Umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item

Abstract

An umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item includes a handle coaxially connected to a central shaft to form an umbrella, a handle strap secured at an inner end to the handle, and a clip hooking means provided at a predetermined position on an outer surface of an extension wall of the handle. By extending an outer section of the handle strap through a closed item and turning the handle strap to engage the outer section with the clip hooking means, the umbrella handle is hung to the closed item, such as a handle of a handbag, a hanging rod, etc.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an umbrella handle, and more particularly to an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item so as to enable a user to conveniently hang an umbrella to any closed item.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A conventional umbrella handle 1 as shown in FIG. 1 is designed to mount on a pocket or mini-sized folding umbrella, and typically includes a handle strap 11 having a loop portion 12 outward protruded from the handle for convenient carrying or hanging purpose.

The loop portion 12 of the handle strap 11 for the conventional umbrella handle 1 for carrying purpose has two closed ends that could not be untied for a user to wind the handle strap 11 on any closed item in the vicinity of the user, such as a tiop handle of a handbag frequently carried along with a female user or a chair frame. Therefore, when the use of the umbrella is not desired, or when it is necessary to temporarily put aside the umbrella, it is impossible for the user to conveniently hang the umbrella to some nearby closed item using the handle strap 11, forming a problem to the user.

The user at home may easily hang the umbrella on a wall surface or a clothes tree in the house by winding the loop portion 12 of the handle strap 11 on a generally open-topped hooking member on the wall or the clothes tree. However, such hooking members are not necessarily provided at other public spaces. Therefore, there are times a user fails to find something suitable for hanging the umbrella conveniently at any time. In such case, the handle strap 11 for carrying purpose does not enable the user in some places to safely put aside the umbrella and get a free hand for taking care some other things, such as, for example, filling some forms, taking a meal, taking care of a baby, etc. The problem is tougher in the case of a wet umbrella that is not suitable for positioning in the user's handbag.

With the advanced material processing technologies, the gores of the umbrella are usually made of sun-proof and water-repellent synthetic-fiber cloth, enabling the same one umbrella to block not only rainwater but also sunray. The umbrella is therefore frequently used in people's daily life, and often opened or collapsed in the process of being carried for use. While a multi-fold umbrella has been developed to have a volume as small as possible for the user to carry it conveniently, it takes time to smooth the gores of the folding umbrella when the same is collapsed. In the event the user has no time to orderly smooth the gores of the collapsed folding umbrella, the collapsed folding umbrella shall have a loose and expanded body, even if it has been temporarily bound with a tie closure thereof. Both the loosely bound folding umbrella and the wet umbrella all are not suitable for positioning in the user's handbag and frequently bring inconvenience to the user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item. The umbrella handle includes a handle coaxially connected to a central shaft to form an umbrella, a handle strap secured at an inner end to the handle, and a clip hooking means provided at a predetermined position on an outer surface of an extension wall of the handle. By extending an outer section of the handle strap through a closed item and turning the handle strap to engage the outer section with the clip hooking means, the umbrella handle is hung to the closed item, such as a handle of a handbag, a chair frame, or a hanging rod. With the umbrella hung to the closed item, a user may have one free hand to handle other things, take a meal, buy things, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional umbrella handle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows the umbrella handle of FIG. 2 with a handle strap thereof in a bent state for hanging to a closed item;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows the umbrella handle of FIG. 2 is hung to a closed top handle of a handbag;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 6 with the handle strap thereof in a bent state for hanging to a closed item;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 shows the umbrella handle of FIG. 8 with the handle strap thereof in a bent state for hanging to a closed item;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 shows the umbrella handle of FIG. 11 with the handle strap thereof in a bent state for hanging to a closed item; and

FIG. 13 is a bottom view of the umbrella handle of FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 2 to 5, in which an umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown, the umbrella handle of the present invention mainly includes a handle 2, a handle strap 3 secured to the handle 2, a clip hooking means C provided on an outer surface of an extension wall 22 of the handle 2, and a central shaft 4 coaxially connected to the handle 2 to form an umbrella.

Since the present invention is mainly related to the handle and the handle strap of an umbrella, only these two parts of the umbrella will be described hereinafter while description of other parts is omitted.

Although not explicitly expressed, the umbrella handle and handle strap of the present invention are applicable to various kinds of umbrellas, including, for example, folding umbrella, stick umbrella, self-opening umbrella, manually controlled umbrella, etc.

The handle 2 illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5 is formed as a cylindrical shape. However, the shapes of the handle 2 are not limited in the present invention. For example, a rectangular shape or other shapes may also be modified from the cylindrical handle 2.

The handle strap 3 is secured at an inner end 31 to the handle 2. In the illustrated first embodiment, the inner end 31 of the handle strap 3 is secured to a top inner side of the handle 2 by upward extending an outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 through a hole 21 provided on the handle 2 and fixedly clamping a perimeter-increased stopper 33 to the inner end 31 of the handle strap 3, so that the stopper 33 is abutted on the top inner side of the handle 2.

