U.S. patent application number 13/865158 was filed with the patent office on 2013-10-31 for flexible omni-umbrella.
The applicant listed for this patent is NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. Invention is credited to Min-Wei Lin, Li-Hsiang Liu.
Application Number | 20130284220 13/865158 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49476271 |
Filed Date | 2013-10-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130284220 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Liu; Li-Hsiang ; et
al. |
October 31, 2013 |
Flexible Omni-Umbrella
Abstract
The present invention relates to a flexible omni-umbrella,
comprising: a rod, a flexible wire and an umbrella fabric, wherein
two ends of the rod are provided with a through hole portion and a
fixing portion, respectively. In the present invention, one point
of the flexible wire is fixed on the fixing portion and two
terminal ends of the flexible wire are connected to each other
after being slidably passed through the through hole portion,
therefore the flexible wire is formed to a stereoscopic framework,
so as to make the umbrella fabric covering the stereoscopic
framework capable of shielding rain comprehensively.
Inventors: |
Liu; Li-Hsiang; (Taipei,
TW) ; Lin; Min-Wei; (Taipei, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY |
Taipei |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
49476271 |
Appl. No.: |
13/865158 |
Filed: |
April 17, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
135/20.1 ;
29/25 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y10T 29/40 20150115;
A45B 2023/0093 20130101; A45B 11/00 20130101; A45B 2011/005
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
135/20.1 ;
29/25 |
International
Class: |
A45B 11/00 20060101
A45B011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 25, 2012 |
TW |
101207729 |
Sep 28, 2012 |
TW |
101135786 |
Claims
1. A flexible omni-umbrella, comprising: a rod having a through
hole portion and a fixing portion respectively provided on two ends
of the rod; a flexible wire fixed on the fixing portion, wherein
two terminal ends of the flexible wire are slidably passed through
the through hole portion of the rod oppositely and connected to
each other so as to form a water-drop-shaped portion and an
ellipse-shaped portion, and the ellipse-shaped portion is bent to
form two cross points with the water-drop-shaped portion, so as to
form a stereoscopic framework; and an umbrella fabric, covering the
stereoscopic framework formed by the flexible wire.
2. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein the
water-drop-shaped portion and the ellipse-shaped portion being
fixed by disposing two joining members on two cross points of the
flexible wire.
3. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 2, wherein the flexible wire
is bent to form three overlapping circular coils when the flexible
omni-umbrella is furled, and the three overlapping circular coils
being fixed by the two joining members.
4. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 3 wherein the joining member
is selected from the group consisting of: cotton thread, elastic
cord, nylon cord, ring, two engaged-sleeves, four-way sleeve, and
heat shrink tube.
5. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 3, wherein the two joining
members on the two cross points and a circle center of the three
overlapping circular coils form an isosceles triangle having a top
angle, and the top angle being ranged from 70.degree. to
120.degree..
6. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein the rod is a
telescopic rod comprising a plurality of stretching segments, and
the telescopic rod further having a handle portion adjacent to the
fixing portion, wherein the handle portion is used for receiving
and accommodating the stretching segments of the rod.
7. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 6, wherein a engaging button
is further disposed on handle portion for engaging the stretching
segments which are received and accommodated in the handle
portion.
8. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein the fixing member
is a steel ring.
9. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein the flexible wire
is a flattened steel wire with directionality and good
toughness.
10. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, further comprises an
elastic loop connected to the fixing portion.
11. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein the two terminal
ends of the flexible wire are connected to each other by a bridge
member.
12. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 1, wherein umbrella fabric
comprises a plurality of primary cover portions and a plurality of
auxiliary cover portions.
13. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 12, wherein the plurality
of primary cover portions consists of a first primary cover
portion, a second primary cover portion, a third primary cover
portion, and a fourth primary cover portion, and the first primary
cover portion, the second primary cover portion, the third primary
cover portion, and the fourth primary cover portion are seamed to
each other.
14. The flexible omni-umbrella of claim 13, wherein the plurality
of auxiliary cover portions comprises: a first auxiliary cover
portion, being seamed with the first primary cover portion, the
third primary cover portion and the fourth primary cover portion; a
second auxiliary primary cover portion, being seamed with the first
primary cover portion, the second primary cover portion and the
fourth primary cover portion; and a third auxiliary cover portion,
being seamed with the first primary cover portion, the second
primary cover portion and the third primary cover portion.
