U.S. patent application number 09/824028 was filed with the patent office on 2002-10-03 for unfolding hoister of a sunshade.
Invention is credited to Lee, Chorng-Cheng.
Application Number | 20020139404 09/824028 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25240419 |
Filed Date | 2002-10-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020139404 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee, Chorng-Cheng |
October 3, 2002 |
Unfolding hoister of a sunshade
Abstract
An unfolding hoister of a sunshade has a steel rope connected to
a movable support member of the sunshade; the spreader rods of the
sunshade are pivoted to the movable support member. The steel rope
is passed over a pulley pivoted to the shank, and is connected to a
turning handle, which is pivoted to the lower part of the shank,
from the other end with the intermediate portion passed through a
longitudinal hole of the shank. Thus, the sunshade can be spread
when the movable support member is moved up along the shank by
means of turning the turning handle. The steel rope is
substantially hidden in the shank when the sunshade is unfolded, so
it is not possible for people to accidentally touch same to get
dirtied by the grease.
Inventors: |
Lee, Chorng-Cheng; (Chia Yi,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ROSENBERG, KLEIN & LEE
3458 ELLICOTT CENTER DRIVE-SUITE 101
ELLICOTT CITY
MD
21043
US
|
Family ID: |
25240419 |
Appl. No.: |
09/824028 |
Filed: |
April 3, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/20.3 ;
135/114; 135/25.4; 135/98 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45B 25/14 20130101;
A45B 2025/146 20130101; A45B 2023/0012 20130101; A45B 23/00
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/20.3 ;
135/98; 135/25.4; 135/114 |
International
Class: |
A45B 011/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An unfolding hoister of a sunshade, comprising a hollow locating
member connected to a lower end of a shank of said sunshade; a
turning handle pivoted to said locating member with a shaft being
passed through said locating member; a pulley pivotally fitted in a
slot on an upper portion of said shank; said slot being in open
communication with a longitudinal central hole of said shank; a
steel rope passed over said pulley to connect a movable support
member of spreader rods of said sunshade from an upper end; said
steel rope being passed down through said longitudinal central hole
of said shank to connect said shaft from a lower end for permitting
said movable support member associated with said spreader rods to
move upwards to unfold said sunshade when said turning handle is
turned in an unfolding direction to wind said steel rope around
said shaft; said steel rope being substantially hidden in said
shank when said movable support member is lifted to unfold said
sunshade.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to an unfolding hoister of a
sunshade, and particularly to one, of which the rope is almost all
hidden in the shank such that the rope is kept from dirt, and
people won't touch same accidentally to be dirtied by the
lubricating grease on the rope.
[0002] Stationary sunshades are usually used in outdoor coffee
shops or on the beach to shade people from direct sum light. And,
some stationary sunshades are provided with unfolding hoisters such
that the sunshades can be unfolded easily by means of the
hoisters.
[0003] Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, a conventional sunshade 4
with an unfolding hoister has a movable support member 48 movably
connected to a shank 42; spreader rods 49 are pivoted to the
movable support member 48 from inner ends, and pivoted to the ribs
(not numbered) from outer ends.
[0004] The shank 42 is connected to a locating member 43 from a
lower end, and a pulley 47 of the hoister from an upper end
portion.
[0005] The locating member 43 is connected to an upper end of a
stationary shank support 41 from a lower end portion; a turning
handle 44 is passed through, and pivoted on, the locating member
43, and coupled to a reel 45 from other end. A steel rope 46 is
wound around the reel 45 from a lower end portion, and passed over
the pulley 47, and is connected to the movable support member 48
from an upper end.
[0006] Thus, the sunshade can be unfolded by means of turning the
turning handle 44 to lift the movable support member 48.
[0007] However, the unfolding hoister is found to have drawbacks as
follows:
[0008] 1. Children might pull the steel rope out from the reel for
fun, and the part of the rope pulled out is likely to trip up
passersby.
[0009] 2. The steel rope usually has grease applied on it to make
the hoister work smoothly. Consequently, people will be dirtied
when accidentally touching the rope.
[0010] 3. The steel rope is likely to be dirtied because it is not
well protected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to
provide a sunshade unfolding hoister, of which the rope is almost
all hidden in the sunshade to overcome the disadvantages as
described in the Background.
