US3439691A

US3439691A - Collapsible umbrella

Info

Publication number: US3439691A
Application number: US634308A
Authority: US
Inventors: Heinz Weber
Original assignee: Bremshey and Co
Current assignee: KNIRPS INTERNATIONAL A GERMAN CORP GmbH; Bremshey and Co
Priority date: 1966-04-28
Filing date: 1967-04-27
Publication date: 1969-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 1986-04-22
Also published as: AT290044B; FR1541663A; ES339245A1; DE1942202U

Description

H. WEBER COLLAP S I BLE UMBRELLA A ril 22, 1969 Sheet of2 Filed April 27, 1967 u Fig.2

Fig. 1

April 22, 1969 H.-WEBER COLLAPSIBLE UMBRELLA Sheet Filed April 27, 1967 United States Patent Int. Cl. A45b 19/06 US. Cl. 135-26 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Collapsible umbrella has a stick, a system of roof-supporting ribs each consisting of an upper rib portion pivotally connected to the normally upper end of the stick and at least another rib portion telescoping the upper rib portion, an auxiliary runner 0r slider displaceable alon the stick, the auxiliary runner having an inner surface, a plurality of struts, each of which is pivotally linked with the runner and with one of the roof-supporting ribs, either the auxiliary runner or stick or both being formed of elastically yieldable material, and means tending to oppose the sliding of the runner along the stick as the umbrella is being opened comprising a lug extending axially along the inner surface of the auxiliary runner and frictionally abutting the stick in an initial phase of the sliding of the auxiliary runner when opening the umbrella roof and being received in a longitudinal groove formed in the stick in a succeeding phase of the sliding of the auxiliary runner, whereby the lug is spaced from the stick so that it is no longer in frictional engagement therewith.

My invention relates to a collapsible umbrella whose frame can be shortened by telescoping so that the umbrella when completely collapsed is small enough to be carried in a brief bag or ladys pocketbook, for example. More specifically, my invention relates to a collapsible umbrella comprised of a stick, a system of roof-supporting ribs each consisting of an upper rib portion pivotally connected to the normally upper end of the stick and at least another rib portion telescoping the upper rib portion, an auxiliary runner or slider displaceable along the stick, and a plurality of struts, each of which is pivotally linked with the runner and with one of the roof-supporting ribs. Such umbrellas are described, for example, in Patent No. 2,165,967.

This well-proven type of construction unfortunately has the undesirable feature that when the umbrella is to be opened, the roof-supporting ribs occasionally slide together or telescope'instead of swinging away from the stick so that the umbrella fails to open. To correct this defect, various improvements have been suggested. One suggested improvement consists of providing a device which tends to oppose the sliding of the auxiliary runner at the beginning of the umbrella-opening operation by means of friction. Such a device is described, for example in the aforementioned Patent No. 2,165,967. In this patent, the umbrella is provided with a spring mounted in the stick which extends radially outwardly through a wall of the stick at a location within the auxiliary runner or in the region between the auxiliary runner and the crown at the upper end of the umbrella when the umbrella is closed but not yet shortened by telescoping.

3,439,691 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 "ice It has been found to be every diflicult to provide a spring within the stick when constructing an umbrella such as is disclosed in the aforementioned patent. The frictional surface with which such a spring abuts the inner surface of the auxiliary runner is very limited due to its structure, so that the stopping action thereof is insuflicient.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide collapsible umbrella which avoids both of the aforementioned defects, and which more particularly permits the roof-supporting ribs to swing away from the stick without sliding together or telescoping and Which improves the checking action opposing the sliding of the auxiliary runner at the start of the umbrella-opening operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, I accordingly provide a collapsible umbrella of the foregoing type with means opposing the sliding of the auxiliary runner by friction at the beginning of the umbrella-opening operation, the auxiliary runner or the stick or both, but preferably the auxiliary runner, being formed of elastically yieldable material, and an elongated lug disposed along the interior surface of the auxiliary runner and extending in the axial direction thereof. In the initial phase of sliding of the runner during the umbrella-opening operation, the lug frictionally engages the stick, and in a succeeding phase of the sliding of the runner along the stick in the umbrella-opening operation, the lug is received in an elongatetd groove formed in the stick wall so that the lug is spaced from the stick wall and is brought out of frictional engagement therewith.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of my invention the elasticity of the abutting auxiliary runner and stick necessary to produce the frictional contact therebetween, as aforementioned, resides primarily in the auxiliary runner which is formed of a plastic material with relatively small moduus of elasticity for this purpose, whereas the stick has the conventional metal tubular construction having a relatively high modulus of elasticity.

Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in collapsible umbrella, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are longitudinal views of part of a collapsible umbrella constructed in accordance with the invention in respective collapsed and partly extended condition;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 of the collapsible umbrella of my invention shown in shortened or telescoped condition;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fragment of my collapsible umbrella showing the auxiliary slider and associated struts in the partly closed but yet unshortened state of the umbrella as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 taken along the line VV in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 taken along the line VIVI in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing and first particularly to FIGS. 1 and 3 thereof, there is shown a conventional umbrella stick consisting of two telescoping portions 1 and 2. The stick portion 1 carries an umbrella crown 3 at the top thereof, as viewed in FIGS. 1 to 3. At the bottom end of the stick portion 2, an umbrella handle 4 is secured for holding the umbrella. The means provided for mutually interlocking the portions 1 and 2 of the stick when in use as shown in FIG. 1 are not illustrated in the drawing since they are well known in the art.

Each rib of the umbrella consists of two telescoping portions, a hollow portion 5 pivotally connected to the umbrella crown 3 at the upper end thereof, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and a portion 6 of mostly solid construction. The portion 6 which forms the free end of each of the ribs is slideable telescopically into the hollow portion 5 which is connected to the crown 3. A sleeve 7 is slidingly mounted on the outside of the hollow rib portion 5 and is connected in a conventional manner with the upper end of the solid rib portion 6, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, by a hinge pin 8. The pin 8 serves simultaneously for articulatingly connecting the rib portion 6 to a main strut 9. All of the main struts are pivotally connected with a main runner or slider 11 at 10, the main runner 11 being lockable in the vicinity of the handle 4 when the umbrella is closed and in the vicinity of the crown 3 on the stick 1, 2 when the umbrella is open. Roofing material (not shown) such as fabric, plastic sheet or the like is attached at the umbrella crown 3 and to the free ends of the rib portions 6. The means necessary for locking the main runner in the aforementioned positions and for attaching the roofing material to the umbrella are generally known and are accordingly not illustrated in the drawings. Auxiliary struts 12, which serve to support the open umbrella roof, are pivotally connected at the location 13 to respective main struts 9 and are all secured at their upper ends by a pivot 14 as shown in FIG. 2, for example, to an auxiliary runner or slider 15.

If an umbrella of this type is to be extended or opened, the main runner 11 is released from its lower rest position, as shown in FIG. 1, and moved by hand along the umbrella stick .1, 2 toward the crown 3. It is possible that when this is done, the umbrella roof will not be extended or opened because the umbrella rib

portions

5 and 6 may slide together or telescope due to force exerted by the main struts 8 through the sleeve 7. The hereinafter described features of my invention are provided for the purpose of avoiding this problem.

The hollow stick portion 1 is formed with a longitudinal groove 16, which does not however extend over the entire length of the stick portion 1. as viewed in the direction toward the umbrella handle, but rather ends at a location 17 which, as shown in FIG. 4, lies inside the auxiliary runner when the umbrella is closed. The auxiliary runner 15 has a downwardly extending, sleevelike projection 18 formed with an elongated lug or rib 19 extending on the inner surface and in the axial direction thereof, which cooperates with the groove 16. The lug 19 is diametrically spaced a distance a from the inner surface of the wall of the sleeve 18 located opposite thereto. The spacing a. is so chosen that it is slightly less than the outer diameter D of the stick portion 1, so that the lug 19 abuts the outer surface of the stick with a specific force when it is located in the position shown in FIG. 4 wherein the umbrella is substantially closed. This force produces friction when the auxiliary runner 15 is moved along the stick portion 1, or in other words produces a resisting force which tends to act opposite to the movement of the auxiliary runner along the stick.

