Patent Application
20250179830
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to solar shade structures.
Numerous situations, circumstances, and scenarios arise in everyday work and personal life where people seek protection from direct sunlight and power to perform certain tasks. Creating the combination of shade from the sun and power from the grid is often logistically and financially challenging. Conventional shade structures provide shade from the sun. However, such structures are not able to move/adjust easily and quickly to maximize shade at all times of the day. Furthermore, such structures do not incorporate power-generating capability while enjoying protection from the sun.
Accordingly, the inventor has provided herein embodiments of improved movable shade structures.
Embodiments of movable shade apparatus are provided herein. In some embodiments, a movable shade apparatus includes: a roof configured to provide shade when standing below the roof; one or more support posts coupled to the roof, wherein at least one of the one or more support posts includes a power outlet; an actuator coupled to at least one of the one or more support posts and configured to adjust a pitch of the roof with respect to the one or more support posts; and a base assembly coupled to a lower end of each of the one or more support posts, wherein the base assembly includes a support member and one or more weights that are removably attached to the support member.
In some embodiments, a movable shade apparatus includes: a roof configured to provide shade when standing below the roof; a solar panel disposed on the roof; a battery coupled to the solar panel; one or more support posts coupled to the roof, wherein at least one of the one or more support posts includes a power outlet; an actuator coupled to at least one of the one or more support posts and configured to adjust a pitch of the roof with respect to the one or more support posts; and a base assembly coupled to a lower end of each of the one or more support posts, wherein the base assembly includes a support member and one or more weights that are removably attached to the support member.
Other and further embodiments of the present disclosure are described below.
Embodiments of the present disclosure, briefly summarized above and discussed in greater detail below, can be understood by reference to the illustrative embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the appended drawings. However, the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. The figures are not drawn to scale and may be simplified for clarity. Elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.
Embodiments of a movable shade apparatus are provided herein. The movable shade apparatus may advantageously be configured to be coupled to a power source, such as a solar panel or other power generator, to better enable a wider range of activities from being enjoyed while protecting people from direct sunlight. The movable shade apparatus may also be portable, moveable, and easily collapsible to provide many use cases. For example, the movable shade apparatus may be used in more personal use settings such as in backyards, patios, pools, hot tubs, hunting or fishing trips, camping trips, at picnics, at RV sites, at boat docks, or the like. In other examples, the movable shade apparatus may be used during events such as weddings, concerts, festivals, sporting events, parties, fairs, on-location filming, and the like. The movable shade apparatus may also find use in the hospitality industry, construction industry, military industry, remote security sites, field sites for the oil and gas industry, field sites for scientific and archeological studies, and the like.
The movable shade apparatus generally includes a roof having one or more panels that provide shade below the one or more panels. The roof may be supported by one or more supports to form a cantilever structure. The roof may articulate with respect to the one or more supports to adjust the pitch, or angle, of the roof with respect to the one or more supports. The one or more panels may be configured to support a solar panel. The solar panel can be one or more suitable solar panels that use solar energy collection material to generate power that can be stored and/or utilized to power/recharge devices and/or accessories that are either built into the movable shade structure or configured to be electrically plugged into the movable shade structure. The movable shade apparatus with the solar panels may also be used as an electric vehicle (EV) charger and/or a charger for a multitude of other rechargeable devices.
In some embodiments, the roof 102 is configured to support one or more solar panels 106 disposed on the one or more panels 116 of the roof 102. In some embodiments, the one or more solar panels 106 are removably coupled to an upper surface 121 of the one or more panels 116. The one or more solar panels 106 may comprise any suitable materials that convert sunlight into electrical energy. For example, the one or more solar panels 106 may be monocrystalline, polycrystalline, thin-film solar panels, and the like. Energy generated by the one or more solar panels 106 may advantageously power all of the onboard electrical devices as well as a battery. In some embodiments, the one or more solar panels 106 are flexible and may be folded up for easy storage and transport.
The one or more support posts 104 elevate the roof 102 to a suitable height. In some embodiments, as depicted in
In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more support posts 104 includes one or more power outlets 124 that are powered by a power generator, such as the one or more solar panels 106 or a battery 136 (discussed below) that stores electrical energy. The one or more power outlets 124 may be configured for AC connections, USB connections, micro-USB connections, or the like. The one or more support posts 104 are generally hollow and act as a conduit for housing electrical lines or other cables and components used in the movable shade apparatus 100, for example, the electrical lines that couple the one or more solar panels 106 to the battery 136 or the electrical lines for the one or more power outlets 124.
