1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to an umbrella auxiliary screen to shield a user from precipitation and/or sunlight that bypasses the canopy of an umbrella from which the auxiliary screen is supported.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Umbrellas are devices for shielding users from precipitation or sunlight. Umbrellas are made with canopies of various sizes. A shortcoming of conventional umbrellas is that the canopy shields the user only from precipitation or sunlight that falls or impinges on the canopy and the umbrella does not shield the user from, for example, wind-driven precipitation that can bypass the canopy of the umbrella and wet the clothing of the user, especially the pants' legs and shoes. Umbrellas having larger canopies offer more protection to the user, but are less compact and less convenient to carry. Even a large umbrella, however, may not offer protection from wind-driven precipitation.
What is needed is an umbrella having a canopy and an auxiliary screen to shield the user from precipitation that bypasses the canopy of the umbrella. What is needed is an umbrella having an auxiliary screen that is retractable from a deployed configuration, retainable in a retracted configuration and deployable from the retracted configuration to a deployed configuration.
Embodiments of the apparatus disclosed herein satisfy one or more of these needs. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises an umbrella having a support rod to support a plurality of ribs and a plurality of struts that make up a support structure for the canopy. The canopy, which may comprise a generally water-resistant fabric, is coupled to the ribs to provide a collapsible covering when the umbrella is in an open configuration with the ribs extending generally radially outwardly from the support rod. The struts, ribs and canopy may together collapse and/or fold to a collapsed configuration for convenient storage, as is well-known in the art.
One embodiment of the auxiliary screen comprises a generally water-resistant material such as, for example, fabric or plastic, which is preferably pliable and light-weight material. The auxiliary screen may comprise a generally rectangular piece of fabric that can be folded or corrugated to a collapsed configuration for storage when not in use. In another embodiment, the auxiliary screen may comprise a plurality of elongate panels interconnected one to the others to form a foldable screen. The elongate sections may comprise, for example, light-weight plastic, and the panels may be interconnected along seams to adjacent panels. An auxiliary screen of this embodiment may be foldable to a collapsed configuration by folding panels, one relative to others, to a collapsed configuration. The auxiliary screen may further be securable in the collapsed configuration to one or more struts, ribs and/or to the canopy portion (for example, to the fabric) of the umbrella. The auxiliary screen may be removed from the stored configuration and then expanded from the collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration or to a partially expanded configuration to protect the user from precipitation.
In one embodiment, the present invention is adapted to cooperate with the structures of a conventional umbrella comprising a plurality of ribs, a plurality of struts to support the ribs in a radially-extended configuration, a canopy, such as a fabric, connected to the ribs, a support rod to support the struts and ribs and an auxiliary screen supportable from at least one of the ribs, struts and the canopy, and collapsible from an expanded configuration to a collapsed configuration for storage. The auxiliary screen is movable from an expanded configuration, to shield a user holding the support rod from precipitation that may bypass the canopy, to a collapsed configuration, to facilitate storage generally adjacent to the ribs.
In one embodiment, the area or size of the auxiliary screen may be adjustable. For example, but not by way of limitation, an umbrella may comprise a plurality of ribs, a plurality of struts to support the ribs in a radially-extended configuration, a canopy connected to the ribs, a support rod to support the ribs and struts, and an auxiliary screen supportable from at least one of the ribs, struts and the canopy, the auxiliary screen being collapsible from an expanded configuration to a collapsed configuration. In addition, the auxiliary screen may be movable from an expanded configuration, to shield a user holding the support rod from precipitation that may bypass the canopy, to a collapsed configuration, to facilitate storage of the collapsed auxiliary screen generally adjacent to the ribs. The umbrella may further comprise a spool coupled to the support rod and rotatable in a first direction relative to the support rod to reel in a line, or rotatable in a second direction to spool out the line. The line may have a first portion coupled to the spool and a second portion coupled to a distal end of the auxiliary screen so that, when the spool is rotated to spool out line, the distal end of the auxiliary screen descends relative to the rib(s), strut(s) or canopy from which a proximal end of the auxiliary screen is supported. In one embodiment, the second portion of the line may be threaded through a plurality of generally alignable holes strategically disposed in the auxiliary screen, and the second portion of the line may be coupled to (or near) a distal end of the auxiliary screen. Rotating the spool to reel in the line would then raise the distal portion of the auxiliary screen upwardly toward a proximal end of the auxiliary screen to (at least partially) collapse the auxiliary screen and thereby make the area or size of the auxiliary screen smaller.
