JPS5910802B2 - folding umbrella - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in umbrella frames, and more particularly to a type of umbrella frame that can be folded compactly when not in use.

Usually, the umbrella frame of this type of folding umbrella consists of a handle and a dome rib that is divided into three parts.When folding this umbrella, the two rib parts closest to the handle of the upper rib part are It expands and contracts, then manually folds the third rib part against the previously folded rib part towards the umbrella crown, and finally pushes in the grip to completely fold the umbrella. There is.

To open this umbrella, stretch the handle, open the outer dome lip part by hand, and slide the main potter's wheel over the handle to completely spread out this outer rib part.

When operating the umbrella as described above, it is difficult to open the outer dome rib part by hand, and the umbrella canopy cloth obstructs the folding, and it takes a lot of force from this canopy cloth to fully unfold the umbrella. It will not work unless you completely spread out the outer dome rib part by hand against the pressure.

Furthermore, when folding the umbrella, it is difficult to completely fold the outer rib portion by hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a foldable umbrella using a dome rib, each of which is divided into three parts, so that the outer rib part can be automatically opened and closed when the umbrella is opened and closed. .

The umbrella of the present invention has a simple structure and is inexpensive, and can be used without narrowing the top space at the bottom of the umbrella in the open state, and in a state where the umbrella is slender in the folded state. The outer dome rib can be opened and closed automatically.

An umbrella frame according to the invention has a handle, a crown at the upper end of the handle, and an inner part, a central part and an outer part extending away from the crown, the outer part being pivoted to the outer end of the central part. The inner part and the central part have a plurality of dome ribs that are mutually extendable, a main wheel that slides on the handle, and a main wheel that supports each dome rib and has one end connected to the main wheel. a support structure including an extension member having the other end pivotally connected to the inner dome rib portion; a strut member having one end pivotally connected to the hinge device on the handle and the other end pivoting to the middle of the extension member; is pivotally connected to the expansible member at a point spaced apart from the pivot point with the inner dome rib portion, and the other end is attached to at least an extension of the outer dome rib portion inside the pivot point between the outer dome rib portion and the central dome rib portion. and a control link pivotally connected to the outer dome rib portion, and the control link and the pivot portion of the outer dome rib portion form a play joint connection, and when the main wheel is moved to open and close the umbrella, the control link act in tension and compression, respectively, to press the outer dome rift "43";
The outer end of the central dome rib portion is pivoted about the pivot point to a position extending away from the central dome rib portion and a position folded over the central dome rib portion, respectively, so that the outer dome rib portion Due to the presence of the connecting portion, the umbrella frame is configured to be able to freely rotate away from the central dome rib portion at the beginning of opening.

According to the invention, the above-mentioned arrangement, in particular, that the control link extends parallel to and apart from the dome rib portion between the extension member and the inward extension of the outer dome rib;
The connection between the control link and the extension of the outer dome rib is a loose connection, so that by simply moving the main wheel, the control link can not only extend or fold the outer dome rib, but also open it. It reinforces the central dome rib part when the umbrella is folded, and when folded, the outer dome rib part comes into close contact with the center dome rib part, making it compact without creating any extra space.Furthermore, when the umbrella is opened, the outer dome rib part Since it is loosely connected, it expands slightly due to its own weight, allowing for smooth opening.

Therefore, when the umbrella is opened, the control link can effectively apply force to the extension of the outer dome rib, and the umbrella can be opened smoothly.

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to Examples.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, this umbrella consists of a frame with a handle 1. As shown in FIGS.

The handle 1 consists of three mutually telescopic parts 2, 3 and 4.

The locking devices 5 and 6 provided on the parts 2 and 3 respectively are the third
This is for securing parts 2 and 3 in their extended position as shown.

The uppermost part 2 has the largest cross-sectional area, whereas the lowermost part 4 has the smallest cross-sectional area.

While parts 3 and 4 have a hexagonal cross section, part 2
is of circular cross-section, except that its lower end is of hexagonal cross-section in order to receive part 3.

A crown 7 is provided at the upper end of the handle 1 of the umbrella.

Although the crown 7 in this case is rectangular, it may also be circular or oval.

A pot-shaped grip part 27 is provided at the bottom of the handle 1 of the umbrella.

The umbrella frame includes domed ribs 8 hinged to opposite wings 7', 7'' of the crown 7.

