Patent Application
20190029378
The present invention relates to an umbrella structure for daily use, and particularly relates to an improvement of an automatic opening and closing umbrella structure, which applies to a stick umbrella or a multi-fold one.
Among the existing technologies, in order to facilitate the user and differentiate products, a variety of automatic umbrella solutions which can realize the opening and closing of the umbrella device without any effort have been proposed. For example, the existing multi-section automatic umbrellas mostly adopt the following structure: a wire-like jointing element or several gears are equipped inside the handle, and in order to activate the structure, a driving motor which is controlled by an opening/closing button is set inside the handle is set in the handle.
However, for the structure with a motor to open/close the umbrella, in addition to the power required to activate the above-mentioned jointing element or gear set, additional power for compressing (or pulling open) the opening spring (or the closing spring) is needed. Therefore, a driving motor with more torque is necessary for such an umbrella, which may cause an increase in cost. Moreover, with more torque, the battery is more consumed, making the user frequently replace the battery or charge it, which is very inconvenient. In addition, upon the opening/closing of the umbrella, the resilience of the opening/closing spring sometimes may not work well, thus an accident may occur.
Patent Document 1: Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2011-0026833
Patent Document 2: Republic of Korea Use Registration No. 20-0470587
The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an automatic umbrella capable of avoiding (or minimizing) the resistance of the opening spring or the closing spring when the umbrella is being opened/closed, so that the power required by the user to manually open the umbrella can be reduced to the lowest, and when the motor and other driving devices are applied, the motor with the least torque can help open/close the umbrella, not only lowering the product cost, but also reducing the battery consumption, which is more convenient and economical for the user.
The technical solution for solving the above technical problem is to design and manufacture an automatic umbrella, comprising: a middle rod, a handle fixed at the bottom of the middle rod, an upper nest fixed on the top of the middle rod, and a lower nest with its sliding sleeve connected to the outside middle rod, first ribs with their inner ends connected to the upper nest, and second ribs with their two ends respectively connected to lower nest and the first ribs, and an automatic opening/closing device.
The automatic opening/closing device comprises: opening drawstrings, closing drawstrings, the first and the second reels and a driving element mounted in the inner cavity of the handle; one end of an opening drawstring is connected to the lower nest and enters the inner cavity of the middle rod after being wound to the top of the middle rod, and the other end is connected to the first reel; one end of a closing drawstring is connected to the second reel, and the other end is connected to the first rib after coming out of the upper side wall of the middle rod; the driving element simultaneously or alternatively provides rotational force to the first reel and the second one.
For a stick umbrella, the middle rod is a single pipe, and the opening drawstring is a single drawstring.
For a two-fold umbrella, the middle rod comprises two pipes which are sleeved inside and outside by an upper one and a lower one according to their diameters; the automatic opening/closing device also includes a moving part set in inner cavity of the lower pipe and a push rod disposed between the moving part and the upper pipe. The opening drawstrings consist of two drawstrings, the first and the second; one end of the first opening drawstring is connected to the lower nest, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower pipe after being wound to the top of the middle rod; one end of the second opening drawstring is connected to the first reel, and the other end is connected to the moving part after being wound to the top of the lower pipe.
For a three-fold or multi-fold umbrella, the middle rod comprises several pipes which are sleeved inside and outside by an upper pipe, one or more middle pipes and a lower one according to their diameters; the automatic opening/closing device also includes a moving part set in inner cavity of the lower pipe and a push rod disposed between the moving part and the upper adjacent middle pipe of the lower one. The opening drawstrings consist of the first opening drawstring, the second opening drawstring and one or more third opening drawstrings of the same number as the middle pipes; one end of the first opening drawstring is connected to the lower nest, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower adjacent pipe of the upper one after being wound to the top of the middle rod; one end of the second opening drawstring is connected to the first reel, and the other end is connected to the moving part after being wound to the top of the lower pipe; one end of a third opening drawstring is connected to the lower end of the upper adjacent pipe of a certain middle pipe, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower adjacent pipe of the middle pipe after being wound to the top of the middle pipe.
For a three-fold or multi-fold umbrella, the top of the middle pipe is fixedly provided with a middle pipe top plug which is equipped with a middle pipe pulley and a through-hole through which the drawstrings can pass. The third opening drawstrings pass the middle pipe pulley when passing the top of the middle pipe; the top of the lower pipe is fixedly provided with a lower pipe top plug which is equipped with a lower pipe pulley and a through-hole through which the drawstrings can pass. The moving part is provided with a moving part pulley, and the upper end of the second opening drawstring is fixed to the top of the lower pipe after being wound to the lower pipe pulley and the moving part pulley.
