Economic double-story umbrella as conveniently anchored

This application is an improvement of U.S. Pat. No. 6,390,108 entitled “Economic Double-Story Umbrella” filed on Feb. 16, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The prior application disclosed a double-story umbrella having an upper umbrella cloth

3

and a lower umbrella cloth

3

′ coupled each other by a plurality of buckling means

5

a

. However, there is not provided with any automatic restoring mechanism for automatically closing the upper umbrella cloth

3

on the lower umbrella cloth

3

′ whenever a strong wind is gone.

Meanwhile, the prior application did not disclose a supporting means for anchoring the central shaft of the umbrella on a ground.

The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the prior application and invented the present double-story umbrella which is conveniently anchored.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a double-story umbrella including an upper umbrella formed by an upper umbrella cloth; a lower umbrella having a shaft and a rib assembly pivotally secured to the shaft for securing a lower umbrella cloth on the rib assembly; a plurality of detachable restorable buckling devices each coupling the upper umbrella cloth with the lower umbrella cloth; and a supporting device adjustably detachably secured on a lower portion of the shaft and operatively anchored on or under a ground for stably erecting the shaft and the double-story umbrella.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is an illustration showing an opening umbrella of the present invention.

FIG. 2

is a partial sectional drawing of the present invention when opened.

FIG. 3

is an enlarged illustration of the restorable buckling means from FIG.

2

.

FIG. 4

shows a folded umbrella.

FIG. 5

shows the upper umbrella cloth restored to close the lower umbrella cloth by the restorable buckling means.

FIG. 6

further shows the coupling of the buckling means from FIG.

5

.

FIG. 7

is a sectional drawing as viewed from

7

—

7

direction of FIG.

6

.

FIG. 8

shows the opening upper and lower umbrella cloths and the buckling means of the present invention.

FIG. 9

is a sectional drawing of the buckling means from FIG.

8

.

FIG. 10

shows a supporting means of the present invention when extended.

FIG. 11

shows the folded supporting means from FIG.

10

.

FIG. 12

shows a folded umbrella of the present invention as stored in a bag.

FIG. 13

shows another preferred embodiment of the buckling means as modified from FIG.

8

.

FIG. 14

shows the opening of the upper and lower umbrella cloths from FIG.

13

.

FIG. 15

shows the buckling means when opening the upper and lower cloths as shown in FIG.

14

.

FIG. 16

is a sectional drawing of the buckling means of FIG.

15

.

FIG. 17

shows another extended supporting means of the present invention.

FIG. 18

shows the supporting means as folded from FIG.

17

.

FIG. 19

shows further extended supporting means of the present invention.

FIG. 20

shows the supporting means as folded from FIG.

19

.

FIG. 21

shows still further embodiment of a supporting means as extended.

FIG. 22

shows the supporting means as folded from FIG.

21

.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As shown in FIGS.

1

˜

12

, a double-story umbrella of the present invention comprises: an upper umbrella

1

u

; a lower umbrella

1

d

; a plurality of detachable restorable buckling means

5

a

each coupling the upper umbrella

1

u

with the lower umbrella

1

d

; and an adjustable foldable supporting means

100

adjustably secured on a central shaft

1

for erecting the double-story umbrella. The supporting means

100

may be folded towards the central shaft

1

or may be detached from the shaft

1

.

The lower umbrella

1

d

includes: a central shaft

1

, a lower rib assembly

2

′ pivotally secured to the shaft

1

, a lower umbrella cloth

3

′ secured to the lower rib assembly

2

′, and a lower spring catch

4

′ resiliently lockable on the shaft

1

for locking the lower rib assembly

2

′ at its opening state as shown in FIG.

2

.