A base assembly 130 is generally coupled to a lower end of each of the one or more support posts 104. Each base assembly 130 is configured to move the movable shade apparatus 100 and provide adequate weight to reduce or prevent the movable shade apparatus 100 from falling over. In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 includes a support member 128 and one or more weights 126 removably attached to the support member 128. In some embodiments, the one or more weights 126 are disposed on the support member 128 for ease of removal. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more weights 126 may include a battery 136. In some embodiments, the one or more weights 126 include a hollow vessel having a cap that can be filled with water or other material that adds weight to the base assembly 130. The battery 136 may be charged via the one or more solar panels 106 or can be a standalone battery pack. In some embodiments, the one or more support posts 104 are removably coupled to the support member 128 for ease of disassembly. For example, the support member 128 may include a vertical portion that partially extends into the one or more support posts 104 to hold the two components together, or the support member 128 may be coupled to the support post via a screw or threaded interface therebetween.
In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 has a low profile to reduce wind effects and to maintain more open space below the roof 102. In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 has a width similar to the width of the one or more support posts 104. In some embodiments, the one or more weights 126 have a width similar to the width of the one or more support posts 104. In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 include wheels 134, for example, wheels with castors for selectively moving or locking the wheels 134.
The roof 102 is generally configured to articulate with respect to the one or more support posts 104 between a vertical direction 160 and a horizontal direction 170. For example, the roof 102 may articulate about a hinge axis 138 with respect to the one or more support posts 104. An actuator 125 is coupled to at least one of the one or more support posts 104 and configured to articulate the roof 102 with respect to the one or more support posts 104 to adjust a pitch of the roof and to provide a number of benefits. First, controlling the pitch of the roof 102 may provide more control over the shaded region below the roof 102. Articulating the pitch of the roof 102 can also take advantage of the position of the sun with respect to the one or more solar panels 106 to get increased energy gain. Articulating the pitch of the roof 102 can also mitigate wind effects and allow for positioning the roof 102 at an angle with respect to the one or more support posts 104 that reduce the wind force on the roof 102. For example, the roof 102 may be articulated to a horizontal position when not in use to minimize wind effects and maximize structure stability during adverse weather conditions.
The actuator 125 may comprise any suitable hardware configured for changing the pitch of the roof. For example, the actuator 125 may be a hand crank or other suitable hardware for manually adjusting the pitch of the roof. In other examples, the actuator 125 may comprise any suitable arrangement of motors, arms, gears, rods, cables, or the like. In some embodiments, a support rod 110 is coupled to the two support posts at a location vertically below the roof 102. The support rod 110 may be configured for providing structural support. In some embodiments, the support rod 110 may be a part of the actuator 125.
In some embodiments, for each of the one or more support posts 104, the actuator 125 comprises a motor 510 and a cable 512 extending from a first location 502 of the roof 102 to each support post to define a first length of cable 520 and from each support post to a second location 504 of the roof 102 to define a second length of cable 524. In some embodiments, the motor 510 is configured to adjust the pitch of the roof 102 by changing the first length of cable 520 and the second length of cable 524. For example, the cable 512 may be wrapped around an end of the support rod 110 disposed within the support post 104. Rotation of the motor 510 in one direction, for example, clockwise direction, may release additional cable extending to the first location 502, thereby increasing a length of the first length of cable 520 while wrapping additional cable around the support rod 110 that extends towards the second location 504, thereby decreasing a length of the second length of cable 524. Such changes in the first length of cable 520 and the second length of cable 524 articulates the roof 102 in the clockwise direction 516. Rotation of the motor 510 in the opposite direction would then articulate the roof 102 in the counterclockwise direction 518.
Returning back to
In some embodiments, the movable shade apparatus 100 includes one or more sensors 222 configured to take a desired measurement. For example, the one or more sensors 222 can be one or more of a temperature sensor, a wind speed sensor, a battery level sensor, a power level sensor, or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more sensors 222 can alternatively or additionally provide other information such as time, a pitch of the roof 102, a geo-directional orientation of the panels, or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more support posts 104 includes a control panel 228 configured to display at least one of an ambient temperature, a wind speed, a barometric pressure, a battery or power level, time and date, pitch of the roof 102, geo-directional orientation, or the like. For example, the control panel 228 can be configured to receive a signal from the one or more sensors 222 to display the sensed metric. In some embodiments, the control panel 228 includes buttons and is configured for receiving user input. In some embodiments, the control panel 228 is part of the controller 180.