This dome-shaped rib 8 is hinged in a manner known in the art by means of a clamping wire 7'' attached to an annular groove 7'' in the crown 7.

Each dome-shaped rib 8 consists of three parts: an inner part 8as adjacent to the vent 7, a central part 8, and a folded outer part 8c.

The portion 8a and the portion 8b are extendable and the portion 8a is the handle 1.
It consists of a member with a U-shaped cross section oriented towards , and part 8b consists of a member such as a steel wire with a circular cross section.

Member 8b slides within member 8a when members 8a and 8b are telescopically removed.

An umbrella cover sewing clip 10 is slidably attached to the portion 8a, and one end of the portion 8b is pivotally connected to the clip 10 by a pivot pin 9.

The outer portion 8C is connected at its inner end to a bushing 24 provided on the bracket 11.

The central part 8b is pivotally connected to the bracket 11 at its midpoint by a pin 11', so that the outer part 8c is pivotable relative to the outer part in the plane of the rib 8.

This allows the outer portion 8C to fold toward the crown 7 as the umbrella is closed as will be explained later.

The umbrella frame includes a main potter's wheel 12 that can slide against the handle 1.

This main potter's wheel 12 has a push button 30 that operates a locking pawl that engages with a locking tool 31 on the handle portion 2 when opening the umbrella.

A tensioning member 13 is provided for each dome-shaped rib 8, and the tensioning member 13 is connected to the main potter's wheel 12 and the sewing clip 10.
elongates between.

Each tensioning member 13 is pivotally connected to the sewing clip 10 by the main potter's wheel 12 and pivot pin 9 by means of a tightening wire as is well known in the art.

An auxiliary potter's wheel 18 is slidably attached to a handle part 2 between a crown 7 and a main potter's wheel 12.

The struts 19 are connected to each expansion member 13 and the auxiliary potter's wheel 18.
It extends between.

Preferably, the struts 19 are pivotally connected to the expansion member 13 by means of an auxiliary potter's wheel 18 and a pivot pin 20 by means of clamping wires well known in the art, and the pin 20 is attached approximately midway along the length of the member 13.

The struts 19 preferably have a U-shaped cross-section, one of which is provided with a device 28 to assist in opening the umbrella.

These devices 28 are connected to struts 19 (not shown).
It consists of a pawl device 29 urged outwardly by a spring attached to the holder.

Devices are provided for automatically folding and unfolding the outer member 8C of the domed rib during closing and opening of the umbrella, these devices being located between the bracket 11 and the expansion member 13, and It consists of a control link 14 on the underside of the domed rib member 8b and substantially parallel thereto.

The link 14 is pivotally connected to the expansion member 13 by a pivot pin 15.

The link 14 is connected to the expansion member 13 so that the umbrella can be easily closed.

Therefore, the web 13' of the tension member 13 having a U-shaped cross section is
A notch is cut out from the end adjacent the clip 10 to create an opening 25.

The opening extends a distance "x" past the pivot pin 15 as shown in FIG.

Legs 13'' form supports for pivot pins 9 and 15.

These legs 18 are located at a location 26 adjacent to where the web 13' terminates in the direction of the web 13' as shown in FIG.
It is slightly bent.

The other end 14' of the link 14 is pivotally connected to an extending arm 16 forming part of the bracket 11.

This arm 16 is of U-shaped cross section and has a web 2
3 is slightly cut away from the leg 22 at the free end of the arm 16.

The U-shaped arms 16 provide a steady pivot point between the dome rib sections 8b and 8C when the ribs are extended, so that the legs 22 can provide good lateral support for the sections 8b and 8C.

An elongated slot 21 is provided in each leg 22 near the free end of the arm 16, each respective slot 21 extending generally transversely to the rib 8.

A pivot pin 17 mounted in slot 21 connects link 14 to arm 16 and thus to domed rib outer portion 8c.

Elongated slot 21 and pin 17 provide a free pivoting connection between link 14 and bracket 11.

The link 14 has a bend 1l near its end 14', so that the link 14 can be bent in the direction of the portion 8b.

The purpose of this bend 14 is to allow the umbrella to be folded more compactly as described above.

The link 14 and the dome-shaped rib portion 8b form the long sides of the parallelogram linkage 2.