15. A assembling and furling method for flexible omni-umbrella,
comprises the steps of: (1) fixing a flexible wire on a fixing
portion on one end of the rod; (2) making two terminal ends of the
flexible wire to slidably pass through a through hole portion
formed on the other end of the rod oppositely, so as to form a
water-drop-shaped portion between the fixing portion and the
through hole portion of the rod; (3) connecting the two terminal
ends of the flexible wire to form an ellipse-shaped portion
corresponding to the water-drop-shaped portion; (4) bending the
ellipse-shaped portion to form two cross points with the
water-drop-shaped portion so as to form a stereoscopic framework;
and (5) covering the stereoscopic framework with an umbrella
fabric.
16. The assembling method for flexible omni-umbrella of claim 15,
wherein the two terminal ends of the flexible wire are connected by
a bridge member, and the water-drop-shaped portion and the
ellipse-shaped portion are fixed by disposing two joining members
on two cross points of the flexible wire.
17. The assembling method for flexible omni-umbrella of claim 15,
wherein the umbrella fabric comprises a plurality of primary cover
portions and a plurality of auxiliary cover portions.
18. The assembling method for flexible omni-umbrella of claim 16,
wherein the plurality of primary cover portions consists of a first
primary cover portion, a second primary cover portion, a third
primary cover portion, and a fourth primary cover portion, and the
first primary cover portion, the second primary cover portion, the
third primary cover portion, and the fourth primary cover portion
are seamed to each other.
19. The assembling method for flexible omni-umbrella of claim 16,
wherein the two joining members on the two cross points and a
circle center of the three overlapping circular coils form an
isosceles triangle having a top angle, and the top angle being
ranged from 70.degree. to 120.degree..
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to an umbrella structure, and
more particularly to a flexible omni-umbrella having the advantages
of comprehensive shielding, hard to be damaged and easy to be
furled.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a stereo view of a
conventional umbrella. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional
umbrella includes: a handle grip 1', a first base 2', a second base
3', a plurality of first umbrella ribs 4', a plurality of second
umbrella ribs 5', a plurality of beads 6', an umbrella fabric 7',
and a plurality of clamping members 8'. There are having two
procedures for spreading the conventional umbrella: First, in
procedure (1), the second base 3' is pushed to move toward the top
end of the handle grip 1'; Next, in procedure (2), the second
umbrella ribs 5' are spread by the push of the second base 3',
therefore the first umbrella ribs 4' are simultaneously spread due
to the interlink of the second umbrella ribs 5', and then the
umbrella is completely spread. On the contrary, the flexible
omni-umbrella can be furled by reversely operating the
above-mentioned procedures (1) and (2).
[0005] The above-mentioned conventional umbrella includes the
drawbacks and shortcomings as follows:
1. Because the main umbrella framework of the conventional umbrella
is constructed by the first umbrella ribs 4' and the second
umbrella ribs 5', there are many joint structures used for
connecting the first umbrella ribs 4' and the second umbrella ribs
5'; and usually, the structure strength of such umbrella framework
is weak. Thus, when the conventional umbrella is hit by a strong
wind in a fully spread condition, the main umbrella framework of
the umbrella may be damaged or form some sharp structures, and the
user could be hurt by the damaged umbrella or those formed sharp
structures. 2. The conventional umbrella can merely used for
shielding one directional plane, so that, if the rain brought by
wind strikes the user multi-directionally, the conventional
umbrella cannot protect the user from being wetted by rain. 3.
Although the conventional umbrella can be furled to a long strip
formation, the long strip umbrella is space-occupied and hard to be
carried.
[0006] In view of the conventional have many drawbacks; the
umbrella designers propose a flexible omni-umbrella. Please refer
to FIGS. 2A and 2B, there are shown stereo views of the flexible
omni-umbrella, in which the flexible omni-umbrella is disclosed by
an R.O.C. patent with application number of 101207729, and
includes: a rod 1a, a flexible wire 2a and an umbrella fabric 3a.
The rod 1a has a through hole portion 11a and a fixing portion 12a
provided on the two end thereof. The flexible wire 2a is fixed on
the fixing portion 12a by one point thereof. In addition, two
terminal ends of the flexible wire 2a are slidably passed through
the through hole portion 11a of the rod 1a oppositely, and are
further connected to each other by a bridge member 21a after being
bent, so as to form a stereoscopic framework. Therefore, as shown
in FIG. 2A, the stereoscopic framework consisting of one
water-drop-shaped coil and an ellipse-shaped coil is constructed,
wherein the water-drop-shaped coil and the ellipse-shaped coil are
fixed by disposing two joining members (A', B') on two cross points
thereof. Eventually, as shown in FIG. 3B, the umbrella fabric 3a is
covered the stereoscopic framework.