The top of the middle rod is provided with an upper nest pulley, and the opening drawstrings are wound to the upper nest pulley when passing the top of the middle rod.
The upper closing drawstring consists of more than two branches which are respectively connected to more than two first ribs.
In addition to the first ribs connected to the closing drawstrings, one or more of other first ribs are provided with closing springs that provide power when the umbrella is being closed.
When the driving element is activated, the first and the second reels are rolled in the opposite direction, or when the driving element activates one of the first and the second reels, the other one is freely rotated and scrolled toward the opposite direction.
The first and the second reels correspond to the circles with various perimeters based on the rolling or loosening lengths of the opening drawstrings and the closing ones.
The push rod, formed by a bar-shaped structure with open ends or a two-rod-shaped structure, extends upward from the upper end of the moving part through the top of the lower pipe and is fixed at the top of the upper adjacent pipe of the lower pipe.
The driving element is driven by a motor or the magnetic force.
Compared with the existing technologies, the automatic umbrella in the present invention boasts the following advantages:
First, the automatic umbrella in the present invention can be opened and closed with a simple structure composing of the opening drawstrings and the closing ones, thereby simplifying the internal structure of the umbrella, reducing the product cost and minimizing the possibility of use failure, which significantly improves the reliability of this product.
Second, with the automatic umbrella in the present invention is being opened, the resistance of the closing spring can be completely avoided (or minimized). When the umbrella is manually opened, the power needed by the user can be minimized When the motor and other driving devices are applied, the motor with the least torque can help open/close the umbrella, not only lowering the product cost, but also reducing the battery consumption, which is more convenient and economical for the user.
Last, for the automatic umbrella in the present invention, the opening or closing spring is not necessary, which can avoid an accident caused by the opening/closing spring when the umbrella is being opened/closed.
The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings.
As shown in
In the three-fold umbrella, the middle rod comprises three pipes which are sleeved inside and outside by an upper pipe 21, a middle one 23 and a lower one 22. “Being sleeved inside and outside” means that two or more pipes are sequentially sleeved from the outside to the inside according to their diameters, and the adjacent pipes can be slid up and down to realize the stretching and folding of the middle rod (the same below).
In this the embodiment 1, in the state in which the middle rod is stretched, the diameter of the upper pipe 21 is the largest and is located at the uppermost portion of the middle rod, and the upper nest 31 is fixed at the top of the upper pipe 21. The diameter of the lower pipe 22 is the smallest and is located at the lowermost portion of the middle rod, and the handle is fixed at the bottom of the lower pipe 22. The middle pipe 23 is located in the middle of the middle rod.
The first ribs 13 are composed of several ribs to collectively support the umbrella cover, of which each inner end is rotatably coupled to the upper nest 31 and the outer end radially expands radially outward.
Both ends of a second rib 15 are rotatably coupled to the lower nest 30 and a first rib 13 respectively, interlocked with each other. When the lower nest 30 slides upward along the middle rod, the second ribs 15 will push the first ribs 13 upward to open the umbrella; when the first ribs 13 are retracted downward, the second ribs 15 will push the lower nest 30 down to slide the middle rod downward.
The automatic opening/closing device comprises: opening drawstrings, closing drawstrings 45, a moving part 35, a push rod 25, the first reel 81, the second reel 82 and a driving element 85 mounted in the inner cavity of the handle. Wherein, in a three-fold umbrella, the opening drawstrings further comprise: the first opening drawstring 41, the second opening drawstring 42 and the third opening drawstrings 43.
In this embodiment, the upper nest 31 at the top of the upper pipe 21 is provided with an upper nest pulley 311. The top of the middle pipe 23 is fixedly provided with a middle pipe top plug 33 which is equipped with a middle pipe pulley 331 and a through-hole through which the opening drawstrings and the closing drawstrings 45 can pass. The top of the lower pipe 22 is fixedly provided with a lower pipe top plug 32 which is equipped with a lower pipe pulley 321 and a through-hole through which the opening drawstrings and the closing drawstrings 45 can pass.
The moving part 35 is located in the inner cavity of the lower pipe 22 and is provided with a moving part pulley 351.