[0012] The unfolding hoister of a sunshade of the present invention
includes a hollow locating member, a turning handle, a pulley and a
steel rope.
[0013] The hollow locating member is connected to a shank and a
stationary support from the upper end and the lower end
respectively.
[0014] The pulley is received in, and pivoted to, a slot of the
shank. The turning handle is pivoted to the locating member. The
rope is connected to the movable support member, to which the
spreader rods are pivoted from one end, and wound around the
turning handle from the other end with the intermediate portion
passed over the pulley, and passed through a longitudinal central
hole of the shank.
[0015] Because the steel rope is passed through the central hole of
the shank, it is substantially hidden in the shank when the turning
handle is turned to lift the movable support member to unfold the
sunshade. Therefore, people won't touch the steel rope accidentally
to get dirtied by the grease on the steel rope. And, without the
rope being exposed, the sunshade would look more pleasant than the
conventional one as described in the Background.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] This invention will be better understood by referring to the
accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0017] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an unfolding
hoister of a sunshade according to the present invention.
[0018] FIG. 2 is a view of the unfolding hoister in FIG. 1 being
fitted to the shank of a sunshade.
[0019] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the unfolding hoister
and the shank of FIG. 2 with the hoister in the unfolding
position.
[0020] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the unfolding hoister
and the shank of FIG. 2 with the hoister in the folding
position.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a front view of the conventional unfolding hoister
of a sunshade in the Background.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a side view of the conventional unfolding hoister
of a sunshade in FIG. 5.
[0023] FIG. 7 is a side view of a sunshade with the conventional
unfolding hoister in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, a sunshade unfolding hoister 1 of the
present invention includes a locating member 11, a turning handle
12, a steel rope 14 and a pulley 15.
[0025] The locating member 11 is preferably made of wood or bamboo.
The locating member 11 has threaded portions 111 and 112 (FIG. 3)
on an inner side and pivotal holes 113.
[0026] A stationary support 3 of the sunshade is connected to the
locating member 11 with an upper threaded end portion 31 being
screwed into the threaded portion 112 of the locating member 11. A
shank 2 of the sunshade is connected to the locating member 11 with
a lower threaded end portion 21 being screwed into the threaded
portion 111; the shank 2 has a longitudinal central hole 22, a side
slot 23 communicating with the central hole 22, and a pivotal hole
232 across the slot 23. The stationary support 3 and the shank 2
are also preferably made of wood or bamboo.
[0027] The turning handle 12 is pivoted to the locating member 11
with a shaft 13 being passed through the pivotal holes 113 of the
locating member 11; a nut 131 is connected to an outer end of the
shaft 13 to prevent the turning handle 12 from falling off the
locating member 11. The shaft 13 further has a connecting hole
132.
[0028] The pulley 15 is fitted into the slot 23 of the shank 2 with
a pivotal rod 231 being passed through both the pivotal hole 232
and the pulley 15.
[0029] The steel rope 14 is connected to the connecting hole 132 of
the shaft 13 from a lower end, and wound around the shaft 13 from a
lower end portion. The steel rope 14 further passes through an
upper portion of the locating member 11, and passes into the
central hole 22 of the shank 2 to pass over the pulley 15.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 3, the steel rope 14 is connected to a
movable support member 24 connected to the shank 2 from other end.
The movable support member 24 has spreader rods 25 pivoted thereto,
and the spreader rods 25 are pivoted to the ribs (not shown) of the
sunshade.
[0031] When the turning handle 12 is turned in an unfolding
direction, the steel rope 14 will be further wound around the shaft
13 to lift the movable support member 24; thus, the sunshade is
unfolded.
[0032] To fold the sunshade, referring to FIG. 4, the turning
handle 12 is turned in the opposite direction for permitting the
movable support member 24 and the spreader rods 25 to move down due
to gravity.
[0033] From the above description, the unfolding hoister of a
sunshade of the present invention can be known to have desirable
features as follows:
[0034] 1. Most of the steel rope is protected by the shank, and
when the sunshade is unfolded, the exposed part of steel rope is
relatively high, and can't be reached by children.
[0035] 2. People won't get dirtied by the grease on the steel rope
because almost all of the rope is hidden.
[0036] 3. The sunshade looks more pleasant when it is unfolded than
the conventional one because there is nearly no steel rope
exposed.
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