The lower rib assembly

2

′ may be single fold or multiple folds. The rib assembly

2

′ as shown in the drawing figures includes: an inner rib

21

′ pivotally secured to a notch

20

′ formed on a top of the shaft

1

, a lower stretcher rib

22

′ pivotally secured to a lower runner

23

′ slidably held on the shaft

1

and lockable on the shaft

1

by the lower spring catch

4

′ when opening the umbrella, and a lower tail rib

24

′ pivotally secured to an outer end of the stretcher rib

22

′ and having an innermost end of the tail rib

24

′ pivotally secured to the inner rib

21

′ by an auxiliary rib

25

′; having an outermost end of the inner rib

21

′ pivotally secured to the stretcher rib

22

′.

The upper umbrella

1

u

includes: an upper umbrella cloth

3

having its central portion secured, fastened or formed on a top

10

″ of the shaft

1

(as shown in

FIGS. 2

,

4

) by a cap

20

; and a plurality of upper buckling members

5

u

radially formed on an outer periphery of the upper umbrella cloth

3

and each engageable with a lower buckling member

5

d

formed on the lower umbrella cloth

3

′, with each upper buckling member

5

u

and each lower buckling member

5

d

forming a detachable restorable buckling means

5

a

in accordance with the present invention. The plurality of detachable restorable buckling means

5

a

are radially disposed on the umbrella cloths

3

,

3

′.

The central shaft

1

includes: a lower tube

11

, a central shaft

12

, and an upper tube

13

telescopically engageable with one another. Every two neighboring tubes are coupled by a U-shaped coupling C having a ball B for locking the two tubes when engaged and coupled together (FIG.

2

).

An angle-adjusting means

6

(

FIG. 2

) is provided to pose or tilt the upper tube

13

on a tube section

13

a

to a desired angle (not shown) between the upper tube

13

and the tube section

13

a.

As shown in FIGS.

3

and

5

˜

9

, each detachable restorable buckling means

5

a

includes: an upper buckling member

5

u

formed as a loop and secured on the upper umbrella cloth

3

, and a lower buckling member

5

d

formed on an inner periphery of the lower umbrella cloth

3

′ adjacent to a central opening

30

of the lower cloth

3

′; with each lower buckling member

5

d

corresponding to and engageable with each upper buckling member

5

u.

The lower buckling member

5

d

includes: a button

5

b

detachably engageable with the loop of the upper buckling member

5

u

, a restoring spring

5

s

having a first spring end secured to the button

5

b

, and a base holder

5

h

secured on the lower umbrella cloth

3

′ having the button

5

b

slidably engageable in the base holder

5

h

and having a second spring end of the restoring spring

5

s

secured to the base holder

5

h

; whereby upon blowing of a strong wind, the upper cloth

3

will be opened from the lower cloth

3

′ to form an opening

0

between the two cloths

3

,

3

′ for releasing the wind and the upper buckling member

5

u

will pull the restoring spring

5

s

to separate the upper buckling member from the base holder

5

h

for forming the opening

0

between the upper and lower cloths and also to store a restoring spring energy (a tension force) of the spring

5

s

(

FIGS. 8

,

9

). Once the wind is gone, the restoring spring

5

s

will restore to pull back the button

5

b

to close the upper cloth

3

on the lower cloth

3

′ (FIGS.

5

˜

7

).

Such an automatic restoring effect of the buckling means

5

a

is not disclosed in the prior application (U.S. Ser. No. 09/784,155).

When folding the umbrella of the present invention from

FIG. 2

to

FIG. 4

, the upper and lower buckling members

5

u

,

5

d

are uncoupled and the upper cloth

3

is downwardly pulled to be flattened and superimposed on the lower cloth

3

′; the supporting means

100

folded and the tubes

11

,

12

,

13

dismantled; all elements being stored in a bag B (

FIG. 12

) for convenient handling or storage.

As shown in FIGS.

13

˜

16

, the lower buckling member

5

d

is modified to include: a button lid

5

b

engageable with the upper buckling member

5

u

formed as a loop, a base holder

5

h

secured to the lower umbrella cloth

3

′, and a torsional restoring spring

5

s

having a first spring end secured to the button lid

5

b

and having a second spring end secured to the base holder

5

h

for normally closing the button lid

5

b

on the base holder

5

h

, whereby upon blowing of strong wind, the button lid

5

b

will be upwardly pulled by the upper buckling member

5

u

of the upper cloth

3

to open the lid

5

b

from the base holder

5

h

to open the cloths

3

,

3

′ (FIGS.

