US3146785A - Umbrella - Google Patents

Description

P 1, 1964 WASAKU IWASHITA 3,146,785

UMBRELLA Filed May 26, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 1, 1964 WASAKU lWASHlTA UMBRELLA 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1961 United States Patent 3,146,785 UMBRELLA Wasaku Iwashita, 4/ 396 l-chome, Daita, Tokyo, Japan Filed May 26, 1961, Ser. No. 126,372 1 Claim. (Cl. 135-25) The present invention relates to a novel umbrella or parasol having neither a sliding collar nor supporting rods connecting the sliding collar to the umbrella ribs.

The present invention'lies substantially in a construction of the umbrella or parasol, wherein ribs are rotatably engaged with a lower metallic member of a tackle block rigidly secured to an upper member of the handle, and simultaneously cams are accommodated in said metallic member, and portions for engaging said ribs are compressed or released by the vertical movement of said cams to open or close the umbrella or parasol (the term of parasol will be represented with the term of umbrella in the following descriptions).

Thus, the opening and closing of umbrellas are facilitated according to the present invention, due to the fact that there is no sliding collar, supporting rods connecting the collar to the umbrella ribs and a stop for the sliding collar, which usually constitute the majority of causes for the malfunctioning of umbrellas. Moreover, it is possible for the umbrella to be lowered closer to the head of an umbrella user, and accordingly to reduce the diameter of the umbrella, because of no supporting rods disturbing the approach of the user. In addition, the danger of one getting his finger caught between the stop and the sliding collar is also eliminated.

On the other hand, according to this invention, any suitable fabric may be stretched over the frame of the umbrella; for instance, one consisting of a permeable metallized fabric having an aluminum film coated by the vacuum evaporation method may be used with a remarkable convenience as a parasol for ladies, since such a parasol can be suitably folded for accommodating said parasol in a hand bag.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the stretched fabric referred to above may be a metallized textile fabric with a coated metallic film, or knitted fabric being lapped with a metallic film on the outside and back side thereof. Since the fabric lining can be suitably selected among fabrics having designs based on colorings and patterns, parasols having beautiful patterns or tints can be provided, to satisfy the taste of the users. Moreover, the presence of an air gap between the stretched and lined fabrics forms a layer of insulation for improved coolness.

In the following, the present invention will be further described in connection with the embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein similar parts are represented by similar symbols, of which drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation illustrating the umbrella according to this invention in an open condition with a part thereof being cut olf;

FIG. 2 is another elevation illustrating the umbrella in an identical but closed condition with a part thereof being cut off;

FIG. 3 is a plan of the umbrella out along line III--III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevation of the tackle block and cam in the umbrella referred to above,

FIG. 5 is an elevation of a top metallic member of said tackle block;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of a lower metallic member of said tackle block;

FIG. 7 is a sectional plan cut along the VII-VII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an oblique view of the parasol according to the present invention;

3,146,785 Patented Sept. 1, 1964 ice FIG. 9 is a partial plan view of the stretched cloth; and

FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of FIGURE 9.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 is a main post or handle of the umbrella of the present invention and 2 is a lower metallic member of a tackle block 20 which is secured to an upper end of said main post 3 are several engaging grooves or slots formed on the circumference of said lower metallic member; 4 is an upper metallic member of said tackle block; 5 is a screw penetrating the upper metallic member 4 and lower metallic member 2 of tackle block 20; said screw 5 is fixed with a stop washer 6 on a bottom surface 21 of the lower metallic member 2, and has an upper spherical grip 7. Further, the screw 5 is threaded through cams 8 as shown in FIG. 4. All of those cams 8 are contained in the lower metallic member 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and are prevented from rotating by a key 9 but permitted to slide freely in a vertical direction. The main post 1 is secured to a stepped portion 23 of the lower metallic member 2 with a pin 24 through a bushing 22. Each respective rib 10 forms an engaging portion 11 extending from its end, which is bent at about right angles, said bent portion being received in an engaging groove 3 provided in the lower metallic member 2 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which is engaged with a cam groove 12 provided in a cam 8. The ends of the ribs are provided with spherical portions 13 seated in the cam grooves 12, to thereby prevent the ribs from becoming detached from the tackle block.

