US20040149327A1

US20040149327A1 - Windproof umbrella

Info

Publication number: US20040149327A1
Application number: US10/353,296
Authority: US
Inventors: Ching-Chuan You
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-01-30
Filing date: 2003-01-30
Publication date: 2004-08-05

Abstract

A windproof umbrella resistant to inversion from the wind and effective in ventilation is disclosed. A frame of the umbrella comprises a hub and upper and lower rings on the shank. A canopy of the umbrella comprises lower, intermediate, and upper canopies all being concentric and in a partial covering relation between any two adjacent ones. Ropes are interconnected between centers at sectors of an upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy and through holes of the upper ring by looping. Hence, lower and upper openings between the overlapped areas of the canopies are formed for air escape when wind caught beneath the canopy assembly applies pressure to an inner surface of the canopy assembly.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to umbrellas and more particularly to an improved windproof umbrella that is resistant to inversion from the wind as well as is effective in ventilating air between the underside of umbrella and the upper side thereof.

2. Description of Related Art

Typically, an umbrella is a foldable means carried by people for protection against the rain and/or sun. In addition, canopy is typically an opaque cloth having a close texture. This also means the permeability thereof is poor. As such, an umbrella user often feels muggy under the hot sun due to the poor ventilation. To the worse, in a rainy windy day, a wind will catch an umbrella user unaware and exert a force against the inner surface of the canopy. As a result, the canopy will invert from its normal operative position to an upwardly convex position.

The invention involves improvements particularly for increasing windproof and air escape capabilities over U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,319 B1 entitled “Vented Umbrella”, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a windproof umbrella comprising a plurality of canopies in a partial covering relation between any two adjacent ones with a plurality of openings formed therebetween for providing air escape during high winds by releasing pressure exerted against an inner surface of the canopy, thereby preventing inversion of the umbrella.

To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a windproof umbrella comprising a foldable frame including a shank, a hub on a top of the shank, an upper ring on the shank, and a lower ring on the shank, a plurality of ribs, and a plurality of stretchers, equal to the number of the ribs; a plurality of ropes; and a canopy assembly covered on the stretched frame and including an upper canopy, an intermediate canopy, and a lower canopy all being concentric wherein the lower canopy has an upper peripheral edge coupled to the rope which is coupled to the upper ring, the intermediate canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy, and the upper canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on an upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy so as to form a plurality of lower openings between a lower peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy and a plurality of upper openings between a lower peripheral edge of the upper canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy for air escape when wind caught beneath the canopy assembly applies pressure to an inner surface of the canopy assembly.

Preferably, a locking tab is provided below a sliding upper ring and a torsion spring is provided between the hub and the upper ring respectively.

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of windproof umbrella according to the invention, viewed from above the umbrella; [0010]
FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of the umbrella of FIG. 1 for showing interior details; [0011]
FIG. 3 is a side view of the umbrella of FIG. 2; [0012]
FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating wind flow in the umbrella of FIG. 1; and [0013]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of windproof umbrella according to the invention, viewed from below the umbrella.[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, [0015] 3 and 4, there is shown a windproof umbrella constructed in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention. A foldable frame of the umbrella comprises a shank 70, a lower ring 71, a fixed upper ring 100, and a hub 72 all provided around the shank 70, a plurality of ribs 73, and a plurality of stretchers 74, equal to the number of the ribs 73. A canopy assembly 80 of the umbrella covered on the stretched frame comprises an upper canopy 80A, an intermediate canopy 81, and a lower canopy 82 all being concentric. The lower canopy 82 has an upper peripheral edge 821 coupled to one of a plurality of ropes 90, which is in turn coupled to the upper ring 100. The intermediate canopy 81 has a lower peripheral portion 811 covered on the upper peripheral edge 821 of the lower canopy 82. The upper canopy 80A has a lower peripheral portion 801 covered on an upper peripheral edge 812 of the intermediate canopy 81. As such, both a peripheral overlapped area between a lower peripheral edge 811 of the intermediate canopy 81 and the upper peripheral edge 821 of the lower canopy 82 and a peripheral overlapped area between a lower peripheral edge 801 of the upper canopy 80A and the upper peripheral edge 812 of the intermediate canopy 81 are increased. In other words, upper and lower groups of openings are formed in both the peripheral overlapped areas for providing increased air escape from under the umbrella during high winds.
The provision of the [0016] rope 90 is to make a plurality of lower openings 824 between the lower peripheral edge 811 of the intermediate canopy 81 and the upper peripheral edge 821 of the lower canopy 82 larger (see FIG. 4). In the embodiment, the rope 90 is implemented as a nonelastic one. The rope 90 has a first end 91 substantially horizontally secured to a center at each sector of the upper peripheral edge 821 of the lower canopy 82 by stitching a loop 822 (see FIG. 2) thereat. The rope 90 also has a second end 92 having a node substantially horizontally locked under one of a plurality of through holes on the upper ring 100. Hence, the openings 824 are expanded to maximum with the rope 90 being taut when a strong wind exerts a force against an inner surface of the canopy assembly 80. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper peripheral edge 821 of the lower canopy 82 is substantially horizontally pulled off by the rope 90 at a strong wind condition. Also, the rope 90 is approximately perpendicular to the ribs 73. As a result, the purpose of expanding the openings 824 to the full is achieved. Moreover, a plurality of upper, small openings 802 are further formed at the overlapped area between lower peripheral edge 801 of the upper canopy 81A and the upper peripheral edge 812 of the intermediate canopy 81. With the forming of both groups of the openings 802, 824, wind may much easily escape from the underside of the umbrella to the upper side thereof during high winds, resulting in ventilation increasing.
Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a windproof umbrella constructed in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention. The second preferred embodiment substantially has same structure as the first preferred embodiment. The difference between the first and the second preferred embodiments, i.e., the characteristics of the second preferred embodiment are detailed below. An [0017] upper ring 100A is made slidable. A torsion spring 101 is provided between the hub 72 and the upper ring 10A. A locking tab 102 is provided below the upper ring 100A on the shank 70. With this configuration, tautness of the rope 90 is adapted to the strength of wind. Also, the sizes of the openings 824 are adapted to the strength of wind. Note that in practice an orientation of the rope 90 may be at an angle other than 90 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction. For example, the orientation of the rope 90 having an angle between −30 degrees and +30 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction is also possible.
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. [0018]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A windproof umbrella comprising:

