U.S. patent application number 13/491497 was filed with the patent office on 2013-04-25 for safety umbrella.
The applicant listed for this patent is Jui-Chieh CHEN. Invention is credited to Jui-Chieh CHEN.
Application Number | 20130098411 13/491497 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46201470 |
Filed Date | 2013-04-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130098411 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CHEN; Jui-Chieh |
April 25, 2013 |
SAFETY UMBRELLA
Abstract
A safety umbrella includes a top notch member fixed on an upper
end of a central shaft and having a resilient tongue which extends
downwardly to form a hook end with an actuated shoulder surface. A
runner has a slot for retaining the hook end therein at an upper
position. An operating sleeve surrounds and is axially movable
relative to the runner and has an actuating friction block which is
matingly engaged with the actuated shoulder surface at the upper
position such that, when the operating sleeve is moved downwardly,
the actuated shoulder surface is pressed to withdraw the hook end
inwardly so as to disengage the hook end from the slot.
Inventors: |
CHEN; Jui-Chieh; (Hsinchu
City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
CHEN; Jui-Chieh |
Hsinchu City |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
46201470 |
Appl. No.: |
13/491497 |
Filed: |
June 7, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/28 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45B 25/10 20130101;
A45B 25/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/28 |
International
Class: |
A45B 25/08 20060101
A45B025/08 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Oct 20, 2011 |
CN |
201110321224.9 |
Claims
1. A safety umbrella comprising: a central shaft extending in a
direction of an axis to terminate at upper and lower ends; a top
notch member fixed on said upper end of said central shaft, and
including a notched wheel, an upper shell which extends from said
notched wheel and which has a smaller dimension than that of said
notched wheel, and a resilient tongue which has a tongue body that
extends downwardly from said upper shell and that terminates at a
hook end, said hook end extending radially to cooperate with said
tongue body to form an actuated shoulder surface that faces
upwardly; a rib assembly pivotally connected to said notched wheel
for mounting a canopy thereon; a runner sleeved on and movable
relative to said central shaft between upper and lower positions,
and including a notched disc and a lower shell which extends from
said notched disc, which has a smaller dimension than that of said
notched disc, and which has a slot that is disposed adjacent to
said notched disc and that extends radially therethrough, said slot
being configured to permit said hook end to be retainingly engaged
therein immediately after an upward movement of said runner to the
upper position by thrusting said hook end into said runner; a
stretcher assembly pivotally connected to said notched disc and
said rib assembly so as to stretch or retract said rib assembly
when said runner is moved to the upper position or the lower
position; and an operating sleeve having an inner sleeve surface
which surrounds and is axially movable relative to said lower
shell, said operating sleeve including an actuating friction block
which is disposed on said inner sleeve surface and adjacent to said
slot, said actuating friction block having an actuating friction
surface which is configured to face downwardly and to be matingly
engaged with said actuated shoulder surface when said hooked end is
retained in said slot at the upper position such that, when said
operating sleeve is moved axially away from the upper position,
said actuated shoulder surface is pressed by said actuating
friction surface to withdraw said hook end inwardly and radially so
as to disengage said hook end from said slot, thereby allowing said
runner to move toward the lower position.
2. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 1, wherein said notched
disc has a surrounding passage which surrounds the axis and which
is configured for exposing two twisted ends of a lower wire ring,
said operating sleeve having a shielding tab which extends upwardly
and which is disposed radially and outwardly of said notched disc
so as to shield the twisted ends of the lower wire ring.
3. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 2, wherein said notched
wheel has a surrounding groove which surrounds the axis and which
is configured for exposing two twisted ends of an upper wire ring,
said top notch member having an upper shielding cavity which is
disposed on said upper shell and adjacent to said notched wheel for
accommodating the twisted ends of the upper wire ring.
4. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 3, wherein said
actuating friction surface is configured to be inclined downwardly,
said resilient tongue having a ramp which is disposed on said
actuated shoulder surface, and which is inclined from said hook end
toward said tongue body so as to be in slidable frictional
engagement with said actuating friction surface, thereby
facilitating the pressing of said actuated shoulder surface by said
actuating friction surface when said operating sleeve is moved
axially away from the upper position.
5. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 3, wherein said runner
has a flange extending radially and outwardly from a lower end of
said lower shell to define an abutment shoulder surface facing
upwardly, said inner sleeve wall surface of said operating sleeve
having a small-diameter surface region which is fittingly sleeved
on and slidably movable relative to said lower shell, and a
large-diameter surface region which extends downwardly from said
small-diameter surface region to define a surrounding abutting
surface that is brought to abut against said abutment shoulder
surface, thereby facilitating movement of said operating sleeve
toward the lower position while preventing said operating sleeve
from slipping from said runner.
6. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a
key-and-keyway structure which is disposed between said flange of
said runner and said inner sleeve wall surface of said operating
sleeve to guide axial movement of said operating sleeve relative to
said lower shell.
7. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 3, wherein said notched
disc of said runner has an inner guideway which extends axially to
communicate with said slot for facilitating insertion of said hook
end when said runner member is moved toward the upper position.
8. The safety umbrella as claimed in claim 7, wherein said runner
defines a pair of retaining stays formed between said inner
guideway and said slot for abutting against said actuated shoulder
surface when said runner is in the upper position.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority of Chinese Patent
Application No. 201110321224.9, filed on Oct. 20, 2011, the
disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates to an umbrella, more particularly to
a safety umbrella with an operating sleeve operable to move a
runner between upper and lower positions.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] A conventional umbrella, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat.
No. 5,964,235, includes a runner slidably sleeved on a central
shaft to spread and collapse a rib-and-stretcher assembly to which
a canopy is fastened. A resilient tongue extends from a ferrule
secured on an upper end of the central shaft, and has a distal hook
end biased away from the central shaft to be retained in a slot in
the runner when the runner is moved upwardly for spreading the
canopy. However, when a user presses the distal hook end for
downward movement of the runner, the user's finger may get hurt,
especially for children.
[0006] Moreover, wire ends of a fastening wire wound on the ferrule
for pivotally connecting the ribs to the ferrule, and wire ends of
a fastening wire wound on the runner for pivotally connecting the
stretchers to the runner expose may prick the canopy and the user's
hand and finger during opening or closing of the umbrella.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide an umbrella
which can be operated safely to spread and collapse a canopy, and
which has a simple and rigid structure.
[0008] According to this invention, the umbrella includes a central
shaft extending in a direction of an axis, a top notch member fixed
on an upper end of the central shaft and including a notched wheel,
a rib assembly pivotally connected to the notched wheel for
mounting a canopy thereon, a runner sleeved on and movable relative
to the central shaft between upper and lower positions and
including a notch disc, an operating sleeve, and a stretcher
assembly pivotally connected to the notched disc and the rib
assembly so as to stretch or retract the rib assembly when the
runner is moved to the upper position or the lower position.
[0009] The top notch member includes an upper shell which extends
from the notched wheel and which has a smaller dimension than that
of the notched wheel, and a resilient tongue which has a tongue
body that extends downwardly from the upper shell and that
terminates at a hook end. The hook end extends radially to
cooperate with the tongue body to form an actuated shoulder surface
that faces upwardly. The notched disc has a surrounding passage
which surrounds the axis and which is configured for exposing two
twisted ends of a lower wire ring. The runner includes a lower
shell which extends from the notched disc, which has a smaller
dimension than that of the notched disc, and which has a slot that
is disposed adjacent to the notched disc and that extends radially
therethrough. The slot is configured to permit the hook end to be
retainingly engaged therein immediately after an upward movement of
the runner to the upper position by thrusting the hook end into the
runner against its biasing action.