While the handle straps 3 of the first embodiment and any other embodiment of the present invention that will be described later are shown to be directly secured to the handle 2, it is understood the handle strap 3 of the present invention may also be secured to the umbrella handle 2 via any intermediary item, such as an annular ring structure.

The handle strap 3 may be a cord or belt made of many different materials, including for example, leather, synthetic resin, rubber, or natural or synthetic fibers, or any combination thereof. Moreover, the handle strap 3 may have any cross section, including, but not limited to, circular, flat, or any other shape.

The handle strap 3 may be formed as an annular strap, as shown in FIGS. 2 through 10, or a single strip, as shown in FIGS. 11 through 13.

The clip hooking means C may include a barb 5 provided at a predetermined position on the outer surface of the extension wall 22 of the handle 2. The barb 5 and the handle 2 may be integrally formed. To prevent the handle strap 3 from easily moving out of the barb 5, a claw 51 is provided at a lower inner end of the barb 5 to project toward the extension wall 22 of the handle 2, such that the outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 may easily smoothly move through the claw 51 into a clearance between the hook 5 and the extension wall 22 of the handle 2, without naturally separating therefrom. The hook 5 is slightly elastic at the lower end, that is, the claw 51, to facilitate easy moving of the handle strap 3 into and out of the hook 5.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the manner of hanging the handle strap 3 of the umbrella handle 2 of the present invention to a closed item. In the illustrated drawing, the closed item is atop handle 61 of a handbag 6 having two closed ends. As shown, an umbrella 7 is hung to the top handle 61 by extending the outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 through the top handle 61 and then hooking to the barb 5. The umbrella 7 may be enclosed in a waterproof case 71, when necessary.

In the illustrated embodiment, the handle strap 3 is in the form of a loop, with a turning point 34 formed at the outer section 32 of the loop-shaped handle strap 3. To hang the umbrella 7 to the handbag 6, simply extend the turning point 34 at the outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 through the top handle 61 of the handbag 6, and then locate the turning point 34 in the clearance between the hook 5 and the handle 2. With the umbrella 7 hung to the top handle 61 of the handbag 6, items in the handbag 7 would not be wetted by a wet umbrella.

With the hand strap 2 hung to a closed item, a user needs not to hold the umbrella 7 with one hand when the umbrella is not in use. Even with a wet umbrella 7 hung to the top handle 61, the waterproof case 71 may isolate water drops 72 on the umbrella 7 from the handbag 6, which may still be readily positioned on a desk, a table, a chair, or other suitable place without embarrassing the user. The user may then have a free hand for, for example, taking care of a baby, filling a form, taking a meal, buying things, operating an automatic teller machine, etc. The umbrella with the handle adapted for hanging to a closed item is therefore very convenient for use, particularly in public space.

A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. In the second embodiment, the hook 5 is separately formed from, for example, a metal material and then fixed to the outer surface of the extension wall 22 of the handle 2 by means of a fastening element, such as a screw 52.

In the first embodiment, the hook 5 is integrally formed with the handle 2 using synthetic resin, and laterally projected from the handle. The hook 5 in the first embodiment is therefore subject to breaking, and a broken hook 5 is uneasy to repair.

In the second embodiment, the hook 5 is separately produced using a metal material that is not apt to break, and may be repaired even when the hook 5 is damaged.

FIGS. 8 to 10 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the handle strap 3 has a ring 35 provided at the outer section 32 thereof. After the handle strap 3 is extended through a closed item, a user may engage the ring 35 with the hook 5, so as to hang the handle strap to the closed item.

FIGS. 11 to 13 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which the clip hooking means C includes a locating groove 8 having a top opening 81, a width of which is narrowed to be equal to or slightly smaller than a diameter of the handle strap 3, and the outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 is provided with a ball head 36, which may be inserted in the locating groove 8 after the outer section 32 of the handle strap 3 has been extended through a closed item, so as to hang the umbrella to the closed item.

The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item according to the present invention is applicable to the folding umbrellas, which have been currently produced in large amount, to make the same more convenient for use.

Claims

1. An umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item, comprising a handle coaxially connected to a central shaft to form an umbrella, a handle strap being secured at an inner end to said handle, and a clip hooking means provided at a predetermined position on an outer surface of an extension wall of said handle; whereby by extending an outer section of said handle strap through a closed item and turning said handle strap to engage said outer section of said handle strap with said clip hooking means, said umbrella is hung to said closed item.

2. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clip hooking means comprises a hook.

3. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 2, wherein said hook is integrally formed on said handle.

4. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 2, wherein said hook is separately formed and then secured to said handle by means of a fastening element.

5. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 4, wherein said fastening element comprises a screw.

6. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 2, wherein said handle strap is a loop-shaped strap, said outer section of said handle strap forms a turning point on said loop-shaped strap, and said handle strap is engaged with said clip hooking means at said turning point.

7. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 2, wherein said handle strap is provided on said outer section with an annular ring member adapted to engage with said hook.

8. The umbrella handle adapted for hanging to a closed item as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clip hooking means comprises a locating groove having an open top, a width of which is narrowed to be equal to or slightly smaller than a diameter of said handle strap, and said handle strap is provided at said outer section with a ball head, which is adapted to insert in and thereby retained to said locating groove.