In some embodiments, the one or more support posts 104 include one or more switches 120 to turn on or off various electrical components built into the movable shade apparatus 100 or to control power to the one or more power outlets 124. For example, the movable shade apparatus 100 may include an electrical component 118, such as one or more lights, mounted to the one or more support posts 104 or the roof 102. In some embodiments, one of the one or more switches 120 is configured for controlling the one or more lights of the electrical component 118. In some embodiments, the electrical component 118 can include a fan. In some embodiments, the electrical component 118 can include a heater. In some embodiments, the movable shade apparatus 100 can include a heater, a fan, and one or more lights that are all powered by the one or more solar panels 106 or the battery 136.
The movable shade apparatus 100 may be configured to include one or more electronic devices 150, such as any device discussed herein, powered via the one or more power outlets 124. In some embodiments, the one or more electronic devices 150 includes food preparation devices or entertainment devices. Food preparation devices may include electric stoves, ovens, coffee makers, refrigerators, coolers, sinks, faucets, or the like. Entertainment devices may include televisions, gaming devices, musical devices, or the like. In some embodiments, the one or more support posts 104 include a one or more slots 216 for attaching accessories. The accessories may include the food preparation device or entertainment devices discussed above, or any shelves or mounts suitable for mounting or holding any suitable objects.
As discussed above, the movable shade apparatus 100 may include a controller 180 configured to control the various components of the movable shade apparatus 100. In some embodiments, the controller 180 is configured to control the actuator 125 to control the pitch of the roof 102. The pitch of the roof 102 may be based on a solar position with respect to the movable shade apparatus, wind conditions, or user input. The pitch may be preset or programmable. In some embodiments, the movable shade apparatus 100 may be wirelessly controlled via Bluetooth or a mobile device (see mobile device 712 in
In some embodiments, the controller 180 includes a network interface (see network interface 740 in
In some embodiments, the movable shade apparatus 100 includes a plurality of retractable side panels 320 coupled to the roof 102 and configured to provide protection from rain or privacy. The plurality of retractable side panels 320 may generally be retracted during a stowed position and expanded into a use position. In some embodiments, the plurality of retractable side panels may be hung from the roof 102 via a plurality of hooks, a rod, or other suitable method.
In some embodiments, the controller 180 includes one or more processors 710A-710N coupled to a system memory 720 via an input/output (I/O) interface 730. The controller 180 may further include a network interface 740 coupled to the I/O interface 730, and one or more input/output devices 750, such as cursor control device 760, keyboard 770, and display(s) 780. In various embodiments, any of the components described herein may be utilized by the controller 180 to receive the user inputs described above. In various embodiments, a user interface may be generated and displayed on display 780. In some cases, embodiments may be implemented using a single instance of the controller 180. In some embodiments, multiple ones of the controller 180, or multiple nodes making up the controller 180, may be configured to host different portions or instances of various embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, some elements may be implemented via one or more nodes of controller 180 that are distinct from those nodes implementing other elements. In other examples, multiple nodes may implement the controller 180 in a distributed manner.
In some embodiments, the controller 180 may be any of various types of devices, including, but not limited to a laptop, notebook, tablet or netbook computer, mainframe computer system, handheld computer, mobile device, workstation, network computer, or in general any type of computing or electronic device. In various embodiments, the controller 180 may be a uniprocessor system including one processor 710, or a multiprocessor system including several 710 (e.g., two, four, eight, or another suitable number). The one or more processors 710 may comprise any suitable processor capable of executing instructions. For example, in various embodiments, processors 710 may be general-purpose or embedded processors implementing any of a variety of instruction set architectures (ISAs). In multiprocessor systems, each of processors 710 may commonly, but not necessarily, implement the same ISA.
A system memory 720 may be configured to store program instructions 722 and/or data 732 accessible by the processor 710. In various embodiments, the system memory 720 may be implemented using any suitable memory technology, such as static random-access memory (SRAM), synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), nonvolatile/Flash-type memory, or any other type of memory. In some embodiments, program instructions and data implementing any of the elements of the embodiments described above is stored within system memory 720. However, program instructions and/or data may be received, sent, or stored upon different types of computer-accessible media or on similar media separate from system memory 720 or the controller 180.
In some embodiments, an I/O interface 730 may be configured to coordinate I/O traffic between processor 710, system memory 720, and any peripheral devices in the device, including network interface 740 or other peripheral interfaces, such as input/output devices 750. In some embodiments, I/O interface 730 may perform any necessary protocol, timing, or other data transformations to convert data signals from one component (e.g., system memory 720) into a format suitable for use by another component (e.g., processor 710). In some embodiments, I/O interface 730 may include support for devices attached through various types of peripheral buses, such as a variant of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus standard or the Universal Serial Bus (USB) standard, for example. In some embodiments, the function of I/O interface 730 may be split into two or more separate components, such as a north bridge and a south bridge, for example. Also, in some embodiments some or all of the functionality of I/O interface 730, such as an interface to system memory 720, may be incorporated directly into the one or more processors 710.