[0007] Although the flexible omni-umbrella of FIGS. 2A and 2B
proposed by the R.O.C. patent of 101207729 is able to solve the
some shortcomings occurred in the conventional umbrella liking FIG.
1 shows, the flexible omni-umbrella still has the following
drawbacks:
(1) Although the umbrella fabric 3a covering the stereoscopic
framework formed by the flexible wire 2a is capable of shielding
rain comprehensively, there are some crevices produced on the
surface of the umbrella fabric 3a when the flexible omni-umbrella
are fully spread, and the crevices allows the external rain getting
into the inside of the umbrella, so as to wet the user. (2) Since
the rod 1a cannot be rotated, the user must directly compress the
stretchy segments 111a of the rod 1a in order to furl the
umbrella.
[0008] Accordingly, in view of the conventional umbrella and the
flexible omni-umbrella disclosed by the R.O.C. patent with
application number of 101207729 still have shortcomings and
drawbacks, the inventor of the present application has made great
efforts to make inventive research thereon and eventually provided
a flexible omni-umbrella.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The first objective of the present invention is to provide a
flexible omni-umbrella consisting of a rod, a flexible wire and an
umbrella fabric, wherein the flexible wire is fixed on a rod and
bent to form a stereoscopic framework, and the umbrella fabric is
covered the umbrella fabric for shielding rain comprehensively.
[0010] The second objective of the present invention is to provide
a flexible omni-umbrella, wherein the primary umbrella framework of
the flexible omni-umbrella is constructed by a flattened steel wire
and a rod, without any umbrella joints; so that, even if the
flexible omni-umbrella are repeatedly spread and furled, the
primary umbrella framework of the flexible omni-umbrella would not
be damaged or form sharp structures, therefore it can sure that the
user would not be hurt by the damaged umbrella or the formed sharp
structures.
[0011] The third objective of the present invention is to provide a
flexible omni-umbrella, wherein the primary umbrella framework of
the flexible omni-umbrella is constructed by a flattened steel wire
and a rod, and the rod and a through hole portion thereof are all
rotatable, therefore the user can furl the flexible omni-umbrella
by way of rotating the rod and the through hole portion; such
umbrella-furling way is effort-saving and convenient.
[0012] Accordingly, to achieve the primary objective of the present
invention, the inventor of the present invention provides a
flexible omni-umbrella, comprising: [0013] a rod having a through
hole portion and a fixing portion respectively provided on two ends
of the rod; [0014] a flexible wire fixed on the fixing portion,
wherein two terminal ends of the flexible wire are slidably passed
through the through hole portion of the rod oppositely and
connected to each other so as to form a water-drop-shaped portion
and an ellipse-shaped portion, and the ellipse-shaped portion is
bent to form two cross points with the water-drop-shaped portion,
so as to form a stereoscopic framework; and [0015] an umbrella
fabric, covering the stereoscopic framework formed by the flexible
wire.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and
advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the
following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0017] FIG. 1 is a stereo view of a conventional umbrella;
[0018] FIGS. 2A and 2B are stereo view of the flexible
omni-umbrella disclosed by an R.O.C. patent with application number
of 101207729;
[0019] FIGS. 3A and 3B are stereo views of a flexible omni-umbrella
according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for introducing how an
umbrella fabric covering a stereoscopic framework formed by a
flexible wire;
[0021] FIG. 5 is schematic umbrella-furling motion diagrams of the
flexible omni-umbrella;
[0022] FIG. 6 is schematic umbrella-furling motion diagrams of the
flexible omni-umbrella;
[0023] FIG. 7 is schematic umbrella-furling motion diagrams of the
flexible omni-umbrella;
[0024] FIG. 8 is schematic umbrella-furling motion diagrams of the
flexible omni-umbrella;
[0025] FIG. 9 is a stereo view of the flexible omni-umbrella been
completely furled;
[0026] FIGS. 10A-10C are schematic umbrella-spreading motion
diagrams of the flexible omni-umbrella.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0027] To more clearly describe a flexible omni-umbrella according
to the present invention, embodiments of the present invention will
be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings
hereinafter.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, there are shown stereo
views of a flexible omni-umbrella according to the present
invention. As shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the flexible
omni-umbrella includes: a rod 1, a flexible wire 2 and an umbrella
fabric 3, wherein the rod 1 is a telescopic rod having a plurality
of stretching segments 112, and any two adjacent stretching
segments 112 are connected by an engaging member, therefore all
stretching segments 112 can be fixed after they are fully
extendedly stretched.