Alternately, in another embodiment, the second portion of the line may be connected to a proximal end of the auxiliary screen. Rotating the spool to reel in the line would move the entire auxiliary screen up or down relative to the support rod. In this embodiment, the auxiliary screen may be secured in a collapsed configuration using a band, zipper, or any of a variety of fasteners such as, for example clamps, snaps, hook and loop, Velcro® or other fasteners. In this embodiment, the area or size of the expandable auxiliary screen may be variable using the fasteners, for example, instead of by using the spool.
The line may traverse along the exterior of the support rod or, preferably, through the hollow interior of the support rod of the umbrella. The line may further be threaded through or over a plurality of line guides coupled to at least one of the radially-extending ribs, the struts and the canopy. For example, but not by way of limitation, the line guides may comprise eyelets connected to one or more ribs or struts, or the eyelets may be connected to the canopy, or to a combination of these portions of the umbrella. The eyelets may be aligned one with the others to provide a smooth pathway to facilitate reeling in and spooling out of the line to and from the spool, respectively. The eyelets may comprise a material of a lubricious material to decrease friction and prevent unwanted abrasion to the line as it moves through or over the eyelet. Alternately, the line guides may comprise an insert of a lubricious material. The eyelets need not form a continuous ring and, in one embodiment, may comprise a gap or interruption to permit convenient insertion and removal of the line to and from an eyelet without having to thread an end portion of the line through an eyelets as if threading the eye of a needle.
In one embodiment, one or more support tethers are coupled at a first end to at least one a rib, a strut and the canopy. The one or more support tethers may be coupled at a second end to a proximal end of the auxiliary screen. This arrangement causes the auxiliary screen to be supported at a distance determined by the length of the support tether(s) below the rib, strut or the canopy to which the support tether(s) is connected. The length of the support tether may be optimized or adjustable to provide sufficient and/or adjustable clearance between the canopy and the proximal end of the auxiliary screen so that the deployment and use of the auxiliary screen in front of the user does not impair the user's view of the sidewalk, curbs, obstacles, etc. that the user may encounter while walking with the umbrella.
In one embodiment, the auxiliary screen may comprise an opaque material such as, for example, clear plastic, so that the user may see the sidewalk, curbs, obstacles and the like through the auxiliary screen. In one embodiment, the auxiliary screen may comprise or be treated with a hydrophobic material that deters water adherence or accumulation on at least a portion of the auxiliary screen to enable the user to see through the portion. In one embodiment, the auxiliary screen may comprise panels or sections connected along seams or creases to adjacent panels or sections to facilitate uniform and predictable folding of the auxiliary screen along the seams or creases to a collapsed configuration for efficient storage.
In one embodiment, the auxiliary screen may be removed from being supported by the ribs, struts, or the canopy. In another embodiment, the auxiliary screen may be collapsed and then stored adjacent the ribs, struts or canopy using one or more fasteners. For example, but not by way of limitation, the auxiliary screen may be collapsed and stored adjacent to the ribs, struts or canopy using ties, Velcro® ties or straps, ties or straps securable using snaps, ties or straps connectable using a hook and loop fastener, and/or one or more magnets.
The auxiliary screen may be supported from at least one of the ribs, struts and the canopy and suspended by a plurality of tethers coupled at a first end to the at least one the ribs, struts and the canopy and at a second end to a portion of the auxiliary screen.
The foregoing, as well as other, objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be more fully appreciated and understood by reference to the drawings, described below, and to the claims appended hereto.
The spool 20 on the support rod 8 may be manipulated to expand and retract the expandable auxiliary screen 30. In the embodiment illustrated in
The line 16 shown in
The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or steps plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but it is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed.
Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The term “article,” as that term is used in this application, means one or more articles, and may specifically a single article or a plurality of articles. The terms “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” as used in the claims and specification herein, shall be considered as indicating an open group that may include other elements not specified.
The terms “a,” “an,” and the singular forms of words shall be taken to include the plural form of the same words, such that the terms mean that one or more of something is provided. The term “one” or “single” may be used to indicate that one and only one of something is intended. Similarly, other specific integer values, such as “two,” may be used when a specific number of things is intended. The terms “preferably,” “preferred,” “prefer,” “optionally,” “may,” and similar terms are used to indicate that an item, condition or step being referred to is an optional (not required) feature of the invention.
From the foregoing detailed description of specific embodiments of the invention, it should be apparent that an apparatus. Although specific embodiments of the apparatuses and methods are disclosed herein, this is done solely for the purpose of describing various features and aspects of the invention, and is not intended to be limiting with respect to the scope of the invention.
It is contemplated that various substitutions, alterations, and/or modifications, including but not limited to those implementation variations which may have been suggested herein, may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims which follow.
While embodiments of the invention have been described herein, various modifications of the apparatus and method of the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is more fully defined in the following claims.