US1063378A - Folding umbrella. - Google Patents

Description

J. W. OLSSON. FOLDING UMBRELLA. APPLIUATION FILED MAY 2, 1912.

WITNESSES Patented June 3, 1913.

J. W. OLSSON. FOLDING UMBRBLLA.

l APPLIUATION FILED MAY 2, 1812. 1,063,378. Patented June 3,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIM/8858 #WEA/T05; WM uw Mmmm] L f" f EL 'I fla/MMV' l JOHN W. OLSSON,

0F NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA.

FOLDING UMBRELLA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led May 2, 1912. Serial No. 694,616. l

T0 all rfv/wm t may concern.'

Be it. known that I, JOHN United States citizen, News, in the county of lVarwick and State of Virginia. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Umbrellas, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention has for its object to provide an umbrella, parasol or the like `which can be folded into relatively small compass and which at the same time will "be as simple and inexpensive as possible in construction, will not differ inl appearance materially from an ordinary umbrella, and iuay be manipulatedfwith ease and facility in the folding or unfolding as well as in the closing or opening thereof.

I have fully illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a side elevation of an umbrella constructed in accordance with this invention, the parts appearing in their folded position and only one rib structure being shown; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the staff, extended, certain parts appearing in section; Fig. 3 'shows the handle-end portion of the staff, extended; Fig. 4 is a partly sectional fragmentary View of that part of the staff which includes the device for locking the staff in the extended position, said device appearing in the position it occupies when the staff is folded; Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 0J-:r of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 shows W. OLssoN,

,the staff and one rib structure in the open position of the umbrella, the dotted outline of said structure indicating the manner in.

which the folding thereof takes place; Fig. T shows in side elevation that part of said rib structure to which t-he stretcher is attached; F ig. 8 is a detail illustrating the relation of the rib mechanism and stretcher when folded; and Fig. 9 shows a detail of a part appearing in Figs. 7 and 8.

The statt a includes the a', a and a" which, when the staff is extended, abnt together end to end, as at b b in Fig. Q; the lower section a" may carry the handle c. The staff is provided with means. part of which is inclosed therein, for securing its sections rigidly in their eX- tended position, the inclosed part thereof be` ing jointed so as to allow the sections to assume that relative position which constitutes the folded condition of the staff, thus:

A folded shaft. including an upper section d, and a lower an intermediate section residing at Newport link e, although tubular sect-ions` section d", the sections d and d being connected by the link e and the sections d and 03 being connected by the link e so as to allow the folding of said shaft, is fitted into the sections of the staff a. The section d is attached to a spiral spring f inclosed within the upper tion a thereof, it will be obvious that section d prevents folding of the parts on the link ef, but-that such folding mayv occur as soon as the section a has been slifl downwardly on theshaft far enough to uncover the link. The section a of the handle, the same as the section a", may slide longitudinally of the shaft; when it abuts the lower end ofsect-ion a, the lower end portion of section al of the stati' prevents the folding of the parts on such folding may occur upon section a" being slid downwardly suficiently to uncover said link e. In short, so long as section a ofthe staff covers the lower joint (6) in a the upper joint (e.) the shaft remains extended: but wh a are slid downwardly sufficiently 'so that they respectively uncover these joints, the shaft may be folded.

The sections a'" and a are held upwardly, a against a" and a against a by means, now to be described, having support on the lower shaft section a, such means preserving a certain tension, by virtue of the spring f, which increases considerably the stability of the staff, whose sections, it will be observed, have square-cut butting contact with each other at the points 7) 7): Fulcrumed on z. having its end 71. forked and connected to the section d of the shaft by a link i which plays in a slot 7' in section am; the other end of the lever. L forms a handle 7L which in the position shown in Figs-2 and 3 fits around the section a, being part cylindrical for that purpose. To hold the lever in the position mentioned a hook 7c projects -from section a, passing through the hole l in the lever (Fig. 5) and engaging the same; by springing the end 7L of the lever to one side it may be made to clear this hook. The lever in this position is acting. through the link and the shaft, to hold the spring f under tension, sections a', a and a of the staff being held abut- Patented June 3, i913.

the shaft and section the section a is a'leverl section `ci of the'A staffl and fixed to a pin g therein; when the sect1on a of the stati' abuts the upper secit will be obvious that en said sections a" and i .of the parts, while it permits the folding and unfolding operations to be performed with great facility and convenience. .The link e is preferably made somewhat longer than the link e to allow suiicient r'oom for the rib mechanism.

m denotes the crown, fixed on thestaff in the usual manner, and n the runner arranged to slide on the staff and to be held in either of its limits of motion by one of the spring catches o o. A series of stretchers o are pivoted to the runner in the usual manner.

The rib structures are formed as follows: Each rib structure comprises four sections,

l an inner section g which is pivoted at its inner end to the crown in the usual manner, an outer section r and two intermediate sections s' and s pivotally connecting the sections gand r thus: The inner end of the section s is pivoted to section g at a point removed from the outer end thereof and to section r at its inner extremity, whereas the section s is pivoted to' the outer extremity of section g and to section r at a point removed from the end thereof, forming, thus, a parallel link arrangement. The free end portion of section g may be formed as an elongated/ outwardly open socket t in which the adjoining portion of the section s may be, housed when the rib structure is extended (Fig."7); in the free end of this socket the pivot for the inner end of section s is located, the pin u forming the pivot being preferably movable in slots 'v in the sides of the socket which allow a slight play of the parts at this point, easing their folding operation. In order to clear the socket t in the folded position, the adjoining end of section s may be curved inwardly slightly, as seen in Figs. 6 and 7 A slide w is arranged on each section s",

and to this is pivotally connected the free end of the corresponding stretcher p. The stretcher penetrates an eye of a curved yoke having a slot w which is penetrated by the section s". This yoke has no function except during the operation of folding or unfolding. It is confined between shoulders m on section s, articulating in the line of its curve when the umbrella is o ened or closed. Coiled about the staff an secured to the crown is a spiral spring y and pivotally .connecting the lower end of this Spring and the section g of the rib structure is a'link z. When the umbrella is closed the operation is resisted somewhat by `this spring which, by tending to maintain the sections q in the open position, aty this time thus preserves the rib structure against possible buckling at the joints in the socket t, properly incidental only to the folding operation.

