US3916927A - Umbrella - Google Patents

Abstract

An umbrella having a telescopic stick is provided with a crown at one end of the umbrella stick and dome ribs are hinged to the crown. The dome ribs may be telescopic and a cover material is sewn centrally to the crown and to the dome ribs. A spreader device having flexible fingers normally extending in a plane at right angles to the stick is provided with integral flexible connecting means between the individual fingers such that the connecting means between the fingers override the dome ribs so that the spreader device will follow the dome ribs when the dome ribs are being opened, yet the spreader device will resiliently tend to retain its radially extending position when the dome ribs are closed forcing the cover to form an outwardly extending mushroom.

Description

I Umted States Patent [191 Bremshey UMBRELLA [75] Inventor: Manfred Bremshey, Mount Royal,

Canada [73] Assignee: Telesco Brophey Limited, Montreal,

Canada [22] Filed: May 30, 1973 21] Appl. No.: 365,247

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 3, 1972 Germany 2226785 [52] US. Cl. 135/26 [51] Int. Cl. A45B 19/06 [58] Field of Search 135/20, 25, 26, 33, 36

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 184,771 11/1876 Folsom 135/26 2,443,772 6/1948 Mappin 135/26 3,693,643 9/1972 Weber 135/26 3,844,302 10/1974 Klein 135/26 /0 5 a m 71s- /9 ,1;- L

Primary Examiner-J. Karl Bell Attorney, Agent, or FirmRobert E. Mitchell; Alan Swabey [57] ABSTRACT An umbrella having a telescopic stick is provided with a crown at one end of the umbrella stick and dome ribs are hinged to the crown. The dome ribs may be telescopic and a cover material is sewn centrally to the crown and to the-dome ribs. A spreader device having flexible fingers normally extending in a plane at right angles to the stick is provided with integral flexible connecting means between the individual fingers such that the connecting means between the fingers override the dome ribs so that the spreader device will follow the dome ribs when the dome ribs are being opened, yet the spreader device will resiliently tend to retain its radially extending position when the dome ribs are closed forcing the cover to form an outwardly extending mushroom.

3 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent No 4, 1975 sheet 1of4 3,916,927

US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 shw 2 of4 3,916,927

FIG. 2

VI I/I/I/I/I/I 7 FIG. 3 9

- Vllunllll;

I'I'I'I'.

FIG. 5

Us;- Patent No'v14, 1915 Sheet 3 on 3,916,927

Y/// p/ //////J US. Patent Nov. 4, 1975 Sheet4 0f4 3,916,927

UMBRELLA BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of Invention The present invention relates to an umbrella and more particularly to an improvement in telescopic umbrellas. 2. Description of Prior Art In conventional telescopic umbrellas, the cover fabric is usually attached centrally at the crown of the umbrella and at the tips of the dome ribs. The umbrella cover is usually also attached at an intermediate point of the dome ribs, namely on a sliding geats. However, as the dome ribs are telescoped, the portion of the cover fabric between the attachment at the geats and the crown is usually bunched and must be manually reformed and neatly folded before the umbrella is in a condition to be inserted into a sheath. Furthermore, the folds of the cover fabric between its attachment with the geats and the crown are often pinched by the geats against the crown when the umbrella is fully collapsed. This can give rise to'accidental tearing of the cover in this area.

It has been proposed to provide a spreader device to form a mushroom-like fold in the portion of the umbrella cover immediately surrounding the crown after the umbrella has been collapsed. Such a spreader is shown in Canadian Patent No. 823,446, issued Sept. 23, 1969, wherein the spreader includes a series of resilient steel wires extending within a sewn tube formed in the seam and these wires are clipped just above the crown.

In other embodiments described in the patent, a continuous wire is shown which is bent to form outwardly extending fingers from a hub mounted just above the crown. As is evident from this patent, the construction is complicated and very difficult to manufacture in a mass-produced system, since the finger can only be assembled by experts. It would, of course, be easier to assemble if the tubes or members are made out of plastic. Where free ends are used, the fingers may pierce the umbrella cover and the fingers might easily fold and hook each other in the operation of the umbrella. Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in the abovementioned Canadian patent, the fingers must lie over the dome ribs so that they will open fully when the umbrella is being opened. 7

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is an aim of the present invention to provide an umbrella frame and cover whereby when the umbrella is being telescoped into a collapsed position, the cover material between its attachment with the geats and the crown assumes a spread-mushroom shape which can then be easily furled for insertion into an umbrella sheath.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide a spreader which is of economical manufacture and can crown when it is required to furl the umbrella cover. The hub, fingers and chordal members are formed integrally from flexible plastic material.