If the umbrella should be opened under unfavorable conditions, such as under conditions wherein the fabric covering has become heavy by having been wetted by rain, or due to hurried actuation and undesirable alignment or extension of the stick axis, the danger arises, as aforementioned, that the individual roof-supporting

rib portions

5, 6 may slide together or telescope without opening the umbrella and extending the roof covering thereof. The friction between the wall of the stick and the lug 19 reacts so as to tend to check the movement of the auxiliary runner so that the roof is extended or opens nevertheless at the thus nearly fixed pivot points 14 under the action of the movement of the main runner 11 directed toward the crown 3 of the umbrella.

The frictional resistance between the lug 19 and the outer surface of the stick portion 1 is effective over a distance b of the auxiliary runner path along the stick, which is by no means insignificant. Only when the auxiliary runner has traversed the distance b, does the lug 19 extend with its entire axial length along the groove 16 and is therefore able to slip into the groove so that the frictional engagement thereof with the stick is interrupted. As the umbrella roof is further extended, the frictional resistance does not therefore have to be overcome any more. Sliding of the auxiliary runner is similarly checked or restrained when the umbrella is being closed, the frictional resistance being initially encountered when the umbrella is nearly closed and the roof covering almost completely folded.

The auxiliary runner 15 expediently consists of a plastic material which is elastically deformable within limits, yet whose modulus of elasticity is nevertheless considerably smaller than that of the metal employed for the tubular stick of the umbrella. The elastic deformation necessary for producing the frictional resistance between the lug 19 and the outer surface of the stick portion 1 consequently is almost completely provided by the auxiliary runner 15.

The collapsible umbrella constructed in accordance with my invention does not require any friction-producing structural parts that have to be located in the interior of the stick, thereby permitting the space within the stick to be employed for installation of other structural elements. Moreover, the collapsible umbrella constructed in accordance with my invention, affords the possibility of optionally predetermining the amount of friction and the duration of its action by suitably dimensioning the auxiliary runner length and therewith the length of the lug producing the friction.

I claim:

1. Collapsible umbrella comprising a stick member formed with a longitudinal groove along part of its length, a system of roof-supporting ribs, each consisting of an upper rib portion pivotally connected to the normally upper end of the stick and at least another rib portion telescoping within said upper rib portion, a main runner displaceable along said stick member, a plurality of main struts, each of which is pivotally linked with said main runner and with one of said roof-supporting ribs, an auxiliary runner member also displaceable along said stick member, said auxiliary runner member having an inner surface, a plurality of auxiliary struts, each of which is pivotally linked with said auxiliary runner member and with one of said main struts, one of said members being formed of elastically yieldable material, and means tending to oppose sliding of said auxiliary runner member along the stick as the umbrella is being opened, comprising a lug extending axially along said inner surface of said auxiliary runner member and frictionally abutting said stick member along a portion thereof in an initial phase of the sliding of said auxiliary runner member when the umbrella is being opened, and being received in said longitudinal groove in a succeeding phase of the sliding of said auxiliary runner member, whereby said lug is spaced from said stick member and is no longer in frictional engagement therewith.

2. Collapsible umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary runner member has an elongated sleeve-like projection, said lug being located on the inner surface of said projection.

3. Collapsible umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said stick member is made of metal and said auxiliary runner member consists of elasticity deformable plastic material having a modulus of elasticity considerably smaller than the modulus of elasticity of the metal of said stick member.

4. Collapsible umbrella according to claim 1, wherein said stick member is formed of metal, and said auxiliary runner member has an elongated sleeve-like projection formed of elastically deformable plastic material and provided with a lug integral therewith and projecting from the inner surface thereof, said plastic material having a modulus of elasticity considerably smaller than the modulus of elasticity of said metal.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,124,842 7/1938 Zierold et al. 135-26 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,224,453 9/ 1966 Germany.

PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner.