, and spreader rods pivoted to the lower support member from inner ends; the spreader rods are each pivoted to a corresponding one of the ribs by means of a pivotal pin from an outer end with an elastic member disposed in between to prevent the connection from getting loose in case the pivotal pin is too long for the width of same. The upper, and the lower support members have an upper, and a lower confining rim respectively to prevent the ribs and the spreader rods from pivoting beyond same to a wrong position.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a sunshade frame, and particularly to one which can remain in good shape even under strong winds.

Referring to FIG. 6, a conventional sunshade frame includes a

shank

10, an upper support member 20, ribs 40, a lower support member 30 and spreader rods 60.

The

upper support member

20 is secured to a top end of the shank 10, and has longitudinal receiving trenches 201 spaced apart on an outer side; a transverse trench 202 is formed, intersecting with the longitudinal receiving trenches 201, on an intermediate portion of the outer side. The ribs 40 are each pivoted to a corresponding one of the receiving trenches 20 from an inner end portion by means of a locating member 50, which is secured in the transverse trench 202, and passed through the inner end portions of the ribs 40.

The

lower support member

30 is movably connected to the shank 10, and also has longitudinal receiving trenches 301 and a transverse trench 302 like the upper support member 20. The spreader rods 60 are pivoted to the receiving trenches 301 from inner end portion by means of another locating member 50 secured in the transverse trench 302 and passed through the spreader rod inner end portion.

The outer ends of the

spreader rods

60 are each pivoted to a corresponding one of the ribs 40. Thus, the sunshade can be spread for use by means of moving the lower support member 30 to a suitable position.

However, the sunshade with the conventional sunshade frame is found to have a drawback that the canopy and the

ribs

40 can be easily blown upwards to a wrong position by strong winds, and consequently the frame would get damaged.

If the ribs and the spreader rods are made of bamboos, there will be a difficulty in manufacturing the sunshade frame because there would be differences between the diameters of the bamboo stems used as the ribs and the spreader rods, it is impossible to prepare all pivotal pins for pivoting the spreader rods to the ribs with a suitable length; consequently, washers have to be disposed between the ribs and the spreader rods when the pivotal pins are too long otherwise the connection would be too loose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a sunshade frame which can remain in good shape under strong winds.

And, it is another object of the present invention to provide a sunshade frame which can be manufactured relatively easily even when the ribs and the spreader rods are made of bamboo stems.

The sunshade frame of the present invention includes an upper support member, a shank, ribs, spreader rods and a lower support member.

The upper support member is secured to a top end of the shank, and has several longitudinal receiving trenches spaced apart on an outer side each having a corresponding one of the ribs pivoted thereto. The upper support member further has a confining rim on upper ends of the longitudinal trenches to prevent the ribs from pivoting up beyond same to a wrong position.

The lower support member is movably connected to the shank, and has a confining rim on a lower side to prevent the spreader rods pivoted thereto from pivoting down beyond same to a wrong position. So, the frame can remain in good shape with the confining rims even in strong winds.

Furthermore, an elastic member is disposed between each of the ribs and the corresponding one of the spreader rods in pivotal connection such that the connection won't get loose in case the pin provided for the pivotal connection is too long. The manufacture doesn't have to worry about the length of pin when the ribs and the spreader rods are made of bamboo stems without uniform width.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

This invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein: [0014]
FIG. 1 is a view of the sunshade frame according to the present invention. [0015]
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the sunshade frame according to the present invention. [0016]
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the sunshade frame in FIG. 1. [0017]
FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side view of a rib and the associated spreader rod of the sunshade frame in FIG. 2. [0018]
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the rib and the spreader rod of FIG. 4. [0019]
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the conventional sunshade frame in the Background.[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and [0021] 3, a sunshade frame of the present invention includes a shank 1, an upper support member 2, a lower support member 3, ribs 4, locating members 5 and spreader rods 6.
The [0022] upper support member 2 is secured to a top end of the shank 1, and has a confining rim 23 on an upper side. The upper support member 2 further has longitudinal receiving trenches 21 spaced apart on an outer side under the confining rim 23, and has a transverse trench 22 formed on an intermediate portion of the outer side, intersecting with the longitudinal receiving trenches 21.
The [0023] ribs 4 are pivoted to a locating member 5 from inner end portions; the locating member 5 is passed around, and secured in, the transverse trench 22 with the inner end portions of the ribs 4 each being movably received in a corresponding one of the longitudinal receiving trenches 21.
The [0024] lower support member 3 is movably connected to the shank, and has longitudinal receiving trenches 31 spaced apart on an outer side, and has a transverse trench 32 intersecting with intermediate portions of the receiving trenches 31. The lower support member 3 further has a confining rim 33 formed on lower ends of the receiving trenches 31.
The [0025] spreader rods 6 are pivoted to a second locating member 5 from inner end portions, and the locating member 5 is passed around, and secured in, the transverse trench 32 with the spreader rod inner end portions each being movably received in a corresponding one of the longitudinal receiving trenches 31. Thus, the spreader rods 6 can pivot on the lower support member 3 as the ribs 4 can pivot on the upper support member 2.
The [0026] spreader rods 6 are each pivoted to a corresponding one of the ribs 4 from an outer end by means of a pivotal pin 7 with an elastic member 8 being disposed between the spreader rod 6 and the rib 4 (FIG. 5).
When the sunshade with the frame is spread for use, the [0027] confining rim 23 of the upper support member 2 will prevent the ribs 4 from pivoting up beyond a suitable position, and the spreader rods 6 also can be held in a suitable position by means of the confining rim 33 of the lower support member 3.
Moreover, because of the [0028] elastic members 8, the manufactures don't have to worry about the length of the pivotal pins 7, which might be too long for some of the ribs 4 and the spreader rods 6 when they are made of bamboo stems, for which it is not possible to have an uniform width, i.e. in case the pivotal pins 7 are too long, the elastic members 8 disposed between the ribs and the spreader rods 6 can prevent the connection from getting loose.
When the [0029] ribs 4 and the spreader rods 6 are made of bamboo stems, two ends of same are provided with plugs to prevent water from flowing in.
From the above description, the sunshade frame of the present invention can be known to have desirable features as follows: [0030]
1. The confining rims of the upper and [0031] lower support members 2 and 3 can prevent the ribs 4 and the spreader rods 6 from moving to wrong position to get damaged under strong winds.
2. The connection between the ribs and the spreader rods won't be loose when the pivotal pins connecting same are too long. [0032]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A sunshade frame, comprising

an upper support member secured to an upper end of a shank; said upper support member having a plurality of longitudinal receiving trenches spaced apart on an outer side each receiving a corresponding one of inner ends of ribs pivoted to a locating member secured to a transverse trench intersecting with said longitudinal receiving trenches; a plurality of spreader rods; said spreader rods being each pivoted to a corresponding one of longitudinal receiving trenches of a lower support member movably connected to said shank from inner ends of said spreader rods; said spreader rods being each pivoted to a corresponding one of said ribs from an outer end; and characterized by a confining rim on upper ends of said longitudinal trenches of said upper support member, said confining rim being capable of preventing said ribs from pivoting up beyond same.

2. The sunshade frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower support member has a confining rim on lower ends of said longitudinal receiving trenches thereof, preventing said spreader rods from pivoting down beyond same.

3. The sunshade frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spreader rods being each pivoted to said corresponding rib by means of a pivotal pin with an elastic member being disposed between said spreader rod and said rib.