Windproof umbrella

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6571814
  • Patent Number
    6,571,814
  • Date Filed
    Monday, February 26, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 3, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Canfield; Robert
    Agents
    • Troxell Law Office PLLC
Abstract
A windproof umbrella comprises a canopy including an upper canopy, a lower canopy not equal to upper canopy in size, and a vent hole provided in the center portion of the lower canopy; and a multiple frame including a shank, stationary hubs fixed on the shank, rings slidable along the shank, ribs for supporting canopy, and spreaders. Air beneath the lower canopy exits through a gap formed between upper and lower canopies when frame is stretched. Also, rings moves synchronously along the shank such that the stretching and folding of upper and lower canopies can be smooth and synchronous.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to umbrellas, and more particularly to umbrella with double canopy and frame which is windproof and capable of ventilating by the provision of vent hole.




2. Description of Related Art




Conventionally, umbrella is carried by people to protect against rain and sun. Also, umbrella is foldable for ease of storage and carrying.




Typically, canopy of umbrella is a single layer of thick opaque cloth. As such, the capability of letting air through is poor of such umbrella. Thus, umbrella user may have a muggy unpleasant feeling when holds such umbrella walking under hot sun. This condition is worse when a person sits under an umbrella in the beach. Further, a wind will catch an umbrella user unaware and exert a force against the inner surface of the canopy which will cause the canopy to invert from its normal operable position to an upwardly convex position.




An analysis of above drawbacks is detailed below.




1. As to the muggy unpleasant feeling when holding such umbrella under hot sun, the cause of this is that umbrella is formed as a blockage to the ventilation between the air above the umbrella and the air beneath the umbrella.




2. As to the inversion of umbrella in a windy day, the cause of this is that no provision of vents on the canopy to release pressure of the strong wind beneath umbrella.




Thus, it is desirable to provide a novel and improved windproof umbrella with double canopy with a frame in order to overcome the above drawbacks of prior art.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to provide a windproof umbrella with double canopy and a frame having the provision of vent hole for releasing the pressure of the strong wind beneath umbrella, thus preventing inversion.




It is another object of the present invention to provide a windproof umbrella with double canopy and a frame having the provision of a lower canopy and an upper canopy in covering relation to the lower canopy wherein the sector of upper and lower canopies are alternate and supported by a set of frame such that an aesthetic purpose can be achieved when the upper and lower canopies are vibrated in the wind.




It is still another object of the present invention to provide a windproof umbrella with double canopy and a frame wherein the open ends of spreaders of each frame are equally spaced around the periphery of umbrella and the other ends thereof are attached to rings which is slidable along the shank such that the stretching and folding of upper canopy and lower canopy can be smooth and synchronous.




To achieve the above and other objects, the present invention provides a windproof umbrella comprising a canopy including an upper canopy and a lower canopy; a vent hole provided in the center portion of the lower canopy; and a multiple frame including a shank, a stationary hub, a ring slidable along the shank, a plurality of first ribs for supporting the upper canopy having one ends attached to the stationary hub, a plurality of second ribs for supporting the lower canopy also having one ends attached to the stationary hub, a plurality of first spreaders having one ends attached to the ring, and a plurality of second spreaders also having one ends attached to the ring; wherein air beneath the lower canopy exits through a gap formed between upper and lower canopies when frame is stretched; and the other open ends of the first ribs, the second ribs, the first spreaders, and the second spreaders are equally spaced around the periphery of the umbrella such that the stretching and the folding of the upper canopy and the lower canopy can be smooth and synchronous.




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 with multiple canopy and frame according to the invention;





FIG. 2

is another perspective view of the umbrella of

FIG. 1

, viewed from beneath the umbrella;





FIG. 3

is a partial cross-sectional view of

FIG. 1

showing wind passed from above umbrella through canopy into umbrella;





FIG. 4

is similar to

FIG. 3

, showing wind passed from beneath umbrella through canopy to the outside;





FIG. 5A

is a top plan view of lower canopy of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 5B

is a top plan view of upper canopy of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is a top plan view showing the covering relation of the stretched upper canopy to lower canopy; and





FIG. 7

is showing the operation of umbrella of FIG.


1


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 2

, there is shown a windproof umbrella with double canopy and a single frame constructed in accordance with the invention comprising a frame


1


and a canopy


2


including an upper canopy


20


and a lower canopy


22


, each consists of a plurality of sectors each having a generally leaf configuration along the periphery of the umbrella.




The frame


1


comprises a shank


10


, a stationary hub


12


, a ring


14


, a plurality of first ribs


121


for supporting upper canopy


20


having one ends attached to the stationary hub


12


, a plurality of second ribs


122


for supporting lower canopy


22


also having one ends attached to the stationary hub


12


, a plurality of first spreaders


141


having one ends attached to the ring


14


, and a plurality of second spreaders


142


also having one ends attached to the ring


14


. As best seen in

FIG. 2

, first ribs


121


are supported by first spreaders


141


, while second ribs


122


are supported by second spreaders


142


. First ribs


121


and second ribs


122


are alternate, while first spreaders


141


and second rings


142


are also alternate. This forms a single frame. It is understood that first ring


14


can move along the shank


10


such that the stretching and folding of upper canopy


20


and lower canopy


22


can be smooth and synchronous. Further, a substantially polygonal (e.g., octagonal) vent hole


221


is provided in the center portion of the lower canopy


22


. The provision of vent hole


221


in the center portion of the lower canopy


22


is based on the fact that this center portion has the smallest stirring of air beneath umbrella when a person holds an umbrella walking under the hot sun.




Also, each of upper and lower canopies


20


and


22


consists of a plurality of sectors each having a generally triangular recess along the periphery of the umbrella. Upper canopy


20


is in covering relation to the lower canopy


22


. The sectors of upper canopy


20


and lower canopy


22


are alternate.




As to ventilation, according to the principles of air dynamics, it is known that wind will move from a high pressure region to a low one. It is also known that the air pressure beneath umbrella is lower than that above umbrella when a person holds an umbrella in walking.




Referring to

FIG. 3

, it is apparent that a gap G exists between the upper canopy


20


and the lower canopy


22


. In hot summer days, air, as best indicated by arrows, above umbrella may pass through gap G and vent hole


221


to enter into umbrella. This has the effect of ventilation, thus much eliminating the hot and damp air beneath the umbrella.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, during windy weather, wind, as best indicated by arrows, that is caught beneath the lower canopy


22


through the vent hole


221


and applies pressure to the upper canopy


20


. This forces the upper canopy


20


lift away from the lower canopy


22


a predetermined distance to provide a path through the gap G for the wind to escape the upper canopy


20


. This can effectively release pressure of the strong wind beneath umbrella, thus preventing inversion.




Referring to

FIGS. 5A and 5B

, upper canopy


20


is stretched over first ribs


121


, while lower canopy


22


is stretched over second ribs


122


.




Referring to

FIG. 6

, this top plan view shows the covering relation of stretched upper canopy


20


to lower canopy


22


. It is apparent that the sectors of upper canopy


20


and lower canopy


22


are alternate.




Referring to

FIG. 7

, this view shows the operation of umbrella of FIG.


1


. In detail, the stationary hub


12


is fixed on the upper portion of shank


10


, while the ring


14


is slidably fixed along the shank


10


. First ribs


121


and second ribs


122


have one ends attached to the stationary hub


12


, and the other free ends equally spaced around the periphery of umbrella. Similarly, first spreaders


141


and second spreaders


142


have one ends attached to the ring


14


, and the other free ends equally spaced around the periphery of umbrella. First ribs


121


are supported by first spreaders


141


, while second ribs


122


are supported by second spreaders


142


. This forms a single frame of a stretched umbrella.




It is understood that the stretching and folding of upper canopy


20


and lower canopy


22


can be smooth and synchronous because, as stated above, the ring


14


is smoothly slidable along the shank


10


as well as first ribs


121


and second ribs


122


are also equally spaced around the periphery of umbrella.




It is designed that upper canopy


20


and lower canopy


22


are not equal in size. Further, upper canopy


20


is larger than lower canopy


22


in above embodiments. While it is appreciated by those skilled in the art that lower canopy


22


may be larger than upper canopy


22


without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.




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.



Claims
  • 1. A windproof umbrella comprising:a canopy including an upper canopy and a spaced apart lower canopy, wherein the upper canopy is larger than the lower canopy and is in covering relation to the lower canopy; a vent hole provided in a center portion of the lower canopy; and a frame including a shank, a stationary hub fixed on an upper portion of the shank, a ring slidable along the shank, a plurality of first ribs supporting only the upper canopy, each having one end attached to the stationary hub, a plurality of second ribs supporting only the lower canopy, each having one end also attached to the stationary hub wherein each attached position of the second ribs is positioned next to that of the first ribs, a plurality of first spreaders each having one end attached to the ring, and a plurality of second spreaders each having one end also attached to the ring wherein each attached position of second spreaders is positioned next to that of the first spreaders, wherein adjacent ribs and adjacent stretchers are attached to the respective hub and the respective ring at a common point along a length of the shank, and wherein air beneath the lower canopy exits through a gap formed between the upper and the lower canopies when the frame is stretched; and free ends of the first ribs, the second ribs, the first spreaders, and the second spreaders are equally spaced around a periphery of the umbrella such that the stretching and the folding of the upper canopy and the lower canopy are smooth and synchronous.
  • 2. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein the upper canopy comprises a plurality of sectors each having a generally leaf configuration along the periphery of the umbrella.
  • 3. The windproof umbrella of claim 1, wherein the lower canopy comprises a plurality of sectors each having a generally leaf configuration along the periphery of the umbrella.
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Number Name Date Kind
212457 Girbardt Feb 1879 A
D47559 Henderson Jul 1915 S
D370556 Yu Jun 1996 S
D383900 Bart Sep 1997 S
6006769 Lin Dec 1999 A
6155278 Lin Dec 2000 A
6170499 Lin Jan 2001 B1
6202662 Lin Mar 2001 B1
6250319 You Jun 2001 B1
6318391 You Nov 2001 B1