a foldable frame including a shank, a hub on a top of the shank, an upper ring on the shank, and a lower ring on the shank, a plurality of ribs, each having one end pivotally linked to the hub, and a plurality of stretchers, equal to the number of the ribs, each having one end pivotally linked to the lower ring and an other end thereof pivotally linked to a middle portion of a corresponding one of the ribs;

a plurality of ropes having a first end and a second end; and

a canopy assembly covered on the foldable frame and including an upper canopy, an intermediate canopy, and a lower canopy each consisting of a plurality of sectors all of canopies being concentric and in a partial covering relation between any two adjacent ones, wherein the lower canopy has an upper peripheral edge coupled to the rope which is coupled to the upper ring, the intermediate canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy, and the upper canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on an upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy so as to form a plurality of lower openings between a lower peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy and a plurality of upper openings between a lower peripheral edge of the upper canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy for air escape when wind caught beneath the canopy assembly applies pressure to an inner surface of the canopy assembly in a fully extended condition.

2. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein each of the ropes is secured between a center portion of a plurality of sectors of the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy by stitching and the upper ring, respectively.

3. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein the upper ring comprises a plurality of through holes provided around the peripheral portion thereof in which a node of the second end of the rope is locked under the through hole.

4. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein an orientation of each of the ropes is at an angle between −30 degrees and +30 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction of the shank.

5. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein each of the ropes is nonelastic.

6. A windproof umbrella comprising:

a foldable frame including a shank, a hub on a top of the shank, a sliding upper ring on the shank, a torsion spring biased between the hub and the upper ring, a locking tab below the upper ring, a lower ring below the locking tab, a plurality of ribs, each having one end pivotally linked to the hub, and a plurality of stretchers, equal to the number of the ribs, each having one end pivotally linked to the lower ring and an other end thereof pivotally linked to a middle portion of a corresponding one of the ribs;

a plurality of ropes having a first end and a second end; and

a canopy assembly covered on the stretched frame and including an upper canopy, an intermediate canopy, and a lower canopy each consisting of a plurality of sectors all of canopies being concentric and in a partial covering relation between any two adjacent ones, wherein the lower canopy has an upper peripheral edge coupled to the rope which is coupled to the upper ring, the intermediate canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy, and the upper canopy has a lower peripheral portion covered on an upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy so as to form a plurality of lower openings between a lower peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy and a plurality of upper openings between a lower peripheral edge of the upper canopy and the upper peripheral edge of the intermediate canopy for air escape when wind caught beneath the canopy assembly applies pressure to an inner surface of the canopy assembly in a fully extended condition.

7. The windproof umbrella of claim 6, wherein each of the ropes is secured between a center portion of a plurality of sectors of the upper peripheral edge of the lower canopy by stitching and the upper ring, respectively.

8. The windproof umbrella of claim 6, wherein the upper ring comprises a plurality of through holes provided around the peripheral portion thereof in which a node of the second end of the rope is locked under the through hole.

9. The windproof umbrella of claim 6, wherein an orientation of each of the ropes is at an angle between −30 degrees and +30 degrees with respect to a horizontal direction of the shank.

10. The windproof umbrella of claim 6, wherein each of the ropes is nonelastic.