A further feature of the present invention includes a spreader means having a hub adapted to fit on the umbrella stick above the crown and fingers extending from the hub stepped downwardly from the plane of the hub, such that each finger extends substantially within the plane defined by each pair of dome ribs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration, preferred embodiments thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, partly in cross section, of a collapsed umbrella in accordance with the present invention, prior to furling the mushroom-formed cover;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of one embodiment of the spreader device in accordance with the present invention shown in relation to a fragmentary illustration of an umbrella frame;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross section taken along lines III- -III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing a different embodiment thereof;

FIG. 5 is yet another vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 3, but showing yet a different embodiment thereof;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of a different embodiment of a spreader device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross section taken along lines VII-VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of yet another embodiment of the spreader in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross section taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8 and showing the outline of the spreader in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary top plan view of the umbrella showing the spreader of yet another embodiment, superimposed over the umbrella frame, with the umbrella cover being cut away;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective exploded view showing the spreader of the embodiment of FIG. 10 in relation to the crown; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side elevation, partly in cross section of the spreader of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, an umbrella is shown having a telescopic umbrella stick 1 with a handle 2 fixed at one end. A crown 3 is fixed at the other end of the telescopic stick 1. The crown includes a threaded sleeve 4 which is adapted to receive a cap 5 as shown. The umbrella cover fabric 6 is held centrally clamped between the cap 5 and the crown 3. Dome ribs 7 are hinged to the periphery of the crown 3 and in this case each dome rib 7 includes an inner dome rib section 7a and an outer section The section 7a, which is hinged to the crown, is of U-shaped cross section and the outer section 7b slides within the section 7a. A stretcher member 9 is hinged at 8 to the geats 10. The geats also serves to anchor a corresponding portion of the umbrella cover fabric 6. The stretcher member 9 is hinged to a runner in a conventional manner. The runner is retracted within the hollow handle 2 and is, therefore, not visible in the drawings. Also mounted on the stick 1 for sliding movement is an auxiliary runner 1 l to which the strut 12 is hinged. Strut 12 is also hinged to the stretcher 9 at 13.

The umbrella cover fabric 6 is also attached to the tips 15 of the outer dome rib sections 7b.

All of the spreader members which will be described in the present disclosure are preferably injection molded and have been designed so that they can be readily injection molded. The material of the spreader is generally plastic with a high degree of flexibility such as in many organic polymeric resins. The spreaders could, of course, be made of light metal. The spreaders could, of course, be cut from sheet material.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a spreader 17 is shown having fingers 19 which extend radially outwardly from an annular hub 18. The annular hub 18 has a central aperture 18, the diameter of which is equal to the outer diameter of the threaded sleeve 4 of the umbrella crown 3. At a distance from the hub 18 are chordal members which link each finger to the other. The purpose of the chordal members 20 is to permit the fingers 19 of the spreader 17 to move in unison. If the fingers 19 are not exactly aligned with the dome ribs 7, as shown in FIG. 2, the dome ribs 7 will abut the chordal member 20 causing the fingers 19 on either side of the dome ribs 7 to move upwardly with the dome rib as will be described further.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the spreader 17 is fitted to theumbrella'by placing the hub 18 over the crown 3 just under the cover fabric 6. The cap 5 is screwed tightly on the threaded sleeve 4 to retain the cover fabric 6 and the hub 18 against the crown 3. In its environment, the spreaderfingers extend from the hub above the crown over the dome ribs and under the cover material 6. When the umbrella is fully extended, the fingers 19 are out of the way and are retained between the dome ribs 7 and the cover 6, particularly since the fingers 19 are provided with chordal members 20 linking each finger 19. As the dome ribs move upwardly, the fingers 19 move in unison with the dome ribs and are kept out of the way. However, since the fingers 19 are molded such that they extend normally radially outwardly of the hub 18, when the umbrella is closed and the stick is collapsed, the fingers 19 tend to return to their normal radially extending position in a plane extending radially from the axis of the stick 1. This causes the fingers to push the loose fabric between the geats 10 which is now close to the crown, and the crown outwardly to form a mushroom as shown in FIG. 1. When it is required to insert the umbrella into a sheath, the operator merely furls the fabric by pressing the fingers 19 downwardly against the umbrella.