[0010] The operating sleeve has an inner sleeve surface which
surrounds and is axially movable relative to the lower shell. The
operating sleeve includes an actuating friction block which is
disposed on the inner sleeve surface and adjacent to the slot. The
actuating friction block has an actuating friction surface which is
configured to face downwardly and to be matingly engaged with the
actuated shoulder surface when the hooked end is retained in the
slot at the upper position. When the operating sleeve is moved
axially away from the upper position, the actuated shoulder surface
is pressed by the actuating friction surface to withdraw the hook
end inwardly and radially so as to disengage the hook end from the
slot, thereby allowing the runner to move toward the lower
position. The operating sleeve has a shielding tab which extends
upwardly and which is disposed radially and outwardly of the
notched disc so as to shield the twisted ends of the lower wire
ring.
[0011] By virtue of the operating sleeve and the shielding tab, the
umbrella can be operated safely and conveniently without running
any risk of injury to the user and the canopy during operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment of the invention, with reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a top notch member
and a runner fastener of the preferred embodiment of an umbrella
according to this invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a runner of the runner
fastener of the preferred embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 3 is an operating sleeve of the runner fastener of the
preferred embodiment;
[0016] FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred
embodiment in an opened state;
[0017] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from another
angle;
[0018] FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the preferred
embodiment showing an abutment of a surrounding abutting surface
against an abutment shoulder surface; and
[0019] FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a portion shown in FIG. 6.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0020] Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the preferred embodiment of
an umbrella according to the present invention is shown to comprise
a central shaft 10 extending in a direction of an axis (L) to
terminate at upper and lower ends, a top notch member 20 fixed on
the upper end of the central shaft 10, a rib-and-stretcher assembly
60 pivotally connected to the top notch member 20 for mounting a
canopy (not shown) thereon, and a runner fastener 30 pivotally
connected to the rib-and-stretcher assembly 60 and sleeved on and
movable relative to the central shaft 10 between upper and lower
positions for spreading and collapsing the canopy.
[0021] The top notch member 20 includes a notched wheel 21, an
upper shell 23 which extends from the notched wheel 21 and which
has a smaller dimension than that of the notched wheel 21, and a
resilient tongue 22 which has a tongue body 221 that extends
downwardly from the upper shell 23 and that terminates at a hook
end 223. The hook end 223 extends radially to cooperate with the
tongue body 221 to form an actuated shoulder surface 224 that faces
upwardly. A ramp 225 is disposed on the actuated shoulder surface
224, and is inclined from the hook end 223 toward the tongue body
221. The notched wheel 21 has a plurality of upper notches 215
formed in an outer surrounding surface 214 thereof and angularly
displaced from one another about the axis (L), and a surrounding
groove 216 surrounding the axis (L) and communicated with the upper
notches 215 for receiving an upper wire ring 71 that engages a rib
assembly 61 to be pivotally connected to the notched wheel 21 for
mounting the canopy thereon. Specifically, the top notch member 20
has an upper shielding cavity 213 which is disposed on the upper
shell 23 and adjacent to the notched wheel 21 for accommodating two
twisted wire ends of the upper wire ring 71 exposed from the
surrounding groove 216, thereby preventing prick injury to a user
and the canopy.
[0022] The runner fastener 30 includes a runner 40 and an operating
sleeve 50.
[0023] The runner 40 includes a notched disc 41 and a lower shell
42 which extends from the notched disc 41 and which has a smaller
dimension than that of the notched disc 41. With reference to FIG.