The constructional members referred to above are united in an assemblage as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3. In this case, however, the engaging portion 11 of each rib 10 is positioned between a bottom portion 25 of the engaging groove 3 and a lower face 26 of the upper metallic member 4, which is engaged with the cam groove 12 of cam 8 in the lower metallic member 2. Since the spherical portions 13 are larger than the narrow width portions of the cam grooves 12, the engaging portions 11 are prevented from slipping out of the bottom member. When the cams 8 are lowered along the sliding keys 9 by turning the grip 7, ribs 10 will be raised spontaneously and opened as apparent in FIG. 1 by engaging portions 11 positioned as in FIG. 2 being pushed with cam face 27, and held firmly between the lower metallic member 2 and cam face 27 to retain the position. In the next place, when compressive stress on the engaging portions 11 is released by raising cams 8 from the condition shown by FIG. 1, said engaging portions will turn the portions contacting with the bottom portions 25 of the engaging grooves 3 around axis, thereby closing ribs 10 as shown in FIG. 2.

Further, the post I of the umbrella is designed to be extremely constructed from a plurality of rods 28, 29 and simultaneously each of the ribs 10 is designed similarly to be composed of two or more extendable or telescoping ribs 30; wherein ribs 30 are telescopically received within ribs 10. In this case, 14 and 15 are string-holding rings useful for the stretched fabric 17. 16 is a pushing flange for fixing said stretched fabric, which is incorporated with the upper metallic member 4.

The stretched fabric 17 for the parasol referred to above is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 8 to 10. Namely, since said parasol reflects the majority of visible rays of sunshine, including ultra-violet rays, and heat rays, it is very cool inside the parasol. Moreover, as the fabric is transparent through the texture, an umbrella is extremely useful as a parasol, beach parasol or the like. However, since the stretched fabric 17 has a metallic film 18 formed on one side, patterns formed on the ground fabric by printing or otherwise would not be sufficiently effective.

Therefore, it is preferable to use a stretched fabric 17, such as a metallized textile fabric with the metallic film 18 being coated so as not to obliterate the patterns, or a stretched fabric 17 prepared by lapping together a knitted fabric 32 and a lined fabric 19 so as to form an air gap 31.

In the case referred to above, the lining fabric 19 may be either textile fabric or knitted fabric; on the other hand, fabrics having various patterns such as designs from tints, patterns or hairs planted, which meet the taste of users, and both the front and back surfaces of the cloth may be subjected to a water proof treatment if necessary. Since an umbrella of beautiful pattern or tints can be provided to satisfy the taste of users, a parasol can be provided, having a combination of said practicability due to reflection of light and heat on one hand with the parasol of taste on the other, and the presence of air gap 31 between the front and back fabrics increases coolness further.

Furthermore, the present invention may be not only applicable to parasols, but also to various sorts of umbrellas, such as beach parasols, common umbrellas and parabrellas (or umbrellas for rain and shine), thereby providing tasteful and practical umbrellas which can be opened and closed in a simple operation and simultaneously are of a small size and extremely handy as a portable umbrella.

What is claimed:

In an umbrella of the character described, the combination comprising a handle having telescoping sections in one end and having a mounting bushing in an opposite end, a tackle block having upper and lower cup-shaped members in opposed relation to define a chamber therein, a stepped portion extending from said lower member and being secured to said mounting bushing, a plurality of slot means spaced about the periphery of said lower member,

said upper member being larger than said lower member to telescope thereover and substantially cover said slots means, screw means extending through said upper and lower members, cam means threaded onto said screw means and being axially displaced in the chamber upon rotation of the screw means, a plurality of umbrella forming ribs radially extending from said tackle block, said ribs including telescopic members whereby the size of the umbrella may be reduced when in a closed position, each rib having a spherical end engaging said cam means and a bent portion adjacent said spherical end engaging a corresponding one of said slot means to define a fulcrum for said each rib, a cover secured to said ribs for movement therewith to an open position upon operation of said tackle block, said cover including a pair of fabrics secured together at their inner and outer peripheries to define a dead air space therebetween, and a reflective surface on one of said fabrics to reflect light and heat rays.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 290,831 Allen Dec. 25, 1883 1,748,347 Horowitz Feb. 25, 1930 1,785,561 Riley Dec. 16, 1930 1,797,019 Polansky Mar. 17, 1931 1,902,774 Haupt Mar. 21, 1933 2,042,030 Tainton May 26, 1936 2,746,469 DAndrea May 22, 1956 2,766,457 Wielandt Oct. 16, 1956 2,772,685 Koch Dec. 4, 1956 2,932,304 Voege et a1 Apr. 12, 1960 3,072,920 Yellott Jan. 15, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,114,846 France Dec. 26, 1955 1,145,042 France Apr. 29, 1957

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