It is necessary that the chordal members 20 be of relatively small cross section to allow them to bend and flex, particularly when the fingers are folded against the closed umbrella. The chordal members 20 should, of course, be of sufficient cross section so that they are not damaged or deformed in this frequent operation.

It is also contemplated to preform bends in the chordal member as shown at 23 in FIG. 4. In this situation, the corrugated chordal member 23 will easily bend along the preformed bends when the fingers are folded downwardly against the frame.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a separate rubber strap 24 is threaded through aperture 24' in the fingers 19 and the strap eventually acts as the chordal link members for the spreader.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 includes the hub 18 with the fingers 19 and the fingers 19 are connected by two thin spaced-apart chordal members 20 and 25, with each having the outline of concentric polygonal members.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a rib 26 is provided extending radially from the hub 18 to the tip of the finger 19. The purpose of the rib 26 is to reinforce the finger l9 and also to improve the injection-molding process of the spreader. If the molten plastic is fed centrally, the grooves cut in the molds to form the ribs 26 enable the plastic to flow to the outer ends of the fingers 19, especially to form the outer chordal members 25.

It is noted from the previous embodiments that the fingers 19 are made of relatively wide configuration, particularly at the tips thereof, to reduce the chances of the fingers 19 tearing the cover fabric.

The spreaders shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 are star shaped and include fingers 27 made of parallel legs 27' defining a slot 28. Angular connecting members 29 extend from the outer ends 27" of the legs 27. The apices 29' of the connecting members 29 project outwardly radially further-than the ends of the fingers 27. In cross section, the fingers 27 are provided with a first preformed bend 30 and a second preformed bend 31 with the connections of the connecting members 29. This arrangement of bends ensures that in any of the positions of the umbrella, the spreader is not overstressed in its bending zone, thereby lengthening the life of the spreader.

It has also been contemplated, although it is not illustrated here, to form the fingers so that they overlap in the same way as a fan when the umbrella is completely open, and when the umbrella is closed, the fingers merely increase in overlapping.

There is still a further embodiment of the spreader shown in FIGS. 10 through 12, wherein the fingers 19 extend radially outwardly in a plane stepped downwardly from the plane of the hub 18. The purpose thereof is so that the fingers 19 extend in the same plane as formed by each pair of adjacent dome ribs so that the fingers do not take any additional space than already taken up by the dome ribs. In this case, the chordal members 20 are corrugated in shape and each finger also includes the reinforcing rib 26.

The spreader members as mentioned above can be made of plastic material as well as light metal. It is contemplated also that a combination of these, wherein a wire frame is covered with injection-molded plastic, could be used.

I claim:

1. An umbrella including a telescopic stick, a crown at one end of the stick, a cover fabric overlying the dome ribs and attached centrally above the crown, spreader means including a hub connected to the stick between the cover and the crown, fingers extending radially from the hub; chordal link members extending between the fingers and spaced radially from the hub near the end of the fingers, with the chordal link members being such that they are easily bent when the fingers are pressed downwardly from the crown when it is chordally extending link members are preformed corrugated strips integrally connected with the fingers.

3. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the fingers extend radially and the link members include a pair of converging members forming a diamond-shaped outline with the adjacent finger, and wherein the apex of the connecting members is further from the axis of the hub than the ends of the fingers.

Claims (3)

1. An umbrella including a telescopic stick, a crown at one end of the stick, a cover fabric overlying the dome ribs and attached centrally above the crown, spreader means including a hub connected to the stick between the cover and the crown, fingers extending radially from the hub; chordal link members extending between the fingers and spaced radially from the hub near the end of the fingers, with the chordal link members being such that they are easily bent when the fingers are pressed downwardly from the crown when it is required to furl the umbrella cover; the hub, fingers and chordal members being formed integrally of flexible plastic material, said hub being flat and having an aperture through which said stick projects, the fingers being stepped down from said flat hub disposing the fingers in planes defined by adjacent pairs of dome ribs, the link members extending between adjacent fingers for integrating movement of the spreader.

2. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the chordally extending link members are preformed corrugated strips integrally connected with the fingers.

3. An umbrella as defined in claim 1, wherein the fingers extend radially and the link members include a pair of converging members forming a diamond-shaped outline with the adjacent finger, and wherein the apex of the connecting members is further from the axis of the hub than the ends of the fingers.

Images