The short side of this parallelogram linkage ■ is the pivot pin 1.
The part of the expansion member 13 between 5 and 9 and the pivot pin 11'
and 17 of the arm 16 of the bracket 11.

This parallelogram linkage {circle around (2)} controls the movement of section 8c.

If you want to close the umbrella frame from the state shown in FIG.
Lower it along the handle 1 in the direction of 7.

When the main potter's wheel 12 is lowered, the expansion member 13 pivots in the direction of the handle 1, as shown in FIG. 3, and the auxiliary potter's wheel 18 descends via the struts 19.

At the same time, the control link 14 moves in the direction of the arrow d, pivoting the bracket 11 and the domed rib outer section 8c mounted about the pivot point 11' to automatically fold towards the section 8b.

When folding is substantially completed, member 13 and portions 8at8b, 8c are substantially parallel to the handle axis Z-Z;
By applying a suitable compressive force between the crown 7 and the handle 27, the umbrella frame can be shortened.

This results in the state shown in FIG. In this state, the main potter's wheel 12 is seated in the annular groove (not shown) of the grip portion 27, and the auxiliary potter's wheel 18 is adjacent to the crown 7.

Bend 14' of control link 14 provides a compact spatial arrangement between the ends of link 14, portions 8b and 80 and bracket 110 at the bottom.

The bend 26 of the expansion member 13 extends to the upper part of the link 14
the ends of the expansion member 13, the sections 8a and 8b and the clip 1
00 to provide a compact spatial arrangement.

Furthermore, by reducing the cross-sectional area of the auxiliary potter's wheel 18, a space F can be created under the crown 7.

Furthermore, in a flat umbrella using rectangular crown γ,
Further space can be created by moving the hinge position on the upper plate and the auxiliary potter's wheel on each rib by a distance Y as shown in Figure 4. With this arrangement, the cross-sectional area of the folding umbrella frame can be kept to a minimum without increasing it.

To open this umbrella frame, the handle 1 is first stretched so that the umbrella resembles the state shown in FIG.

Since the slot 21 of the bracket 11 allows play, even if the bracket does not move, the dome-shaped lip outer portion 8c moves away from the other dome rib portions.

The main potter's wheel 12 then moves in the direction of the crown 7, at which time the control link 14 moves the domed rib outer portion 8c in the direction opposite to the arrow d and around the pin 11' away from the crown 7. Pivoting will widen the portion 8c.

An opening aid 28 may be provided on the auxiliary wheel 18 to temporarily stop the upward movement of the auxiliary wheel 18 to facilitate outward movement of the dome ribs, thereby assisting in unfolding the umbrella.

The opening motion of the umbrella continues until it stretches the rib portions and brings them into approximately a straight line.

In this state, the movement of widening the domed rib outer portion 8c of portion 8c ends by bringing the end 14' of control link 14 to the bottom of portion 8b, as shown in FIG.

The umbrella frame comprises a crown T1 and a canopy cloth 32 with clips 10, pivot points K (FIG. 3) and free ends of portions 8c attached to stitches 5'J.

When the umbrella is folded to attach to the clip 10, it takes on the shape of a canopy mushroom.

Additionally, canopy cloth 32 helps move section 8c somewhat outwardly of the other sections when the umbrella is unfolded.

In this embodiment, the control link 14 is bent slightly in a direction opposite to the bend of the domed rib portion 8c.

o This link 14 and section 8c interact to prevent the umbrella from bending inward.

The link 14 increases the strength and moves the rib portion 8c without substantially constricting the space in the umbrella head.

In some cases, the umbrella canopy fabric material prevents the umbrella from unfolding,
This may cause undue force to be applied to the umbrella frame.

Therefore, if the umbrella canopy fabric is stretched under too much initial tension, or if the canopy fabric shrinks during use and becomes under unreasonably high tension, the outer dome rib portion It becomes very difficult for the canopy cloth to fully unfold.

Appropriate devices may be provided to minimize or prevent this interference.

Such a device is illustrated in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6-10.

In this embodiment, parts similar to those described in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
and 117 such that the control link 11 has a length L between
Make 4.

This length L is shorter than the distance A of the dome rib portion 108b between the pivot pins 111' and 109.