The push rod 25 is disposed between the moving part 35 and the middle pipe 23 for maintaining the set distance between the moving part 35 and the top of the middle pipe 23. The push rod 25 can be designed in a variety of shapes. For example, the push rod 25 can be formed by a bar-shaped structure with open ends or a two-rod-shaped structure by extending upward from the top of the moving part 35 and being fixed at the middle pipe top plug 33 of the middle pipe 23 after passing through the top of the lower pipe 22.
One end of the first opening drawstring 41 is connected to the lower nest 30, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower adjacent pipe of the upper pipe 21 (i.e. the middle pipe top plug 33 of the middle pipe 23) after being wound to upper nest pulley 311 at the top of the middle rod. The lower end of the second opening drawstring 42 is connected to the first reel 81, and the upper end is connected to the moving part 35 after being wound to the lower pipe pulley 321 at the top of the lower pipe 22. In this embodiment, the second opening drawstring 42 is connected to the moving part 35 in such a manner that the upper end of the opening drawstring 42 is wound to the lower pipe pulley 321 then the moving part pulley 351 below and finally fixed to the one side at the top of the lower pipe. One end of a third opening drawstring 43 is connected to the upper adjacent pipe of the middle pipe 23 (i.e. the lower end of the upper pipe 21), and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower adjacent pipe of the middle pipe 23 (i.e. the lower pipe top plug 32 of the lower pipe 22) after being wound to middle pipe pulley 331 at the top of the middle pipe.
One end of a closing drawstring 45 is connected to the second reel 82, and the other end is led up along the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the first ribs 13 after coming out of the upper side wall of the middle rod where a middle rod pulley 312 can be disposed (see
The number of the closing drawstrings 45 is not limited. For example, as shown in
In addition, as shown in
The driving element 85 simultaneously or alternatively provides rotational force to the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 to make the umbrella open or closed. The driving element 85 can be designed in various ways, such as being activated by a motor or magnetic force and being manually operated.
When the driving element is activated, the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 are rolled in the opposite direction, or when the driving element 85 activates one of the first reel 81 and the second reel 82, the other one is freely rotated and scrolled toward the opposite direction. “Being scrolled toward the opposite direction” means that when one of the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 retracts one of the drawstrings back into the reel, and the other one releases the other drawstring. When the umbrella is being opened, the first reel 81 rotates to pull down the second opening drawstring 42 and wind them back into the first reel 81, while the closing drawstring 45 are released from the second reel 82. In the case of umbrella closing, vice versa.
In order to realize the opposite rolling and loosening operations of the second opening drawstring 42 and the closing drawstring 45, various existing methods can be utilized. For example, the driving element 85 is provided with several gears which make the driving element 85 drives the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 to rotate in opposite directions. Alternatively, the opposite direction of the orientation in which the second opening drawstring 42 and the closing drawstring 45 are connected to the reel can also achieve the scrolling of the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 in opposite directions. Or, when the driving element 85 drives one of the first reel 81 and the second reel 82, the other one is freely rotated and is driven by the corresponding drawstring to scroll in the opposite direction.
However, for the above situations, after the operation of opening and closing the umbrella is completed, a fixing device capable of fixing the opening or the closing state should be provided, which is an existing technology and will not be described herein.
In addition, since the rolling or loosening lengths of the second opening drawstring 42 and the closing drawstring 45 are different, the first reel 81 and the second reel 82 shall correspondingly set in circles with various perimeters.
The opening and closing process of the automatic umbrella in the present invention will be described below with reference to
In the opening state shown in
As the lower nest 30 moves downward, the first opening drawstring 41 connected to the lower nest 30 is drawn out to the outside of the upper pipe 21 and the middle pipe top plug 33 is pulled up together with the middle pipe 23, thereby the middle pipe 23 is pulled into the inner cavity of the upper pipe 21.
The third opening drawstrings 43 enter the inner cavity of the upper pipe 21 along the middle pipe 23 and are pulled out of the middle pipe 23. The lower ends of the third opening drawstrings 43 pull up the lower pipe top plug 32 together with the lower pipe 22 which is pulled into the inner cavity of the middle pipe 23.
As shown in
It can be seen that as the closing drawstrings 45 are wound back, the second reel 82, the upper pipe 21, the middle pipe 23 and the lower pipe 22 will be folded each other into the closing state shown in
In the closed state, vice versa. When the user activates the driving element 85 to rotate the first reel 81 to retract second opening drawstring 42 (at this time, due to the free rotation of the second reel 82 or the activation of the driving element 85 in the opposite direction, the closing drawstrings 45 are released), the second opening drawstring 42 pulls the moving part 35 upward to approach the lower pipe top plug 32, and the push rod 25 will push the middle pipe top plug 33 and the middle pipe 23 upward together so that the lower pipe 22 can slide out of the inner cavity of the middle pipe 23.
