US2711182A - Folding umbrella - Google Patents

Description

June 21, 1955 H. J. KIEL TAL FOLDING UMBRELLAJ 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 18, 1954' June 21, 1955 H. J. KIEL ET AL FOLDING UMBRELLA Filed Aug. 18, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 21, 1955 H. .1. KlEL ETAL FOLDING UMBRELLA Fn'ed Aug. 18, 1954 5 sheets-sheet 3 BY Mm,

United States Patent O 2,711,182 FOLDING UMBRELLA Heinrich J. Kiel, Solingen-Wald, and Gunter VH. Granrath, Solingen-Weyer, Germany, assignors to Kortenbacll & Rauh K. G., Solingen-Weyer, Germany Application August 18, 1954, Serial No. 450,631 Claims priority, application Germany August 21, 1953 Claims. (Cl. 13S-Z5) The present invention relates to a folding umbrella having a shank composed of sections telescopically movable into each other and having foldable ribs. The heretofore known folding umbrellas of this type are relatively awkward in operation, especially when the umbrella is to be placed into readiness for use. Customarily, when opening up the umbrella, -the umbrella has to be held upwardly so that the folded back -outer rib sections, together with the umbrella cover, will dropdown. During this operation, it is also in most instances neces sary manually to unfold some of the ribs;

`it is, therefore, an object of 'the present invention to provide a folding umbrella which will overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.

it is another object of this invention to provide a folding umbrella which can be opened up (in a far simpler manner than was possible with umbrellas heretofore known. l

lt is a still further object of this invention to provide a folding umbrella which can easily be opened up without having -to hold the umbrella shank in -a vertical direction with the rib sections up. f

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specitication in connection with Vthe accompanying drawings, in which y Fig. l illustrates a portion of an umbrella according -to the invention with the rib shown therein in completely opened up position.

Fig. 2 illustrates an intermediate step between the unopened and fully opened position of the umbrella.

Fig. 3 shows vthe end of the inner rib portion on a scale somewhat larger than that used in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a portion of an umbrella somewhat 'modified over that of Fig. land provided with a slide slidable on the rib lever.

Fig. 5 is an intermediate position similar toy that Vof fV Fig. 2 but for the 'embodiment of the umbrella of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 represents the end of the yinner rib of the umbrella of Fig. 4 but on a larger scale than that used in Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 shows a view of the slide.

Fig. Sis a cross-section taken along the line VIII-VIII of Fig. 7. l

Fig. 9 is a modification of the slide of Fig. 7.

Figs. .10 and 1l illustrate a further embodiment of the invention.

General arrangement Vouter end of the inner rib section.

2,711,182 Patented vJune 21;, 1955 2 their opened up position, but it is also possible to open up the umbrella in different positions, for instance, in a horizontal position, because itis not necessary -to make use vof the gravity action :by holding the umbrella upright to cause 'the outer ribsections to fold downwardly. f

In order to guide the zpulling means, the latter is, lfor instance, passed or threaded through an opening at'the This results -in a Very simple guiding for the pulling means. Similarly, the rib lever -has -its 'outer end rprovided with a Vbore or the like through which :one end offthe pulling means is passed. n

In order further to -improve the action of the pulling means, the pulling means may, in 4conformity with 4a further embodiment of the invention, be connected with a slide slidable upon an end section of the rib lever, in which instance the pulling `means is not directly connected or fastened to the rib lever. This arrangement yields a very good adjustability of the pulling means with regard -to its action upon the outer rib section. Preferably, an abutment, for instance, a pin, clamping ring or the like is arranged o n the rib lever.V Such anabutment will prevent theslide with the pulling means from sliding on the rib lever too Ifar toward the runner on 'the shank.

Advantageously, the slide isY 'simultaneously used for fastening the loop-shaped pulling means. The ends of the thread serving as pulling means are threaded through holes in the ears kof the slide which represents a ben't sheetmetal element. However, fit valsopossible to pass the thread through an opening inthe slide and an aperture in the outer rib section andl to interconnect the ends of the thread by means of a sheet metal 4claim) or 'the like. Also in 'this Vmanner a very good closure of the loop 'i'srobtained Structural rrtmgemen'tconsists, `for instance, incustomary manner-of lthe two Y sections 1 and Z-'which'fcafn be movedinto yeach other in a-'telescopic manner. Pivotally connected to the top 3 fof the umbrella are the-inner 'rib sections 4 whichl are linked `to ythe runner '6 by means of the rib lever 5. -The `outer vends of Athe inner r'ib sections 4 have pivotally connected thereto the Aouter -rib sections '7.

VIn order to 'obtain anauto'matic 4open-ing and folding of the louter' rib sections, accord'ingto the invention ethere is provided a pulling means 8, for ins'tance,'=a synthetic thread. Asv will fbe seen from Fig. l, the said pulling means 8 extends Ifrom approximately the `inner endof the outer rib section 7 to the -outer end section of the rib lever 5. The thread -8 is passed through an openingj9 (Fig. 3) of the inner 'rib section 4 and extends,- forinstance, in aloop-like ymanneraround theinner -endof the outer rib section 7. Y f

Fig. -2 illustrates by dashed li-nes how the outer rib 'section-is tilted away from the inner rib section. When `the runner `6 is -moved towards the top 3 of the umbrella, the thread f8 `is -tensionedfso that -it exerts a -force upon the outer umbrella section 7 inlorder to cause the latter to swing into a-l'ignrnentwith'the inner 4rib section ,-4. This pulling effect exerted upon the outer rib section remains maintained when the umbrella is completely folded up.

