U.S. patent application number 11/452893 was filed with the patent office on 2007-09-13 for patio umbrella with the light.
Invention is credited to Ching-Chuan You.
Application Number | 20070211450 11/452893 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38478704 |
Filed Date | 2007-09-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070211450 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
You; Ching-Chuan |
September 13, 2007 |
Patio umbrella with the light
Abstract
A light mounted in a top hub of a center shank of a patio
umbrella is disclosed. The light includes a transparent cap; a seat
secured to the shank and including radial grooves extended from the
shank with one ends of ribs pivotably provided therein, and
peripheral compartments each formed between two adjacent grooves;
light emitting units provided in the compartments; a shade secured
to the shank and the seat, the shade including transparent casings
equally spaced around the shank, the casings being secured to the
compartments for enclosing the light emitting units; and a power
source provided in the cap and electrically connected to the light
emitting units. Preferably, the light emitting element is one or
more LEDs and the power source is a solar battery.
Inventors: |
You; Ching-Chuan; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Ching-Chuan You;Rm. 532, 5FL. No. 144
Ming Chuan E. Rd., Sec. 3, P.O. Box 1-79
Taipei
105
omitted
|
Family ID: |
38478704 |
Appl. No.: |
11/452893 |
Filed: |
June 15, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
362/102 ;
362/245; 362/545 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45B 25/02 20130101;
A45B 3/04 20130101; A45B 2200/1027 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
362/102 ;
362/545; 362/245 |
International
Class: |
A45B 3/02 20060101
A45B003/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 10, 2006 |
CN |
200620007617.7 |
Claims
1. A light mounted in a top hub of a center shank of a patio
umbrella, the light comprising: a transparent cap; a seat secured
to the shank and including a plurality of radial grooves extended
from the shank with one ends of a plurality of ribs pivotably
provided therein, and a plurality of peripheral compartments each
formed between two adjacent ones of the grooves; a plurality of
light emitting units each provided in the compartment; a shade
secured to the shank and the seat, the shade including a plurality
of transparent casings equally spaced around the shank, the casings
being secured to the compartments for enclosing the light emitting
units; and a power source provided in the cap and electrically
connected to the light emitting units.
2. The light of claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit comprises
a reflector and a light emitting element mounted on the
reflector.
3. The light of claim 2, wherein the reflector is either shaped as
a dish or shaped as a concave member having a plurality of oblique
inner surfaces.
4. The light of claim 2, wherein the light emitting element is an
LED, a plurality of LEDs, or a bulb.
5. The light of claim 1, wherein the casing comprises a wrinkled
inner surface.
6. The light of claim 1, wherein the power source is a solar
battery.
7. The light of claim 1, wherein the power source is a rechargeable
battery.
8. The light of claim 1, wherein the cap comprises a lower case
member and a transparent convex top member provided on the case
member.
9. The light of claim 8, wherein the power source is provided on a
center of a joining portion of the case member and the top member.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to patio umbrellas and more
particularly to such a patio umbrella having a light (e.g., lamp)
mounted in a top hub of a shank and powered by a solar battery or a
rechargeable battery.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] A portion of the frame 8 of a conventional patio umbrella is
shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a center shank 81 having a top fixed
hub 82, a lower sliding sleeve 83, a plurality of ribs 84 extended
radially from the hub 82, and a plurality of spreaders 85 extended
radially from the sliding sleeve 83 to join intermediate points of
the ribs 84; a canopy 80 in covering relationship to the ribs 84;
and a plurality of lights 9 hanged from the ribs 84 above and
powered by one or more cells. This prior art, however, suffered
from several- disadvantages. For example, the umbrella is
relatively bulky even in a closed condition. The lights 9 may be
broken if a sufficient care is not taken in closing the umbrella.
Further, drilling holes in the ribs 84 and wiring are required.
This is a labor intensive task and future maintenance also is not
easy. Furthermore, rain may fall under the canopy 80 through holes
in the ribs 84. Moreover, a current leaking may be occurred. In
addition, power supplied by the cell(s) is limited (i.e., limited
operating time).
[0005] The lights 9 may be arranged in another conventional
configuration. In detail, the light is formed as a transparent case
with a light emitting member, a power source, and wiring enclosed
therein. The case is mounted in a top fixed hub of a center shank.
However, this prior art still suffered from several disadvantages.
For example, a plurality of lights are required. Further, space for
accommodating these lights is increased significantly. In a worst
condition, a full closing of the umbrella is not possible. Thus,
the need for improvement still exists.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a light mounted in a top hub of a center shank of a patio
umbrella, the light comprising a transparent cap; a seat secured to
the shank and including a plurality of radial grooves extended from
the shank with one ends of a plurality of ribs pivotably provided
therein, and a plurality of peripheral compartments each formed
between two adjacent ones of the grooves; a plurality of light
emitting units each provided in the compartment; a shade secured to
the shank and the seat, the shade including a plurality of
transparent casings equally spaced around the shank, the casings
being secured to the compartments for enclosing the light emitting
units; and a power source provided in the cap and electrically
connected to the light emitting units.
[0007] In one aspect of the present invention the light emitting
element is an LED (light emitting diode), a plurality of LEDs, or a
bulb.
[0008] In another aspect of the present invention the casing
comprises a wrinkled inner surface.
[0009] In yet another aspect of the present invention the power
source is either a solar battery or a rechargeable battery.
[0010] In a further aspect of the present invention the cap
comprises a lower case member and a transparent convex top member
provided on the case member.
[0011] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description taken with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the frame of a
conventional patio umbrella with light;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment
of light mounted in a patio umbrella according to the
invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2;
[0015] FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the light mounted
in a top hub of an umbrella shank;
[0016] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of an umbrella
frame mounted with the light of the invention in its top hub;
and
[0017] FIG. 6 is an environmental view of the light mounted in a
patio umbrella.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 5, a light (e.g., lamp) 2 mounted in
a patio umbrella 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
invention is shown. The umbrella 1 comprises a frame 12 and a
canopy 11 in covering relationship to the frame 12. The frame 12
comprises a center shank 13 having a top fixed hub with the light 2
mounted therein, a lower sliding sleeve, a plurality of ribs 14
extended radially from the hub, and a plurality of spreaders 15
extended radially from the sliding sleeve to join intermediate
points of the ribs 14.
[0019] The light 2 comprises a cap 25 including a lower case member
251 and a convex top member 252 made of transparent material and
provided on the case member 251 to form a waterproof means and
protect other components of the light 2; and a seat 21 including a
central, hollow cylinder 211, a plurality of radial grooves 212
extended from the cylinder 211 with one ends of the ribs 14
pivotably provided therein, a circular mount 213 provided around
the cylinder 211, and a plurality of compartments 214 of pie
section provided on the mount 213 and each formed between two
adjacent grooves 212.
[0020] The light 2 further comprises a plurality of light emitting
units 22 each including a plurality of legs mounted on a hole of
the compartment 214, a dish shaped reflector 221 (note that the
reflector 221 may be shaped as a concave member having a plurality
of oblique inner surfaces), and a light emitting element 222
mounted on the reflector 221, the light emitting element 222
implemented as a single LED (light emitting diode) as shown, three
LEDs arranged as a triangle in other embodiment, or a bulb in other
embodiment. Also, the reflector 221 is adapted to focus light rays
emitted by the light emitting element 222 toward a predetermined
direction.
[0021] The light 2 further comprises a truncated conic shade 23
including a central tubelike member 231 having a lower end
threadedly secured to the shank 13 and an upper end snugly secured
to the cylinder 211, a plurality of separated transparent casings
232 equally spaced around the tubelike member 231 with the light
emitting unit 22 provided on a bottom of the transparent casing
232, and a wrinkled member 233 formed on an inner surface of the
casing 232 for increasing intensity of light rays emitted by the
light emitting unit 22.
[0022] The light 2 further comprises a central power source 24
provided on a joining portion of the case member 251 and the top
member 252; a mounting member 26 fixedly provided on a bottom of
the case member 251; and a wire assembly 27 interconnected the
power source 24 and the light emitting units 22 through the
mounting member 26. Preferably, the power source 24 is implemented
as a solar battery. Still preferably, the power source 24 is
implemented as a rechargeable battery. Further, the power source 24
is enclosed in the cap 25 so as to be waterproof. Furthermore, the
transparent top member 252 is adapted to collect sun rays and focus
same on the light emitting units 22.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 6, the open umbrella 1 of the invention is
mounted on a table and the light 2 is mounted on the top fixed hub
of the shank 13. In this embodiment, the power source 24 is powered
by solar energy. Also, the light 2 does not hinder a closing of the
umbrella 1. Thus, a minimum storage space of the umbrella 1 after
closing is made possible.
[0024] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by
means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and
variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set
forth in the claims.
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