14

˜

16

) and also to store the restoring energy of the restoring spring

5

s

. Once the wind is gone, the restoring spring

5

s

will restore to close the lid

5

b

on the base holder

5

h

to close the upper cloth

3

on the lower cloth

3

′ (FIG.

13

).

As shown in

FIGS. 10

,

11

, the supporting means

100

includes: a sleeve

101

having a base

103

formed on a bottom portion of the sleeve

101

, a plurality of supporting members

104

pivotally secured to the base

103

, and an adjusting screw

102

rotatably mounted in the sleeve

101

for tightly fixing the sleeve

101

of the supporting means

100

on the central shaft

1

of the double-story umbrella or for loosening the sleeve

101

from the shaft

1

for detaching the supporting means

100

from the shaft

1

.

Each supporting member

104

has its inner end portion pivotally secured to the base

103

by a pivot

105

, and an outer end portion of the supporting member

104

formed with a fixing hole

106

to be fixed on a ground such as by a nail or by a fastening wire.

Each supporting member

104

is generally formed as a flat plate having a recess or hollow portion formed in an upper surface for saving material, decreasing weight and providing space for accommodating the screw

102

or other parts; having at least a side wing portion

104

w

circumferentially formed on a side edge of the supporting member

104

to increase the area when loaded with soil or sand on the supporting member

104

such as when anchored underground or in a soil layer in a beach, thereby enhancing the stability when erecting the umbrella.

When extending the supporting members

104

to be laid on a ground as shown in

FIG. 10

, the shaft

1

will be stably, conveniently erected as supported by the supporting means

100

. When not in use, the supporting members

104

are folded towards the shaft

1

to minimize the folding volume for a convenient handling or storage with compact appearance of the folded umbrella to be superior to any prior umbrella.

As shown in

FIGS. 1

,

2

, a bottom probe portion

111

of the shaft

1

may be inserted into ground (soil) by downwardly protruding the probe portion

111

through the supporting means

100

as shown in solid line of

FIG. 1

for helping stabilize the erection of the shaft

1

and the umbrella. Or, the probe portion

111

may be retracted into the sleeve

101

of the supporting means

100

as shown in dotted line of FIG.

1

and in

FIG. 10

to allow the supporting means

100

to be laid on the ground surface.

As shown in

FIGS. 17

,

18

, the side wing portion

104

w

has been eliminated from

FIG. 10

to be another modification of the supporting means

100

, and the screw

102

is also moved to a lower portion of the sleeve

101

.

As shown in

FIGS. 19

,

20

, each supporting member

104

is pivotally secured to an upper portion of the sleeve

101

by a link

107

which can be single fold or multiple folds.

As shown in

FIG. 19

, each link

107

includes: a first link section

107

a

and a second link section

107

b

pivotally connected together, with a hook portion

107

h

formed on one said link section (e.g. the second link section

107

b

) for locking the other link section when linearly extended when extending the supporting member

104

.

As shown in

FIGS. 21

,

22

, each link

107

has its inner end pivotally connected to a bottom ferrule

108

of a bottom runner

109

slidably held on the sleeve

101

disposed about the shaft

1

. The ferrule

108

may be fixed on the shaft

1

by locking the screw

102

as rotatably mounted in the ferrule

108

. The screw

102

may also be loosened to unlock the ferrule

108

from the sleeve

101

and from the shaft

1

for folding the supporting members

104

towards the shaft

1

.

According to the present invention, the upper cloth

3

is coupled to the lower cloth

3

′ by the buckling means

5

a

so as to save any fastening device including thread or wire to fasten the upper cloth

3

on the top rib

21

′ of the rib assembly

2

′.

The present invention may be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.