When the main potter's wheel 112 is raised and the expansion member 113 pulls the link 114 and acts to compress the dome rib 108 to unfold the umbrella, the link 114 forms a "1 chord" and the portion 108b extends outward in a "1 arc" shape. Bend.

This construction of the device provides for outward bending or bending of the dome-shaped ribs 108 rather than the bending by the umbrella cover 132 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the umbrella is unfolded, the domed rib outer portion 108c expands and the portions 108a and 108
b, but the cover 132 remains loosely retracted.

When it is further expanded, the portion 103b is bent so that the dome rib forms a curve and the cover 132 is tightened.

In this device, the canopy cloth 132 has a domed rib outer portion 108.
Do not obstruct the spread of c.

To further control the folding and unfolding of the outer domed rib outer portion 108c, the bracket 111 is provided with a pivot pin 117 that allows the control link 114 to play relative to the portion 108c. The slot 121 is set at an acute angle α to the rib axis as shown in FIG.

When the umbrella is in the open condition, the slot 121 extends downwardly toward the handle 101 away from the pivot pin 111'.

In order to freely control the parallelogram linkage in the partially unfolded or closed state of the umbrella, the slot 121 has a length approximately equal to the difference between the lengths ``A'' and ``L''. A1
“has

The angular setting of the slot 121 is controlled by the domed rib outer portion 108 from the closed state to the initial open state shown in FIG.
c makes it even easier to move.

Outer portion 108c simply pivots about pivot pin 111' and leaves the outer portion as pivot pin 117 slides within slot 121 to the end of arm 116.

A seam 122' can also be provided at the top of each bracket 111 between the pivot pin 111' and the bushing 124 to provide a better canopy fabric attachment arrangement.

Positioning seam 122' at this point provides the most favorable positioning of canopy fabric 182 during folding.

In two embodiments, the bends 14'', 114'' in the control links 14, 114 provide a means for slightly adjusting the length of the links to compensate for hinge tolerances.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a partial front view of the umbrella in the open position, Figure 2 is a detailed view of the hinge connection between the central and outer dome rib members, and Figure 3 is a portion of the umbrella in the partially closed position. A front view, FIG. 4 is a partial front view of the umbrella in a closed and shortened state, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-■ in FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a detailed view of the hinged connection between the center and outer dome lips of the umbrella of another embodiment; FIG. 8 is a partial front view of the umbrella of another embodiment; FIG. 9 is a detailed view of the hinge of FIG. 7 in the closed position, and FIG. 10 is an alternative embodiment in the partially open position. It is a partial front view of an umbrella which shows an example. L101...Handle, 2, 3, 4...Stretchable part, 7
...Crown, 8,108...Dome rib, 8a,
108a...Inner part, 8b, 108b...Central part, 8c, 108c...Outer part, 9, 1 09
... Pivot pin, IL111... Bracket, 12,
112... Main potter's wheel, 13,113... Expansion member,
14,114...Control link, 15...Pivot point, 2
1,121...Slot, 18'...Web, 82
, 132...Canopy cloth, 27...Grip part, 122...
・Sewing seams. l2 13

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 a handle, a crown at the upper end of the handle, each extending in a direction away from the crown, each having an inner portion, a central portion, and an outer portion, the outer portion being pivotally connected to the outer end of the central portion; The inner part and the central part include a plurality of dome ribs that are mutually telescoping, a main wheel that slides on the handle, and a main wheel that supports each tome rib and has one end connected to the main wheel, and the other. a support structure including an expansion member having an end pivotally connected to the inner dome lip portion; a strut member having one end pivotally connected to the hinge device on the handle and the other end intermediate the expansion member; The extension member is pivotally connected to the extension member at a point spaced apart from the pivot point with the inner dome rib portion, and the other end is pivoted to at least an extension of the outer dome rib portion at a point inside the pivot point between the outer dome rib portion and the center dome rib portion. The control link and the pivot joint of the outer dome rib portion serve as a play joint, and when the main wheel is moved to open and close the umbrella, the control link is connected to the outer dome rib. acting in tension and compression to press said outer dome rib portion and fold over said center dome rib portion at a location extending away from said center dome rib portion and into said center dome rib portion, respectively, about said pivot point at an outer end of said center dome rib portion; the outer dome rib portion is freely pivotable away from the central dome rib portion at the beginning of opening of the umbrella frame due to the presence of the play pivot connection.