The openin and closing operations of the improved um rella are Jidentical to that of the ordinary umbrella, therunner being simply released and raised or lowered. In folding (the umbrella being closed), the rib sections q are held closed or contracted by the `hand or otherwise ,and the runner released and moved upwardly on the shaft, the rib structures buckling in the manner indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 6. Such'buckling may continue until the sections 1' lie against the sections s and '8 and the latter against the sections g, as will be obvious. During the operation of folding the ribs, no appreciable movement of the' slides fw outwardly on the rib sections s takes place, but once this operation4 is completed said slides move outwardly onthe rib sections s", the stretchers sliding through the eyes of the yokes m and thus allowin the runner to be advanced up to the position shown in Fig. 1 where the stretchers have their lower ends substantially coincident with those of the sections g, s,'s" and 7'. Thestatf may then'be folded in the way already set forth. In unfolding, the staff is first extended. The runner is then drawn down on the staff until it reaches the lower spring catch o, during which operation the slides/w are first brought to the inner extremities of the sections s of the ribs and then the ribs unfolded or extended, operations just the reverse of those involved in the folding. It will be understood that the line 2-in Figs. 1, 6 and 7 indicates the usual fabric cover.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a staff structure for an umbrella, a plurality of tubular members, and connected means including a'spring associated therewith to maintain the adjoining ends of said members in abutting and alined relation to each other, said means also including an operating device for imparting longitudinal pressure to said members and movable vrelatively to said members to free the same from said pressure.

2. In a staff structure for an umbrella, a plurality of tubular members, and a connected s ring-including train of parts associated t lerewith to maintain the adjoining ends of saidy members in abutting and alined relation to each other, said train of parts also including an operating device for imnected spring-including parting longitudinal pressure .to said members and movable relatively to thelatter to free the same from said pressure.

3. In a sta-ii structure for an umbrella, a plurality of tubular members, and a contrain of parts partially housed in said members and attached at one endl to one of the terminal members, said train of parts serving to maintain the adjoining ends of the members in abutting and alined relation to each other, said train also including an operating device connected to the other terminal member for imparting longitudinal pressure to the members, said operating device being movable relatively to the members to free the same from said pressure.

4. In a stall'i structure' for an umbrella, a plurality of tubular members adapted to be alined in abutting relation to each other, and connected means associated therewith to maintain the members in such relation, said means including a spring, a folding shaft connected to said spring and housed within said members, said shaft being movable longitudinally of the members in the alined position thereof to bring its jointportion into and out of coincidence with the abutting ends of said members, and an operating device for imparting longitudinal pressure to said members, said device being movable relatively to said members to free-the same from said pressure.

5. In a stall structure for an umbrella, up-

per, intermediate'and "lower tubular members alined with each other and movable into separated and inter-abutting relation, a shaft ineloscd in said members, attached to the upper member and including upper, intermediate and lower sections pivotally jointed together, and means, connected with the lower shaft section andincluding a fulcrum operating device engaged with the lower tubular member, for exerting upward pressure upon the latter and thereby holding the same against the intermediate member and said intermediatel member against the upper member, substantially as described.

6. In a staff structure for an umbrella, upper, intermediate and lower tubular members alined with each other and movable linto separated and inter abutting relation, a shaft inclcsed in said members, attached to the upper member and including upper, intermediate and lower sections pivotally jointed together, and means, connected with the lower shaft section and including a fulst-retcher pivoted at one crum operating device engaged with the lower tubular member, for exerting upward pressure upon the latter and thereby holding the same against the intermediate member and said intermediate member against the upper member, said upper and lower shaft sections respectively intersectingy the meeting ends of the upper and intermediate members and the intermediate and lower members when they abut against each other, substantially as described.

7. In combination, the stati, a crown fixed thereon, a runner slidingly arranged on the staff, a rib structure pivoted to the crown and including an inner and a relatively Outer ,portion pivotally jointed together, the joint between said portions being adapted to buckle downwardly, a stretcher pivotally connecting the runner with the outer portion of the rib structure atI a point between said joint and the outer end of said portion, and yielding means connected to the inner portion of the rib structure and resisting the downward pivotal movement of said inner portion of the rib" structure, substantially as described.

8. In combination, the staff, a crown fixed thereon, a runner slidingly arranged on the stall', a rib structure pivoted to the crown and including inner and outer sections, and upper and lower intermediate sections pivotally connected to said inner and outer sections in a parallel-link arrangement, a stretcher pivoted at one end to the runner, and a slide movable longitudinally on the lower intermediate section,'the outer end of the stretcher heilig pivoted to the slide, substantially as described.

9. In combination, the statt, a crown fixed thereon, a runner slidingly arranged on the staff, a rib structure pivoted to the crown and including inner and outer sections, and upper and lower intermediate sections pivotally Y,connected to said inner and outer section sfin a parallellink arrangement, a end to thev runner, a slide movable longitudinally on the lower intermediate section, the outer end of the stretcher being pivoted to the slide, and a yoke attached to said lower intermediate section and freely penetrated by the stretcher, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof- I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. OLSSON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES C. MITCHELL, HENRY W. FRONDT.

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