[0029] In the present invention, the rod 1 includes a handle
portion 121, a through hole portion 11 and a fixing portion 12,
wherein the through hole portion 11 and the fixing portion 12 are
provided on two ends of the rod 1, respectively. The through hole
portion 11 is a steel ring, which can be rotated by taking the
connected rod 1 end as axis. In the rod 1, particularly, the handle
portion 121 not only provides a user for holding, but is used for
receiving and accommodating the stretching segments 112. Moreover,
the handle portion 121 can be additionally disposed with an
engaging button for engaging the stretching segments which are
received and accommodated in the handle portion 121. Besides, the
fixing portion 12 is adjacent to the handle portion 121 and
connected with an elastic loop 111.
[0030] The flexible wire 2 is a flattened steel wire with
directionality and good toughness and fixed on the fixing portion
12 by one point thereof; Moreover, two terminal ends of the
flexible wire 2 are slidably passed through the through hole
portion 12 of the rod 1 oppositely and connected to each other by a
bridge member 21, so as to form a water-drop-shaped portion and an
ellipse-shaped portion. As shown in FIG. 3A, the ellipse-shaped
portion is bent to form two cross points (A, B) with the
water-drop-shaped portion, so as to form a stereoscopic framework.
In which, the water-drop-shaped portion and the ellipse-shaped
portion are fixed by respectively disposing two joining members 22
on two cross points (A, B) of the flexible wire 2. The joining
member 22 can be a cotton thread, an elastic cord, a nylon cord, a
ring, two engaged-sleeves, a four-way sleeve, and a heat shrink
tube.
[0031] Continuously referring to FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, and please
simultaneously refer to FIG. 4, which illustrates a schematic
diagram for introducing how the umbrella fabric covering the
stereoscopic framework formed by the flexible wire. As shown in
FIG. 4, the umbrella fabric 3 covering the stereoscopic framework
particularly consists of a plurality of primary cover portions and
a plurality of auxiliary cover portions, wherein a first primary
cover portion D, a second primary cover portion F, a third primary
cover portion G, and a fourth primary cover portion H of the
plurality primary cover portions are seamed to each other. Besides,
a first auxiliary cover portion E of the plurality of auxiliary
cover portions is seamed with the first primary cover portion D,
the third primary cover portion G and the fourth primary cover
portion H; a second auxiliary primary cover portion I of the
plurality of auxiliary cover portions is seamed with the first
primary cover portion D, the second primary cover portion F and the
fourth primary cover portion H; and a third auxiliary cover portion
J of the plurality of auxiliary cover portion is seamed with the
first primary cover portion D, the second primary cover portion F
and the third primary cover portion G. Therefore, such particular
design of the umbrella fabric makes that the flexible omni-umbrella
of the present invention can shield rain comprehensively.
[0032] Thus, through above descriptions, the framework and
structure of the flexible omni-umbrella have been completely
introduced; next, please refer to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG.
8, there are shown schematic umbrella-furling motion diagrams of
the flexible omni-umbrella; moreover, please simultaneously refer
to FIG. 9, which illustrates a stereo view of the flexible
omni-umbrella been completely furled. By above-mentioned FIG. 3A,
the assembling way of the flexible omni-umbrella includes the
following procedures:
[0033] First, in assembling procedure (1), a flexible wire 2 is
fixed on a fixing portion 12 on one end of the rod 1; Next, in
procedure (2), it makes two terminal ends of the flexible wire 2 to
slidably pass through a through hole portion 11 formed on the other
end of the rod 1 oppositely, so as to form a water-drop-shaped
portion between the fixing portion 12 and the through hole portion
11 of the rod 1. Subsequently, in procedure (3), the two terminal
ends of the flexible wire 2 are connected to each other by a bridge
member 21 and then form an ellipse-shaped portion corresponding to
the water-drop-shaped portion. Next, in procedure (4), it bends the
ellipse-shaped portion to form two cross points (A, B) with the
water-drop-shaped portion so as to form a stereoscopic framework.
Eventually, in procedure (5), disposing two joining members 22 on
the cross points A and B of the flexible wire 2 for fixing the two
water-drop-shaped portion and the ellipse-shaped portion, and then
covering the stereoscopic framework with an umbrella fabric 3.