The elements of the modifications shown in Figs. 4 to 10 which correspond to the elements of Fig. 1 are designated with the same reference numerals used in Figs. 1 to 3 with-the exception that the reference numerals of Figs. 4 to 6 have the additional character a, while the corresponding reference numerals of Figs. l and ll have the additional character b.

According to the invention, the thread serving as a pulling means is fixedly connected to the inner end of the outer rib section. This may be done, for instance in conformity with the embodiment of Fig. 6, by passing the thread through a corresponding opening 10 in the flat end of the outer rib section 7a. In order to improve the effect of the pulling means, a slide 11 is slidably mounted on the rib lever 5a. In this instance the thread 8 represents a loop and both ends of said loop are connected with each other within the slide 11 (see Fig. 7). The slide 11 is provided with two ears 12 which have apertures 13 through which the ends of the thread S are passed a number of times, as is clearly visible from Fig. 7.

ln order to prevent the slide 11 from sliding too far inwardly toward the runner 6 when the umbrella is in its folded together position, the rib lever is provided with an abutment which according to the embodiment of Fig. 7 is represented by a small pin 14. the embodiment shown in Fig. 9, the rib lever 5b has mounted thereon an abutment in form of a clamping ring 15 which is passed around and tixedly clamped to the rib lever 5b.

In order to facilitate the fastening of the ends of the thread, it is also possible as shown in Fig. 9 to provide the slide 11 with one aperture 13 only and to pass the loop through the aperture 13. in this instance, the two ends of the thread are then held together by a sheet metal clamp 16 through which not only the two ends of the loop but also the other loop portion may be passed, thereby holding the loop together. The clamp 16 may preferably beso designed that the end surfaces of this clamp are bent outwardly as shown in Fig. 9 so that the sharp edges of the clamp cannot exert a shearing force upon the thread 8, which preferably is made of synthetic material.

The folding together of an umbrella according to the present invention is effected in the manner customary with folding umbrellas heretofore known, inasmuch as the pulling thread 8 will exert no function whatsoever during this folding together operation.

Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 10 and l1,-the pulling means represented by the thread 1'! is passed through a bore in the slide 11d, which slide is slidable on the rib lever 5b between the abutment clamp 15 and the pivot carrying clamp 18 on the inner rib section 4b. The thread 17 furthermore passes through a bore at the outer end 19 of the outer rib section '7b while the ends of the thread 17 are likewise held ltogether by a ment, there is thus obtained a pulling effect by the thread 17 upon the outer ends of the outer rib sections.

It is, of course, to be understood that the present invention is by no means limited to the particular embodiments shown in the drawings but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In combination in a folding umbrella: a shank, an inner rib section, means hingedly connecting one end of said inner rib section to said shank, an outer rib section hingedly connected to the other end of said inner rib section, a runner slidably mounted on said shank and movable selectively in a first direction for opening up the In conformity with hinged to said runner and having its other end hinged to umbrella or in a second direction for collapsing and folding together the umbrella, rod means having one end hinged to said runner and having its other end hinged to said inner rib section, said inner rib section being provided with a bore adjacent its outer end, and pulling means operatively connected-to said rod means and pass.-

ing through said bore of said inner rib section whiley upon said outer rib section for bringing the latter into axial alignment with said inner rib section.

2. In combination in a folding umbrella: a shank, .an

inner rib section, means hingedly connecting one end of said inner rib section to said shank, an outer rib section hingedly connected to the other end ofsaid inner rib section, a runner slidably mounted on said shank and movable selectively in a first direction for opening up theV umbrella or in a second direction'for collapsing and folding together the umbrella, rod means having Vone end said inner rib section, a slide slidablyy mounted-onsaid rod means, and pulling means having one end portion connected to said slide and having its other end portion connected to the inner end portion of the outer rib section.

3. An umbrella according to claim 2 in which said rod 'l' means is provided with an abutment means for limitingV the movement of said slide towardv said runner.

4. In combination in a folding umbrella: a shank, an

inner rib section, means hingedly connecting onerend of said inner rib section to said shank,` an outer rib section" hingedly connected to the other end of said -inner rib section, a runner slidably mounted on said shankand movable selectively in a first direction for openingup the umbrella or in-a seconddirectionfor collapsing and folding together the umbrella, rod means having one Vend i hinged to said runner and having its other end hinged to said inner rib section, a slide slidably mounted on/said rod means, and provided with an ear having bores therethrough, and pulling cord means forming a loop and having its ends threaded through said bores while the oppoj site loop portion of said pulling cord means engages sai outer rib section.

5. In combination in a folding umbrella: a shank, an j inner rib section, means hingedly connecting one end of said inner rib section to said shank, an outer rib section hingedly connected to the other end of said inner rib section, a runner slidably mounted on said shank and movable selectively in a first direction for opening up the y umbrella or in a second direction for collapsing and folding together the umbrella, rod means having one end hinged to said runner and having lits other end hinged to said inner rib section, a slide slidably mounted on said rod means, said slide being provided with a passage, said outer rib section also being provided with a passage adjacent one end thereof, cord means passed through said first mentioned and said second mentioned passage so as to K form a complete loop, and means for clamping and holdingthe free ends of said loop together.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Eeles Ian. 17, 1939 Militano c Aug. 18,1953#

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