The network interface 740 may be configured to allow data to be exchanged between the controller 180 and other devices attached to a network (e.g., network 790), such as one or more external systems or between nodes of the controller 180. For example, a mobile device 712 may be attached to, or in communication with, the network 790. The mobile device 712 may be a cell phone, a tablet, or other computer electronic device. In some embodiments, the mobile device 712 includes an application (“app”) to provide user input and to receive relevant outputs from the controller 180 of the movable shade structure.
In various embodiments, network 790 may include one or more networks including but not limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) (e.g., an Ethernet or corporate network), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., the Internet), wireless data networks, some other electronic data network, or some combination thereof. In various embodiments, the network interface 740 may support communication via wired or wireless general data networks, such as any suitable type of satellite or Ethernet network, for example; via digital fiber communications networks; via storage area networks such as Fiber Channel SANs, or via any other suitable type of network and/or protocol.
Input/output devices 750 may, in some embodiments, include one or more display terminals, keyboards, keypads, touchpads, scanning devices, voice or optical recognition devices, or any other devices suitable for entering or accessing data by one or more computer systems. Multiple input/output devices 750 may be present in controller 180 or may be distributed on various nodes of controller 180. In some embodiments, similar input/output devices may be separate from controller 180 and may interact with one or more nodes of controller 180 through a wired or wireless connection, such as over the network interface 740.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that controller 180 is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit the scope of embodiments. In particular, the computer system and devices may include any combination of hardware or software that can perform the indicated functions of various embodiments, including computers, network devices, internet appliances, PDAs, wireless phones, and the like. The controller 180 may also be connected to other devices that are not illustrated, or instead may operate as a stand-alone system. In addition, the functionality provided by the illustrated components may in some embodiments be combined in fewer components or distributed in additional components. Similarly, in some embodiments, the functionality of some of the illustrated components may not be provided and/or other additional functionality may be available.
While various items are illustrated as being stored in memory or on storage while being used, these items or portions of them may be transferred between memory and other storage devices for purposes of memory management and data integrity. Alternatively, some or all of the software components may execute in memory on another device and communicate with the illustrated computer system via inter-computer communication. Some or all of the system components or data structures may also be stored (e.g., as instructions or structured data) on a computer readable medium that is non-transitory or a portable article to be read by an appropriate drive. In some embodiments, instructions stored on a computer readable medium separate from controller 180 may be transmitted to controller 180 via transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network and/or a wireless link. Various embodiments may further include receiving, sending, or storing instructions and/or data implemented in accordance with the foregoing description upon a computer readable medium or via a communication medium. In general, a computer readable medium may include a storage medium or memory medium such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk or DVD/CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatile media such as RAM (e.g., SDRAM, DDR, RDRAM, SRAM, and the like), ROM, and the like.
The methods and processing described herein may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof, in different embodiments. In addition, the order of methods may be changed, and various elements may be added, reordered, combined, omitted, or otherwise modified. All examples described herein are presented in a non-limiting manner. Various modifications and changes may be made as would be obvious to a person skilled in the art having benefit of the present disclosure. Realizations in accordance with embodiments have been described in the context of particular embodiments. These embodiments are meant to be illustrative and not limiting. Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible. Boundaries between various components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within the scope of claims that follow. Finally, structures and functionality presented as discrete components in the example configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of embodiments as defined in the claims that follow.
Embodiments in accordance with the disclosure may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored using one or more machine-readable media, which may be read and executed by one or more processors.
The roof 802 may be an umbrella-style structure having a canopy 830 that is held by the one support post and has a hinged frame 814 that is configured to expand the canopy 830 in an open configuration (as depicted in
In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 includes a support member 128 and one or more weights 126 removably attached to the support member 128. In some embodiments, the base assembly 130 includes a base plate 832. The support member 128 and the one or more weights 126 may be disposed atop the base plate 832. In some embodiments, the base plate 832 has a circular profile or any other suitable shapes. In some embodiments, the outer diameter, or width, of the base plate 832 is larger than an outer diameter, or width, of the support member 128. In some embodiments the wheels 134 are coupled to the base plate 832.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present disclosure, other and further embodiments of the disclosure may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof.
This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/604,671 filed Nov. 30, 2023, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63604671 | Nov 2023 | US |