As the lower pipe 22 slides out, the third opening drawstrings 43 are pulled into the inner cavity of the middle pipe 23 and the upper pipe 21 is pulled up, making the middle pipe 23 slide out from the inner cavity of the upper pipe 21. As the middle pipe 23 slides out, the first opening drawstring 41 enters the inner cavity of the upper pipe 21, and pulls the lower nest 30 upward.
As the lower nest 30 rises, the second ribs 15 ascend and expand the first ribs 13 to open the umbrella.
It can be seen from the above process that the opening drawstrings not only can help open the umbrella, as the name applies, but also can guide the upper pipe 21, the middle pipe 23 and the lower pipe 22 to fold each other when the umbrella is being closed.
The foregoing describes the structure of the three-fold umbrella and its opening/closing process. When applied to an umbrella of more than four folds, it is only necessary to increase the number of the middle pipes 23 and the number of the third opening drawstrings 43 so that these two numbers are consistent. It is the same with the connection manner of the third opening drawstrings 43 in each middle pipe 23 and the pipe.
The following emphatically explains the difference between the embodiment of the two-fold umbrella and the Embodiment 1.
As shown in
One end of the first opening drawstring 141 is connected to the lower nest 130, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod and is connected to the lower pipe top plug 132 fixed at the top of the lower pipe 122 after being wound to the upper nest pulley 1311 fixed at the upper nest 131 of the upper pipe 121. One end of the second opening drawstring 142 is connected to the first reel 81, and the other end is led up along the inner cavity of the middle rod and connected to and fixed on the moving part 135 downward after being wound to the lower pipe pulley 1321 at the lower pipe top plug 132.
One end of the closing drawstring 145 is connected to the second reel 82, and the other end is led up along the inner cavity of the middle rod and connected to the first ribs 13 after being wound to the middle rod pulley 1312 at the upper side wall of the upper pipe 121 from which come out of.
As shown in
As the lower nest 130 moves downward, the first opening drawstring 141 is drawn out to the outside of the upper pipe 121. Meanwhile, the first opening drawstring 141 pulls up the lower pipe top plug 132 and the lower pipe 122 to enter the inner cavity of the upper pipe 121. At this time, due to the action of the push rod 125, the moving part 135 is away from the lower pipe top plug 132, and the second opening drawstring 142 is released from the first reel 81, and the umbrella is in the closed state as shown in
In contrast, as shown in
As shown in
One end of the opening drawstring 24 is connected to the lower nest 230, and the other end enters the inner cavity of the middle rod 221 after being wound to the upper nest pulley 2311 fixed at the upper nest 231 at the top of the middle rod 221 and is connected to the first reel 81. One end of the closing drawstring 245 is connected to the second reel 82, and the other end is led up along the inner cavity of the middle rod 221 and connected to the first ribs 13 after being wound to the middle rod pulley 2312 at the upper side wall of the middle rod 221 from which come out of.
When the umbrella is being closed, the driving element 85 is activated to rotate the second reel 82 to retract the closing drawstring 245, and the first ribs 13 are pulled down and gathered together, thereby the second ribs 15 push the lower nest 230 downward, so that the umbrella is in the closed state as shown in
In contrast, when the umbrella is being opened, the driving element 85 is activated to rotate the first reel 81 to retract the opening drawstring 24 which is pulled into the inner cavity of the middle rod 221 and pulls the lower nest 230 upward, and the second ribs 15 ascend and expand the first ribs 13 to open the umbrella as shown in
It can be seen that the present invention can make the umbrella open/closed with the simple structure of the opening/closing drawstrings, thereby simplifying the internal structure of the umbrella, reducing the product cost and minimizing the possibility of use failure, which significantly improves the reliability of this product. In addition, when the umbrella is being opened/closed, the elastic force of the closing spring can be completely avoided (or minimized). When the umbrella is manually opened, the power needed by the user can be minimized. When the motor and other driving devices are applied, the motor with the least torque can help open/close the umbrella, not only lowering the product cost, but also reducing the battery consumption, which is more convenient and safe for the user.
The foregoing is only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not limited to the present invention. For the technicians in this field, various modifications and changes can be made in the present invention. Any modification, equivalent substitution, improvement made within the spirit and scope of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of protection for the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2016-0012475 | Feb 2016 | KR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2016/000355 | 6/29/2016 | WO | 00 |