[0034] Moreover, as shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7, and FIG. 8,
the umbrella-furling way for the flexible omni-umbrella includes
the following umbrella-furling operations:
(1) first umbrella-furling operation: as shown in FIG. 5, because
the stretching segments 111 of the rod 1 is rotatable, the user can
accommodate the stretching segments 111 in the handle portion 121
of the rod 1 by way of rotating the stretching segments 111;
moreover, when receiving the stretching segments 111 into the
handle portion 121, the through hole portion 11 would drive the
flexible wire 2, so as to furl the flexible wire 2. Next, as shown
in FIG. 6, the flexible wire 2 is furled to three overlapping
circular coils after three stretching segments 111 are received in
the handle portion 121 of the rod 1. (2) second umbrella-furling
operation: as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the user clockwise
rotates the through hole 11 by one hand thereof, and
counter-clockwise rotates the rod 1 by using another hand to apply
force to the fixing portion 12. Finally, as shown in FIG. 9, when
all stretching segments 112 are accommodated in the handle portion
121, the furl of the flexible omni-umbrella can be finished after
the flexible wire 2 is bent to form nine overlapping circular coils
and the nine overlapping circular coils are then trussed by an
elastic loop 111. However, on the contrary, the user can spread the
flexible omni-umbrella by reversely operating the above-mentioned
first and second umbrella-furling operations.
[0035] Referring to FIG. 6 again, and please refer to FIG. 10A,
FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C, there are shown schematic umbrella-spreading
motion diagrams of the flexible omni-umbrella. As shown in FIG.
10A, the flexible wire 2 is bent to form three overlapping circular
coils, and the two joining members 22 on the two cross points (A,
B) and a circle center of the three overlapping circular coils form
an isosceles triangle having a top angle of 70.degree.. However,
for the flexible omni-umbrella of the present invention, the
flexible wire 2 could not be bent and entirely spread to form the
complete stereoscopic framework because of the small top angle of
70.degree., and such non-complete stereoscopic framework may tend
to collapse and fails to provide a comprehensive shielding area due
to the weak structure strength thereof.
[0036] Moreover, as shown in FIG. 10B, the flexible wire 2 is bent
to form three overlapping circular coils, and the two joining
members 22 on the two cross points (A, B) and the circle center of
the three overlapping circular coils form an isosceles triangle
having a top angle of 90.degree.. The flexible wire 2 of FIG. 10B
can be bent and entirely spread to form a complete stereoscopic
framework, and this complete stereoscopic framework has strong
structure strength for providing a comprehensive shielding area.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10C, the flexible wire 2 is bent to
form three overlapping circular coils, and the two joining members
22 on the two cross points (A, B) and the circle center of the
three overlapping circular coils form an isosceles triangle having
a top angle of 120.degree.. By FIG. 10, the flexible wire 2 would
be bent and excessively spread to form a non-complete stereoscopic
framework because of the large top angle of 120.degree., and such
non-complete stereoscopic framework may still tend to collapse and
fails to provide a comprehensive shielding area due to the weak
structure strength thereof.
[0037] Therefore, through FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B and FIG. 10C, it is
able to know that, when bending the flexible wire 2 to form three
overlapping circular coils, the top angle of the isosceles triangle
formed by the two joining members 22 on the two cross points (A, B)
and the circle center of the three overlapping circular coils must
be limited between 70.degree. and 120.degree., such that the three
overlapping circular coils can be bent and entirely spread to form
the complete stereoscopic framework having strong structure
strength for providing the comprehensive shielding area. For the
flexible omni-umbrella of the present invention, preferably, the
top angle is ranged from 80.degree. and 100.degree..
[0038] Thus, through the descriptions, the framework, structure and
the best embodiment of the flexible omni-umbrella according to the
present invention have been clearly described and introduced; in
summary, the present invention has the following advantages:
1. In the present invention, the primary umbrella framework is
constructed by a flattened steel wire and a rod, without any
umbrella joints; So that, even if the flexible omni-umbrella are
repeatedly spread and furled, the primary umbrella framework of the
flexible omni-umbrella would not be damaged or form sharp
structure, therefore it can sure that the user would not be hurt by
the damaged umbrella or the formed sharp structure from the damaged
umbrella. 2. Moreover, in the present invention, because the
stereoscopic framework formed by the flexible wire is a
comprehensive arc umbrella framework, the umbrella fabric covering
the stereoscopic framework can effectively shield rain; in
addition, the umbrella fabric is consisted of a plurality of
primary cover portions and a plurality of auxiliary cover portions,
and such particular design of the umbrella fabric makes that the
flexible omni-umbrella of the present invention can shield rain
comprehensively. 3. Furthermore, for the rod and the through hole
portion thereof are all rotatable, the user can furl the flexible
omni-umbrella by way of rotating the rod and the through hole
portion; such umbrella-furling way is effort-saving and
convenient.
[0039] The above description is made on embodiments of the present
invention. However, the embodiments are not intended to limit scope
of the present invention, and all equivalent implementations or
alterations within the spirit of the present invention still fall
within the scope of the present invention.
* * * * *