2, the notched disc 41 has a plurality of lower notches 412 formed
in an outer surrounding surface 411 thereof and angularly displaced
from one another about the axis (L), and a surrounding passage 413
surrounding the axis (L) and communicated with the lower notches
412 for receiving a lower wire ring 72 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) that
engages a stretcher assembly 62 to be pivotally connected to the
notched disc 41. The stretcher assembly 62 is pivotally connected
to the rib assembly 61 so as to stretch or retract the rib assembly
61 when the runner fastener 30 is moved to the upper position or
the lower position. The notched disc 41 has an inner guideway 44
which extends axially to permit insertion of the tongue body 221
thereinto. The lower shell 42 has a slot 43 which is disposed
adjacent to the notched disc 41 and communicating with the inner
guideway 44. The slot 43 extends radially through the lower shell
42 to permit the hook end 223 to be retainingly engaged therein
immediately after an upward movement of the runner 40 to the upper
position by thrusting the hook end 223 into the runner 40 against
its biasing action. In particular, the slot 43 has a larger width
in a circumferential direction than that of the inner guideway 44
so as to form a pair of retaining stays 431 (see FIG. 2)
therebetween. Further, the runner 40 has a flange 422 extending
radially and outwardly from a lower end of the lower shell 42 to
define an abutment shoulder surface 423 facing upwardly, and an
axially extending key 424 disposed on the flange 422.
[0024] With reference to FIG. 3, the operating sleeve 50 includes a
sleeve body 51 which has an inner sleeve surface 511 surrounding
and axially movable relative to the lower shell 42, an actuating
friction block 52 which is disposed on the inner sleeve surface 511
and adjacent to the slot 43, and a shielding tab 53 which extends
upwardly from the sleeve body 51. The actuating friction block 52
has an actuating friction surface 521 which is inclined and faces
downwardly to be matingly engaged with the ramp 225 of the actuated
shoulder surface 224 when the hooked end 223 is retained in the
slot 43 at the upper position (as shown in FIG. 4). The inner
sleeve wall surface 511 has a small-diameter surface region 513
which is fittingly sleeved on and slidably movable relative to the
lower shell 42, and a large-diameter surface region 514 which
extends downwardly from the small-diameter surface region 513 to
define a surrounding abutting surface 516. An axially extending
keyway 515 is formed in the inner sleeve wall surface 511 to be
engaged with the key 424 to serve as a key-and-keyway structure so
as to guide axial movement of the operating sleeve 50 relative to
the lower shell 42.
[0025] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate the runner fastener 30 in the upper
position, i.e., in an opened state. In this state, the tongue body
221 is received in the inner guideway 44 and the hook end 223 is
retained in the slot 43 to have the actuated shoulder surface 224
abutting against the retaining stays 431 (see FIG. 2) so as to
retain the runner fastener 30 to the top notch member 20, thereby
holding the umbrella in the opened state.
[0026] By means of the engagement of the key 424 and the keyway
515, angular displacement of the operating sleeve 50 relative to
the runner 40 is prevented such that the ramp 225 can confront and
be in slidable frictional engagement with the actuating friction
surface 521.
[0027] Referring to FIG. 6, when it is desired to close the
umbrella, the operating sleeve 50 is moved axially and downwardly.
By means of the friction engagement of the actuating friction
surface 521 with the ramp 225, the actuating friction block 52 can
readily press the actuated shoulder surface 224 to withdraw the
hook end 223 inwardly and radially so as to disengage the hook end
223 from the slot 43, thereby allowing the runner fastener 30 to
move toward the lower position. As shown in FIG. 7, due to the
surrounding abutting surface 516 which is brought to abut against
the abutment shoulder surface 423, the runner 40 is moved
downwardly with the operating sleeve 50 to the lower position while
preventing the operating sleeve 50 from slipping from the runner
40.
[0028] When it is desired to open the umbrella, by pressing the
operating sleeve 50 upwardly, the tongue body 221 is inserted into
the inner guideway 44 from the hook end 223. The hook end 223 is
thrust inwardly against its biasing action and subsequently is
retained in the slot 43 when the runner fastener 30 reaches the
upper position.
[0029] As illustrated, by virtue of the operating sleeve 50,
operation of the umbrella of this invention is safe and convenient.
The shielding tab 53 is disposed radially and outwardly of the
notched disc 41 so as to shield the twisted wire ends of the lower
wire ring 72, and the upper shielding cavity 213 can accommodate
the twisted wire ends of the upper wire ring 71. Hence, the
umbrella can be operated safely and conveniently without any risk
of injury to the user and the canopy during operation.
[0030] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what are considered the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretations and equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *