Sunshade umbrella

The present invention relates to a sunshade umbrella of fixed type, usually used as a means for protecting outdoor surfaces against sun rays.

As well known, sunshade umbrellas are made up of a fixed-type supporting base made heavy to give some stability to the whole umbrella. Engaged to the umbrella base is a pole able to support on its top end a frame carrying a covering sheet.

The sheet is usually of large dimensions in order to cover a wide surface and exhibits a circular or square peripheral development. Usually, the frame is of foldable type to allow handling of said sheet between a position of minimum bulk in which it is retracted and made to extend along the pole development, and an open position in which it is stretched out above a surface to be covered.

The frame is manually handled by acting on a sleeve slidingly mounted onto the pole and supporting a plurality of sheet-stretching rods. In this way, by pushing the sleeve towards an upper end of the pole, the rods are moved away from the pole thereby stretching the sheet. Moreover, the sleeve exhibits a fixing member suited to keep the same sleeve in a predetermined position when the sheet is in its open position.

The above described operations for opening and closing the sunshade umbrellas have, however, considerable disadvantages. Actually, in case of particularly high sunshade umbrellas, the sleeve cannot be easily reached. Besides, again in the case of particularly high and heavy sunshade umbrellas, the manual action on the sleeve results very difficult owing to the weight of the rods and relevant sheet.

To overcome such drawbacks, sunshade umbrellas are known which are provided with a rotary pulley associated with the pole and provided with a handle to rotate the same pulley by hand. Partially wound on the pulley is a rope connected to the said sleeve. In this way, by manually acting on the pulley, the rope is wound by pulling the sleeve towards the upper end of the pole and causing the sheet to open out.

Document US 2002/129847 discloses a sunshade umbrella having an opening device including a movement control device for controlling the opening device to move along the pole between the open position and the closed position and thus driving the rope to open\close the canopy system.

However, also such sunshade umbrellas present significant drawbacks.

A first drawback is given by the excessive overall dimensions of the sunshade umbrella to which the sleeve-handling pulley is mounted. In fact, the pulley is mounted on the center line of the pole in order to result within easy reach by the operator. Consequently, such pulley results of excessive bulk in the very region surrounding the pole.

In addition, the sleeve-handling operations result to be particularly long inasmuch as a relevant portion of the rope must be wound over the said pulley. It also to be stressed that, in cases of sunshade umbrellas having a frame of large dimensions, the manual rotation of the pulley becomes particularly difficult.

In this context, the specific technical object of the present invention is to propose a sunshade umbrella non exhibiting the above mentioned drawbacks.

In particular, the object of the present invention is to provide a sunshade umbrella of limited bulk, especially in the pole-surrounding region.

A further object of the present invention is to propose a sunshade umbrella in which the sheet's opening/closing operations are simply and promptly performed.

The above indicated technical object and specified purposes are substantially obtained by providing a sunshade umbrella comprising the characteristics disclosed in one or more of the attached claims. Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more evident from the indicative, and thus non-limitative, description of one preferred, but non exclusive, embodiment of a sunshade umbrella, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

• Fig. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of a sunshade umbrella according to the present invention in a respective condition of non-use;
• Fig. 1a shows schematically a constructional detail of the sunshade umbrella of Fig. 1 with some parts taken away to best illustrate others;
• Fig. 2 is a schematic side elevation view of a sunshade umbrella according to the present invention in a respective condition of use;
• Fig. 2a shows schematically a constructional detail of the sunshade umbrella of Fig. 2 with some parts taken away to best illustrate others.

With reference to the attached figures, numeral 1 indicates the whole a sunshade umbrella according to the present invention.

The sunshade umbrella 1 exhibits a sheet 2 movable between an open position in which it is outstretched above a surface to be covered (Fig. 2), and a closed position in which it is retracted to a condition of minimum bulk (Fig. 1). In greater detail, the sheet 2 is provided with a foldable frame - not shown in the attached figures as being of known type and widely used in the specific technical sector - making it possible to handle the said sheet 2. The frame and the respective sheet 2 are supported by a pole 3 of rod-like shape and substantially curved development. Advantageously, and as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the curved pattern of pole 3 allow the sheet 2 to protrude in cantilever fashion into an open position on the said surface to be covered.

The pole 3 exhibits an upper end 3a associated with the sheet 2, and a lower end associated with a fixed support base carrying the same pole 3.

The base 4 is preferably made up of a board 4a, suitably made heavy to be able to stably support the pole 3 and sheet 2, and of a holding body 4b disposed above the board 4a and inside which a housing seat 5 is formed.

In this situation, the lower end 3b of the pole 3 is rotatively associated with the fixed base 4 to rotate the pole 3 about a respective horizontal axis X between a first position of non-use (Fig. 1) and a second position of use (Fig. 2).

In particular, the lower end 3b of the pole 3 exhibits a bearing portion 6 developing within the housing seat 5.

More particularly, and as illustrated in Figs. 1a, 2a, the bearing portion 6 presents a rod-like shape defining a first end 6a provided with a pivot 7 associated with the holding body 4b of the fixed base 4, and a second end 6b opposite to the first. In this way, the pivot 7 allows the rotation of the pole 3 about the said horizontal axis X. It is to be pointed out that, in the first position of non-use of pole 3 (Figs, 1, 1a), the second end 6b of portion 6 is moved close to the surface to be covered, while the upper end 3a of pole 3 is moved away from the said surface. Vice versa, in the second position for the use of pole 3 (Figs. 2, 2a), the second end 6b of portion 6 is moved away from the surface to be covered, while the upper end 3a of pole 3 is disposed above the surface to be covered.

The sunshade umbrella 1 also comprises means 8 for handling the sheet 2 to move it between the respective open and closed positions.

To enter into details, the handling means 8 are engaged to the bearing portion 6 to shift the sheet 2 into the closed position when the pole 3 is in the respective first position (Figs. 1, 1a), and into the open position when the pole 3 is in the respective second position (Figs. 2, 2a).

The handling means 8 are provided with a return roller 9 rotatively associated with the bearing portion 6 and able to rotate about a respective axis Y parallel to the said horizontal axis X.

The return roller 9 has a substantially cylindrical shape defining a cylindrical surface 9a around which a flexible connecting member 10 is wound.

The member 10 consists of an elastic rope 11 passing along a seat formed over the whole longitudinal development of pole 3. In particular, the rope 11 has a first end (not shown) associated with the frame of sheet 2, and a second end 11a wound over the external surface 9a of roller 9. As best visible in Figs. 1a, 2a, the second end 11a of rope 11 is constrained inside an engaging notch 12 formed on the external surface 9a of roller 9. The handling means 8 also comprise an actuator member 13 associated with the bearing portion 6 and operatively engaged with roller 9 to make the latter rotate about the respective axis Y as a result of the handling of pole 3 between the respective first and second positions. In other words, the actuator member 13 is able to transform the movement of translation of pole 3, and consequently of portion 6, into a rotary movement of roller 9 and thus winding/unwinding the rope 11 on the outer cylindrical surface 9a.

In particular, the actuator member 13 is provided with a rack 14 rigidly engaged within the housing seat 5 in correspondence of the second end 6b of the portion 6. In greater detail, the rack 14 exhibits a substantially arc-of-circle shape, coaxial to the horizontal axis X, and provided with a toothing 14a facing the said pivot 7.

The actuator member 13 also exhibits a transmission element 15 associated with the bearing portion 6 and interposed between the roller 9 and rack 14 to transform, as above mentioned, the translation movement of the bearing portion 6 into a rotary movement of roller 9.

In particular, the transmission element 15 is made up of a first toothed wheel 16 coaxially constrained to roller 9, as schematically illustrated in the attached figures. The first toothed wheel 16 is in mesh with a second toothed wheel 17 rotatively associated with the bearing portion 6 in correspondence of the respective second end 6b. Moreover, the transmission element 15 exhibits a sprocket 18 in meshing engagement with the toothing 14a of said rack 14 and coaxially constrained to the second toothed wheel 17.

Advantageously, starting from the configuration shown in Figs. 1, 1a in which the pole 3 is in the respective first position and the sheet is in closed position, the sprocket 18 is disposed in correspondence of a first end 19a of rack 14 close to the surface to be covered. When the sheet 2 is to be disposed in the open position (Figs. 2, 2a), the pole 3 is manually moved towards the surface to be covered by positioning the respective upper end 3a above the same surface.

During such handling, the portion 6 is shifted along an arched path by making the sprocket 18 to roll over the rack 14 as far as to dispose the same sprocket 18 in correspondence of a second end 19b of rack 14 opposite to the above mentioned first end 19a.

The rotation of sprocket 18 over the rack 14 is cause for the rotation of the second toothed wheel 17 which, as above indicated, is coaxially constrained to the sprocket 18. Consequently, a rotation is transmitted from the second toothed wheel 17 to the first toothed wheel 16 in meshing engagement therewith.

In this way, the first wheel 16, being rigidly engaged with roller 9, drives the roller 9 into clockwise rotation thereby winding the rope 11 over the external surface 9a.

Advantageously, the rope 11 is partially wound over the roller 9 by pulling the frame of sheet 2 and operating the mechanism that allows the same sheet 2 to be opened.

To reposition the sheet 2 in the closed condition, the pole 3 is manually moved away from the surface to be covered. In this way, the rope 11 is unwound from roller 9 thereby allowing the sheet 2 to return by gravity to the closed condition.

The invention overcomes the problems of the prior art and achieves the envisaged objects.

In the first place, it is to be pointed out that the sunshade umbrella 1 results of very limited bulk inasmuch as the means 8 for handling the sheet 2 are housed inside the base 4. As a consequence, no devices are provided in correspondence of the pole for handling the sheet 2, which means could be also be tampered with when the sheet is in open position.

A further advantage is given by the simple operation by which the sheet is opened/closed. Such simplicity is due to the fact that the means for handling the sheet 2 are activated by simply pushing the pole 3 to move it close to, or away from, the surface to be covered.